Puttin' on the Ritz

There are moments which need to be experienced when living in Paris. One of these moments is and now was a cocktail at the Hemingway Bar in the Ritz. After having read so many positive articles (my favorite by Jefferson Hack) about it, my baby had the brilliant idea of having cocktails at the most glamorous bar in the world (this is at least what it used to be).

I was in pleasant anticipation....it might be like: Forget the picture. I made a total different experience.

When we arrived everything was great. A classy decorated bar with classy waiters and extraordinary cocktails. With the first sips we enjoyed the last romantic minutes at this place. The ambiance was gone when two young men with sprinting shoes and jeans entered, ordering cocktails and talking disturblingly loud. I don't want to be discriminating so I leave out telling where they came from.

We tried to arrange with the noise when suddenly two big, and I mean really big women, mother and daughter, entered. They got seated at the table beside us and everything needed to be rearranged in order to get adapted to their body size. They were dressed dobious with mini dressed (the most mini mini-dresses I have seen so far) and started their conversation cursing loudly "Merde, putain..." and other words you should not adopt when you learn french. This procedure was followed by showing each other different ring tones on their cell phones and it was time for us to leave. Cetait vraiment désagréable! I told the waiter, he excused and made us pay.

To have at least a little fun at the Ritz, we went to the elevator to stroll around the corridors and see if everything is allright. This was fun and interesting. We greeted some of the guests chummily and went down again. To be clear, we did not steal something or spend some illegal fun time in one of their rooms. No, nothing at all plus I am sure the older guests enjoy to have some charming young couple around. When we came down one of the security persons stopped us and called us "respectless" and "misbehaving". Dazed by the alcohol I did not really listen to him but as far as we know it was an invitation to leave.

Where has all the glamour gone? These days you find restrictions everywhere. It is forbidden to smoke in bars (although it did not affect anyone for years), you are not allowed to wander around in the Ritz without being a guest - but you are allowed to enter a bar inappropriatelly dressed, talking as you were alone, eating and drinking without manners if you are willing to pay. Now I ask myself who is really respectless and misbehaving?

Hôtel Ritz
Place Vendôme

F-75001 Paris

+33 1 43 16 30 30

The Perfect Coffee Place: Bread And Roses Bakery and Deli Café

Having passed the Bread And Roses Bakery quite a few times without stopping but longing, we dedid to stop by on a beautyful automn saturday.
After careful inspection we went for some tasty scones with some whipped cream and marmalade. Bread And Roses is situated at rue de Fleurus just a view steps from the Jardin de Luxembourg and on the opposite of the A.P.C. Outlet (which is an advantage as well). It is Bakery, Epicerie and Café in one. If you are tired of traditional baguette you will find nice cereal bread in different variations, if you are tired of small and strong coffee you will get a nice big café latte with loooots of milk or a scone instead of a pain au chocolat. Everything and I mean really everything looks lovingly prepared and tasty. You can have breakfast there and they serve smaller dishes like salads, quiches and tartines. Their products are all organic with this in consideration, reasonalbly priced (10 - 14 EUR for a salad, 3 EUR for Pastries and 4 EUR for a nice big coffee).

The café is one of my favorite places and I plan to go there regularly. Besides the english procucts are a nice diversion to the traditional parisian cafés and you can take the advantage of buying a healthy cereal bread or other specialities like fois gras or antipasti for dinner.

www.breadandroses.fr
Open Monday - Saturday, 08:00am - 20:00pm
7, rue de Fleurus
75006 Paris

Lunch in Paris: Le Musée Jacquemart-André

Last week I felt very privileged: I live in Paris plus I have a super-nice boyfriend who invites me for a "surprise" during lunchtime. Hmmm, what is it? When you are female and over 25 years old you sometimes have strange ideas...

We crossed the street and entered the front building of the Musée Jaquemart, which is not only a museum but also a handsome town villa where you can lunch inside and outside. This town house was owned by art collectors Edouard André and his fiancé Nélie Jacquemart during the 19th century. After the death of Edouard André it becam e a museum in 1913.
I cannot really state what is more beautyful the view from the outside terasse on the leafy courtyard or the painted salons with pitoresque lights and paintings. We sat down inside and I was not talking for a few minutes to just enjoy the atmosphere…les très chic parisian crowd ordering lunch, elegantly dressed waitresses taking orders, the buffet with delicious pastries, everything a bit old fashioned where you seem to step in a picture of 1920 where business people would have lunch in an old coffeehouse. We ordered our meal which was very tasty and of course we did not miss to get pastries afterwards. This was my first but not last Mille-feuille I ate there, if you know what I mean...

Expositions: 3 October 2007 - 13 January 2007:
Le Bicentenaire de la mort de Fragonard : l’occasion d’un hommage attendu

Musée Jacquemart-André
158, bd Haussmann
75008 Paris
Tél. : 01 45 62 11 59
Fax : 01 45 62 16 36
message@musee-jacquemart-andre.com
Métro Miromesnil ou Saint Philippe du Roule

Paris Restaurants...Le Refectoire

Since we moved to Paris our restaurants experiences go from top to flop. Last Saturday I decided to invite my baby for dinner. We went to Oberkampf in the 11th Arrondissement. Oberkampf is a quartier in Paris I like a lot because there are no tourists compared to St. Germain where we live. I chose a restaurant called "Le Refectoire" and I must have read about it in some Paris block (unfortunately I cannot remember which one).

The inside inside of the restaurant is very reduced, comfortable and enlighted with some great decoration details like a creatively painted wall - also the restroom is worth a go.
We ordered three courses for the price of 28 EUR per person. This was not expensive for the quality the offered. The food was fresh, original and nicely arranged. Le Refectoire met my expectations for all criteria and when I have guests visiting I would consider it as a perfect venue to have dinner before going out...not too sophisticated but still with style...and what is most important...tasty food and selected wine.


Le Réfectoire - 80, bd Richard Lenoir - 75011 Paris - Tel.: 01 48 06 74 85 - M: St. Ambroise or Richard Lenoir

Paris Jazz Restaurants...Chez Papa à St. Germain

Yesterday was one of those evenings where I left with motivation do faire some jogging at the Seine. When I entered my apartment I decided to go out for drinks and petite dinner with my boyfriend. We walked around St. Germain which is pretty touristic, discovered some nice restaurants at rue Dragon we will try next. As the baby wanted to have some more fresh air and not sit in a small street we walked up to BD St. Germain and found a small and nicely decorated Jazz Restaurant called "Chez Papa". It's very near at "Les Deux Margots" if you just walk around the corner. There are many other restaurants but for my taste those are too touristic. Voilà. We ordered the vin de la maison and it tasted pretty good. Staff was exceptionally friendly for Paris and the piona jazz concert also très agrèable. It is not cheap... but tell me what is nice and cheap in Paris? We left nicely on the border of being a little drunk and walked away with the piona sounds still in our ears. That night I slept wonderful. I have no idea whether it was the wine, the piano or something else.
For the near summer evenings we will definitelly go there again.
Chez Papa
6, rue Saint Benoît 75006
Tel: 01-42-86-99-63
M: Saint-Germain des Près

Paris Snackbars...Delicabar at Bon Marché

As I live only a few steps away fromt the Bon Marché I am visiting it every Saturday without buying anything. Le Bon Marché also has a little snack bar called Delicabar. I was there for lunch last Saturday and loved it. The food is not cheap but payable and very tasty. Offering salads, sabayones, breakfasts, various vienoisserie and chocolate, they provide manifold snacks, sweets and smaller dishes. They also have a terasse where you can sit outside and relax which is beautyfully decorated. I would really recommend this restaurant for a Saturday Lunch or coffee during shopping. The people visiting the restaurant are more conservative but in a sympathetic way. I will never go shopping at Bon Marché but eating there is a good thing.
Details:
Delicabar
Le Bon Marché - Rive Gauche
26 - 28, rue de Sèvres
M: Sèvres-Babylone
Ouvert: Lundi - Vendredi 09:30 - 19:00
Jeudi: 09:30 - 21:00
Samedi: 09:30 - 20:00