Paris

Me scribbling in Venice, by Doug StirlingA few months back Samar A Abulhassen sent around a set of questions about notebooks and our relationship to them as authors. I thought I might post my thoughts on them as I feel right now like my current journal and I are close friends, the kind that are irritatingly inseparable and who keep secrets from the rest of the world. It is a curious interaction given that last summer and even most of last year I felt estranged from my journals and notebooks. But a few thoughts I had when Samar asked her questions are below--with hopes that other authors might post comments back about their own use of notebooks and thoughts on journal keeping.Jen and her Journals / notebooks:One of the things I tell authors who are stuck is "get a new notebook, one that is a different shape". I thus can say there are notebooks galore chez moi. I have lots of little "unfinished" notebooks--long thin ones to change the shape of the prose poems or poems I was writing at the time, or conveniently small ones for scribbling on the metro, or gigantic ones so I can write randomly and large--all of which really serve the purpose of getting me going as I finish one project and lean into the next. But I also have an entirely different relationship to two kinds of notebooks that go through the Writing at Kate Van Houten's house in Normandyages--one is the journal notebooks. These are collaged, painted, scribbled and written in. My one consistency is that I prefer they be unlined, around the same size (6x8.5cm in general) and I have moved away from any sort of spiral though I did have a phase of that years ago. I write in them in many directions. I stick notes in them and glue ticket stubs in them. I generally line the insides of the outer covers with stamps from letters received during the period I was writing in that particular journal. I have notes in French and English from conferences or good books, and bits and pieces of poems or stories or whatnots. I also have the dulllllllll dulllllll self-depricating "I should be..." to do listing moments and the repetitions that people them, alongside the far more exciting (at least to me) writing of dreams, which I like rereading from time to time. I do at times use them to reflect through something in my poetry. They do however feel stacked along shelves to no decent end. But then again,perhaps that is just what they need to do--wait until I am ready to go pillage them again?But I also have another sort of notebook--they are really the ones where things happen. Lined in general and A4 size as I need the space, they are where the drafts of most poems really are, and they are in no particular order and sometimes the things pulled out of them get typed up which is already a first revision and other times they just linger there until I toss out the pages.In the end, notebooks function like sketch pads for me, places to doodle and what emerges may or may not get worked on later.

France and England have been inextricably linked for hundreds of years, so when British landscape designer, Deborah Hart, bought her French country house 5 years ago in the small, southwest village of Estang, she seamlessly brought the best of both worlds together. Read More...

Falling in love with a little custardie cake, le Canelé, can be quite deleterious to your health. I'd resisted the flirtatious wiles of the canelé for a long time, but at the Perigord Foire the old coup de foudre/flash of lightening hit and it hard. Handmade by Lucette of Hautefort in Perigord using walnuts picked from her own grove (usually only vanilla and rum are the only addends to the egg and milk mixture), these rustic babies were irresistible. I even went back to the well for a third helping(!) and decided I must do some caparitive analysis with Parisian canelés. Research began Sunday morning right after a dunk in the pool at nearby boulangerie, Le Moulin de la Vierge. Le Moulin is one of the prettiest of Paris' boulangeries but see the yellow tops on these canelés? That's a no-no according to Paula Wolfert and top pastry chefs of Bordeaux. These little cakes originated over 300 years ago either by nuns (nuns get a lot of credit for creating cakes in France by the way) or else by poor Bordelaises down by the waterfront with bits of leftover flour and egg yolk etc. Next stop Maison Lemoine originating in Bordeaux with branches in St.-Emilion, Sarlat, Cap-Ferret.Even Lemoine's logo is a canele cakeThey sell the preferred copper molds or moules to make these puppies or you can find silicone molds in any Paris pastry supply shop.Lemoine makes a soft/moille canele and a crispy or croustillant version with a more crunchy caramelized outer shell. Both had a cakey aroma or nez. The crispy version can be quite chewy.Just across the street on rue St. Dominique patisserie Jean Millet is a member of Relais Desserts so anything they do is generally delish.Note the spelling here all you ex-French teachers!Only authentic cakes from Bordeaux are allowed to use the single N in the spelling. It's the law according to 88 pastry chefs of Bordeaux who hold dear the secret recipe to this little cake.Only about 1 1/2" high but there's a lot of protection for this recently back-in-fashion pastry - just the past 20 years or so.The biggest Bordeaux brand of canele is Baillardran. They have a shop in gare Montparnasse.They offer 3 levels of quality. I got the 'traditional', their top canele with visible flecks of vanilla, a rummy aroma and a little red paper crown for 2.30 euros.Still after tasting as many of Paris' best example to be found on a rainy Sunday afternoon none comes close to the artisanally made canele by Lucette from La Noix Patiente/ the patient nut of the Perigord fair at Montmartre. I should have known and not gone off on a tasting tangent that has left me with a tummy ache. These little cakes are meant to be eaten just one at a time. And multiple taste-testing by one person is not such a hot idea. I guess I'll have to visit Perigord if I want another ONE!

Jacket: Sandro | Jeans: DL1961 | Shoes: Rolando Santana | T-Shirt: Citizens of Humanity | Corset: H&M Trend (old) | Bag: Neri Karra | Beetle necklace: Rachel Entwistle via Boticca I've been wanting to wear this jacket for close to 4 months and I cant believe it had been hanging in my closet all along. In all fairness, winter wasn't really the perfect time to wear it and since I have the matching shorts as well, I really need some better weather to sport them out. Do you also have certain pieces you have been saving for Summer? FACEBOOK ? TWITTER ? BLOGLOVIN'

I have always loved Middle Eastern foods. The fresh vegetables, the liberal use of herbs and seasonings, including a touch of spiciness at times, and the casual way of eating that the food encourages. Meze is the term that’s used to define all the “little plates” that get brought out to begin in a meal, served in little bowls often with pools of olive oil in the middle, waiting to be sopped up with soft pita or other flatbreads. When I wrote about the Lebanese meze I’d had on a trip to the Middle East, I didn’t realize that a number of people were all that interested in what vegetables went into it. (But who can blame them? I wanted to remake it, too.) Like a lot of those foods, people aren’t necessarily following recipes – they’re following their nose, and yup, you got it – they cook by taste. Continue Reading Labneh...

La Comédie Française has relocated during renovations to a temporary building built over the Pol Bury Fountains at the Palais Royal. This little one seems to be reading the signage and trying to decide whether or not to obey!

I adore the trés chic poster for the Cannes Film Festival 2013. It’s a remastered and redesigned photo of Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman taken for the 1963 film A New Kind of Love. It’s a tribute to Paul Newman who died in 2008. Newman and Woodward were originally honored in 1958 at the festival when they were in competition for the Martin Ritt film The Long Hot Summer. The president of the jury this year is Steven Spielberg and judges include Nicole Kidman, French actor Daniel Auteuil, director Ang Lee, and actor Christoph Waltz. Although The Great Gatsby was shown out of competition, it was hailed as the big event of the festival. Films in completion are from the U.S., France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Chad, Mexico, Japan, and China and include Beyond the Candelabra directed by Steven Soderbergh, Le Passé (The Past) directed by Asghar Farhadi, Un Chateau en Italie (A Castle in Italy) directed by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Venus in Fur directed by Roman Polanski, Nebraska directed by Alexander Payne, Jeune & Jolie (Young and Beautiful) directed by Francois Ozon, Grigris directed by Mahamat –Saleh Harqun, Inside Llewyn Davis directed by Ethan and Joel Coen, Only God Forgives directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, and Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw) directed by Takashi Miike. Somehow my invitation to attend all the glamorous events, parties, and screenings mysteriously disappeared in the mail. Perhaps I will have to wait to next year to walk down the red carpet. Cannes Film Festival 2013 Till May 26 http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en.htmlClick here to watch cool trailer with the Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward poster in it. I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more. Tours cost 210 euros for up to 3 people, and 70 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.  Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking ClassesI am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte's professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines. Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours) Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the marketClass days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, Saturday, and SundayMinimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.   New Eye Prefer Paris Photos for Sale I am happy to announce the sale of a new set of prints of my Eye Prefer Paris Photos.  I am offering 20 of my most popular and iconic images for sale including my doors, architectural details, statues, and monuments. They will make great gifts for all your Francophile friends, relatives, and colleagues but don't forget to buy some for yourself. Click here to see photos and for full details including sizes, prices, and shipping. Here is a sample of some of the photos.  

We're finally back from our first big family vacation which we spent, of course, in France. We spent a good 19 hours travelling yesterday, so right now, we're embracing our jetlag, slowly unpacking our overstuffed suitcases and trying to get back to normal life. (We're also crossing our fingers that we get a new water heater installed tomorrow because ours broke while we were away. Le sigh.)Avienne met so many new family and friends in France, and as exhausting as it all was, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment that we were able to meet up with so many folks in such a short time. I still have to sort through a crap-load of photos from this trip, but here is the first set of my favorites from the beginning of our adventure. ? Avienne spent quality time getting to know new family and visiting with her old favorites. ;)? Of course, family reunions call for cheese plates and fruit-covered tarts.? Avienne took her first trip on a train to visit friends in Caen.? Although thousands of miles away, we celebrated as Texans do and had margaritas on Cinco de Mayo...? ...and we barbecued (well, our hosts barbecued...I just ate and drank wine).? Fun times were aplenty, as usual.? We took a ferry to a little island called Chausey.? Avienne had a glorious time playing in the dirt with a new friend.? We spent most of the day walking around the entire island, soaking up the beauty all around. There were wildflowers springing out of sea rocks, clear, blue water in every direction, curious lizards and birds, and even a field of black sheep. A pirate ship even showed up on the horizion. I don't think I've ever been anywhere else as calm and quaint as Chausey. (I only saw one car on the whole island, and it was parked!)? We enjoyed a beautiful and peaceful day on the island, then headed back towards Caen before catching the train the next morning for Paris. I'm so glad we decided to start our trip out with a side-trip to see two of our absolutely favorite people. It helped us rest up and relax a bit before we started bouncing around Paris. I always leave Normandy ready to take on anything - somehow, it's where I always find my reset button.

Sanraku at the New Metreon Mall was a place I loved in November and elected to bring Colette and a French pal back to.  It's neat as a pin and looks out on the lovely Buena Yerba Garden.                 I seem to have had some shakiness in potographing our seafood salad, edaname and miso soups but they were anything but shaky - better than stanard by a long shot.                 For mains we went our separate but quite satisfied ways - Colette with a "dynamite" roll of yellow tail, shiso, cucumber, jalepeno, onion and yuzu-soy-sesame sauce; our french friend with his "combo" of California roll and shrimp tempura and me with another chirashi of sushi rice with about 10 fish and/or their roe on top.  All were exemplary. With two Sapporo draft beers, no bottled water, tea or coffee or dessert, our bill came to $52.94 a couple before tip. Go?  You bet.

I know there is a trick to do this, but I really wonder what it is! I saw several of them in Paris these past weeks (I think also last year) so I suppose it's the new trend (the fake still statues are so passé now!) - I photographed this one at the Beaubourg center. It's quite impressive anyway - If ever you have an explanation, please let us know! Have a nice week everyone... Here, it'll be raining until at least next Sunday!