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  • Bugatti type 35 Jean Luc Decluzeau Salon du Chocolat 2022 colleensparis
    Events and Trade Shows,  Food, Drink & Health,  Going Out,  Life in Paris & France

    The Salon du Chocolat 2022 Offered Fashion and a Chocolate Bugatti

    What do you do with 400 kilos (881 pounds) of chocolate? You build a Bugatti Grand Prix type 35, of course! The Bugatti was one of the numerous creative chocolate sculptures at the Salon du Chocolat’s 27th edition in Paris at Porte de Versailles.  The event is always scheduled for the last weekend in October. When I arrived, I headed past the chocolate sculptures, the chocolate tastings, the bean-to-bar stands and straight to the fashion parade of fifteen chocolate-covered dresses and costumes. The announcer was loud and clear, so the event had begun. With two afternoon start times, I would still see everything.  At the world’s largest event dedicated to cocoa, I…

  • ham and cheese sandwich the croque monsieur at the grocery store
    History,  Let's Explore,  Life in Paris & France

    How did le Croque-Monsieur get its name?

    Le croque-monsieur (croak-missyou) is THE real French sandwich. It is not just a ham and cheese sandwich made with two pieces of bread. It is toasted and it is famous. Le croque-monsieur is one particular sandwich that has made it's way from the brasserie and bistro to the microwave in France. Diners take photos of meals exquisitely arranged on the plate. Not many take a photo of a sandwich. These foods, however, do share something in common. They are available in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.

  • Image of Nathalie from Bring France Home in her shop rue de Birague
    Practical Info,  Specialty shops

    Bring France Home and Support Small Businesses

    “We’re still here,” said Nathalie as she dusted the Paris dust off the shelves and products. Bring France Home is your Made in France shop on rue de Birague and online. Click on the categories at the bottom of their webpage to fill your shopping basket! The Eiffel Tower jewelry (category “jewels”) is unique to Bring France Home from their neighbor jeweler: Galerie UBU. Nathalie is optimistic for this year, but her shop and others need the international tourists back to survive. Chamber of Commerce (CCI) research in October 2019 showed that 80% of a shop’s revenue came from international tourists...... Click on the title to read more and watch…

  • Fondation Louis Vuitton shuttle facing Arc de Triomphe next to metro
    Let's Explore,  Museums,  Practical Info,  Transportation

    Shuttle Arc de Triomphe to Fondation Louis Vuitton

    Do you prefer light, airy, electric transportation? Would you like a scenic ride along the fashionable Avenue Foch to and from the Arc de Triomphe? When you plan a visit to the Fondation Louis Vuitton (FLV) you have alternatives: Line 1, Buses 63 or 244 or the FLV shuttle. The requirement to use the shuttle is to have an admission ticket to the museum. Oh my! What if you decide to go to the museum on a whim and have not purchased a ticket!?

  • Image of book The Food Lover's Guide to Paris for review
    Book Reviews,  Practical Info

    The Food Lover’s Guide to Paris: Tempting!

    When is the last time you read a food guide in one sitting? The Food Lovers's Guide to Paris is the first food book I ever read cover to cover in one day. I can personally recommend it and say, "delightfully delicious".  You are introduced to the book with a casual overview of then and now and reassured that French cuisine is here to stay. The guide is simply laid out and begins with a map and arrondissement locations of places mentioned in the guide. In the "How-to-Guide" section Helen Massy-Beresford gives essential courtesy tips. She then moves shows you to your table of dining or specialty shop pleasures with…

  • Fixed Paris taxi fare from right bank plus supplement for reserving day of reservation
    Practical Info,  Transportation

    Fixed Taxi Fare Between Paris and Airports – Strike Tips

    Strikes getting the best of you? Book a taxi on the G7 Book a Taxi page in advance to get to the airports. Usually you can either step outside and into a taxi or book the same day. With the strikes, you want to reserve a taxi, with G7 whether going to the airport or into Paris. Taxi stands are outside the airport and do not usually have to be booked in advance. Rates vary between Rossy-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Orly (ORY). After an expensive experience pre-fixed rates, I had a rude surprise. Being stuck in traffic to the airport Roissy-Charles de Gaulle one day, an anxious feeling came over…

  • facade view of Hôtel de Mayenne Rue de Rivoli and a Philippe Starck history marker
    History,  Let's Explore

    Paris History One Translate App Away

    The upside down paddles on the sidewalks around Paris are history markers of the city. The Philippe Starck-designed paddles are in French. When walking and not speaking French you can read them. Shocking? No. Simply install the Google Translate application on your smartphone. How to do it follows this short story. Background story The paddles first appeared in 1992, the year I moved to Paris. The city of Paris contracted with JCDecaux to install the “pelles Starck” to inform the strolling passer-by about a monument, an event, an historical moment, a theater, a passage, etc. Jacques Chirac, then mayor of Paris, initiated the project. For me the shape of the…

  • Practical Info,  Transportation

    Travel Paris with Updated RATP App

    Getting around Paris is improving in French and English is getting easier. The RATP application has been updated and the Paris bus network has also updated many routes. The benefits of the application updates? After choosing the route to your destination, the metro lines the application propose include exit tips: which car and which exit number.

  • Annabel Simms' latest release Half an Hour From Paris
    Book Reviews,  Day Trip

    Annabel’s Book for Secret Day Trips Half Hour from Paris

    Antiquity, countryside and history greet you in Annabel Simms' book, "Half an Hour from Paris ... 10 Secret Daytrips by Train". First you have to find your way there. Annabel Simms arranges the book like a quality French baguette au levain sandwich: yummy ingredients between the crunchy crusts. This is a book of self-guided walking tours of various lengths.