Paris1972-Versailles2003

And back to tell you all about my belle France. Times has change cold is here regularly now ,even some snow, but now back to 10C or about 50F and cloudy, the Autumn leaves looks beautiful on the shades. I am cruising for the Holiday season, and expect to go over the family in Seine-et-Marne dept 77 as well.

Now for the news here it is:

Météo France, of course the weather is in the news! Now it is estimated to be back next weekend as well; it will start next Friday to Sunday period. Therefore, if driving in France like me be careful of the icy roads. Méteo France here:  http://www.meteofrance.com/accueil

And you may have heard, read, watch the troubles again with the SNCF signalization and automation system at the train station or gare Montparnasse. A new system to allow control more platforms and more trains arriving. There were delays as much as four hours and the SNCF do reimburse you for lateness, see photo. The trains to Tarbes, Poitiers, Brest and Bordeaux were all late at least an hour! The issue was the same for the local express train TER and the Intercités ; to Le Mans, Granville to  Montparnasse. The situation is said to be under control but this is the second time in a short period that it has happened. So keep an eye on your travels by Montparnasse if need to / I know I go by there now but lucky no more for the rest of the year ! More here  https://www.leparisien.fr/info-paris-ile-de-france-oise/gare-montparnasse-trafic-tres-perturbe-apres-une-panne-de-signalisation-03-12-2017-7430418.php

Gregory Porter, the jazz great is given a free concert in the auditorium of the Paris newspaper Le Parisien today at 10 rue Grenelle at 14h30. His last CD album entitled « Nat King Cole and me », honoring the legend Nat King Cole that he uses as a idol model. He has done work with the English pop group Metronomy, and concerts in festivals like the « Rock en Seine » in Saint-Cloud (Hauts-de-Seine), and recently at the Chorus in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine).  More here:  http://www.bluenote.com/spotlight/gregory-porter-nat-king-cole-me

How about getting into the Seine river at 8C or about 44F in the water and 0C or 32F out! Well I won’t do it but these folks did it last Sunday morning on a paddle ski in the event  Stand Up Paddle. There were 700 participants from the BNF (bibliothéque national de France) all the way to the Tour Eiffel  on the occasion of the 8th edition of the  Nautic Sup Paris Crossing, the biggest course in the world of this specialty. The Nautic event will continue to December 10 2017. More here: https://www.salonnautiqueparis.com/fr/visiter/les-animations/nautic-sup-paris-crossing

The beautiful square  place Clémenceau (8éme),with a wonderful statue of the Général de Gaulle on the side of the Petit Palais is back.  Newly clean sits there for all to see, the only statue of him officially authorized by the family. See it and read on it here: http://www.paristoric.com/index.php/paris-d-hier/statues/autres-statues/3161-la-statue-du-general-de-gaulle

The honey is in at several locations in Paris. Even my group company has ruche in our roofstop and make some for the employees. Now the winner of the contest of honey of the Grand Paris in the 27th Salon de Terroirs ,are from the town of Rueil-Malmaison, (Hauts de Seine 92) ,event held at the racecourse of Saint-Cloud. The harvest is done for  6 years already on a dozen ruches installed around the cemetery of Rueil, and produce about 150 kg per year!. The bees work at their own pace between the flowers of the cemetery , and the forest of Saint-Cloud. More here: http://www.salon-terroir-rueil.com/page/animations

A wonderful digital project is taken place to preserve the information on the fallen in World War I, known here affectionally as the poilu or hairy. It is call « Adoptez un poilu », or adopt a hairy; going on since December 2016 on the archives of the department 78 of Yvelines.  Done on the celebration honoring the Great War or WWI soldiers as they will give new meaning to them. Each participant will have a trace, a history of their efforts and all done by volunteers. Once this work done, it will be kept in perpetual memory for all those who fought from the old department name of Yvelines such as Seine-et-Oise (Yvelines, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-d’Oise). They have already done 82 000 files and need 235 000 and hope to have it all done by November 2018 just in time for the big commemoration of  the 100 year anniversary. The site is in French with a very nice video here: https://www.yvelines-infos.fr/commemoration-de-grande-guerre-adoptez-poilu/

The Kiev in Paris the biggest artistic expression from Kiev are in Paris until next Sunday for the second edition of the festival « Un week-end à l’est ». It is time for the Ukraine to be the guest of honor in Saint-Germain-des-Prés with projections, expositions, lectures, debates, concerts and workshops in the 12 sites of the neighborhood. More in French here: http://www.weekendalest.com/

And let’s talk about Champagne because their biggest time of the year is near; Christmas and New Year period.

One of the grand old brands is the one most favorite of the French, that is ,Ruinart , and this end 2017 is coming out with two special cuvees from their cellars in Reims. They are the Dom Ruinart blanc de blancs 2006 ,and the Dom Ruinart rosé 2004.  Both are aged from than 10 years. You can find them here: https://www.ruinart.com/fr-e/les-vins/dom-ruinart-2006

Veuve Clicquot , the house of the pantone label (Pantone 137C) the most recognizable brand of Champagne. you can tell the bottle right away no matter where. Another of my favorites and you can know more about it here https://www.veuveclicquot.com/fr-fr/nos-champagnes/champagne-brut-carte-jaune

And my favorite and share with family many times is Moët & Chandon , the leader of the brands of Champagne. No 1 in volume and now a new bottle the Moët Ice Impérial. One of my first visited housed of Champagne in the avenue de Champagne in Epernay. More here: https://fr.moet.com/Champagnes-Moet/Moet-Ice-Imperial

OF course, will tell you my first and most memorable Champagne, the one I drank with my girlfriend (now wife) in Paris was Mercier, now part of the same group as Moët & Chandon, the LVMH group. Also, still at Avenue de Champagne in Epernay; more here: http://www.champagnemercier.fr/en/champagne-mercier-brut

And now an anecdote for the road warriors in us::)It used to take 13 minutes to drive the expressway from west to east of Paris that was 60 KPH when it opened in 1967; it was not called yet the voie Georges Pompidou but it was very good to avoid 23 bridges and many red lights doing it going under 7 underground ways. Today, the same road going at 70 KPH will take you 57 minutes from the start of the wharfs or quai de Bercy from the Porte de Saint-Cloud! Of course, assuming there is no traffic jams or special events going on lol!!!

And be merrier in the season with the opportunity to come to those ice skating rings going on at this time in Paris and elsewhere. The ones I have seen and my boys like the most previous years are:

Trocadéro On Ice ; the most romantic at the end of the day and before going for dinner come here for a spin facing the iron lady (Tour Eiffel) an ice skating ring of  300 m2, very nice. Going on from December 21st to January 8th on every day from 11h to 21h. Go in by the  Jardins du Trocadéro – 16éme. Together with a nice Christmas market; more in French here:  https://www.evous.fr/Trocadero-on-Ice-Le-village-de,1142457.html

The rooftop or  toit de la Grande Arche  going on from December 15 to January 14 ,you can come in costume too ,and a panoramic view of 360° of Paris. Skating between the towers of the Grande Arche. More in French here: http://www.ladefense.fr/en/agenda/une-patinoire-sur-le-toit-de-la-grande-arche

The ice skating in the forum des Halles is another popular one. It has the biggest Christmas market at Châtelet, around the fountain or fontaine des Innocents. Grab some hot wine and on the floor, ice skating that is. It will be from December 15 to January 14 with times differences on December 15 from 14h to 19h ; December 16-17 from 11h to 19h and December 18-22 from 14h to 19h and December 23 to January 14 from 11h to 19h; entrance by 101, rue Porte Berger – 1éme.  More here: http://forumdeshalles.com/access

The patinoire du Champ-de-Mars or ice skating under the Tour Eiffel with a nice smallish this year village de Noël or Christmas market with cabins, chalets and of course the ice skating on the  Champ-de-Mars. It will be from December 21th to January 8 2018. Entrance at Champ-de-Mars / 2, allée Adrienne Lecouvreur – 7éme: more here: https://quefaire.paris.fr/40055/le-village-de-noel-du-champs-de-mars

And those looking for the Christmas market on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées look no more there won’t any due to dispute between the organizer’s and the city of Paris. Always looking to get more money from all. However, there are many all over the city, these are. In French: https://quefaire.paris.fr/38452/les-marches-de-noel-parisiens

What the city of Paris is doing is encouraging more natural stuff like beers !!! The city has a project on the harvesting of hops. The city has given about 10 sites to encourage this culture of harvesting. The idea is to plant in Spring and have the first harvest in September 2018; this to do a good Parisian beer. Others have taken the same idea further like the roof or  toits de l’Opéra Bastille that will host a hops maker and a microbrewery to produce about 8000 liters of beer. We can already talk about the Chai de Bercy,  another project to help create microbreweries in Paris , more of this brewery is at Brasserie éphémére du Chai de Bercy, 41 rue Paul-Belmondo, 12éme : and more info on this city of Paris initiative here:  https://www.paris.fr/actualites/appel-a-projet-pour-la-culture-du-houblon-a-paris-5317

Now let’s talk about an area of Paris with few tourists, because it is chic , residential and nice. My favorite area of Paris indeed; just for the ambiance, the cachet, and the good stuff found there many firsts for me and still go there. A bit of well more of the chic 16 arrondissement de Paris.

In about 20 years all the tendance chic of Paris was done on the east side. About 10 years it went to the North, and today it comes back to the west of  Paris. The sixteen or 16 district or arrondissement of Paris is up and well the chic area of Paris not now but made famous now again.  Call it the Snob, new rich or worse the new intellectual and artistic elites had left for the 10éme or 11éme and more daring to the 19éme and 20éme.  However, the embassies, museums, monuments, restaurants and cafés with terraces, the merchants and the street life, the parks, and gardens all dominated by the tour Eiffel; you are looking for a chic way of life, high class, excellent schools and peaceful living away from the noise of the city because the 16éme is a little Paris all by itself and it is big abuot 8 square kilometers  divided in two, south and north with each their own postal code. And divided encore into four neighborhood as Etoile-Trocadéro, Passy, Auteuil and Dauphine.(Paris has 20 districts or arrondissement and 80 neighborhoods or quartiers or 4 by district).

You can do a walk or tour on the Palais de Tokyo,in the marines museum or musée de la Marine ,and end with a dinner on the restaurant du Café de L’homme with its panoramic view of the Tour Eiffel.  The Wednesdays and Saturdays come to the avenue du Président Wilson,to do the market days with colorful stands to mingle with locals and tourists alike. All visitors dreaming of living in one of the apartments overlooking the Seine river and its quais as well as the tour Eiffel.  The Troca as we call it or Trocadéro is full of life with skaters of all ages on the esplanade, terraces cafés with full of students, Parisians and tourists.  There is always a line at Carette for its macaroons famous since 1927, the most sold in the world today!  The young likes to mingle around rue de Passy, for shopping where all the majors brands are.

If New-York has it’s Central Park (been there), Paris ,and more specifically the 16éme has the Bois de Boulogne ,and like the 846 hectares of the woods are not enough the gardeners has planted trees on the big arteries of the district such as the avenue Henri Martin, avenue George Mandel, avenue Foch (the biggest avenue in the city!), boulevard Flandrin,  boulevard Suchet, square Lamartine (with the famous water fountain drinkable! The parc Bagatelle and its flowers, the jardin du Ranelagh (lovely with a statue to La Fontaine) full of families and the prestigious theater or Théâtre de Guignol and its old swings , the greenhouse or  serres d’Auteuil,and its botanical garden or jardin botanique, and the wonderful Jardin d’Acclimatation for the pleasure of kids of all generations of Parisians (mine love it several times in it) , and now the biggest building there the Fondation Louis Vuitton.  The 16éme is the perfect harmony of city and nature.

For the lovers of sports, nothing to stop you from a Sunday morning baskets or jogging around the inferior lake in the Bois de Boulogne or  Lac intérieur du Bois. You can drink wonderful water at the Chalet des Iles (you can access by barge or small boats).  The nice municipal pool Molitor now better and modern has reopen its doors and pool.  The lovers of tennis are in high ground at the Roland Garros or give a shot at the stadium or Stade Jean Bouin.  There are cabins in the Parc des Princes as well.  There are many private roads and mansion houses hiding gorgeous gardens; the mansions or villa Montmorency, villa Saïd , and villa Dupont will make you dream to buy one. The busy shopping streets always vibrant and good neighborhood ambiance such as at rue d’Auteuil, rue de la Pompe ,and  rue de l’Annonciation. Chic my favorite, the 16 is it for Paris,eternal, for lovers of life and beauty. Enjoy it; Cheers.

Have a great start of the week, we are already in December and the season to be merrier is here. Happy Holidays to all.