Tag: Paris

One Cafe, Five Friends: 5 Pailles in Paris

There’s a cafe scene in Cédric Klapisch’s cult coming-of-age film Le Péril Jeune where we see five high school friends hunkered around a table, razzing each other. At one point, the bartender shouts that they’d better order something or get out, to which Romain Duris’ character replies, “Give us a coffee with five straws.”“We thought it was the perfect name,” says Egemen Tavsanci, co-founder of 5 Pailles (Five Straws) cafe, which opened in January in Paris’s 10th arrondissement. “One cafe, five friends,” he says, referring to Klapsich’s movie and 5 Pailles’ origin story. He and friends Bengisu Gunes, Can Atalay, Caglar Alpertunga, and Ezgi Senturk, all perched high on corporate ladders, decided to drop everything a year and a half ago to open a cafe. “We hated the coffee in Paris, so [ . . . ] More at: One Cafe, Five Friends: 5 Pailles in Paris 

How you can live happily in Paris without speaking French

Living in Paris

 

Writer Charli James, who has recently set up home in Paris, testifies to the fact you can lead a rich and happy life in the French capital even if you can’t communicate with the locals in their own lingo. Here’s how.

I barely speak French but I didn’t let this stop me from moving to Paris. And I do know I’m far from alone.Now I’m not advocating remaining French illiterate, especially if you plan to live here long term, and I am working hard to improve my own French, but soon after moving here, I realized you don’t actually have to speak the language very well to have a full life in Paris.Now this may sound implausible, but I promise there are a truckload of people doing this in Paris. [ . . . ]

French sheep

Read Full Story at: How you can live happily in Paris without speaking French – The Local

Cool breeze, warm hosts

When traveling, it is always so very wonderful when your innkeepers become your friends. This was the case in both Paris and Uzes for us.

In Paris, we stayed in the 15th,  a short walk from Georges Brassens Park. Our host Gildas is a brilliant photographer (he would modestly say “non”) and world-traveler (recent trips to Iran, India.)  In the evenings, after walking miles across Paris, it was tres groovy to sit with Gildas at the table and talk bout all sorts of things –  France, the USA, Macron et Trump, Paris metro tips, climate change, music, films, photography, life. We were instant friends and hope to keep in touch via Facebook.

lobster.jpgIn Uzes, we stayed with Yannick, her son Jean-Phillipe, along with their three dogs: Juan, Tataeille, and Merika. Last evening, Yannick shared a delicious bottle of vin de St. Joseph with us and we talked and laughed for a few hours. Using the modest French I remember from my lessons at St. Peter School, I  somehow communicated to our friends that prior to climate change, the lobsters in Maine grew to the size of a Shetland ponies (I exaggerated a bit.) They said, “Mon Dieu” and I said “Oui!”

This morning, there is a cool breeze in the air.

I often forget whether or not I visited a famous monument, but I never forget the people I share laughter with.

poster
Saw this in an Uzes shop window. Je t’aime.

For a Modest Price, the Streets of Paris Can Be Yours – The New York Times

The cobblestones of Paris have seen some things. They were trodden by jaunty French soldiers in 1914 and jubilant Free French liberators in 1944, and were rolled over by the tumbrels of 1793 and the panzers of 1940. They were hurled at the police and piled in barricades in 1848 and 1968. They’ve been shown rain-slicked in countless paintings and photographs.

And now you can own one. Used Paris cobblestones are being offered for sale online at Mon Pavé Parisien, spruced up and suitable for showcasing on a mantel or étagère anywhere in the world [ . . . ] Read Full NY Times story