Sunday, June 21, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I turned fifty on June 14! We celebrated with a backyard garden party at our house, with family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and even a couple dogs as our guests. The theme was Paris, complete with a gorgeous Eiffel Tower cake, Paris gifts, and a flamenco performance by our good friend M. Okay, so flamenco isn't French....

Photo 1 The cake, made to order by McHattie's
Photo 2 My Laduree tote, the inspiration for the cake
Photo 3 The flamenco diva




Friday, May 29, 2009


LIVING ON THE CHEAP
Earlier in the month, Astronave wrote on her blog about living on limited income in the twenty-first century. Her piece inspired me to ask our father, on his most recent visit, to talk about growing up during the Great Depression. He was born at home in 1931 in a Milwaukee immigrant neighborhood and entered his teens during World War II.

I asked my father how his family and community made ends meet during lean times. As with Astronave's experience, creativity, determination, and entrepreneurial spirit are required. Below are some of my father's memories.

Fun and Games
Without television, radio brought news and entertainment for free to most homes during the Great Depression. And boxing was second only to baseball as American's favorite sport. In the photo above, from the late 1930s, my father (left) and his brother Tony (right) box for the camera as their sister Vi referees in the background.

Billy Conn, known as the "Philadelphia Kid," debuted as a professional boxer in 1934 and won the world Light Heavyweight title in 1939. He went on to fight Joe Louis in 1941, a match my father still remembers. Billy Conn was his man.

Gotta Have Wheels


Americans of my father's generation were not as mobile as we are in the twenty-first century. But motorized traffic was well established by the 1930s. The photo above shows downtown Milwaukee in the early 1940s.

On weekends, my father borrowed the neighbor's transit pass to ride the city's streetcars (transit map booklet below). He could be gone the whole day, riding wherever he wanted and at no expense to him.
























Scooting Around


With no money for new bikes or scooters, kids in my father's neighborhood scrounged for empty orange crates and 2 x 4 planks. They nailed the crates in an upright position onto the boards, then disassembled skates for the wheels, which they nailed onto the bottom of the planks. Wooden handles were optional, and voila. Homemade scooter for free (above).
























In 2009 you can buy one of these orange-crate scooters (above)--made to order--from Mountain Boy Sledworks in Silverton, Colorado. Hold your hat. They cost $120! Plus shipping.

Toys on Loan



If you couldn't make a scooter, kids could borrow one from
toy-lending centers around town (logo at left). Milwaukee had twenty of them. Toy-lending centers around the country accepted toy donations from residents of more means. They gave ice skates, dolls, doll houses, steam shovels, miniature cars you pumped with your legs, scooters, and other popular playthings of the era.

The County Delivers


My father had nine siblings (four sisters and five brothers). To feed the family, my grandparents relied, in part, on assistance from the county. They went to food distribution centers, which were organized to give away surplus agricultural products subsidized by the federal government to keep farmers solvent. Depending on what was in season, families would get rations of raisins, prunes, ring bologna, white flour, butter, lard, honey, barley, sugar, peanut butter, potatoes, and canned peas, carrots, and string beans.

The county distributed milk directly to homes. In Milwaukee, the Golden Guernsey dairy delivered daily in my father's neighborhood. But unlike the photo above of a Golden Guernsey delivery truck from 1938, the dairy delivered via horse-drawn wagons, such as the one pictured below from the mid-1940s.

Gotta Have Caffeine!


Coffee is a must in Sicilian families, and to stretch the supply of A&P Eight O'Clock brand, my grandmother--Rosaria DeNicola--reused coffee grounds. She dried them in the sun on newspaper and then percolated a new pot of coffee, adding a small amount of fresh grounds to the old ones. (The ad pictured at left is from an April 1940 edition of Woman's Day magazine.)

Music Man
During the Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) supported music and the arts in a variety of ways. In Milwaukee, my grandfather--Vincenzo--played the tuba for the WPA orchestra. They played at events all over town, and the salary he earned allowed him to supplement the family's diet with 20-pound boxes of spaghetti, wooden crates of anchovies, olives and olive oil, and Genoa salami.
The poster below from the Illinois WPA orchestra is representative of the era.




Fuel for the Body
Music fuels the soul, and according to advertisements of the 1940s (below), candy fuels the body. When my father was growing up, all the kids in town knew where to get a Baby Ruth candy bar for free--at the gospel tabernacle near the downtown movie theater. In truth, they weren't exactly free. You had to stay for a 15-minute sermon, after which the candy bars were put out--just in time for the first showing of the afternoon movies.


For more information about the Great Depression and World War II years, the Internet and historical societies around the country are great resources. The Minnesota Historical Society, for example, recently launched a comprehensive exhibit called Minnesota's Greatest Generation: The Depression, The War, the Boom. The companion website is a rich trove. Check out your local historical society for more information about your community and its history.

Friday, May 22, 2009


EXPERIENTIAL PARIS
It's a beautiful spring morning. The sky is clear, the sun bright. The flowering crab (picture above from last week) outside the window by my computer is no longer in full bloom, but the scent of lilacs and lilies of the valley is wafting through the house, in competition to see which will dominate the olfactory senses. I can see from my neighbors' gardens that iris will be blooming next, and that means that my birthday flower--the peony--is not far behind.

Lilies of the valley were in bloom in Paris earlier in the month. I know because I occasionally check Paris Daily Photo. Blogger Eric lives in the 9th somewhere and posts a single photo every day from somewhere in the city. It's a great way to keep up on events in Paris and to feel, at least for a moment, that you're in the city. Give it a peak!

Friday, May 15, 2009


EXPERIENTIAL PARIS
Create a taste test for yourself while you're in Paris. For example, one year my father and I went around town looking for the best financiers (small bite-sized almond cakes). Another year, we were on the hunt for the best baguette. On yet another trip, we stopped in every patisserie we passed to try their tarte citron (lemon tarte; photo above).

Last week, SJG and I hosted former colleagues and now friends for a spring dinner. We started with asparagus soup with a dollop of creme fraiche in each of the big white serving bowls. Then came grilled lamb chops and spring greens topped with roasted pecans, blue cheese, and slices of red pears. I used the honey balsamic vinegar our neighbor brought us from Oregon at Christmas to make a light vinaigrette dressing for the salad. And for dessert? French tarte citron!

My lemon tarte recipe is adapted from Paule Caillat's, of Promenades Gourmandes fame. She's become a friend over the years, and it is she who introduced me to the best tarte crust ever . It's also the easiest crust recipe I've run across (as long as you use a fluted, two-piece tarte tin; the type where you can separate the bottom from the side ring), and it works equally well for sweet and savory affairs.


When my father and I first made lemon tarte with Paule, we agreed it was the winner in our search for the best lemon tarte in Paris. Try it. It wowed the dinner guests last week!

Lemon Tarte
1 parbaked tarte crust (photo above) a la Paule Caillat
(See this recent entry on David Lebovitz's blog devoted entirely to making Paule's crust. It's a perfect introduction to the how-to of it.)

For the filling:
3-1/2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup (75 grams) sugar
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
zest of one lemon
powdered sugar for serving

1. Melt the butter.

2. Beat the sugar into the egg yolks until the mixture becomes almost white. This happens quickly (a minute or two).

3. Slowly add the melted butter, then the lemon juice, then the zest.


4. Beat the egg whites until stiff and then gently fold them into the batter.
























5. Pour filling into the parbaked tarte crust. Bake the tarte for about 23 minutes in a 350-degree oven.


6. The tarte is done when the top is lightly browned and the filling is set. Depending on your oven, that may be a little more or a little less than 23 minutes, so check the tarte after 20 minutes and go from there.

7. Allow the tarte to cool for about 30 minutes before removing the side ring and placing the tarte on a serving plate (don't bother to remove the bottom of the tarte tin).

8. Just before serving, sprinkle the tarte with a little powdered sugar (by passing the sugar through a small sieve for a fine dusting). I sometimes add a spring of fresh mint in the middle for color contrast, although I didn't this time. The recipe serves about 6-8 people.

Bon appetit!

Friday, May 08, 2009


EXPERIENTIAL PARIS
There's nothing like a massage to relieve aching muscles and the fatigued spirit after a long transatlantic flight to Paris. If I'm staying at least a week, I like to schedule a massage for the day after arrival and another one for the day just before departure.

Paris offers a variety of options for massage. Treat yourself to one of them!

Espace France-Asie
Founded in Paris by master masseuse Micky Suwanachoti, Espace France-Asie (France-Asia Space)is a center for Thai massage just around the corner from the Madeleine. The EFA center offers a range of options, from traditional Thai massage to Swedish massage and aromatic herbal treatments.

Micky and her staff are bilingual (actually trilingual, since most of the staff is from Thailand), and all of them have been trained by Micky. She also offers regular courses in the techniques of Thai massage to the general public.

When you arrive for your massage, you are invited to relax on wooden chairs in the lobby and to sip a cup of tea amid flowering orchids. The massages take place on futons in small, wooden "cabines" (private rooms) as soft instrumental music floats over the sound system. The atmosphere is quiet, relaxed, and gentle.

My father and I have been to EFA so many times that we now get the "bise" (cheek kisses) from Micky when we arrive. Check out the website for more information. You'll want to go back too!


Hammams in Paris
Another fabulous way to relax is to treat yourself to a massage and steam bath at one of the many hammams (Turkish-style steam baths) in Paris. This can be a much less expensive way to enjoy a massage, and it's a wonderful opportunity to try something that's not so easily available at home.

For example, the hammam at the Grande Mosquee de Paris (Grand Mosque of Paris, photo above) is very close to the Jardin des Plantes (conservatory) in the 5th. The entrance fee is 38 euros, which includes a 10-minute massage, a scrub, all the time you want in the steam bath, and tea. Women's days are Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Men go on Tuesdays and Sundays.

Check out this article for more information about hammams throughout the city.

Friday, May 01, 2009

POPCORN INTERLUDE

Popcorn: 1/4c pcorn in sm papr bag; close w/1 stple. Mcrowv pcorn set x 2. Salt.



How about that for a recipe? I learned of it from a colleague, who found it some time ago in a Mark Bittman column in the New York Times. I was inspired to create the haiku version after reading an article in the Times Dining In food section on April 22. It highlighted a woman named Maureen Evans and her penchant for tweeting recipes. She's a master. Take a peak at the article and try it yourself.

Oh, and the popcorn recipe is: ez hi-fbr snk 4 wrk.

Experiential Paris will be back next Friday!

Friday, April 17, 2009


EXPERIENTIAL PARIS
Paris is a city that's easy to get on top of. It's not overwhelmed with skyscrapers, which means you don't have to go very far or very high to enjoy a marvelous panorama. Below are four places with terrific views and that, together, offer a perfect introduction to the city's top attractions. Try making a day of it!

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF PARIS


La Tour Eiffel

The Eiffel Tower is the Paris icon, instantly recognized round the world. My favorite refrigerator magnet is a little metal Eiffel Tower that I bought several years ago from one of the bouquiniste stalls along the Seine.

The tower is definitely worth a visit. Elevators take visitors to the top. If you're in good shape and want exercise, try walking the stairs to the second level
(115 meters up) and take an elevator to the top from there. Walking is less expensive than taking the elevators the whole way--and there's never a line! Think about going at night, when the tower lights sparkle for five minutes on the hour. It's enchanting.


La Cathedrale de Notre Dame
Gothic Paris is on display at the cathedral of Notre Dame in the heart of the city. A visit to the top of the South Tower offers a view out over the river Seine, although be forewarned. There is no elevator to the top of the tower, so be prepared to walk all 387 steps. The gargoyles will be there to reward your effort.


Le Musee d'Orsay
The Musee d'Orsay is an easily recognized landmark along the Seine. It was once a train station (above), whose rail hall is now filled with sculptures (below). I especially love the museum's elegant grey roof. From a distance, it looks like a light covering of snow has settled on the building, even in summer.

If you've worn yourself out walking up the steps of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, wind up your day with an easy stroll through the museum's well known collection of impressionist art.

Then have a late lunch at one of the museum's lovely restaurants. The casual Cafe des Hauteurs is at the top level of the museum and offers a magnificent view over the river and toward the Louvre museum, the Opera (the Palais Garnier), and the basilica of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre.


For a more elegant dining experience in another Left Bank museum, make reservations for dinner at Les Ombres. This restaurant (above), designed by Jean Nouvel, is on the terrace level of the Musee du Quai Branly (MQB). The museum is one of the city's newest and has an impressive collection of indigenous artwork from around the world. And you'll love the view of the Eiffel Tower, where you started your day!

Note to readers: Experiential Paris will not be posting next week, so look for the next entry on May 1.

Friday, April 10, 2009


EXPERIENTIAL PARIS
Movies transport us to other places, other mindsets, and other cultures. I love to watch movies about Paris before traveling there. And I love them even more when I get back. It's a perfect way to prolong the pleasures of the city.

Below are three movies to get you in the mood for Paris. I've chosen them according to these criteria: (a) because I love them, (b) because each offers good footage of the city itself, and (c) because there's something classic about each one.

I'll add more recommendations over time, but if you're wanting more right now, go to this entry on Ann Althouse's blog. About three years ago, she invited commenters to create a list of favorite movies set in Paris. The list is a treasure trove. (And she ended up engaged to one of the commenters!)

CELLULOID PARIS


DIVA
Diva (1982) is one of my all-time favorite movies. And it's set in Paris. It's a quirky love story set in the crime thriller genre, and there's a scene with a baguette that I would put on any list of classic movie moments.

There's also a tears-streaming-down-the-cheeks scene set in the Chatelet theater before it was cleaned up and beautified in the early 1980s. On a bare, crumbling stage, the diva of the movie's title performs "Ebben? ne andro lontana" from Alfredo Catalani's La Wally for a lone spectator. It'll make an opera fan of you.

Although reviewers at the time criticized weaknesses in Diva's plot, they all conceded this: the movie has Style with a capital S.


A BOUT DE SOUFFLE
(BREATHLESS)

A Bout de Souffle is a 1960 New Wave classic directed by Jean-Luc Godard. In the twenty-first century, we take jump cuts, handheld cameras, ambient noise, and natural lighting for granted, but fifty years ago, they were revolutionary. (Read this excerpt from Richard Brody's Everything Is Cinema (2008) for more about the genius of Godard.)


Not so long ago, I saw the movie on a big screen and loved it. I can't say the plot holds up, but then again, New Wave wasn't driven by story. What sticks in the mind are the images: Jean Seberg selling the New York Herald Tribune on the streets of Paris (above), Jean-Paul Belmondo's obsession with Bogart (photo at top of this entry), and the extended death scene at the end of the movie. If nothing else, the film will give you a sense of the French take on derring-do.


BEFORE SUNSET
This 2004 sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) finds Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) in Paris. In what is essentially an 80-minute conversation, the movie follows the pair (above) as they wander the streets and canals of Paris, catching up on nine years of life. (Recognize the Left Bank bookstore in the still above?)

While Godard was known for introducing quick cuts, the director of Before Sunset, Richard Linklater, revels in the long take. Single shots last several minutes, creating a sense, according to Roger Ebert, that the film is taking place in real time.

I'm about ten years older than Delpy and Hawke, so, to be honest, I wasn't terribly interested in the content of their Before Sunset conversation (the script for which they co-wrote). But I did love the street scenes of the city, and paired with 2 Days in Paris(2007), also starring Julie Delpy, it's great viewing after you get back from Paris. Delpy has a knack for capturing French-American culture clash. She is very loving about it--and wickedly funny. You'll catch yourself nodding in recognition.

Happy viewing, and don't forget to check in next Friday for more tips from Experiential Paris!

Friday, April 03, 2009


EXPERIENTIAL PARIS
Both my parents, in their different ways, enjoyed leaving home for other places. Through them, my siblings and I had a chance, as children, to begin our travels.

In the early 1970s, for example, we accompanied our father on university sabbatical to Copenhagen. We were there during the winter months, and Denmark in the winter is dark and dreary. To relieve the blues one afternoon, my sister and I went to see a rerun of the 1965 Beatles' movie Help!



In Denmark, as in France, the price of a movie ticket depends on where you sit in the theater. Because our purse was light, we bought the cheapest tickets, which were in the very front row. My sister and I both prefer to sit toward the back of a movie theater. Yet even with our noses to the screen, we loved every minute of the movie.

Ever since, I've included movies on my list of things to do while in a foreign city. It's a great way to see the town and be with the locals, and in some cases, to see a film before it's released stateside.

Below are suggestions for three movie houses to visit in Paris.

AT THE MOVIES IN PARIS
Parisians are cinephiles, with a long tradition of making, talking about, and loving movies. Remember France's Lumiere brothers? These days, you can watch footage of their earliest movies, which date to the1890s, on YouTube. Amazing.

Paris in the twenty-first century offers a wide array of movie theaters all over town, and I suggest starting with one that's close to wherever you're staying or wherever your day's itinerary is taking you anyway.


Le Reflet Medicis
On a family trip to Paris in the mid-1970s, my sister and I went by ourselves to see Woody Allen's Sleeper at Le Reflet Medicis, a Latin Quarter favorite not too far from our hotel on rue Monsieur le Prince. The hotel is no longer there, but the movie house is. It's still known for showing English-language films, along with film noir revivals and independent films from all over the world.

Centre Pompidou Cinema
If you're already visiting the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement for an art exhibit, check to see what's playing at their cinema. They're known for programming retrospectives of film directors, and the museum website will tell you what's playing when. (Note that, for whatever reason, the French-language version of the site has more information about the movie offerings than does the English-language version.)



La Pagode
A Paris movie house that's on my list is La Pagode. Built in the 1890s close to what is now the chic Bon Marche department store in the 7th arrondissement, La Pagode is a Japanese-style pagoda. A revival house of sorts, La Pagode also shows English-language films, both current and classic.

To practice your French and learn a little about the history of La Pagode at the same time, you can watch a short French-language spot from Cap 24, a French television station, complete with shots of the theater itself, on YouTube. Amusez-vous bien!

Be sure to check in next Friday for Experiential Paris's recommendations for movies to get you in the mood for Paris!

Friday, March 27, 2009


EXPERIENTIAL PARIS
I'm a foodie, and Paris is a city for the gastronome. It's true that the culinary excitement in Europe has shifted to Spain (think Barcelona and Ferran Adria and El Bulli), but the influence of French culinary tradition is deeply entrenched even there.

The idea of a learning vacation has become popular in recent years, and one of the things I love to do in Paris is to take cooking classes (albeit with more success than Audrey Hepburn's Sabrina at Le Cordon Bleu, above). The city is full of cooking schools, and below are three suggestions. And don't worry. All three instructors are totally bilingual.

COOKING IN PARIS:
THREE FOODIE TREASURES


(Photo credit: Paule's Lacanche stove, by ddip)

Paule Caillat and Promenades Gourmandes
This red Lacanche stove graces the kitchen of my friend Paule Caillat, who offers cooking classes out of her home in the Marais neighborhood of Paris's 3rd arrondissement. The groups are small and hands on, and you share the meal together when it's all done. It's a great way to learn basic French dishes and techniques, as well as to meet people while you're at it.

As part of the package, Paule takes the group to one of the city's many food markets to shop for ingredients, and if you like, she'll also take you on an afternoon shopping excursion to some of the city's best culinary stores.

Check out Paule's Promenades Gourmandes website for more details, and tell her I sent you!



(Photo credit: tile outside a boulangerie, or baker's shop, on the Rue de Grenelle in the 7th, by ddip)







At Home with Patricia Wells
The food critic for many years at the International Herald Tribune, Patricia Wells runs cooking classes out of a former artist's studio on the charming Rue Jacob in Paris's 6th arrondissement. She also offers classes in Provence in the south of France, and her popularity means it's good to sign up early.

Unlike Caillat, Wells offers week-long classes, so this option is for those who want more than a glimpse of French cooking--and who are willing to make the commitment in time and money. A less demanding introduction to the depth of Wells's knowledge is available through the fourth edition of her Food Lover's Guide to Paris. Even with a copyright in the late
1990s, it's still one of the best print resources for Things Culinary in Paris that I know of.

Check out At Home with Patricia Wells for more details.

(Photo credit: camembert on baguette at L'Esplanade de St. Eustache cafe in the Les Halles area of Paris, by ddip)

Eric Fraudeau and Cook'n with Class
One of the newest cooking schools in Paris is in Montmartre. At one point an artist's haven (think Gene Kelly and An American in Paris), this neighborhood surrounding the Basilica of Sacre Coeur (in Paris's 18th arrondissement) fell on hard times for many decades. Lately it's begun to gentrify, and classy restaurants (and people) are moving into the area.

Along with many other Parisians, my father and I marked Valentine's Day in Montmartre last month with dinner at Le Chamarre. (Note that, even though Le Chamarre's website is in French, everyone speaks English there.)

Eric Fraudeau's Cook'n with Class offers a range of hands-on cooking classes, market tours, and cheese and wine tastings out of a studio not too far from Le Chamarre. His website (which is currently being updated) also provides good information about Paris in general, and if you're interested in learning a little French while you're in Paris, sign up for a French-language cooking class with him! (For more information, email him at info@cooknwithclass.com)

Take a leap with any of these cooking schools, and don't forget to check back next Friday for more tips from Experiential Paris. Bon appetit!

(Photo credit for top photo: imdb.com, Audrey Hepburn, as Sabrina, in Billy Wilder's 1954 classic film Sabrina. Tip of the nib to my sister for pointing me in this direction.)

Friday, March 20, 2009


EXPERIENTIAL PARIS
A neighbor asked me if I could make recommendations for a friend who is visiting Paris for the first time. The friend takes an "experiential" approach to travel. This idea intrigued me and got me thinking about how to formulate a response away from the usual guided tours that are genuinely helpful and interesting for first timers--but not experiential in the way this friend is seeking.

I put together what turned out to be a three-page email of suggestions, and because it was received with such enthusiasm, I decided to share the information in a series of posts I'm calling "Experiential Paris." This first post will focus on gardens, parks, and walkways in Paris. Enjoy, and feel free to share with your traveling friends.
(Photo credit above: flower market at the Madeleine by ddip)

GARDENS, PARKS, AND WALKWAYS:
THREE TREASURES


Paris is a horticulturalist's dream. Visiting one of the city's gardens, parks, or walkways for an afternoon is one of the best ways I can think of to experience Paris as Parisians do, with an appreciation for slowing down and taking in the aesthetics of place.

Any print or online guide to the city will offer good information on where to start. And take a peak at Elaine Sciolino's piece for the New York Times in June 2008. It focuses on lesser known gardens in the city and has a companion slide show for visuals.

Below are three of my favorites in the city.

(Photo credit: the Luxembourg ruche, or apiary, by ddip)

The Luxembourg Gardens
The centrally located Luxembourg Gardens off the Boulevard St. Michel are not to be missed. Everyone goes there, and you'll find amazing things tucked in various corners—an apiary (above), a fruit orchard, a fish pond, pony rides and miniature sailboats for kids, boules (a ball game using small steel balls on a flat gravel surface) for the adults, ice cream, and everything in between.

(Photo credit: Eugene Atget, Luxembourg Gardens, Masters-of-Photography.com)

The plantings change regularly, and when we were there last month, tulips and daffodils were already pushing through the ground with their bud sacks ready to burst. Stroll through the park leisurely or choose a chair to sit in the sun and read for a while. It's what any self-respecting Parisian would do.

Afterward, go to the Dalloyau patisserie for coffee and pastries. It’s on the Boulevard St. Michel side of the park and has a lovely little tea room on the second floor. Parisians sit there for hours reading, writing, talking. And on your way to Dalloyau, don’t miss the free photography exhibit that usually lines the fence of the park on that same side.

(Photo credit: Allee des Cygnes, by Alemsk.tos on flickr.com)

Ile des Cygnes
My father and I walked to this little known island in the Seine after Mass at St. Eustache one Sunday afternoon. He thought it would be a relatively short walk, but hiking from St. Eustache in the 1st arrondissement to the
Ile des Cygnes in the 15th is not for the faint of heart. It took us about two hours and remains a peak Paris moment, partly because we walked the whole way along the Seine, taking in an amazing swathe of people and sights.

The fun of the island is the approach to its far end along the enchanting tree-lined Allee des Cygnes (photo above). The reward: a miniature Statue of Liberty at the very tip of the island. The Metro is aboveground in this part of the city, so it's fun to catch a ride from here to wherever you're going next.

(Photo credit: St. Cloud, Eugene Atget, from Masters-of-Photography.com)

St. Cloud
I love some of the parks just outside of Paris. The grounds at Sceaux, for example, are lovely. Versailles is magnificent and an easy day trip. But the park at St. Cloud is my very favorite, and not many people seem to go there.

I learned about St. Cloud many years ago through nineteenth-century French photographer Eugene Atget, who took some classic images (above) in this park along the Seine in the town of St. Cloud. You can see the flowing waters of the magnificent terraced fountain, known as the Grande Cascade, on certain days of the week and take tea or coffee at the little concessionnaire that's open in good weather.

The park is an easy ride on the Metro from Paris, and if you're so inclined, you can combine a visit there with a stop at the nearby National Museum of Ceramics.

(Photo credit: Musee-Ceramique-Sevres.fr website)

At the museum, you'll be introduced to Sevres beauties (left) along with the idiosyncracies of French museology
--a sort of "figure it out yourself" approach to displaying a museum's collection. It's a lovely space and a lovely collection, so even if you aren't exactly sure what you're seeing, you'll go away happy.

Tune in next Friday for more tips from Experiential Paris!