Thursday Food for Thought: Summer heat? Make Ice-Cream

Personally I think ice-cream is good any time of year but the Summer heat always seems to bring on the need (for me), to have more ice-cream. Children big and small have been enjoying this delicious iced treat for ages. This Thursday, we share one of our favorite ice-cream recipes courtesy of David Lebovitz.

Wednesday Wanderings: Taking off at the Paris Air Show

For this weeks Wednesday Wanderings I take you to the breath taking Paris Air show which was held at Le Bourget. This was a brilliant day out & is definitely not just an event for boys who like big toys!

Tuesday Tidbit: Scooters in Paris

During your stay here in Paris why not try living like a true Parisian and get around the beautiful city on a Scooter!

Two very different types of tours, which would you prefer scooter or bus?!

Win a 5 course meal with Chef André Chiang in Paris, An Untapped Exclusive

Have you heard about Chef André Chiang? Well his restaurant was listed as one of the top 10 restaurants in the world worth a plane ride." Now that's gotta mean something, no? Well Michelle Young of Untapped Paris has a very interesting offer for all you foodies.

Mojita et Bob - Thursday food for thought, Tapas style!

One of the mottos of the restaurant Mojita et Bob is that they like short menus without chichi details. I like this too! So if my ethos matches that of a restaurant will I like its food? In this case the answer is a refreshingly short and sweet Yes! One good thing (among many) about going to a restaurant with the knowledge that I am going to write about it is the desire to try out things I perhaps normally wouldn't. And the perfect places to fulfill this wish are restaurants with tasting menus, platters and appetizers, and tapas. In this case tapas is the name of the game, but tapas with a twist.

It was La Fete! Wanderings at the Fête de la Musique!

Yesterday's musical celebrations brought crowds, ambience, and some great sounds to the streets of Paris.  Here we bring you a few of our pics of the goings-on at the Fête de la Musique.  Some interesting sights included street barbecues, crazy dancing old men, an indian chief, and plenty of impromptu high fives!

Tuesday Tidbit: Paris fashion capital of the world

As most of us well know the sales are starting in Paris tomorrow and everybody is VERY excited! But the sales and fashion are not just reserved for us ladies, so be prepared to fight off both men and women in the jam packed stores!

Picture from Paris @ random

C'est la Fête! La fête de la musique!

Paris will be a-rocking tonight on this Summer solstice when all over the city music will be pumping and bodies will be grooving. It's La fête de la musique and it's not limited to Paris. check out the official line up in your city and yes, even if you are not even in France you can still celebrate.

There is even a great app for iPhone,iPad, iPod touch and Android phones so you don't have to be lost about where to go. Even at home throw your own party and know that you are part of the masses.

Below is a handy tool to look up what's going on near you. You can find the type of music you like to hear. Seems to work best for France. For International venues use the phone apps or visit the official sites.



Download the free Fête de la musique App here

Official French Fête de la Musique site HERE

Le Carreau du Temple - Archeological dig in the heart of Paris

Well I don't know about you, but when I was little I dreamed about going into the backyard and digging up all sorts of treasures from the past. Finding pieces of history always fascinated me. And how exciting would it have been to bring up something that was ancient! So when Evous mentioned that we could sign up for a visit of the Carreau du Temple in the 3rd to get a rare glimpse into an archeological dig right here in Paris.

Sipping on Saturday in the seventeenth at 3 Pièces Cuisine

Paris is sometimes known for being overpriced and pretentious, so I like to track down bars that dispel this image.  Thanks to a friend of mine who lives in the 17th, I have become fond of a down to earth bar called the 3 Pièces Cuisine.  If we choose a meeting place in her neighbourhood it sure to be at this bar for it's great ambience and wallet-friendly prices.

Friday foto: Night of the museum - in Paris!

Paris is the city of lights (and yes, we did mean to write lights and not light); it is magical at night and is worth exploring when others are tucked up in bed! Ok, so most people are not in bed by 10pm but I am quite sure that they are not crowding the museums, so it can be the perfect time to take advantage of strolling through rooms of artworks and taking in some culture without the hordes!

Here is a list of evening openings, or nocturnes, of some of the museums that Paris has to offer:

Musée d'Orsay - until 9.45pm Thursday
Louvre - until 10pm Wednesday and Friday
Musée du Quai Branly - until 9pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Les Arts Décoratifs - until 9pm Thursday
Musée d'Art moderne - until 10pm Thursday
Pinacothèque de Paris - until 9.30pm Wednesday
Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine - until 9pm Thursday

Thursday Food for Thought: KGB - Kitchen Galerie bis

Reviewing restaurants is beginning to become my favorite pastime. I mean I get to try new places I've heard about or been meaning to try and I get to devour the meal twice first by eating it and then by looking back at the photos I have taken. Now my husband has to be patient with me and is not allowed to touch his food till I have actually taken a photo. Wouldn't want to miss the perfect food sculptures.

Wednesday Wanderings in Bastille!

 For this weeks Wednesdays wanderings I bring you to the beautiful Bastille which is one of my personal favorite spots in Paris.

Tuesday Tidbit: Traveling with plastic!

For this weeks Tuesday's Tidbit Anne-Marie discusses the much debated question for all travelers, cash or plastic? Plastic is safer but is it always reliable?

Overwhelmed by the Sainte Chapelle

In search of history and beautiful architecture? Paris is the place to be. Today we're going on a trip to one of Paris's most impressive monuments, the Sainte Chapelle, a Gothic chapel on the Ile de la Cité, in the heart of Paris.  

Sipping on Saturdays -Rooftop Cocktail Adventures: Le 7th with 52 Martinis

I have often wondered what the rooftop bar at the Terrass Hotel, Montmartre's 4-star hotel, so well positioned for some exceptional views. So when 52 Martinis posted about their new rooftop bar Summer concept, I was keen to read it and find out if the queues of well-dressed posh Parisians I have been seeing lately were part of a secret that I need to get in on.

So here's 52 Martini's blog post on le 7th, Terrass Hotel's rooftop bar Santé!

Friday Foto - dining al fresco in the Tuileries

When the sun comes out to play, so do the office workers! Here they are in picnic mode in the Jardin des Tuileries during the recent spell of hot weather.  Come back sunshine!

Le Club des 5 - It's Brunch with the Famous Five

I don't know if you remember the British series the Famous Five but I do - I even remember the theme song and recall that I named my first dog Timmy after the dog from the show. It's this and another blasts from the past that make a brunch, lunch, drink or snack at Le Club des Cinq (the French name for the Famous 5), like a trip down memory lane. Childhood souvenirs adorn the walls, from comic books, to posters to old books and toys and my first thought was - how did they manage to save all this stuff?

Paris People: Olivier Giraud How to Become a funny Frenchman

When I heard about the show "How to Become Parisian in One Hour?", I just had to go and see it. After all it was the first time I had heard of a French guy in Paris doing a show in English. I thought at least his accent alone would be comical. So I gathered a few of my friends and we reserved to go there one evening during the week.

After seeing the show, a light bulb went off in my head -  wouldn't it be interesting to chat with the man himself to find out a little more about our professor. Opportunity came a knocking when a friend of mine turned out to be the photographer chosen to shoot some photos of his show. Well, I slipped her a note put my business card inside and asked Mr Giraud to call me if he would consider being interviewed for my blog.

Sipping a secret cocktail on Saturday!

This Saturday we bring you the recipe for an unusual cocktail from the South West of France, named the Pousse Rapière, or rapier (sword) thrust.This drink takes its name from the long lightweight swords brought back to France from the Italian wars under Francois 1st by nobleman Blaise de Monluc and his gascon army. It proved more useful for attacking than the short heavy swords of the middle ages and is the ancestor of the fencing-type swords of D'Artagnan and the musketeers of the French court.  My grandmother decided we would make this cocktail one evening in summer and serve it to the rest of our family and our guests, and I have to say it went down very well!

Friday Foto: The Contortionist

This Friday's Foto comes courtesy of Yetunde. A Roland Garros moment featuring Marion Bartoli.

Marion Bartoli is the first French tennis player to make it to the semi-finals in 6 years. Unfortunately her match yesterday did not prove to be victorious but I'm betting she is once to watch out for. The way to played on the 31st of May was fun to observe.

For more Roland Garros information visit their site

Friday Foto part deux: Defying Gravity

Oh I couldn't help myself. I just had to put this one too! Saw so many fanciful attempts at flight at the French Open that they had to be captured on film.


If anyone knows the name of this player, let me know please.

Thursdays Food For Thought: Aperitif a la française

Always wanted to hold a stylish, elegant party like the French but never thought you could? Well now you can thanks to  the French Cocktail Hour which celebrates the Aperitif globally!


Shortened in French to apéro, these aperitif (a social get together to us non-French speakers!) are an essential aspect of the French social life. It allows friends and family to relax and enjoy themselves with cocktails, small dishes or a glass of wine. (Come on, it wouldn't be French without a glass of wine!) The first French Cocktail Hour was launched 8 years ago by the French Ministry of Agriculture to help promote French produce and the aperitif globally, it is now a huge success and is held in over 20 countries on the 1st Thursday of June every year.

Wednesday wanderings: In search of the perfect Gelato, in Florence Italy

Living in or visiting Paris makes it extremely easy to travel not only within France but also around Europe.  So it's not surprising at all to hear someone say they are off to England, Italy, Spain or Germany just for a long weekend. 

Seeing as how many travelers to Paris also make journeys elsewhere, I thought it would be nice to talk about one of my favorite countries to visit - Italy. And why do I love it? Well because of Food of course!