Paris in July 2022

Happy Bastille Day
Celebrating the day with a post for Paris in July hosted by Readerbuzz and Thyme for Tea

Bastille on Belden READ:

Mrs Harris Goes to Paris
by Paul Gallico
Classics, Humor, Paris | Published: 1989 (first 1958) | Goodreads
Mrs Harris is a salt-of-the-earth London charlady who cheerfully cleans the houses of the rich. One day, when tidying Lady Dant's wardrobe, she comes across the most beautiful thing she has ever seen in her life - a Dior dress. In all the years of her drab and humble existence, she's never seen anything as magical as the dress before her and she's never wanted anything as much before. Determined to make her dream come true, Mrs Harris scrimps, saves and slaves away until one day, after three long, uncomplaining years, she finally has enough money to go to Paris. When she arrives at the House of Dior, Mrs Harris has little idea of how her life is about to be turned upside down and how many other lives she will transform forever. Always kind, always cheery and always winsome, the indomitable Mrs Harris takes Paris by storm and learns one of life's greatest lessons along the way. WATCH:

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)
Director/Screenplay: Anthony Fabian
Screenplay: Carroll Cartwright, Keith Thompson, Olivia Hetreed
Based on book by: Paul Gallico
Stars: Lesley Manville, Jason Isaacs
Comedy, Drama | imdb | my rating: 5
fun summer, fashion and good vibes
A widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London falls madly in love with a couture Dior dress, and decides that she must have one of her own.

EAT:

A special chocolate cream puff from Choux (here)
included for the screening of Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris - so cute!
AUDIOBOOK:

Murder in Montmartre
by Cara Black
Mystery, Paris | Published: 2007 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
part of author binge (here)

Aimée’s childhood friend, Laure, is a policewoman. Her partner, Jacques, has set up a meeting in Montmartre with an informer. When Laure reluctantly goes along as backup, Jacques is lured to an icy rooftop, where he is shot to death. Laure’s gun has been fired, gunpowder residue is found on her hands, and she is charged with her partner’s murder.

The police close ranks against the alleged cop killer. Aimée is determined to clear Laure. In doing so, she encounters separatist terrorists, Montmartre prostitutes, a surrealist painter’s stepdaughter, a crooked Corsican bar owner, and learns of “Big Ears”—the French “ear in the sky” that records telephonic and electronic communications—which the Security Services monitor. Identifying Jacques’ murderer brings her closer to solving her own father’s death in an explosion in the Place Vendôme years earlier. It still haunts her. She cannot rest until she finds out who was responsible.

VISIT: someday...

Wall of Love
Le mur des je t'aime
The Wall of Love (French: Le mur des je t'aime, lit. the I Love You Wall) is a love-themed wall of 40 square metres (430 sq ft) in the Jehan Rictus garden square in Montmartre, Paris, France. The wall was created in 2000 by calligraphist Fédéric Baron and mural artist Claire Kito[1] and is composed of 612 tiles of enamelled lava, on which the phrase 'I love you' is featured 311 times in 250 languages.[1] Each tile is 21 by 29.7 centimetres (8.3 in × 11.7 in). -per Wikipedia (here)

fyi: featured in the French film, Amelie.

~*~
* image source: Wall of Love

Explore: Paris

Explore The World 2022
through books, films, etc. March: Paris

READ:

The Paris Apartment
by Lucy Foley
Mystery, Thriller, Paris | Published: 2022 | Goodreads | my rating: 4

FLIP THROUGH:

The Little Pleasures of Paris
by Leslie Jonath
illustrated by Lizzy Stewart
Travel, France, Art | Published: 2016 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
Take an enchanting tour of Paris's most charming places, objects, and pasttimes in this lovingly compiled Francophile handbook. Organized by season, The Little Pleasures of Paris takes the reader through a year's worth of quintessentially Parisian experiences, from secret gardens bursting with roses to exotic plumage at the city's bird market, candied violets at Paris's oldest sweet shop, dazzling colors in the stained glass at Sainte-Chapelle, and more. The friendly text and whimsical illustrations make this delightful volume a poetic letter to the City of Light. Unusual details that might otherwise go unnoticed are celebrated and offer a uniquely intimate perspective in this triomphe of je ne sais quoi and joi de vivre!

VIRTUAL VISIT: Heygo with Florent (here), my virtual postcard pics

Saint-Eustache church

Stravinsky Fountain near Centre Pompidou
VISIT bookstore: someday...

Halle Saint Pierre
(details)
Specializing in writings on art, artists' books and works concerning all forms of contemporary non-standard creation, the Halle Saint Pierre bookstore also functions as a resource and documentation centre. Its specificity comes from the networks it has set up with private and public institutions in France and abroad. The bookstore publishes or co-publishes exhibition catalogs and organizes exhibitions of raw and singular art.

~*~
* part of Explore the World (here)
* image source: bookstore

Paris in July 2021 pt2

Paris in July
hosted by Thyme for Tea
(details & signup)
Paris in July is an international blogging event that brings together lovers of Paris and all things French, for a Virtual visit to Paris through literature, film, theater, art, music, food, wine and memories.

TRAVEL MEMORY:

On a rainy day in June 2012 we spent the afternoon exploring the artwork creations in the Pompidou Centre. The view from the escalator ride up reveals the overcast day and the iconic Eiffel Tower in the distance.

PUZZLE:

Camont
Riffle Company Puzzle
18th century farmhouse in Gascony, France
Pulled this french themed puzzle from my tbr pile. Plan to shop for a Paris themed puzzle for next time.

AUDIOBOOK:

A Paris All Your Own
Bestselling Women Writers on the City of Light
edited by Eleanor Brown
contributors: Michelle Gable, Jennifer Coburn,
Cathy Kelly, Julie Powell, Lauren Willig,
Therese Anne Fowler, Maggie Shipstead
Essays, Memoir, Travel, France | Published: 2017 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
loved the different perspectives, not necessarily rosy
"My time in Paris," says New York Times-bestselling author Paula McLain (The Paris Wife), "was like no one else's ever." For each of the eighteen bestselling authors in this warm, inspiring, and charming collection of personal essays on the City of Light, nothing could be more true.

While all of the women writers featured here have written books connected to Paris, their personal stories of the city are wildly different. Meg Waite Clayton (The Race for Paris) and M. J. Rose (The Book of Lost Fragrances) share the romantic secrets that have made Paris the destination for lovers for hundreds of years. Susan Vreeland (The Girl in Hyacinth Blue) and J. Courtney Sullivan (The Engagements) peek behind the stereotype of snobbish Parisians to show us the genuine kindness of real people.

From book club favorites Paula McLain, Therese Anne Fowler (Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald), and anthology editor Eleanor Brown (The Light of Paris) to mystery writer Cara Black (Murder in the Marais), historical author Lauren Willig (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation), and memoirist Julie Powell (Julie and Julia), these Parisian memoirs range from laugh-out-loud funny to wistfully romantic to thoughtfully somber and reflective.

WATCH:

An American In Paris (1951)
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Writers: Alan Jay Lerner
Stars: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron
Drama, Musical, Romance | imdb | my rating: 5
Three friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.

Wonderful classic film with lovely Gershwin romance tunes.

Paris in July 2021

Paris in July
hosted by Thyme for Tea
(details & signup)
Paris in July is an international blogging event that brings together lovers of Paris and all things French, for a Virtual visit to Paris through literature, film, theater, art, music, food, wine and memories.

Happy Bastille Day!

Celebrating the day with first post for Paris in July ;-)

VISIT:

Les Gourmands Bakery
SoMa district (here)
for yummy croissants

Maison Nico
Financial district (here)
for fantastic paté en croûte
PAIR UP: Paris Fashion Week pick and book coming in the Fall

From Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2021/2022 show (here)
photo by Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images

The Ladies of the Secret Circus
by Constance Sayers
Fantasy, Historical | Published: November 2021 | Goodreads

Paris, 1925: To enter the Secret Circus is to enter a world of wonder-a world where women tame magnificent beasts, carousels take you back in time, and trapeze artists float across the sky. But each daring feat has a cost. Bound to her family's strange and magical circus, it's the only world Cecile Cabot knows-until she meets a charismatic young painter and embarks on a passionate love affair that could cost her everything.

Virginia, 2005: Lara Barnes is on top of the world-until her fiancé disappears on their wedding day. Desperate, her search for answers unexpectedly leads to her great-grandmother's journals and sweeps her into the story of a dark circus and a generational curse that has been claiming payment from the women in her family for generations.

AUDIOBOOK:

Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop
by Roselle Lim
Romance, Magical Realism, France, Paris | Goodreads | my rating: 5
feel good mix of Chinese culture, Paris,
matchmaking and special abilities
Zombie sighting:
Later that evening I awoke famished following a zombified sleep.
-chapter 8

Become enamored with the splendor of Paris in this heartwarming and delightful story about writing one’s own destiny and finding love along the way.

Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people’s fortunes—or misfortunes—in tea leaves.

Ever since she can remember, Vanessa Yu has been able to see people’s fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai.

The day before her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa accidentally sees her own fate: death by traffic accident. She decides that she can’t truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric aunt, Evelyn, shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to America and bonjour to Paris. While working at Evelyn’s tea stall at a Parisian antique market, Vanessa performs some matchmaking of her own, attempting to help reconnect her aunt with a lost love. As she learns more about herself and the root of her gifts, she realizes one thing to be true: knowing one’s destiny isn’t a curse, but being unable to change it is.

WATCH:

My 7 Favorite Classic Romantic Movies Set in Paris by Cine Gratia Cinema


Re-WATCH:

Amélie (2001)
Original title: Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Writers: Guillaume Laurant, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Stars: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz
Comedy, Romance, Paris | imdb | my rating: 5
Amélie is an innocent and naive girl in Paris with her own sense of justice. She decides to help those around her and, along the way, discovers love.

Loved this the first time around.

one of Amélie's simple pleasures
cracking crème brûlée with a spoon

spotted at the AMC Kabuki theatre

Goodbye... Paris in July

Au revoir!

~*~

Goodbye Paris
by Anstey Harris
Chick-lit, France, Paris | Goodreads
Grace once had the beginnings of a promising musical career, but she hasn’t been able to play her cello publicly since a traumatic event at music college years ago. Since then, she’s built a quiet life for herself in her small English village, repairing instruments and nurturing her long- distance affair with David, the man who has helped her rebuild her life even as she puts her dreams of a family on hold until his children are old enough for him to leave his loveless marriage.

But when David saves the life of a woman in the Paris Metro, his resulting fame shines a light onto the real state of the relationship(s) in his life. Shattered, Grace hits rock bottom and abandons everything that has been important to her, including her dream of entering and winning the world’s most important violin-making competition. Her closest friends—a charming elderly violinist with a secret love affair of his own, and her store clerk, a gifted but angst-ridden teenage girl—step in to help, but will their friendship be enough to help her pick up the pieces?

~*~
* image source: vintage au revoir

* part of Paris in July (here)

Mystery and France

Sacré bleu!

~*~

The 7th Woman Frédérique Molay, translated by Anne Trager (Paris Homicide #1)
Mystery, Thriller, Crime, France, Paris | Goodreads

There's no rest for Paris's top criminal investigation division, La Crim'. Who is preying on women in the French capital? How can he kill again and again without leaving any clues? A serial killer is taking pleasure in a macabre ritual that leaves the police on tenterhooks. Chief of Police Nico Sirsky—a super cop with a modern-day real life, including an ex-wife, a teenage son and a budding love story—races against the clock to solve the murders as they get closer and closer to his inner circle. Will he resist the pressure?

The story grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until the last page, leading you behind the scenes with the French police and into the coroner’s office. It has the suspense of Seven, with CSI-like details. You will never experience Paris the same way again!

Crossing The Line Frédérique Molay, translated by Anne Trager (Paris Homicide #2)
Mystery, Thriller, Crime, France, Paris | Goodreads


The Book Artist by Mark Pryor (Hugo Marston #8)
Mystery, Thriller, France, Paris | Goodreads

Hugo Marston, head of security for the U.S. Embassy in Paris, puts his life in danger when he investigates the murder of a celebrated artist, all the while fending off an assassin looking to settle an old score against him.

Hugo Marston accompanies his boss, US Ambassador J. Bradford Taylor, to the first night of an art exhibition in Montmartre, Paris. Hugo is less than happy about going until he finds out that the sculptures on display are made from his favorite medium: books. Soon after the champagne starts to flow and the canapes are served, the night takes a deadly turn when one of the guests is found murdered.

Hugo lingers at the scene and offers his profiling expertise to help solve the crime, but the detective in charge quickly jumps to his own conclusions. He makes an arrest, but it's someone that Hugo is certain is innocent. Meanwhile, his best friend, Tom Green, has disappeared to Amsterdam, hunting an enemy from their past, an enemy who gets the upper hand on Tom, and who then sets his sights on Hugo.

With an innocent person behind bars, a murder to solve, and his own life in danger, Hugo knows he has no time to waste as one killer tries to slip away, and another gets closer and closer.

The French Widow by Mark Pryor (Hugo Marston #9)
Mystery, Thriller, France, Paris | Goodreads
release date: September 15, 2020

The Godmother
by Hannelore Cayre, Stephanie Smee (Translator)
Crime, Mystery, France | Goodreads
Inspiration for the major motion picture Mama Weed; translated from the international bestseller La Daronne, winner of the European Crime Fiction Prize and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, France’s most prestigious prize for crime fiction

Meet Patience Portefeux, a fifty-three-year-old, underpaid Franco-Arab interpreter for the Ministry of Justice who specializes in phone tapping. Widowed after the sudden death of her husband, Patience is now wedged between university fees for her grown-up daughters and nursing home costs for her aging mother. Happening upon an especially revealing set of police wiretaps ahead of all other authorities, Patience makes a life-altering decision that sees her intervening in — and infiltrating — the machinations of a massive drug deal. She thus embarks on an entirely new career path: Patience becomes The Godmother.

This is not the French idyll of postcards and stock photos. With a gallery of traffickers, dealers, police officers, and politicians, The Godmother casts its sharp and amusing gaze on everyday survival in contemporary France. With an unforgettable woman at its center, Hannelore Cayre’s bestselling novel reveals a European criminal underground that has rarely been seen.

~*~
* image source: Place de Clichy by Eugene Galien Laloue

* part of Paris in July (here)

Foodie and France

Délicieuse!

~*~
VISIT: cheese shop

La Fromagerie de SoMa, First Street (here)
Selected the cave aged Gruyere (pic below with croissant).


VISIT: bakery

La Boulangerie, Pine Street (here)
Organic Artisan Breads and Pastries
Croissant is a must.

VISIT: pastry shop

b.patiserrie, California Street (here)
...modern French style pastries along with American flavors and local influences
Sweet treat - Chocolate Caramel Toffee Mousse

COMING SOON:

Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop
by Roselle Lim
Romance, Magical Realism, France, Paris | Goodreads
Release date: August 4, 2020
Become enamored with the splendor of Paris in this heartwarming and delightful story about writing one’s own destiny and finding love along the way.

Vanessa Yu never wanted to see people’s fortunes—or misfortunes—in tea leaves.

Ever since she can remember, Vanessa Yu has been able to see people’s fortunes at the bottom of their teacups. To avoid blurting out their fortunes, she converts to coffee, but somehow fortunes escape and find a way to complicate her life and the ones of those around her. To add to this plight, her romance life is so nonexistent that her parents enlist the services of a matchmaking expert from Shanghai.

The day before her matchmaking appointment, Vanessa accidentally sees her own fate: death by traffic accident. She decides that she can’t truly live until she can find a way to get rid of her uncanny abilities. When her eccentric aunt, Evelyn, shows up with a tempting offer to whisk her away, Vanessa says au revoir to America and bonjour to Paris. While working at Evelyn’s tea stall at a Parisian antique market, Vanessa performs some matchmaking of her own, attempting to help reconnect her aunt with a lost love. As she learns more about herself and the root of her gifts, she realizes one thing to be true: knowing one’s destiny isn’t a curse, but being unable to change it is.

~*~
* part of Paris in July (here)

Films and France pt2

Incroyable!

~*~
WATCH: Netflix

Puerto Ricans in Paris (2015)
Director/Writer: Ian Edelman
Writer: Neel Shah
Stars: Miriam Shor, Luis Guzmán, Edgar Garcia
Comedy, France, Paris | imdb | my rating: 4
Two Puerto Rican NYPD detectives head to Paris to track down a stolen handbag.

HILARIOUS moments with American perspective and sleuthing in Paris.


WATCH: virtual theatre

Radioactive (2019)
Director: Marjane Satrapi
Screenplay: Jack Thorne
Based on book by: Lauren Redniss
Stars: Rosamund Pike, Yvette Feuer, Mirjam Novak
Biography, Drama, Romance, France, Paris | imdb | my rating: 5
Pioneer - Rebel - Genius. Radioactive is incredible, true-story of Marie Curie and her Nobel Prize-winning work that changed the world starring Rosamund Pike and Sam Riley.

WONDERFUL spotlight on Madame Curie's life, loves and science. So driven.


~*~
* image source: Théâtre du Gymnase, boulevard de Bonne-Nouvelle by Eugene Galien Laloue

* part of Paris in July (here)

Jaunt out of Paris

Allons-y!

~*~

The Reader on the 6.27
by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent, Ros Schwartz (Translator)
Contemporary, Books, Travel, France | Goodreads
An irresistible French sensation - Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore meets Amelie - The Reader on the 6.27 explores the power of books through the lives of the people they save. It is sure to capture the hearts of book lovers everywhere. Guylain Vignolles lives on the edge of existence. Working at a job he hates, he has but one pleasure in life ...Sitting on the 6.27 train each day, Guylain reads aloud. And it's this release of words into the world that starts our hero on a journey that will finally bring meaning into his life. For one morning, Guylain discovers the diary of a lonely young woman: Julie. A woman who feels as lost in the world as he does. As he reads from these pages to a rapt audience, Guylain finds himself falling hopelessly in love with their enchanting author ...

The Safe Place
by Anna Downes
Thriller, Mystery, France | Goodreads
Emily is a mess.

Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day.

Emily is desperate.

Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily.

Emily is perfect.

Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn't play along, the consequences could be deadly.

Death in Provence
by Serena Kent
Mystery, France | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 5
The first entry in a clever, lighthearted mystery series set in modern Provence—a delightful blend of Agatha Christie and Peter Mayle—featuring the irrepressible Penelope Kite, a young-at-heart divorcee with a knack for stumbling across dead bodies.

It’s love at first sight when Penelope Kite sees Le Chant d’Eau—The Song of Water—the stone farmhouse tucked high in the hills above the Luberon valley, complete with a garden, swimming pool, and sweeping mountain vistas. For years, Penelope put her unfaithful ex-husband and her ungrateful stepchildren first. Since taking early retirement from her job in forensics at the Home Office in England, she’s been an unpaid babysitter and chauffeur for her grandchildren. Now, she’s going to start living for herself. Though her dream house needs major renovations, Penelope impulsively buys the property and moves to St. Merlot.

But Penelope’s daydreams of an adventurous life in Provence didn’t include finding a corpse floating face down in her swimming pool. The discovery of the dead man plunges her headlong into a Provençal stew of intrigue and lingering resentments simmering beneath the deceptively sunny village. Having worked in the forensics office, Penelope knows a thing or two about murder investigations. To find answers, she must carefully navigate between her seemingly ubiquitous, supercilious (and enviably chic) estate agent, the disdainful chief of police, and the devilishly handsome mayor—even as she finds herself tempted by all the delicacies the region has to offer. Thank goodness her old friend Frankie is just a flight away . . . and that Penelope is not quite as naïve as her new neighbors in St. Merlot believe.

~*~
* image source: Chair Car by Edward Hopper

* part of Paris in July (here)