Colleen's Paris Blog !

Paris Home Show (Foire de Paris) – Ideas, Food...

The weather may look cloudy for my visit on Friday, but it looks like...

Paris Transport Tickets, Maps And Definitions

Anyone who traveled to Paris a few years ago and stayed for a week...

Use Navigo for Weekend and Holiday Advantages

Travel in All Zones Without Extra Charge on Weekends/Holidays Beginning September 2012, Stif introduced...

Musée d'art et histoire du Judaïsme-Capa, Taro & Chim, Paris La Valise Mexicaine, The Mexican Suitcase

Treasures in a Mexican Suitcase

An acquaintance mentioned to me the name of an exhibit she had seen and...

Paris Home Show (Foire de Paris) – Ideas, Food and Inventions

By Colleen's Paris

May 1, 2013

The weather may look cloudy for my visit on Friday, but it looks like a good day for the Paris Home Show. The Foire de Paris has been a happening event 109 times since 1904. The Big Show continues until the 12th of May. Looking for ideas to remodel your home à la Française? Share ideas with an expected 620,000 others at Porte de Versailles in the south of Paris. Approximately 1,900 exhibiters are housed within the 281,000 square feet of space. The Foire de Paris Website is in French, the ideas presented speak in universal tongues. The Paris home show map shows how to find three themes: Home, decorations and food; outdoors ideas and products and food from the tropics and other cultures. Ideas and Food How will the locals spend on average $800 during their visit to the Foire de Paris? If you can’t buy that refrigerator, you may...
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Paris Transport Tickets, Maps And Definitions

By Colleen's Paris

April 19, 2013

Anyone who traveled to Paris a few years ago and stayed for a week or a month was able to buy a “Carte Orange” travel pass. Le passe Navigo is the electronic version of the old pass. As of September 1, 2012, STIF has instituted a “dézonage” for monthly/annual Navigo pass holders. Between Friday midnight and Sunday midnights and holidays midnight to midnight, Navigo users can travel to the furthest zones without paying an extra tariff. If you will be staying in Paris for a month or more or are returning often to Paris, apply for the le passe Navigo découverte. When you plan to do more than four trips on public transportation during a 24-hour period (midnight to midnight), the Mobilis pass is the best quality-price ration purchase. More Mobilis help from Transilien: Definition and current rates and tickets and fares of all transport tickets in Paris. The “ T+...
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Use Navigo for Weekend and Holiday Advantages

By Colleen's Paris

April 19, 2013

Travel in All Zones Without Extra Charge on Weekends/Holidays Beginning September 2012, Stif introduced a new formula for traveling within the five zones of the department, Île-de-France, which includes Paris using the Navigo Monthly and Navigo Annual passes (not the weekly, Mobilis or Paris Visite). This new service is for the metro, bus, tramway, weekend night buses (Noctilien), RER and regional Transilien trains. The press release, available in French, about the dézonage of the Navigo Pass explains the new system for reduced fares within the Île-de-France area. This service is valid from Friday midnight to Sunday midnight and holidays, midnight to midnight. On a Saturday, we used our Navigo (annual pass) to travel between downtown Paris and Val d’Europe for La Vallée Shopping Outlet Mall. The pass worked going and worked returning. Our annual pass is for Zones 1 and 2. Val d’Europe and Disneyland Paris are in Zone 5. The medieval town of...
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Treasures in a Mexican Suitcase

By Colleen's Paris

April 16, 2013

An acquaintance mentioned to me the name of an exhibit she had seen and liked: “La Valise mexicaine, Capa, Taro, Chim-Les négatifs retrouvés de la guerre civile espagnole“ . The mysterious name drew me to the exhibit housed in the Paris Jewish museum. “The Mexican Suitcase, rediscovered spanish Civil War negatives“ is on display until June 30, 2013 at the Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme. During the course of the exhibit, I found out that four photojournalists and friends could support themselves as photographers in Paris, a female was a pioneering war photographer, and that when you have a chance to flee a dangerous situation, you leave valuable things behind. Hard-core evidence of four and a half years in the span of history and the Spanish Civil War disappeared in 1939. Negatives in the boxes The valuable things are called “the suitcase”. “The suitcase” is three small boxes containing nearly...
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Beloved Hair (Cheveux Cheris) Exhibit at Quai Branly

By Colleen's Paris

April 16, 2013

Cheveux Cheris, Musee Quai Branly, exhibit September 18, 2012 to July 14, 2013

Who could ever imagine the important role hair plays in our lives. It plays a role of power, in tradition and fashion. Hair links the living to the supernatural. “Cheveux Cheris, Frivolités et trophées” is the Musée Quai Branly‘s exhibit about beloved hair, its trophies and trifles until July 14, 2013. Audio guides are available at the museum. Download the iPhone and iPad audio guide on iTunes; I found no app on Android. The advantage of download is you can listen again even after the exhibit closes. Hair plays and has played a subtle and important role throughout history. Louis XIV was losing his hair at the age of seventeen. He needed hair. Kings since Samson wore long hair as a crown of power. What did he do? He ordered a wig and began an entire industry. In Egypt a shaved head identified someone as a high priest to the...
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Best Croissants in Paris-Figaroscope’s Ranking

By Colleen's Paris

January 21, 2013

Croissant from La Baguette Tardif-Figaroscope article on Best Croissants in Paris

When travelers arrive hungry in Paris, isn’t the croissant one of the visitor’s first thoughts? How do you choose a croissant? What’s the criteria. Have you ever seen one made in front of your very eyes? Croissant aficionados, prepare yourself to indulge. The best time to indulge in a croissant is in the morning. This might mean either anticipating its appearance in front of an oven or breathlessly waiting at a counter. After tasting thirty Paris croissants, the French newspaper, le Figaro, has published its ranking of the best croissants in Paris. I felt this was important enough to warrant front page publication on Colleen’s Paris. The last time I wrote about croissants was in 2006 (Croissant Tasting – la dégustation) after a Figaro article and rating in 2006. Le Figaroscope, the Wednesday supplement of le Figaro, published an article that begs to answer the question: “Where does one find the best...
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What To Do BEFORE Your Cell Phone Is Stolen

By Colleen's Paris

January 21, 2013

iPhone find your IMEI number in case of theft

“Estelle” flew into Paris for business. She went to a Starbucks and set down her iPhone. Someone came up to her with a piece of paper. When “Estelle” looked at the paper, by sleight of hand the phone disappeared, in a second. A purse can disappear just as quickly. Set it down to try on shoes, someone comes from behind and the purse disappears! The difference is that you can save your phone from being used. Copy down the IMEI number from your iPhone . The calls can be blocked, if you report your phone stolen to the nearest phone service or a company similar to yours from home: Orange, Vodaphone, Virgin, etc. . Finding the IMEI number One way to quickly find your IMEI number and jot it down is by pressing *#06#. Other methods include connecting the phone to your iTunes or your invoice. 1. Look for...
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The Multi-Cutural Background of “The Arabian Nights”

By Colleen's Paris

January 15, 2013

Ida Rubinstein and Vaslav Nijinski by George Barbier (1913) for the Diaghilev Russian ballet "Shéhérazade" poster

The exhibit of ”Les Mille et Une Nuits” at the Institute du Monde Arabe (IMA)-until April 28, 2013-is an adventure. The exhibit’s adventure of Alf Layla (“Arabian Nights”) begins with the tale’s historical texts and the translations. The exhibit transports the visitor across geographical regions. The names of countries, cities, trade routes and seas are a road map of fantasy and adventure. Costumes of war, layouts of palaces, images of daily street life, fantasies in imaginary worlds transport the visitor into the imaginary world of modern arts: film, ballets and paintings. Even if the visitor has not read a story, it is evident that the stories have enchanted and continue to enchant the world. The volumes traverse many cultures and interpretations. They are known in English by two names: “The Thousand and One Nights” and “The Arabian Nights”. The origin of the ”The Nights” is Indo-Persian. Evidence shows they existed during the time...
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