L'Entracte -- café en rouge

L'Entracte's small terrace is dressed in rouge vif looking fresh for the season.

This tiny café's English translation means "the intermission" and is located across the street from Palais Garnier, the site of the L'Opéra de Paris.

L'Entracte
1, rue Auber
75009, Paris

Une question...

Puis-je l'obtenir en rouge?

(Can I get it in red?)

Zoom-zoom!

Petit Piano Rouge

A little red piano for smallest of musicians, seen in the window of a shop on Boulevard Beaumarchais. Not just any music shop but a megastore specializing in instruments of all types, importing the first Gibson guitars to France. Established in 1850, Beuscher has a client list of French musicians and others from around the world (Prince, Michael Polnareff, Sophie Marceau, Charles Aznavour, Nino Ferrer).

True to the style of Paris windows, the colorful instruments adorn almost an entire block with bright colored guitars, shiny trumpets, ebony pianos, a plethera of sheet music...

Yes, even a little red piano

Paul Beuscher Bastille (since 1850)
15-27, boulevard Beaumarchais

For more Weekend Reflections look at James' Newtown Daily Photo

Les Oiseaux

I did not see any birds but there were many people "perched" on the terrasse... When the weather is nice, the empty café chairs are few in number!

Les Oiseaux
Rue de Sèvres

Une banquette rouge

Le Bistrologue Café at the corner of Boulevard Diderot and Rue Crozatier caught my eye with its red bench on the terrasse. I think that this would make a cozy corner for meeting friends... next week!

All of the café spots will be full of people enjoying the warmer weather of spring. Where we found many empty outdoor chairs and tables in December, we will see a totally different scene in April.

Le Bistrologue Café
74, boulevard Diderot

Beyond -- Mardi Gras!

On rare occasion I take you "beyond" but today is the last day of Carnival, celebrated here as Mardi Gras.

After three weeks of frivolity and merriment, the final parades will roll tonight as tomorrow marks the beginning of Lent. As the King and Queen of Mardi Gras rule over their loyal subjects, the youngest of party-goers is dressed in her finest coat and hat.

The little Page to the King seems a bit forlorn awaiting the start of the parade when he will throw beads and toys to the crowd... Perhaps he is thinking of the beautiful girl in red!


Mardi Gras in Mobile*
Mobile, Alabama

* (with several links including a live web cam of the parades)

Tomorrow we will be back in Paris.

Blanc et Noir...... et Rouge!

What can I say? This apple did not fall far from the tree*...

With the Buren Columns there is a temptation to get a little silly and most everyone we saw there was standing on or hiding behind the black and white columns. In the late 1700s this Jardin du Palais Royal was opened to the public and closed to the police, making it a place of much activity. The Court of Honor shown here was updated in the 1980s with this landscape of columns designed by Daniel Buren. People generally love or hate the columns, but the children are in agreement that there is much to love here.

*"The apple did not fall far from the tree" is an expression meaning that children often take after their parents, be that good or not... Holly and I do have fun in Paris and Beyond!

Jardin du Palais Royal

Rue de Mentpensier et Rue Saint-Honoré

Zoom-zoom - rouge

This little number may be all over Europe, but this was the first time for me... BMW, rouge, sleek... It had it all

Want to go for a spin?





You may remember the brightly-colored cafe cups I posted on January 15th... Well a talented painter asked to use the photo as inspiration for one of her original pieces... When I saw it all I could say is "Wow!" Carol Schiff Studio has amazing paintings, many with the impressionists style that I adore. Mille mercis, Carol!

Les chaussures VII

We saw this sign in the Métro leaving Galeries Lafayette en juin and it just seemed so captivating. The shoe department reportedly has over 12,000 pairs in a space of 34,700 square feet!


Do you see that it refers to all the "shoe addicts"? Hummm.... guilty, as accused



GALERIES LAFAYETTE
40 bd Haussmann

Zoom-Zoom II

Bleu clair, bleu, noir, et rouge -- Alons-y!

After walking the streets of Paris all morning and a lovely dejeuner with mes amies Virginia and Marie, it was tempting to select a color and GO!

Tomorrow, with your approval, I will take you "Beyond" -- just for the day. Okay?

Pylones -- Il vous fera sourire!

Have you ever wondered why simple utilitarian objects could not be whimsical and colorful? Well, in 1985 this company was founded in France and transformed everyday objects into brilliant conversation pieces. Even the website of Pylones is playful and animated and can be found here. You can find Pylones stores in New York and many other cities of the world, but the products offered in the USA are not as varied as those seen on the French website and in Paris. I imagine that many Parisians do not give these stores a second glance as the numbers of boutiques have increased. One can definitely get "quirky overload"!

So what do they make? writing pens, cheese graters, puppy dog bookends, combs and brushes, des parapluies with dots and stripes, staple removers with fangs (oh my!), and even frog toasters (not for cooking frogs, bien sûr!)

Not sure that you would want a whole room full of these products but a little object or two will certainly make you smile.

Can you guess the sport of this colorful team of men?

Magnetic paper clip holders that will chirp whether you really want to listen or not. I have one and just try not to touch it too often -- shhhhh!

Des Chapeaux: Rouge et Rose

Oh la la! A confession: J'adore bien les chapeaux! It is not quite the obsession I have with les chaussures but only because I do not wear one daily, bien sûr.

The vision of these beauties in Le Bon Marché were too much for my camera to resist and thankfully I managed to get a shot before being chastised. Did I purchase one? Malheureusement, non. A big hat presents a real challenge to carry home, and on another day I will share "that" story (and photo) with you!

Note: The link above only has the logo for Le Bon Marché so it may be in transition. However, this post on Peter's Paris has a wealth of information with photos. Merci, Peter!