This afternoon I took a stroll around the Île St Louis. It was a beautiful autumnal day and when my favourite Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong track shuffled into my headphones, I felt a shamlessly clichéd drop of Paris, je t’aime. I had to stop and take this photo.
Where?
Pont Saint Louis 75004 Paris
What’s playing today?
Can’t we be friends by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
When a friend offered me two tickets to this year’s Salon du Chocolat professional trade show, I felt almost like Charlie Bucket winning his golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.
For the 17th year running, the event kicked off with a ‘Chocolate Trends’ fashion show with pieces produced by a collaboration of young designers and renowned chocolate makers. The show saw a host of French celebrities (including the former Miss France) take to the catwalk dressed in the finest and most delectable edible garments.
The Salon du Chocolat showcases both world-class chocolatiers and international cocoa growers. We saw live demonstrations as well as exhibitions of the most intricate and exquisite sculptures constructed entirely from chocolate.
Even the flower decorations were carved out of chocolate…
From what I experienced on Friday, the event promotes the discovery of new flavours. I tasted products from Argentina to Ghana. I found the African contributions particularly interesting – there was less focus on wacky creations and more emphasis on investing efforts and imagination in the fight against poverty. The National Cocoa and Coffee Board is based in the Cameroon and aims to promote a sustainable cocoa and coffee sector.
A very sweet start to the weekend!
Where?
Salon du Chocolat – Porte de Versailles 75015 Paris
What’s playing today?
James Blake’s cover of my favourite Joni Mitchel song, A Case Of You
Last night I was at the opening of Verjus, a new bar à vin tucked behind the Jardin du Palais Royal. And what a gem it is – a beautiful steel top bar, softly lit stoned walls and a wooden sidebar scattered with twinkling tea lights. The perfect spot for a first date.
Verjus is the latest project from Branden and Laura, the team behind Paris’s private supper club, Hidden Kitchen. The place was brimming with friends, acquaintances and people like myself who was lucky enough to have heard about it through the grapevine of a friend and honorary barman at the neighbouring Juveniles wine bar. At the back of the bar is a wine cellar and a spiral staircase that leads up to the restaurant due to open sometime in the next month.
For the wine, we enjoyed a delicious Sauvignon, the taste of which was perfectly described as freshly cut grass. It was indeed summer in a glass and, despite the premature wintry chills outside, each sip brought to mind mid-summer days spent lounging in the garden.
As the wine flowed, little dishes circulated the room with the savoury aromas of braised meatballs, matchstick fries and other delights – hopefully a taste of what’s soon to come from the 2nd floor.
Where?
Verjus – 47 rue Montpensier 75001 Paris * Métro – Palais Royal or Pyramides
What’s playing today?
A beautiful rendition of Don’t Go To Strangers by Amy Winehouse and Paul Weller
This afternoon I’m fighting through a delirious food coma to bring news of a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant in my neighbourhood, ParisHanoi. As a street-long queue of eager diners snakes along rue Charonne, I feel like the tail end should be holding signs that read, “yes, it really is worth the wait!” It’s a snug fit, but this just adds to the lively bistro buzz, which is perfect for an evening date or lunch with the girls – as I did today.
With temperatures outside soaring to the 30˚C mark, I decided that a fresh bò bún (noodle salad) would be the perfect accompaniment to the October Indian summer. And it truly was.
Bò Bún Nem
Served in a colossal porcelain bowl, the Bò Bún Nem is a generous mound of crunchy lettuce, carrots, bean sprouts and cold rice vermicelli dressed in sweet sesame and soy. Add to this thick chunks of sautéd beef, crispy pork nems (spring rolls), peanuts and fresh coriander – the dish is bursting with flavour and all for just €10.50. In fact, nothing on the menu is over €12.
ParisHanoi doesn’t take reservations so it’s best to arrive early or be prepared to wait in line with torturous wafts of sizzling lemongrass chicken or fragrant chilli prawns. With so much on the menu still to try and nothing but a 5-minute stroll between the resto and my house, I fear that I might be headed towards a Hanoi overdose. It can’t be helped…addiction is a disease.
Where?
ParisHanoi – 74, rue de Charonne 75011 Paris * Métro: Charonne or Ledru-Rollin
How much?
What’s playing today?
my favourite Miriam Makeba song, Kilimanjaro, covered by a great British band, the Noisettes.
When a friend asked me to help research a piece she was writing on Parisian salons de thé, it took me all of 4 seconds to valiantly accept. What sort of friend would I be if I didn’t agree to spend an afternoon indulging in tea and cake?
Tea Corner is a lovely little spot just off rue Montorgeuil in the 2nd arrondissement. In keeping with our beloved British teatime, we arrived in the late afternoon to find a couple of fellow tea drinkers peacefully buried behind books and laptops.
On Jane’s recommendation we ordered 2 mugs of Chaï tea and a delightful little muffin.
Thé Chaï
The Chaï arrived with a special infuser and a mini hourglass. The waitress explained that once the last grains of yellow sand had passed through the timer, the tea would have had enough time to perfectly infuse. And like clockwork, 5 minutes later the black tea leaves were ready to be drained, leaving a creamy cardamom and clove-infused milk.
Our muffin came straight out of the oven with a cheeky warm Nutella filling and an extra dollop on the side. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
Muffin au coeur de Nutella
Where?
Tea Corner – 6 Rue Mandar 75002 Paris * Métro – Etienne Marcel
How much?
What’s playing today?
I used to have it all by Maverick Sabre
As autumn dawns, Paris is alive with svelte mannequin replicas clad in this season’s must-haves, clutching the obligatory Vogue cigarette. Beautiful people dripping with couture; it must be Paris Fashion Week.
Whether you’re an avid fashion follower, a daring trendsetter or proudly indifferent to the on-goings of the fashion glitterati, it’s hard to deny that style is subliminally stitched into this city.
from the Petals & Split Stems collection by Lasskaa
Designers, editors and chief fashion figures gathered in Paris amid soaring temperatures to view the Spring/Summer 2012 collections. I’ve been quite blown away by images emerging from the Haider Ackermann show – beautifully tapered trouser suits in sumptuous aubergine silks and rich gothic satins. The pure decadency of colour and fabric alone could have aroused the city’s Indian summer heat.
Image by Vladmire Potop - http://www.fashion.telegraph.co.uk
The season closed with a magical show by Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton, which saw Kate Moss and a fleet of models twirl around on a fairground carousel before individually gracing the catwalk. The theme was reportedly part inspired by the Jardins de Tuileries’s own merry-go-round. And the show’s success has further fuelled rumours of Jacobs as the frontrunner for John Galliano’s replacement at Dior.
Struck by the fashion fever last night, I joined a friend and creator of Lasskaa shoes for the BON Magazine cocktail party. Hosted at a gallery space on rue de Montmorency, it was every bit the fashion soirée: a live DJ, free bar and a parting gift of Diana F+ Lomo’s and copies of BON’s latest issue.
The crowd of international fashionistas included noted trend spotter and blogger, Face Hunter. Guests decked out in an array of high-wasted cigarette pants, black leather and red lip were spilling onto the cobbled streets of the Marais as we tried to contend with the sultry evening heat.
Where?
Bon Magazine cocktail party
What’s playing today?
Settle Down by Kimbra
