Things that caught my eye while out and about...
An instrument with legs? I usually rush past people in the long corridors leading to the metro, but the sight of this young woman caused me to slow down, walk behind her and smile to myself. What a gift on a grey day in Paris! And best of all, she agreed to pose for a photo.
Posted at eye level, there was no way that I could walk past the newsstand without noticing this cartoon with the caption, "Saved thanks to PIP implants" with the sinking Italian cruise ship in the background. Shortly before Christmas, French health authorities advised 30,000 French women to have their defective breast implants removed.
The enticing smell of this choucroute garnie (sauerkraut cooked in white wine and garnished with sausage and cured meat) wafting through the frigid air of the market at Place Monge caught my full attention this morning. It's one of my favorite foods to eat on a cold day and would have made a delicious lunch if I wouldn't have been so far from home.
Still in Paris? Sipping mint tea in the brightly colored tearoom of the Paris Mosque is like an invitation to travel to a far away land, even if it's only for a short time.
After a reconnoissance visit, I decided that one of these days I'm going to be scrubbed, massaged and steamed in the hammam (steam rooms) at the Paris Mosque. Understandably, I couldn't take photos inside the hamman because people were scantily clad, but the colors of the waiting room gives an idea of the atmosphere of the interior rooms. The hammam is reserved for women on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and for men on Tuesday and Sunday.
Edit: If you would like in-depth information about the hammam, please read "The Hammam Experience" by Totally Frenched Out.
Edit: If you would like in-depth information about the hammam, please read "The Hammam Experience" by Totally Frenched Out.
The eternal dilemma - to get off the metro at Javel or Église d'Auteuil. This is the question that inevitably plagues my mind while riding the metro home. I can either get off at Javel, which I really didn't want to do today because the cold wind whipping across the bridge can be brutal, or I can get off at Église d'Auteuil, which is conveniently located right next to my bakery. Knowing that there's no way that I can walk past my bakery without going inside, I resisted the Siren's call of chocolate eclairs and watched this barge making its way up the Seine instead.
There's a metro station named Bleach?
ReplyDeleteLOL - there sure is and it's squeaky clean! I would like to tell you more but WIkipedia is blacked out for 24 hours. I never realized how much I rely on it until now.
ReplyDeleteHa ha good to know! I await your expose on Bleach station in a future edition ;)
DeleteIf you do go to the Mosque hammam, be sure to read mine (or any other bloggers) post on it, it can be very confusing for foreigners!! (but it's well worth it) ;)
ReplyDeleteDo you have a search function for your blog because I would like to find your post about the hammam and include a link for it?
DeleteI asked the woman at the Mosque LOTS of questions (kind of like Hammam for Dummies) when I visited today because much of it, like the black soap, was new to me.
It took me a while, but I finally found it! Here you go: http://totallyfrenchedout.blogspot.com/2010/08/hammam-experience.html
DeleteGreat! Thanks for finding it - I'll add it to the post.
DeleteLove your photos - you have a great eye and they are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteFor years we stayed on rue G. Sand near metro Michel-Ange Auteuil - such a great area you're in!
Cheers.
Thanks, Carolyn!
DeleteRue G. Sand - I'm frequently on that street! There are times when I wished that we lived closer to the center but we're in a really good location for my husband's job. And I do like the area, especially when I return to it after being in throngs of people all day.
I'm surprised the hamman is reserved for women on more days than men. I went to two hammans in Istanbul a couple of summers ago--very different experiences. One was 'touristy' and one was 'local', I preferred the local one simply because I didn't feel it was all about how much money they could make for their services. The local one was pretty much self-service.
ReplyDeleteOf course the cartoon front page would never make it in the US, but even so, it seems a little unsympathetic given the tragedy, sort of in bad taste, wouldn't you say?
And I'd be right beside you with the choucroute plate--yum, the bacon/ham slices look delicious.
I just checked the days again on the card to make sure that I didn't make a mistake (it happens!) and I actually left off the Friday morning hours for the women, We do get significantly more hammam time than you men!
ReplyDeleteThe cartoon caught my eye for exactly the reason that you mentioned - quite often I'm immune to things that wouldn't make it in the USA because I've lived abroad for so long, but this one would be a definite "no, no". It's also dark humor for the woman with these implants, some of whom were advised to get them after having mastectomies. The company that produced the defective implants was French and the scandal has received a lot of press.
Very interesting and cheered up a dismal wet, grey day. That cartoon is very black but sadly topical. I'm still hoping they'll find that little girl alive in the shipwreck, but it's increasingly unlikely. They should lock the captain up and throw away the key.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine what the captain was thinking. To veer off the authorized course was bad enough but to leave the sinking ship with passengers still on it was unconscionable behavior.
DeleteWould you mind packing up that choucroute and shipping it to Boston?
ReplyDelete:)
Your Friends in Boston
Even better, you should come here and we'll get some fresh from the market!
DeleteGreat photos! The tea room in the Mosque looks very inviting. I have to go someday.
ReplyDeleteYou should - it's a great spot! Since I've always sat outside, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it is to be inside during the winter.
Delete