I hear the sun is shining in Paris. A perfect day for "prendre un pot" (have a drink) on the Champs Elysées. You can meet a lot of tourists on this avenue (and locals too, don't go thinking we don't go there) including a lot of Arabs from the Gulf region that apparently love this avenue and its surroundings. I even read in an article that out of the 520,000 visitors from this region, a lot won't even go any further than Les Champs!
Ah, nice shot. Makes me want to be there :)
ReplyDeleteCafé expresse, bien serré, s'il vous plaît.
ReplyDeleteAnd here I was under the impression that Parisians wouldn't be caught dead on the touristy Champs! Live and learn—from Eric.
ReplyDeleteOn my first visit, we had dinner at a very touristy sidewalk cafe. It was a wonderful dinner, not expensive, and the wine was marvelous. The police cleared Les Champs as a huge group of recreational bicyclists rode by, waving and yelling hello to everyone. Nothing wrong with an evening like that, tourist or resident, Arab or Persian or Parisian!
ReplyDeleteLooks so inviting!
ReplyDelete@ Alexa And here I was under the impression that Parisians wouldn't be caught dead on the touristy Champs!
ReplyDeleteThere are reasons to go: movies in original version, huge Virgin CD/ DVD store, Atelier Renault, Citroen or Toyota if you like cars, and of course, all the little boutiques in the little streets of the 8th. Or just because you haven't been in a while.
I thought it was only full of tourists, too! Who knew? And I learn how to say que un jour je voudrais prendre un pot avec tout mes amis de PDP sur le Champs.
ReplyDeleteHope the sun is shining on you, too, Eric and that its not clouded by ash. I had to look up the Luberon to see where you were going. Looks lovely.
Tomate, today I had the chance to try what the luncheon menu had listed as "Tomato Farce" (which sounds more like a play with bad reviews than an entree) but at $37.00 for the tomate with nothing else included, I passed. I shall have to get a good recipe! Have you one?
@Carrie: $37!!! for one stuffed tomato?!! I would pass, too!
ReplyDeleteI have a partial receipe from my mother but she never really told me what spices to use. She did it with meat and a bunch of other stuff and there are many good recipes out there, but the secret to a good stuffed tomato, I think, is to keep the meat stuffing very, very lean (pre-cook separately but not completely, just enough to drain the fat, then mix with the rest of the stuffing). I know she used porc for taste but I don't know for sure what part of the animal exactly. Sorry, best I can do.
Oh, shoot, now I'm hungry ;)
ReplyDeleteMe too, Tomate!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my first trip to France, and asked where the champs( champs. like champion,and don't forget to pronounce the "s" like I did)Elysse(like the female name).
Thank goodness for a few decades of livin' life after that first trip.
And you know, on first glance, the umbrellas looked like U.S. flags.
ReplyDeleteAwesome shot Eric..it evokes thoughts of a Renoir painting. I don't know why, but it just came to mind when I looked at it! Bon Voyage!!
ReplyDeleteTomate: You're so right about movies in VO: It was in theaters on the Champs Elysées that I first saw the films A Man for All Seasons and Bonnie and Clyde (which also influenced our fashion sense—we went from minis to maxis from one day to the next!).
ReplyDeleteJust remembered: Also saw What's New Pussycat on the Champs (yes, I AM that old!).
ReplyDeleteI confirm, locals even go there!!
ReplyDeleteThe other day, as I was invited at lunch, by a professional-relative-in-order-to-know-better-each-other (ahem), my kind host told me that he saw me, one month ago, with my eldest on the Champs-Elysées which was true! But I did not see him. See without be seen is a drink-on-a-terrace-treat, isn't it?
Not too bad Tonton, I agree with you, it could have been!
I also confirm: locals go there!
ReplyDeleteI often go and spend an hour or two at the Virgin late in the evening (it's open 'til midnight). It's a good relaxing time after a long working day, reading books and listening to good music...
And l'Atelier Renault is also one of my favorites. It's quite expensive, but I love the ambiance...
I love all the splashes of red - they match what would probably be in my wine glass. If you ask for a 'pot' here in Brisbane, by the way, you'll be given a beer in a 285mL [10oz] glass, no further questions asked!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know that when I visit the Champs-Elysées someday, there will be plenty of locals to bump into. And now I'm off to put in a special order with hubby for Tomate Farcie with dinner!
Oh, I'd love to be there right now sipping a kir and people watching (AKA appreciating all the handsome men)! Oh la la.
ReplyDelete-a votre sante ;)
Tonton yes Renoir - I can see that!
ReplyDeleteJeff..."American flag" I thought the same thing;perhaps, tied up like Lance Armstrong in Le Tour. Ouch! Oh, back to the photo. Hey, tell me it's not only those slender Parisian poles that can wear stripes and pull it off. :-) Good day all!
ReplyDeleteSidebar: Where's Tall G-man at these days?
Ok, this is not about Paris, but, I just saw a really cool "France related" photo, so I'm sharing.
ReplyDeleteOn MSNBC they have an amazing photo of the International Space Station, docked with the Atlantis, traversing the face of the Sun, and its taken by a Frenchman! (Mais, bien sur!)
Oddly, similar photos, but not the same one as on MSNBC, appear on his website, Astrophoto.fr. So, check them both out!
He's from Orleans and he's got pix of his equipment out in the fields next to some cows! : ) (This is a special moment for me - I love photography, scientific stuff, and French cows!)
Whoa! They moved the slideshow wth the photo in it already. To get it, on the left sidebar of the front page click science and tech, then on the science page scroll down the left sidebar to photos, then on the photos page scroll down to a photo of a blue cirle image on a black background marked Cosmic Highlights and the photo will be number 8 in that slideshow!
ReplyDeleteMake that: Cosmic Fireworks, not Cosmic Highlights.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the astrophoto.fr link, carrie.
ReplyDeleteHis photos are amazing ;-)
On my first trip to Paris, one of my older brothers and I sat outside at an Italian restaurant on the Avenue very near the Arc for dinner....it was an OK meal, but is a super memory since it was 10:00 at nite and the sun had not set yet....truely a great way to meet an incredible city.
ReplyDeleteSean
A dinner at sunset in Paris and you can make any heart be yours...
ReplyDeleteA big kiss for the picture :)
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ReplyDeletePhx: I like your story so I won't even relate mine. Not half as good as yours. Instead of shying away from Les Champs (sort of like Lance, eh, Coltrane? OUCH!)I will try to get to know the area better next time!
ReplyDeleteNow I'm curious as to which restaurant this is!
Exactly Velia, such a lovely dream... :)
ReplyDeleteLove it, miss it!
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