Five expats and a pup benefited from free train travel and went by RER A to St-Germin-en-Laye to pass a sunny Sunday afternoon enjoying the temporary art sculptures celebrating the 400th birthday of Louis XIV's gardener, André Le Nôtre, and some lying on the grass, chouquettes, finding the Eiffel Tower on the horizon, taking pictures and, finally, gelato.

Expositions for the 400th anniversary of 17th century royal gardener André Le Nôtre
Les Nouvelles folies françaises
Musée d’Archéologie Nationale, Domaine National de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 78100 Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Until October 14, 2013
Plus d'info

André Le Nôtre et Vaux le Vicomte : L'artiste et son chef d'oeuvre 
Château de Vaux le Vicomte, 77950 Maincy
Until November 11, 2013
Plus d'info

Année Le Nôtre
Chateau du Versailles, Place d'Armes, 78000 Versailles
Until the end of 2013
Plus d'info

La Fabbrica de Luca
18, rue de la salle, 78100 Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Facebook 

xx

Summer in the city :: Paris Stay-cation

There will be no grande vacance pour moi this year. Work prevents me from joining all the other Parisiens leaving the city in droves for their five-weeks-holiday every year, but, honestly, I don't mind. The streets are already calm, the metro is quiet and there are no queues at my local boulangerie for our 5pm baguette.

Contrary to the eerie mass exodus that happens every été, the city and a handful of its arrondissements have organised a slew of events to keep us and our fellow Juillettistes and Aoûtiens, that have chosen to spend our summer amongst the sandstone Haussmans as opposed to sandcastles, content. The following are just a couple of those that I'm most looking forward to enjoying during my Parisian 'stay-cation'.

City Beach

Image source

Love it or think it's gross, the Paris Plage is probably the most popular and celebrated of all the summer offerings. The 5000 tons of sand shipped in to create the yearly pop-up beach just satiates the regular yearnings I get for a trip to the seaside, which being a two hour drive away from Paris is a far cry from the 15 minute trip I was blessed with growing up. It's also the only place I feel comfortable stripping down to a cossie in the middle of the city to lie in the sun for a significant amount of time without feeling all weird and self-concious.

Paris Plage
Voie Georges Pompidou (M° Sully-Morand to M° Louvre-Rivoli) + La Villette (M° Stalingrad to rue de Crimée)
Open everyday 9am - midnight
July 20 - August 18
Free access
More info.

Films under the stars

Image source

Open air cinemas are just magic. There's nothing like being completely absorbed in a film that's being projected on a screen the size of  house while a light breeze washes over the heads of everyone around you. Combine the fact that this open air cinema is free and you can take your own food and bev to picnic and you have yourself a winning combination.
A very eclectic line up has been chosen for the program this year; amongst French, German, Finnish and Iranian films are 'Where the Wild Things Are' (25/07), 'Be kind, Rewind' (27/07), 'The Dirty Dozen' (28/07), 'The Social Network' (10/08), 'A Prairie Home Companion' (21/08), 'Tetro' (23/08), 'Taking Woodstock' (24/08).

Cinéma en plein air
Prairie du triangle, Parc de la Villette
Films commence at nightfall
July 24 - August 28
Free access. Deck chair hire; single: 7€, x5 ticket: 20€, Carte Villette (18€) holders: free
Full program: www.villette.com

Free train travel

Image source

For a while now the Île-de-France region has been de-zoned for Navigo holders on weekends, meaning those with the metro transport pass can travel throughout all the 5 zones of the region on Saturday and Sunday despite only having subscribed for zones 1 & 2, ie Paris proper. However, for a trial period of just over one month during the summer, the Stif and Ratp have extended this service to include weekdays also so those with a Navigo can travel fare-free from Paris to Versailles, Fountainbleu, St Germain-en-Laye and the two airports, which will no doubt please the vacationers. St Germain en Laye is one of my favourite day trips from the city, and after a couple of recent meet ups with Melanie in the city, who actually lives in Versailles, I have no excuse to return the favour and go visit her in her town. If only the Transilien lines went as far as the coast! 

Dézonage du Pass Navigo for the summer
July 13 - August 18
Free for Navigo holders. Navigo subscription, one month: 65€10, one week: 19€80

Canal boat rides for 1€

Image source

The canal north of Stalingrad is uncharted territory for me, I hardly go there despite all the fun things I hear that comes out of this watered part of the city. To change that and get more acquainted with the area I'm keen hop on one of my favourite modes of transport of all time - a boat! The local council of Seine-Saint-Denis are charging 1€ on Saturdays and 2€ on Sundays for their shuttle boat service along the canal from the Bassin de la Villette, behind Stalingrad, to Bobigny just outside of the city.  Lasting for one hour, the ride would the perfect way to cool down in the afternoon, especially as next week temperatures are reported to nudge close to 40°C! Ouf!! They've listed here all there is to see and eat along the way for you to make the most of the nautical jaunt, and should you wish to go even a little further there's a second 1€ shuttle boat that will take to you to the guinguette Chat qui Pêche at Aulnay/Pavillons-sous-Bois for some lunch. 

Les navettes de l'Ourcq
Bassin de La Villette - Paris/ Parc de La Villette/ Pantin/ Bobigny
From 12 noon then on the half hour from 12h30 until 19h (Paris) and 20h (Bobigny)
June 29 - August 25
Saturdays: 1€, Sundays: 2€
Further info

Fun Fair

I have to hand it to the French, when they do a fair, they do it well. Again this year the La fête foraine du Jardin des Tuileries have been set up in the centre of the city, changing the skyline of the city's most famous stretch of landmarks with its ferris wheel and that tall chair thing that goes around really fast - I don't know what it's called, but it's my favourite. Even if rides aren't your thing there's various games-of-skill caravans and outlets selling barbe à papa ('fairy floss', but it literally translates to 'Dad's beard' - isn't that neat?!) and churros for your tummy to take part in the fun fair, too.

La fête foraine du Jardin des Tuileries
The Tuileries gardens, Rivoli side
Sun - Thurs: 11h - 23h45, Fri + Sat: 11h - 0h45
June 24 - August 21
Free entry, rides various prices

Site: www.feteforaine-jardindestuileries.com

And, to provide the soundtrack for the next two months, here's a little rock and roll...

xx

Kinfolk Paris Community Gathering :: June

Image: Nico Alary @nicoalaryjr

Image: Nico Alary @nicoalaryjr

Back in April when I was putting together the Pelouse en Fête picnic I went researching how I could incorporate a little of the Kinfolk magazine spirit into the event. Kinfolk, a magazine published just four times a year out of Portland, Oregon, in the US, is probably one of the most beautiful and charming magazines on the planet. Their mantra 'a guide for small gatherings' encourages its readers and followers to embrace the simple and everyday with intention and eschew the complex and unnecessary. Something I resonate with deeply.

What I didn't realise was that Kinfolk had changed their involvement in world-wide dinners and instead put in place themed workshops, facilitated by representatives all over the world, to encourage readers to engage more in their food and re-harness long-lost skills. There was no way my picnic could be involved for April, but the advertised theme for June - charcuterie, butchery, cheese - fit so well with the amazing produce that comes from this country that an event of this kind could not not happen in Paris. I had to inquire into holding an event.
As it turned out, Kinfolk had already received interest from someone in Paris. My heart sank. I was so upset that I was too late and that I wouldn't be able to contribute to an event here. I reached out to the girl Kinfolk put me in contact with, to say hello, to offer a hand. Miraculously, but really, when you think about it, not so unsurprisingly, the person on the other end of the email said yes, please.

Images: Nico Alary @nicoalaryjr

So I met the lovely Lise. And together we brought the June Gathering to a small wine bar in the 17th last Saturday. And people from all over Paris came; some we contacted to invite as we knew they'd love it; some that had just happened upon the event's details and thought it would be a nice way to spend the afternoon; some whose work we'd admired and adored from afar, and some we'd made online friends with that we were dying to meet in person.
The little wine bar, Le Garde Robe des Batignolles, only selects the best meat, cheese and natural wines that they are able to source and we had the privilege of sampling such a variety and learning about their makers and production. The event could not have happened without Axelle, who works at Le Garde Robe; her passion for the produce of her land is inspiring and she brings such joy to the simplicity of preparing food, eating and sharing.
The meal ended with traditional French cherry pies, clafoutis, made by Lise, a qualified pastry chef and passionate cook, and the culinary expert of the two of us. It was the loveliest evening spent in a very long time and I'm so grateful to everyone that came to make the Gathering as special as it was.

Image: Nico Alary @nicoalaryjr

--
A handful of the photos above (the good ones!) belong to Nico Alary. We came across Nico's work in the last two Kinfolk issues and when we realised he was based in Paris we had to say hello and let him know we were hosting an event. He told us straight away that he and his girlfriend would join us. So, not only were we blessed with their excellent company, but with also his talent as a photographer. Nico has posted more pics of the event on his Flickr and is currently in the process of opening up a café with his girlfriend Sarah, which they are amazingly chronicling the process here.

xx

Un dimanche à la brocante

Mr M and I are a couple of chîneurs. That makes us sound like we're part of some underground sect or have some affiliation with China. But no, chîneur is the informal word given to those that pass their time fossicking through old, smelly things at flea markets and garage sales looking for that one treasure that they didn't know they need but must have in their possession.
Mr M and I chîne quite a great deal; a lot of weekends are spent at far flung corners of the city, weaving trough rickety tables set up on streets, up turning plates to see where they were made and dusting glass to see if it's actually crystal. Making sure Daisy isn't trampled on or accidentally "uses the bathroom" on a hundred-year-old painting. We've collected a few treasures in our 'chîne-ing' jaunts, and with every trip I start to dread the time when we have to cart it all back home to the mother land, and resign to just deal with it then when that time comes. We have a problem, I know we're addicted, but we can't stop. I'm on the constant look out for the ideal café/ sugar/ tea jar set for the kitchen and I know Mr M wants the perfect antique enamel Michelin sign for when he finally gets a garage, aka man cave.

The Foire Nationale à la Brocante et aux Jambon (yes, antiques and ham fair), which happens twice a year in March and September, is a special trip for Mr M and me. We discovered it a year ago on a day's date to St Germain au Laye, a little village just a 30 min regional train ride north west of Paris. As the above ground train went over the Ile des Impressionists we saw the familiar tents and displays of a brocante, and after scoffing our lunch in the village jumped straight back on the train to check it out. We've been back each occurrence for a look around and big ham sandwiches since.

Yesterday's jaunt provided us with a beautiful hardcover book filled with the botanical drawings of roses by 1800s illustrator Pierre-Joseph Redouté, a 1950s Italian Marelli fan for an eighth of the price it's valued at and a wooden croquet set in a little upright frame on wheels that has enough knocks and chunks missing from it to know it's been around a while. I've wanted one for such a long time, and was even going to start looking to purchase one online this week! I'm just dying to take it along to picnics once the weather warms up.

And then there's the ham...

After combing through stall after stall of lampshades and yellowed books, at the back of the fair, is the allée spécialitiés régionales. A weird alternate universe of yummy smells, white plastic furniture and red checkered tablecloths. And sandwiches of roasted vegetables and ham off the bone. Or plates of oysters if you're more of a pescetarian. The obligatory crêpe and gaufre stalls are there, too, to add to the fair vibe; one lovely man and his van is conveniently set up at the exit for you to pick up a sweet something to munch on while waiting for the complementary shuttle train to take you back to the RER station.

While I try my hardest to not be a very materialistic person, I do take comfort in owning, using and enjoying something that at one time or another was the pride and joy of someone before me. The anti-consumerist in me is always wanting something second-hand rather than brand new. And something found during a day well spent becomes more like a souvenir rather than another object in the home picked up at one of the majors that everyone else has, too.
I know that when we do move home, eventually, I will just hope we have enough 'souvenirs' to fill our home so as to not miss France too much.

Foire Nationale à la Brocante et aux Jambon
Ile des Impressionists, Chatou
RER station 'Rueil-Malmaison'
For 10 days, Every March and September 
Website

xx