Glimpses of Spring in Paris!

It's a beautiful Saturday morning. Well, in retrospect, the weather's been wonderful over the course of the entire week. Each day has clocked early spring temperatures, a dose of sunshine - and Parisians have steadilt made their ways to the banks of the Seine to catch a bit of sunshine - which this blogger did yesterday afternoon. Lovely!...

Delicious French Dinner, Fantastic Service: L'Encriere

Just returned from a great dinner with friends at a great restaurant that serves traditional food in a cosy setting - with round tables for larger groups. This is a perfect place to go out for a French dinner - the food is great, and the service is excellent. Definitely worth a visit!

Address:
55 Rue Traversiere,
75012
Paris
Tel 01 44 68 08 16
Metro: Ledru Rollin/Gare De Lyon
Link on Cityvox: http://www.cityvox.fr/restaurants_paris/l-encrier_14172/Profil-Lieu

La Sorbonne:-)

Images of the main building of the university of my closest confidant and friend in Paris, "La Sorbonne'..

An accidental favourite: Of "Kong" and "Sex and the City"

Trendy, sophisticated but warm, welcoming and cosy (well, apart from the slightly unfriendly menu price list), Kong is a beautiful place to wind down. Went out to this place with a dear friend, and loved it at first sight! :-) Click here





SUbsequently, it has emerged that Kong is actually quite famous. It features in the very last double episode of "Sex and The City" , the TV Series. More specifically, it is where Carrie meets her boyfriend's ex! Well, if anything, that's a good piece of trivia to retain . (see the clip below for a glimpse of Sex and the City scene featuring Kong!)

But, Sex and the City aside, Kong is a great venue in its own right. APart from it's spectacular view of Pont Neuf bridge (also a favourite of this blogger), the welcoming atmosphere that is nonetheless distinctly chic and stylish makes this a great 'find"!




Address: 1 Rue du Pont Neuf
75001 Paris, France
01 40 39 09 00
Subway: Châtelet

Hemingway's 1920s Paris!

Prior to coming to Paris, one of the books that I was most eager to get my hands on was Hemingway's " a moveable feast" - I had even thought of naming the blog " A moveable Feast" before I was lovingly told that the reference would be difficult to understand and meaningless. Not that Anon's Paris makes significantly more sense - but I digress. "A moveable feast' was one of those memoirs of a young person who lived in Paris for a while, fell in love with the place - so much that it ended up making a lasting impression upon his (Hemingway's) life. I imagined (rather presumptuously putting myself in the same league of Ernest Hemingway!) that I would definitely relate to author's memoirs of living in this city.

So, I was very pleasantly surprised to pick up a new edition of "A moveable feast' that incorporates parts of the manuscript initially edited out, while modifying some of the remaining sections.

Thus far, Hemingway's writing and description of an old Paris are captivating and vivid. As a case in point - walking on place St Michel will never be quite the same experience after reading Hemingway's description of a Paris that at once sounds extremely different from the one emerging at the dawn of the second century of the 21st century - while sounding largely familiar. Where Hemingway saw cafes, "boulangeries", bars - one can pretty much see the same today. Yet, his description of the decor, conditions and 'ambience' of 1920s bars sounds radically different from the contemporary age of well designed flushed toilets, electric air conditioning and anti-smoking regulations.

The book, so far, wins at powerfully painting images of a familiar but distant place, while presenting Hemingway's lucidly written memories of living in Paris during the 1920s.

(Glad to finally have a copy - picked up at Shakespeare and Company.)

Free Entrance to Paris Museums - First Sunday of the Month

Found this useful list of places that grant free entrance today, given that it is the first Sunday of the month!

i.Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine - Cité Chaillot - Place du Trocadéro (Paris 16e)
ii.Cité nationale de l'histoire et de l'immigration - Palais de la Porte Dorée (Billet jumelé Aquarium + Cité Nationale) (Paris 12e)
iii.Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Paris 3e)
iv. Musée de l'Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris - Musée AP-HP (Paris 5e)
v. Musée d'Orsay (Paris 7e)
vi. Musée du Louvre (Paris 1er)
vii. Musée du Quai Branly (Paris 7e)
viii. Musée Gustave Moreau (Paris 9e)
ix. Musée national d'art moderne - Centre Pompidou (Accès panorama gratuit le 1er dimanche du mois) (Paris 4e)
x. Musée national de l'Orangerie (Paris 1er)
xi. Musée national des Arts asiatiques - Panthéon bouddhique gratuit (Paris 16e)
xii.Musée national du Moyen Âge (Paris 5e)
xiii. Musée national Ernest Hébert (fermé pour travaux) (Paris 6e)
xiv. Musée national Eugène Delacroix (Paris 6e)
xv. Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner (Paris 17e)
xvi.Musée Picasso (fermé jusqu'en 2012) (Paris 3e)
xvii. Musée Rodin (Paris 7e)

Saint Sylvestre/New Years Eve in Paris

It's New Year's Eve, or 'la Saint-Sylvestre' in Paris and in keeping with tradition, there are a few things to expect of tonight/today - the eating of New Years' Eve staples - foie gras, papillotes and the drinking of mulled wine along with crucial, sparkling white alcoholic beverages to usher in 2011!

There is no excuse whatsoever to not join in tonight's festivities. The city provides a very enabling environment for celebration and the ushering in of a new year tailored to the tastes of this beautiful, cosmopolitan organism that is called Paris!

There is plenty on queue that can be easily accessed through google - it's quite fun to get educated on New Year's Eve traditions here, and all that I can say is that I'm excited and privileged to be here. Well, apart from the prospect of being witness to young men with overly high levels of testosterone burning people's cars in honour of the New Year - pretty much everything else seems open to the possibilities of a terrific New Years Eve in the city of lights!

Wikipedia gives an interesting contextualisation of New Years Eve in France, describing it as such:

New Years Eve in France

The French call New Year's Eve "la Saint-Sylvestre". It is usually celebrated with a feast called le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre (also called Cap d'Any in Northern Catalonia). This feast customarily includes special dishes like foie gras, seafood such as oysters and drinks like champagne. The celebration can be a simple, intimate dinner with friends and family or a much fancier ball (une soirée dansante).

On le Jour de l'An (New Year's Day), friends and family exchange New Year's resolutions kisses and wishes, the main ones being "Bonne Année", Bonheur, Sante, Amour, Argent ("Good Year", Happiness, Health, Love and Money). Some people eat desserts made of ice cream[19]

The holiday period ends on January 6 (The Twelfth Night) for the Epiphany, or Jour des Rois. On this day, they celebrate the Wise Men, eating a traditional type of flat pastry cake, la galette des rois, most often two sheets of puff pastry, filled with frangipane (almond paste). The cake contains a fève, small china character, that whoever finds becomes king or queen and get to wear a gold paper crown, then chose their partner. This tradition can last up to two weeks."

of the best sites on travel to Paris gives an extensive guide on what to do on New Years Eve in Paris - here

And it was quite nice seeing the Eiffel tower at news years eve 2009/2010 in this clip of New year celbrations around the world on France 24

While it's highly unlikely that I'll find myself at an energetic New Years' Eve party o club full of young undergraduates - this site for students on what to do tonight was interesting to look at for ideas. A couple of them, including dinner on a cruise on the Seine were interesting, but pricy little ideas on how to usher in the new year.

With all of this information - insight into preceding New Year's Eve celebrations, cultural practices ( what to say and eat ; anunderstanding of the risks ( car-burning disgruntled youth), Associated benefits (free transport on the metro) and the diverse options and market for "Saint-Sylvestre" celebrants - I'm ready to usher in 2011!!

Paris on Tranquilizer

A sense of 'normalcy' seems to be returning to Paris: there certainly are less armed men in camouflage bearing heavy duty guns in evidence everywhere, the excitement of street protests and revolt is no longer as palpable. Pedestrian traffic is notably thinner - many Parisians seem to be away for the week long holiday, as schools are out! And perhaps there is also the added calming effect of the Senate having pushed through controversial pension reforms, notwithstanding widespread protests and discontent with the legislation. Today would have also been the weekend after the Lady Gaga concert, but instead the shows were canceled and postponed to December. Paris is swallowing a huge , tranquilizing pill.

And the images emerging out the city as the nights set in earlier and become darker are beautiful - the 'city of light' is beginning to live up to its name in a stricter sense. As the passions of a very 'exciting' summer simmer down (i.e. the furore's over Betancourt, the Roma and the clash between Brussels and Paris, then the street protests) - a subtle entrance into Winter is setting in. There is the temporary hope that perhaps, just perhaps, Paris is about to calm itself. ...

Well, we'll see.

All about Pension reform: The week in retrospect

Click above for a comprehensive report on the battle over pensions.

Protests in France, O-bla-di- o-bla-da, life goes on in Paris

And so it happens that yet another week went past with the headlines dominated by reports on the tension surrounding the new pension reforms, lady Gaga cancellations and that was pretty much all that the news talked about. And for good reason, as the week progressed , the tenor of protests took on a violent tone- students jumped into the fray, transport networks were thrown into chaos. Fuel supplies cut off. Quite a week!

Yet, if you were going about your business, around the centre of Paris, there was little evidence of a crippling strike underway. If none of your kids (oif you do have are in one of the striking school, and if your route to and from work is pretty predictable - transport systems within PAris worked predictably, and there was not really much evidence of ordinary Parisans being brought to their knees by the strike.

The impact seemed to be carefully targeted at key national structures, with a clear objective to sent the message straight to the top. OF course, as the week progressed there were also several reported incidents of violent protestors burning cars for example, and targeting unsuspecting, hapless citizens - but on balance, what seems to have been the broader goal of powerful labour unions was to cripple key, strategic sectors of the economy - and bring the French government to the bargaining table.

WIth legislation passed, one would be blamed for assuming that protestors would have to necessarily acknowledge that they have lost this particular war and gear up to work an extra two years. After all, it would mean that the government would be better placed to generate more income into its pension fund piggy bank, while cutting the deficit which is burdened by debt and a pension program that will be extremely burdened with a growing aging population. One would be blamed for imagining that perhaps the French protestors would see working longer and doing their bit to leave a legacy for their kids and grand kids. But, the plan os to up the ante and protest more strongly next week. Perhaps that's when we'll get to witness the effects ore starkly in the centre of Paris

For now though, life goes on in Paris. There are still the quintessential and annoying tourists everywhere you turn, and beautifully for October - the sun comes out to shine and give us its of summer when autumn should be in full swing. The chatter around pension reform is distant from day to day life in Paris. It's a beautiful autumn, there is not much disruption to city life - life goes on!

don't say anything about it: gays in the french military

">Paris has held a long tradition of social and cultural openness: and prides itself as being welcoming to men and women regardless of their sexual orientation. The city's mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, is openly gay and well loved and received as an effective, competent mayor who has seen to the introduction of several public administration reforms.( including a much loved bike riding system!)

Yet, sexual orientation remains everything from an uncomfortable dinner conversation to an outrageous sign of the end of days as soon as one steps into one of the outlying suburbs of Paris and the "provinces". Whereas Delanoe is much loved as an openly gay mayor of Paris, it's doubtful whether he would be equally loved elsewhere - he even has had one assassination attempt in an apparent effort to rid France of his perceived abominable 'lifestyle choice' , by a concerned French citizen.

More tellingly, same sex couples enjoy far less privileges to those of their heterosexual counterparts and can only get partnered under a contract (PACS) with restricted benefits.

The rest of France, arguably still has quite a long way to go in their acceptance of "queer' folk. One area where this is clear is the military. Gays in the military remains something that you really don't talk about in France. France 24 recently put this issue of gays in the military up for debate (see link)