the joys of winter. hot chocolate.

Posted on November 19, 2022 by julesparis2013

What is one thing in particular I like about winter? Hot chocolate! I recently investigated two places in the Marais district. The first is an Italian gelateria called Pozzetto located at 39 rue du Roi de Sicile near the St Paul metro station. It’s a cute, homey place; welcoming and warm. I sat at a little round table and the woman who works there brought me this:

Now this was the real deal: Italian cioccolata calda, and as I sipped I was instantly transported to Florence on a cold and sunny winter’s day where I had gone over Christmas many years before. Glossy, unctuous, not sweet and deeply joyous. I savored every mouthful while uttering murmurs of satisfaction. Then I scraped the bottom of the cup with the spoon to get every last drop. I swear, if the woman wasn’t looking I would’ve shamelessly licked the cup clean with my tongue.

“Splendido!”, I said to the woman who had told me she was from Rome. “Grazie”, she replied.

I will return to that place. Not only for the chocolate, but because it’s a friendly, down to earth kind of place. Back outside, I discovered an adorable Portuguese pastry shop right next door called Comme A Lisbonne. Tiny and immaculate, it serves only espresso and perfect, freshly-made custard tarts called pasteis de nata. I had one, and as I nibbled I was instantly transported to a Lisbon sidewalk where I had stood eating the same kind of custard tart one warm, sunny day in June 2018.

The second place I went to (not on the same day!) is at the top end of the Marais. Jacques Genin can be found at number 133 rue de Turenne. The hot chocolate came to me on a tray in a white porcelain pitcher. Accompanying the pitcher was a large, white porcelain cup and saucer, a glass of water and a sugar bowl. This is hot chocolate for grown-ups. The space itself, like the hot chocolate, is minimalistic. I wouldn’t bring kids here. And a good thing, too, because when I filled the cup only halfway and drank, I burned my tongue and the inside of my mouth. It was scalding hot. It lacked the unctuosity that I like, but was not overly sweet which is a good thing. If you desire a sweeter taste, plop in a sugar cube or two. I paid 7 euros for the burnt tongue.

This photo isn’t mine and uncredited.

There’s a newer, second Pozzetto! Here’s a post I wrote several years ago entitled “the Marais, hot chocolate, a new shoe store and two wine bar bistros” –

the Marais, hot chocolate, a new shoe store, and two wine bar bistros

In Paris, two good addresses to share, and the Tuileries Gardens

Posted on July 13, 2022 by julesparis2013

Should you find yourself in front of the Gare du Nord (and you will if you’re taking any train north, including the Eurostar to London), pop into the new Carton, lauded for winning first prize in the 2022 best butter croissant contest in greater Paris.

Everything in this shop is exquisite … and reasonably priced too. When I take the Saturday morning train up to Lille, I order a continental breakfast for only 5 euros 90. Orange juice, espresso, half a baguette, a generous portion of butter and jam. Delicious.

Japantown offers a large choice of restaurants, and last night my godson and I found a pearl of a place that I will definitely return to.

Sit up at the bar so you can watch the sushi chef at work. YOU restaurant, 56 Rue Sainte-Anne,75002 Paris. Rue Sainte-Anne is the epicenter of Japantown, also called Little Tokyo, with its Asian restaurants, grocers, shops, bakeries, and more.

Here’s the grocery store, K MART, stocked full of Korean and Japanese products. We went in and I purchased two bottles of soy sauce – one reduced-salt, the other sweet – and some Japanese candies that looked like Fruitella.

After our meal of tempura and sushi, we strolled down the avenue de l’Opéra, turned right onto the rue St. Honoré and left onto the rue Saint-Roch towards the Tuileries Gardens. Very much in vogue right now is this exterior ornamentation that graces many cafés and bistros around the city. Great bunches of colorful fake flowers.

It was still bright out at 9 pm. The rue de Rivoli and the Tuileries Gardens below.

If you could see the leaves of these magnificent, not to mention historic, horse chestnut, plane, elm and oak trees, you’d weep. Mottled gray with burnt leaf tips and scabs, they’ve been coated with air pollutants for so long they’re completely damaged. We sat on a stone bench and talked about the ravages of air pollution. “If I were mayor of Paris,” said my 10-year-old godson, “I’d ban all normal cars, trucks and motorcycles and impose only electric ones.”

Let’s fire all the adults and put kids in charge. After all, it’s their future.

Another great day in the Marais: photo exhibition

Posted on February 9, 2013 by julesparis2013

It was only an afternoon but a full one. And very enjoyable. It’s still cold and gray here in Paris on Friday February the 8th. There’s a photography exhibition currently showing at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, so I jumped on the metro and got off at Saint Paul.

Here’s what’s great about France: the majority of museums and art galleries offer two admission fees – regular and reduced. The regular fee at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie is 8 euros and the reduced fee is 4 euros. The French government believes that while you’re unemployed, you might as well get out and look at art. Reduced admission fees also apply to those over 60, students, large families, teachers, artists and welfare recipients. Free admission is offered to children under 8, journalists, civil servants and PWDs (Persons With Disabilities.)

There are also free days. The first Sunday of every month, for example, entry to all national museums is free. This is to encourage people to enjoy art and to cultivate their minds. The same policy applies in Great Britain. This is a marvellous example of what’s called the “democratization of culture” – to make it populist and not elitist. But who pays in the end? We do. Those who live, work and pay taxes in France. We all contribute to the financing of French museums (among other things) through taxes.

Joel Meyerowitz – A Retrospective

I love street photography. Especially from the 1960s and 70s, my two most favourite decades. I really enjoyed looking at these captivating, nostalgic images. Frozen in time. I look at the people in the photos and wonder “Where are they now?”

Here’s a brief bio of the artist: Born in 1938 in the Bronx, Joel Meyerowitz is the archetypal New Yorker, embracing the 21st-century with curiosity and empathy. It was in 1962, following his first meeting with Robert Frank, that he began to roam the streets of New York with his 35 mm camera and black and white film. A long trip to Europe marked a turning point in his career. Meyerowitz permanently adopted color in 1972. He also switched to large format photography, often using an 8×10 camera to produce photographs of places and people. This retrospective exhibition presents, for the first time, his earliest black and white photographs alongside a larger body of work in color.

If you find yourself in this part of the Marais (the lower part), here are a few places that I can recommend, all near the Maison Européenne de la Photographie and Saint Paul metro station. La Perla is a good Mexican restaurant located on the rue du Pont Louis Philippe in the 4th arrondissement. A tad expensive, it offers a good selection of Mexican beers and a relaxed ambiance. (You’ll never get the quality and range of Mexican dishes in Europe that you do in the States.) This whole road is lined on either side with small, interesting boutiques. It leads down to the Seine River and the bridges that cross over to the Left Bank.

At the end of the rue du Pont Louis Philippe is this picturesque bistro called Chez Julien. I cannot recommend it, though, because I’ve never eaten there.

Juliet in Paris

A journey starts with a single step.

Tag Archives: Paris

the joys of winter. hot chocolate.

In Paris, two good addresses to share, and the Tuileries Gardens

Another great day in the Marais: photo exhibition