Surprising Car Doors

A Surprise Find: the Serpentine and the Car Doors
Paris is full of surprises, and this one is great.
Le Passage Serpentine hosts the Passage d’Art Contemporain, a wonderful concept that’s been going for 2 years now. The winding corridor (hence the serpent name) that leads to the parking spaces in the Rennes parking garage (just off [...]

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Les Bouquinistes

Les Bouquinistes, a feature of Paris.
(Second-hand book and print sellers)

Most people, including me, seem to love wandering along the edge of the Seine and browsing the wares of the bouquinistes in green metal boxes (boîtes), displaying old and used books, magazines, prints, posters etc. It’s lovely to walk under the trees, especially in autumn [...]

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Rugby Fever. The World Cup is Over

I’m not really a rugby fan, but it was impossible to be untouched by the game here in France. The Rugby World Cup began about a month after we arrived and even before that the advertising, merchandise selling, and preparations were intense. Rod loves rugby and follows it closely, and we were able to watch [...]

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Looking for Loos

Where to go, when you ‘gotta go’.
It’s not always easy to find public toilets in Paris (or any of France for that matter), so our unofficial rule is “when you see one…go”. They are usually called WC or ‘toilettes’, never ‘restrooms’ (not that I’ve seen anyway). It’s not a bad idea to carry extra tissues [...]

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Not a Tourist Anymore?

“Non-Tourist” Feeling
I travel into the city of Paris and back home again on the RER B trains, with other commuters and locals going about their business, all chatting in French, to each other or on their cell phones, or reading a French newspaper—Le Monde is popular, but so are the free ones found on the [...]

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Paris Strike: Dear Train Drivers

(For a summary of strike experiences go to France/Paris Life)
October 23, 2007, Paris, France:
Dear Monsieur/Madame Train Driver (especially of the RER B lines):
As short-term residents here in the southern suburbs of your beautiful city, we’d like to comment on the recent, and ongoing, disruptions in the transport system, the ‘grève”. The Cité and the Paris [...]

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Paris Strike

Look under France/Paris Life for a write-up of the Strike

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Paris Ads: Bold and bright

(Click on the thumbnail pics to get a bigger pic)
Big, bright, colorful ads are an obvious feature here in Paris and Ile de France. Bold and obvious, you can’t miss them. They decorate train station platforms and line Metro corridors especially, and I find myself looking out for them. They are a lot of fun [...]

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The Pluses of Extra Time

Advantages of Living somewhere other than your home town.
Especially if it’s a wonderful destination like Paris!
One of the biggest advantages of living here in Paris for 6 months is that we have the luxury of time. I’m blessed with the luxury of going slow, something we can almost never do when we’re regular travelers on [...]

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Croque Monsieur

(Also check out new postings on French Notes, and France/Paris Life)
What is this Croque Monsieur we often see on casual menus?
(It translates as Mr. Croque. It might be linked to the verb “croquer” = to bite into, to crunch).
Well, it’s a simple idea with a fancy name, maybe, but very tasty and very popular. Basically, [...]

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