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LE BIERGARTEN PARISIEN

Behind Montmartre is the home to a little secret… Paris’s German beer garden. Inspired by German everything, Kiez has a selection of German beers on tap, amongst other boissons, German snacks and heaps of German déco. Bref, it’s Bavarian madness and a great spot for a beer or five. This is making me excited for my weekend in Munich!

Lovelies Lauren Lou and Anne joined me to check out the place, and I immediately fell in love: laid back atmosphere with big tables and adorable knick-knacks, delicious Deutsche lagers, an outdoor patio perfect for the warm months …and of course, pretzels.

Kiez Biergarten Parisien
24 Rue Vauvenargues, 75018 Paris
Tél:
Métro: Guy Môquet

SNACK TIME @ BOB’S

I had known about Bob’s Juice Bar and Bob’s Kitchen from when I first arrived in Paris. It was sort of staple of something I knew was American. I will admit I never went often as whenever I randomly passed it or planned to go, it was always closed for some reason. Bref. When Bob’s Bake Shop opened, this was a whole new ball game in my book. Expats in Paris sure know how exciting it is when Thanksgiving rolls around because many shops sell their pies for Turkey Day celebrations. I for one was just excited to be able to get pie all the time.

Aside from the pie thing, I was also excited about it being somewhere NOT in the 11th. All of my favorite things I find group in one area. It’s not a BAD thing it’s just something I’ve noticed. I like when peeps get risky and open outside of the trendy spots of the time – cough – the Canal Saint Martin or Oberkampf area. Bob’s chose to open up north in one of my favorite places to stroll since my Lamarck Caulaincourt days, by the Marx Dormoy metro stop. North of my Indian cantine Chettinadu, the Esplanade Nathalie Sarraute is up against the tracks of Gare de l’Est, sandwiched between those also of Gare du Nord. It’s one of those randomly modern areas that is sort of becoming a new sort of trendy thanks to some snazzy restaurants and a youth hostel, but is definitely like a small pocket of trendy in a rather unique part of Paris that is the La Chapelle quartier. Bob’s Bake Shop graces us with its presence here.

A diner in the true sense of the term, Bob’s Bake Shop offers quality food without giving too much of a shit about the overdone awesomeness of the interior. So many places look the same these days. What I love about Bob’s is that it is what it is, and it is wonderful. No subway tiles and wood finishings and inconvenient table arrangements, like in so many other restaurant or cafés popping up around the city. It is spacious, comfy and feels just right – is that my inner American? Table booths line up the window, and the cafeteria-like set up displays everything they’ve got to offer: homemade bagels, cakes, pies, cookies, salads…. the works.

Stop in for a coffee or juice and a treat, or for a sane lunch with a delicious lemonade with a pal (like I did, with my homegirl Ylenia). We went with a open faced bagel sandwich with hummus and pickled veggies on top. Long story short: friendly staff and delicious food. An authentic American spot in the city. I will admit though, I am secretly awaiting some banana cream pie.


Halle Pajol – 12 esplanade Nathalie Sarraute, 75018
Métro: Marx Dormoy (12)
Tél:

A NOTE ON SUMMER

It’s always a mystery where the time goes. But for some reasons thinking about previous summers always feels like it was just last week. Summer in the city is rough. I’m slightly sarcastic when I say that. Paris gets hot, and one a handful of places have A/C, August is a no man’s land… the list could go on. But I love it in the summer, parking in some grass and just enjoying the sun and people watching somewhere lovely like Montmartre.

One thing I love about summer is people coming to town. It’s considered “normal” to travel in the summertime, right? Last summer my dear friend Rachel added Paris to her list of European destinations, as you’ve probably seen here on the blog as I’ve posted a few more of our adventures. For Paris, summer is almost like a homecoming season. Having gone to University in Paris, it is more common than not that people who left the city swing back by to get their fill of Paris before heading back to their busy lives elsewhere. I find it to be so lovely, little apéros filled with familiar faces, catching up over some rosé…

Now let’s talk about time real quick, summer this year has already been thrown into full swing out of NOWHERE. I am strill trying to catch up. We went from gray skies and light jackets to the hot hot heat and BOOM the Parisians are gone and it’s that season where the city seems pleasantly asleep. I kind of wish time would slow down a bit. I remember when the end of the week felt like it would never come, now I’m hoping to take advantage of time with dear friends and people I care about, admire and enjoy spending time with. Sooner than we know it it will be winter again and this year will be history.

I feel like growing up, and even up until recently there’s that one thing that “marks” your summer, for example my family would drive out to some random roller coaster because my brother was a huge roller coaster fan. Flashback to just last year I had a brilliant trip to the Rockies (proof + proof), a pit stop in Hawaii for some adventures, Rachel visiting… this year as I’m in full swing with the new job, I’m not sure I’ll have a big travel marker of my summer. Perhaps a calm summer en ville will do my soul equally as good. Staycation. At least mom came to visit, which was pure magic. I couldn’t be happier. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more at home as I do now, this summer.

THE GANESH FESTIVAL IN PARIS

Today was the Ganesh Festival in Paris’s 10th and 18th arrondissements. The Ganesh Festival has been an annual event in Paris since 1996, organized by the neighborhood’s temple, Sri Manicka Vinayakar Alayam.

Ganesha  is widely worshipped as the God of wisdom and good fortune in the Hindu religion. You’ve probably often seemed him sitting in a cross-legged position, and have perhaps recognized him from his elephant head. And today, Ganesh Chaturthi, was the day to celebrate his birthday.

I haven’t yet had the opportunity to travel to beautiful  India, but I sure am a big fan of their delicious cuisine. The place where I tend dig in is at my usual spot, Chettinadu, which was the perfect location to also watch the parade pass by today. It was crowded and there were multicolored saris and smashed coconuts were  everywhere, lassis in to go cups. Walking up from below Gare du Nord, I could hear the music get louder and the streets became more full of people dancing and eating and celebrating.

After watching the parade pass, with Anne and Puxan we hopped over the rue Cail to indulge in Chettinadu’s cuisine with the locals  for the special occasion. Tables were set up in the streets, and brightly colored flower strands placed left and right, music blasting and heards of people slowly following the Parade.

This afternoon it felt like we were in a Bollywood movie.

     

in PARIS

ACROSS PARIS’S LINE 2

In Paris, the metro lines offer routes across the city, as we all know. Sometimes I like to think about all of my favorite things that are across one line, and how they could be visited throughout the course of one afternoon.

This post is dedicated to a few of my favorite things across line 2.

Paris’s line 2 stretches from westward past the Charles de Gaulle Etoile all the way to Nation, in Eastern Paris. Along this route across Paris’s north end, you’ll pass residential areas, Montmartre’s starting point, the red light district, views of Paris’s railroads heading northwards to Belgium and Germany, and of course a few pretty damn awesome neighborhoods that are full of culture.

Along with my trusted Paris trotter, Anne, we started our journey with a refreshing drink at Le Bal Café, located right by Place de Clichy.

Our final destination we already had in mind, so we decided to make a pitstop along the way, because well…. pourquoi pas. We were passing Chettinadu’s metro stop, and couldn’t resist popping by for a samosa or two and a Lion lager.

After filling up on Paris’s best samosas, we hopped back on line 2 to head to one of Paris’s beer havens, La Fine Mousse, to meet fellow beer lovers Ana Clara and Yann-Yves.

It’s funny how many different things you can do just crossing one metro line. Paris’s offers are endless.

Addresses:

Le Bal Café
6 impasse de la Défense, 75018
Tél:
Métro: Place de Clichy

Chettinadu
15 rue Cail, 75010
Tél:
Métro: La Chapelle (2) / Gare du Nord (4,5)

La Fine Mousse
6 ave Jean Aicard, 75011
Tél:
Métro: Ménilmontant (2) / Rue Saint Maur (3)

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