There is a misconception that French café (coffee) is good.

In France a café is occasionally good but I’m sorry to say more often than not it isn’t very good.

What pains me most about French café is it’s often double the cost of a café in Italy, unless you are in a very tiny village d’étape (a French village with less than 5,000 inhabitants situated just off a free highway) and even then the quality could go either way.

A café in France sometimes arrives with a cookie, a piece of chocolate or even a tiny cube of nougat.   This makes me happy because it balances out the potentially bad café.

But in France your not just paying for an often watery bitter café you are paying rent for your seat and your view…to watch the people passing by, read the newspaper, talk with friends or just relax.

I like the relaxing part…so as you can imagine good or bad I’ve been drinking a lot of French café.

Enjoy!

Leslie

When the weather is good in Paris or even a little rainy I get around on a Vélib’ which stands for vélo libre (free bicycle) or vélo liberté (bicycle freedom).

Launched in July 2007 Vélib’ is Paris’ public bike program.  Today Paris has 20,000 bicycles and more than 1,600 stations in the Vélib’ program.  For 1 Euro you can have access to bikes for 24 hours and your first half hour of use is free.

Other than a flat tire, I’ve never had a problem with the system until this visit.  I thought I had properly returned a bike but when I went  to take another bike (by chance at the same station) the machine said I currently had a bike out.  Yikes!

I pressed the service button on the station’s machine to speak with a Vélib’ representative to find out what went wrong but the passing cars and motorcycles made the voice nearly inaudible.  The representative explained she couldn’t speak louder because she would disturb her colleagues.  The conversation was a classic French lesson of ecoutez et repetez (listen and repeat) or maybe it was more listen and scream back what you thought your heard.

My language test ended once I located the bike, set it properly in its stand and was told I would be charged 35,00 Euro (about $48.00) for my mistake but I could call the help number on the machine for information on obtaining a credit.

When I called the number it was the same representative who continued the test by giving me an exhaustive explanation of how to obtain my Vélib’ credit.  I gave her my best “Oui Madame, merci beacoup” (Yes Madame, thank you very much) but forgot to mention I’d be calling American Express to get that credit merci!

Vélib’ may be one of the best ways to visit the Eiffel Tower and Le Champs de Mars…just be sure to station your bike properly before walking away and bring your American Express card, not for potential problems but because Vélib’ doesn’t accept any other credit card from the US.

Enjoy!

Leslie

There is more to see on the Champs de Mars than the Eiffel Tower, although it’s hard to compete with the main attraction.

The gardens are large and heading south, away from the river, it’s easy to find locals enjoying this large stretch of green, children swarming around the playgrounds, and groups of foreigners playing pétanque (the French are playing in the Jardin de Luxembourg).

If you have never played pétanque the goal is to throw metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet (literally “piglet”).  Which like nearly everything in France is a reference to food.

On your next visit ask to join the game but be advised some Spanish, French or Italian may be needed or a girl with a very large American smile.

Enjoy!

Leslie

A friend recently told me all she wanted from her first trip to Paris was a picture of the Eiffel Tower.

My last visit was at least fifteen years ago and when friends (non-French) request a visit I tell them they are on their own to wait in the long lines to visit Gustave Eiffel’s iron lattice tower.

But this visit I couldn’t get away from the structure and I loved it.

With perfect weather I bicycled by it everyday and by chance enjoyed a dinner party in an apartment that not only overlooked the tower but had an open terrace that ensured a clear shot – fortunately I wasn’t the only one snapping photos.

If you have never seen the Eiffel Tower in person I hope these pictures inspire a visit. To view more photos visit my Flickr pages.

Enjoy!

Leslie

Lately I have been offering a lot of advice on Paris and it has me thinking about my own French planning.

If you are visiting Paris I can recommend pastry shops, budget or four star restaurants, hidden neighborhoods, small hotels, almost anything Italian and everything in between.

But when I visit Paris there are a few French things I can’t go without.  No fancy brands just my favorite French basics.

Monoprix for shower gel from Le Petit Marseille, T-Shirts from Petit Bateau, a Pharamacie or Parapharmacie (preferably Pharmacie Fouhety at 26 Rue du Four – for the best selection and prices) for Anthelios Sunscreen and La Roche-Posay Lip Balm.

This is not what most people think of when they are heading to Paris.  But for a city known for sophistication sometimes the basics are really the best.

For those of you heading to Paris…  Enjoy!

Leslie