A Rendez-vous with Remy (from Ratatouille) at Rosa Bonheur

Last week, while the weather was still warm, we spent some time at a great café/bar within the Parc des Buttes Chaumont called "Rosa Bonheur," after the painter. (You know it's great because it was recently reviewed by the NYT.)

Gladis and Becky got super-rich hot chocolate, while Maggie and I shared a relatively cheep beer. We all marveled at the design-conscious interior (including a fairy tale-esque beanstalk centerpiece) and enjoyed some quality people-watching.


They also serve muffins and rotisserie and have this cool beer garden just outside and - hold on a second, what is that.

Oh, yeah. Apparently they have a mouse problem. Not inside, of course - this little guy only seemed interested in rooting around in the dumpsters behind the beer garden area. Given that you're outside, you really can't help if there's a single mouse running around. We minded so little that instead of trying to let everyone know that there was a mouse (which seemed to be Panda's strategy), we distracted ourselves by talking about Ratatouille and the amazing food we were going to eat that night at Mon Oncle le Vigneron. Really, no big deal.

The park administration disagrees. Later on during our walk, we passed a few signs announcing an anti-rat campaign and urging parents to keep a close watch on their children, lest they ingest rat poison or something. 

Poor Remy.

Mercredi Mashup

We take lots of photos. Beaucoup, as they say. At last count, our Flickr photostream contained over 6,000 items. Many of these photos appear on this blog. Some go the way of the dinosaur. Still others get set aside, hoping for recognition, holding their breath every time we browse for a blog-worthy photo. This post is dedicated to all the misfit photos out there . . . get ready for a whirlwind tour of photos that have nothing to do with one another, other than the fact that they are random, and we took them.

This Scooby Doo character and van was parked outside the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall). Many, many otherwise sane looking adults were waiting to have their picture taken with Scooby. I really don't get this. What's the attraction? Maybe it's a generational thing...

We had a coffee and used the toilet in this bar/restaurant with Katie and Darryl. A rugby game (England? Italy? who? what?) was playing on the telly. The Gaudì-inspired decor was super cool and super trashed. Too bad.

This dog was hanging out around the Jardin de Luxembourg. Thank goodness for that convenient opening.

Street art in Belleville. Awesome.

The latest performance art installation at the Louvre.

Maggie and Louis attempt to create art. Fail.

 

We saw this dog on the street, at night, and had to do a double-take. Doesn't he/she look just like Panda??

Aux Folies

There's a café/bar down the street that's as emblematic of Belleville as the Chinese restaurants, the halal butchers, and the hill itself. It's called Aux Folies, and it's bobo central.

Busy all hours of the day, it's packed starting around 5 pm and continuing past midnight. No matter what the weather, as long as it's nighttime, every table outside the place will be occupied by smoking bobos. (Just in case you forgot, "bobo" stands for "bourgeois bohemian" and corresponds to "Williamsburg Trust-funders.")

Alyssa's shrug says it all. Of course the place is constantly crowded - it's way hip! And I'm not even being sarcastic. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em - that's what we did!

Hipness means: neon signs; pinball machine; tables and walls plastered with lacquered-over concert programs, sheet music, and ads from back in the day; the wicked cool, graffiti-covered, underground art gallery-laden Rue Dénoyez adjacent to the café.

It's only a minute up Rue de Belleville from Métro Belleville. And just in case you needed any more reasons to check it out, there's this tabletop, too amazing for words:

Foodie's Paradise

Over the 13 days that JP and Eden were in town (which coincided with the 8 days my mom and Cathy were here), we engaged in some epic food tourism. Here's a list of most of the places we hit, just so you can get a sense of the sheer magnitude of our consumption. With the exceptions of the places specifically indicated as not recommended, this is a pretty good list of places to eat and buy food during any random visit to Paris. We'll be posting about groups of these places and reviewing individual restaurants in the coming weeks, so don't worry - there's plenty of food photography in store.

Afternoon "Tea"
Ladurée (tea and pastries)
La Maison Berthillon (pastries and ice cream)
Hôtel Crillon (hot chocolate)
Angelina (hot chocolate and pastries)
Mariage Frères (tea and pastries)
Maison des Trois Thés (intense authentic Chinese tea)

Lunch (only the ones worth mentioning)
Così
Le Baratin
Café Trésor
L'As du Falafel

Dinner (* = from Jesse's List)
Fish La Boissonerie*
Coq Ming (do not recommend)
La Cerisaie*
Polidor (famous, but do not recommend)
Nambodaï
Astier*
Hotel Kaiserstein (two meals)

Fine Food Shopping:
La Grande Épicerie (at Le Bon Marché)
Galeries Lafayette Épicerie
Fauchon
Mariage Frères (tea)
Pierre Hermé (macarons)

La Bonbonnerie (chocolaterie across from la Trinité)

Now it's time to rest for four days, eating as much rice, beans, and pasta as possible, so we can do it all over again when Matt gets here Monday . . . (well, maybe we won't do it all over again).

La Brûlerie

Seeking refuge from the rain in Lille, we stepped into an inviting café/teahouse just next to the Wazemmes market, called La Brûlerie.

The selection of teas was fabulous. I had a tchaï bio (organic chai) that was deliciously spiced, hot, and milky. Louis got a "cappuccino" - in quotes for real because instead of frothy, foamy milk, it was topped with a mountain of whipped cream!

If you get a chance to pass through Lille I would highly recommend stopping in to La Brûlerie when you're in need of a break from all that shopping you'll do at the market!

Culture Rapide

Just across the street you'll find a funny little "place" bordered on two sides by streets and on the other two sides by graffiti- and street art-covered walls. You've already seen what it looks like at night. Part of the allure of the place is the bar/café that claims a decent chunk of its square footage with small tables and chairs. In fact, based on the signage, the place and the café are indissociable.

I'm talking about Culture Rapide, which not only satisfies basic requirements for a corner bar/café but is also a concert venue, hosting lots of spoken word, blues, and slam poetry performances. I only just got around to checking out the inside last weekend, when I convinced a few college friends to meet me there (right across the street = easiest meet-up ever). The verdict? Based on the décor, Culture Rapide is one of the hipster-est, grungiest, grittiest bobo hangouts around.

While we were there, a raconteur got up on the tiny stage in the corner and started storytelling. We didn't really understand, but that didn't matter. Culture Rapide is a cool space, its food/drink offerings are excellent, and it's 500 ft. from your favorite people - clearly worth checking out.