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My First Paris: Tory Discovers Angelina’s Chocolat Chaud

Tory Hoen — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:27:52 +0000

Do you remember the first time you realized “Wow, I am in Paris”? Those of us who have been lucky enough to visit Paris have all, I think, had that moment — a tingling, joyful, excited realization that there’s something about Paris that can make one happy simply to exist and observe. We have asked a few of our favorite writers to share their true First Paris moments with us . For our first installment, Tory tells us about when she discovered the magic of Angelina’s chocolat chaud… - Geneviève

Justine Robinett

It was the hot chocolate that did it. For a girl who had grown up on watery Swiss Miss with tiny, desiccated marshmallows in it, the chocolat chaud in Paris was a life-changing revelation.

Angelina’s hot chocolate; macarons (Justine Robinett)

First of all, I was allowed to drink it for breakfast. It was no longer something I had to “earn” by clocking hours on an icy ski slope, trying to ignore the fact that I could barely breathe through my ice-encrusted neck-warmer. No, in Paris, it was my inalienable right to drink hot chocolate, simply because I had woken up. No neck-warmer needed.

The mouth-watering display at Angelina’s (Julien Hausherr)

But more specifically, it was the hot chocolate at Angelina that did it. Yes, this charming tea salon has become an unabashed tourist trap, but like all the best Parisian clichés, its charm is not diminished by its over-exposure.

Hot chocolate (Benjamin Harrison)

Since opening in 1903, the elegant Belle Epoque tea salon has attracted the likes of Proust and Coco Chanel. Now, it lures chocoholics who make the pilgrimage for the famous “Chocolat à l’Africain”—a concoction so sinfully thick that it coats the sides of the porcelain pitcher in which it’s served. One cup can fuel you for days. Luckily, at age 12, I had no concept of “chocolate as sin.” (Actually, I still have no concept of chocolate as sin). And on that first trip, as I sat across from my mother beneath the gilded moldings of this historic cafe, I knew that Paris was my city. Hot chocolate was just the beginning.

Angelina’s. 226 Rue de Rivoli, 75001. +33 1.42.60.82.00

June in Paris: Don’t Miss These Events

Heather Stimmler-Hall — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:00:44 +0000

June is one of the very best times to be in Paris. It’s starting to warm up, but the temperature stays pleasantly cool enough to be outside all day. Parisians can feel it too – get ready to start seeing more and more natives abandoning their lairs in favor of sun-bathed café terraces. Heather from Secrets of Paris keeps a wonderful calendar of the best things to do in Paris. To help you make the most of your month of June, we’re sharing a few of her top picks here…

David Bloom

June 3 – I almost regret mentioning this here, because I don’t want to have to elbow any of my darling readers out of the way (just consider yourself warned). Expect big crowds at the first Nuit du Gâteau at the Maison du Chocolat (8 blvd Madeleine, 9th), free tastings of their newest creations from 7pm-midnight.

June 4-6 – The Jardins Jardin garden festival takes place this weekend at the Jardin des Tuileries (1st), with a focus on urban garden design and “exterior decorating”. Open from 10am until 8pm. Entry €11.

June 5 – Join the Paris Urban Adventurers for a Scavenger Hunt through the city to raise money for their 2010 charity drive: “This year we’re raising money for solar technology to allow families in developing African countries to study, cook, read and live even where electricity is lacking. So you get to have a good time, and feel good about helping others, all at the same time.” Form your team and register to join the fun.

Little Brown Pen

June 6 & 13 – The two biggest horse racing events of the season take place at the Chantilly Hippodrome (just 30 minutes from Paris by train), the Prix du Jockey Club on the 6th and the Prix de Diane on the 13th. Come with your fanciest hats and picnic supplies. You can also sign up for the guided tour of the hippodrome through the Chantilly Tourism Office.

Through June 6 – Nike has taken over the historic Piscine Molitor (2 ave de la Porte Molitor, 16th) near Roland Garros, a graffiti-covered swimming pool that closed many years ago and is now used for “underground” events. Not that tennis or Nike are underground, but they’re hoping to attract a much younger audience to the game (and merchandising) of tennis. “The Club” is open weekdays 2-7pm, weekends until 8pm, and include actual tennis matches in the empty pool, live DJ sets, a bar, and plenty of promo schwag for a party atmosphere.

June 8 – 13 – French designers Des Filles en Aiguille are hosting another expo-vente créateurs (designer show-sale) of women’s clothing, lingerie, shoes, accessories and home decor objects, all made in France, at the Espace Beaurepaire (28 rue Beaurepaire, 10e, M° Republique – noon – 8pm, Thursday until 10pm, Sunday until 6pm)

June 12 – Grand Feu de Saint Cloud, the largest fireworks show in Europe is taking place tonight at the Domaine de St-Cloud (a suburb to the southeast of Paris on the end of metro line 9), from 10pm. Tickets start at €28 (up to €98), but considering how high up they’ll be, you can probably get a good view for free from the Pont de Sèvres.

Little Brown Pen

June 15-20 – Mikhail Baryshnikov dances with Ana Laguna in a production at the Théâtre de la Ville as part of the Etés de la Dance festival. Tickets from €35, the first night is already sold out!

June 18-20 – The Shakespeare & Co bookstore’s annual Literary Festival takes place this week, with the theme “Storytelling & Politics”. Some of the many guest authors include Martin Amis, Jeanette Winterson, Fatima Bhutto, Breyten Breytenbach, and Natalie Clein. Free entry. Come hear them read, talk, answer questions, and sign books.

June 21 – Fête de la Musique!

Through June 28 – “Vanités: From Caravaggio to Damien Hirst” at the Musée Maillol (61 rue de Grenelle, 7th), an exhibition on how the skull and bones motifs have gone from art to everyday life.

Through July 13 – The FreeMason’s Grande Loge de France (8 rue de Puteaux, 17th) is usually hermetically sealed off to visitors, but they’re exceptionally open for a special exhibition on Masonic architecture from the 18th century to today. The Grand Temple and the Temple de Roosevelt will also be open to the public. Open Mon-Fri 10am-5:30pm, Saturday by RDV: 01 53 42 41 41. Free entry.

Heather is constantly stumbling upon new things to do in Paris, so make sure to keep checking her site for an updated list of events.

For literary events, readings, and classes: Monthly Paris Listing.
For art exhibitions, museum news and openings see Paris Muse.
For nightlife and performing arts see GoGo Paris
For mainstream events visit the Paris Office of Tourism.
For naughty events, see the Naughty Paris Guide.
Major sporting events and festivals can be found at WhatsOnWhen.

Written by Heather Stimmler-Hall. Photos in this post courtesy of Little Brown Pen and Dave Bloom. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.

Let Them Eat Cupcakes: Paris’ Best American Sweets

Amy Thomas — Wed, 26 May 2010 10:00:26 +0000

Little Miss Cupcake

As a New Yorker, I find it equal parts utter insanity and totally logical that as soon as I moved to Paris last year—with visions of millefeuilles, pains au chocolat, artisan chocolates and good old Nutella street crepes dancing through my head—I wound up Velib’ing through the back streets of the eleventh arrondissement seeking the city’s then cupcakes-only bakery. It took a few wrong turns down some side streets, but I found Cupcakes & Co, with sunlight happily spilling across the sole café table—an auspicious signpost pointing to the delicious display case of American delights.

Cupcakes & Co

Rebecca and Maggie Bellity, the two sisters who opened Cupcakes & Co in 2008, pride themselves on using natural and organic baking ingredients for their petits gateaux. And even though the concept arose from their travels to the states, their recipes are all French. They’ve dreamed up combinations like jasmine and vanilla, lemon and coconut, coffee and hazelnut and over a dozen others that set my heart racing and ensured many weeks of repeat business.

That was well over a year ago. And as my American obsession has waned (grace à new obsessions with macarons, violet éclairs and salted caramels), the Parisians’ has exploded.

The latest proof is Laurence Kreitmann’s Miss Cupcake, tucked in a corner of Montmartre’s rue la Vieuville. As I was hiking up the stairs last month, I noticed a new pink window with a pink cake stand displaying raspberry-, sprinkle- and jelly bean-adorned cupcakes, many of them pink. Naturally, I had to go inside where I was cheerily greeted by Kreitmann and her crew (in pink aprons, to match the pink interior), frosting new batches of chocolate and pistachio cake. Miss Cupcake’s—er, Ms. Kreitmann’s—treats have a wonderful homemade quality to them: they’re professional, but imperfect, with some puffing out of their paper liners and others barely peeking above. They’re all light, fluffy and full of deliciously balanced flavor.

Berko

Was it a coincidence that Miss Cupcake debuted where she did, or did she mean to go head-to-head with the not-too-far-away second outpost of Berko? After inspiring many sugar frenzies on rue Rambuteau, this American-style French bakery opened a newer outlet on rue Lepic in December (just wait, it’ll inevitably become a mini empire the way Magnolia and Crumbs have in New York). With crazy colors of crimson red, hot pink and florescent green; flavors in banana and Nutella, apple tatin and Oreo; and adornments of gumdrops, chocolate swirls and nougatine, Berko cupcakes remind me of DQ blizzards: totally ridiculous and a wee bit too addictive.

Cupcakes & Co

With a name like Pop Cupcakes, you’d expect the same fantastical creations as those from Berko, but in fact they’re quite sophisticated—and vegan, to boot. Founder Celeste Rhoads doesn’t have a Parisian storefront but rather offers her cupcakes on order, like premier party supplier Little Miss Cupcake and Sweet Pea Bakers, both American bakers who have been supplying Parisians with custom orders for years. Why vegan? Why not. One bite of the Bohemian Roses cupcake, an omigod combination of raspberry and roses, topped with vanilla “cream” (she substitutes ingredients like coconut cream for milk), and you might give up dairy forever.

But wait, there’s more! For the past year, left bankers have been scooping up Synie’s Cupcakes, pretty-as-a-picture creations in irresistible flavors like chocolate ganache, lemon ginger and dulce de leche with sea salt. But, in a surprising twist, Synie’s offers savory cupcakes, too. Red pepper and pine nuts, polenta topped with tapenade, and sesame with herbs and fromage blanc being some of the flavors that go quite nicely with evening cocktails.

And so the cupcake brigade continues. As you read this, they’re infiltrating traditional boulangeries (the seventh arrondissement’s Moulin de la Vierge), gelaterias (Il Gelato in Saint-Germain), American-influenced restaurants (H.A.N.D.), and even your local Monoprix.

Cupcakes & Co

What is it about these fist-sized sweets that make the French flipper? The novelty? The fantasy? The incredible flavor combinations? My guess is that it’s all about the fun. Just like cheeseburgers, cocktails and “le brunch”, other American imports that have become standard culinary protocol for Parisians fond of ennui, there are just some things that are worth letting your chignon down for.

Cupcakes & Co: 25, rue de la Forge Royale, 11eme. Tel: 01 43 67 16 19.
Miss Cupcake: 22, rue la Vieuville, 18eme . Tel: 06 63 00 77 77.
Berko: 23, rue Rambuteau, 4eme. Tel: 01 40 29 02 44; 31, rue Lepic, 18eme. Tel: 01 42 62 94 12.
Synie’s Cupcakes: 23, rue de l’Abbé Grégoire, 6eme. Tel: 01 45 44 54 23.

Back in Paris: Adjusting to Life at a French Pace

Tory Hoen — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:55:05 +0000

Erica Berman

After seven months away, I’m back in Paris for a while and am greedily soaking up every minute of it. After two weeks, I’ve slipped back into many of my happy habits, though I’ve come to realize that settling back into my Parisian life does require a few active adjustments. For instance:

1. Dietary shifts. You’d be surprised how fulfilling a diet composed solely of butter, cheese, Dijon, bread, chocolate and macarons can be. Although I must admit, a steady stream of coffee and wine leave me perpetually dehydrated. Note to self: water is the essence of life, even in Paris.

idata.over-blog.com/wallpaper.com/parisviewfinder.blogspot.com

2. Embracing linguistic limbo. When I get back to France, I regularly find myself in situations where two, three, or four languages are being spoken simultaneously. While the linguistic mélange is always exciting, I find that my English often starts to slip before my French has time to pick up the slack, and I am therefore left in a strange language-less limbo. The other day, I actually referred to a tambourine as a tangerine, which confused everyone around me. Even more confounding: why was I holding a tambourine?

3. Walking habits. When I first get here from New York, I am usually still in NY-walking mode. This causes me to weave in and out of people in metro tunnels, cross streets without heeding walk signals (the nerve!), and risk knocking over senior citizens and small children with my aggressive striding. Note to self: slow down, tiger!

4. Impulse control (or lack there of). Something about being in Paris makes me want to follow every whim that passes through my brain—whether that means eating an entire baguette (what? it’s still warm…) to staying out until sunrise. Sometimes these impulses lead to great adventures, sometimes not. The other night, I literally exclaimed, “The clock is ticking and I’ve still never been a bartender!” and vowed to revamp my whole life plan. I still haven’t decided whether this was a follow-worthy whim or not. What do you think?

5. Adjusting to “Paris time.” This is the most significant adjustment, but it’s not what it sounds like. It has nothing to do with jet lag or time zones, and it doesn’t actually involve much effort: it happens quite naturally. As soon as I get to Paris, my internal clock and sense of scheduling go dormant. I am suddenly 15-30 minutes late for everything (non-negotiable). In addition, I rarely know what time (or day) it is. The presence / absence of the sun is slightly helpful, though it’s February, so darkness is the dominant theme. Rather than structuring my days around the actual time, I adhere to a more organic schedule that involves: croissant time, coffee time, aimless wandering time, reading / writing time, time for an apéro!, cheese time, social time, dancing time, “what do you mean it’s 5am?”, bedtime. Occasionally there are some more annoying elements in the mix (work), but overall, “Paris time” is pretty blissful. Note to self: never leave Paris.

Written by Tory Hoen for the HiP Paris Blog. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.