Mini Heatwave

The 86 BUS usually goes to Odeon. On Monday it took a mini detour to Place Saint Sulpice. All the Older French Girls (OFG) onboard made mini noises of horror. This was no surprise for me. I knew what was coming.

We stopped instead close to Marks and Spencers, my 'candy store'.

I skip buying envelopes and the bank at Odeon and do small DANCE😄🐻 and go to town.

My haul. MandS happens to have very tasty strawbs for a mere 2,99. Who doesn't need a 'Ploughman's Lunch' sandwich now and then (Cheddar, ham, pickle).

Minus the mini citron cheesecake I ate on the way home...

You can see how strong the sun hits in Paris when the skies are clear.

The Paris sun fiercely bounces off the Seine as les Flics rush to resolve some catastrophe in their mini speedboats.

Les bateaux-mouches are back. Hooray! Not over crowded like some boats at Niagara.

A French girl girds herself with shopping bags to deflect the sun?

Don't you love how the clever French leave mini reminders of A NEW EXHIBIT on cafe tables? I better run see this. 

A big HEATWAVE/canicul is expected to reach 102 tomorrow. Where's my hand fan and glaçons/ice cubes. Whenever there's a spare moment I pull out my clouds to work on...very cooling. Thanks for reading Paris breakfasts. Please share with a friend. And receive a monthly Paris letter/map in your mailbox + French mini bits and bobs in my ETSY shop. Stay Well dear PBers xxxCarolg et Bear 🐻

Galerie Lafayette Gourmet, Notre Dame stamp

We are all 6-years old inside a Paris sweet shop. On the way to buy more stamps, I couldn't resist popping into GALERIE LAFAYETTE GOURMET. Dessert Alert! The ground floor is a selection of Paris' best pastry. You can save yourself a lot of time running around, but its also a test of your sweet tooth.

What did Oscar Wilde say? “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it". In French, “Je peux résister à tout, sauf à la tentation”.  

Chocolate tresors from maitre Jean-Paul Hévin.

Perfect macarons from CHOCOLATIER Pierre Marcolini.

New strawberry babas from Yann Couvre. Its like Fashion Week here. New styles every visit.

A 4-pack box of mini ECLAIRS sooo tempting.

Galeries Lafayette's newest shop (they are constantly adding) is ice cream shop, La Glacerie. A MOF chef who plays with shapes, color, geometry.

Cylindrical tubes of ice cream!

I finally stopped resisting and got a dip of Mange-Vanille. Could you resist?

Such a pretty avocado green square gateau of Matcha 'Opera' cake.

Inspired my sensible avocado green salad choice at Pret à Manger also inside Galeries Gourmet. At the stamp shop a brand new commemorative issued 17July for tresors de Notre Dame, created by line engraving artist, Sarah Bougault.  A single block with just 1 stamp. Impossible to resist. I bought 5 planches /sheets. Subscribe or renew to Paris letters/maps and receive your own Notre Dame beauty. Did you know the French are mad stamp collectors? Its why so few stamps are stick-on. The glue is destructive. There are new French issues almost every week. And almost none for overseas 😳 Your resistance in Paris is tested every single day. To give in or to resist? That is the question! 🥐🍦🍫❤️Please stay well dear PBers 🐻💋

Paris All-Red, Toute Rouge

Except for  the cafes, early morning Paris still looks confinement-empty. Its been a while since I've done an all-RED or any all-one-color post. 

Did you know they set up sample dummy tables with all the fixings to entice you? Perfect for still life shooting.

A cute VICHY RED-CHECK  sample table with matching checked

Bonne Maman jam jar.

A wild variety of tables and chairs have turned up in these extra-terresse. Someone is benefiting.

Parisian 'tour de France' bikers have taken over the streets. Its daunting and life threatening. In a city full of rules, bikers do not have to stop for RED lights! Why?

Choose between a'Petite Dejeuner Classique' (9€) or a 'New York Breakfast' (19€ !). Choose between a RED or GREEN cafe.

I'm putting in links to older RED posts otherwise how else will you see all 2,670 Parisbreakfasts post?

Metro RED is a Paris classic.

I love the blue skies coming up out of the metro...

Shades of RED on my inspo wall. My desktop in its current state of entropy and chaos. I'm listening to sunny 3-sister girl group HAIM right now. Do you want more Paris color posts? There may be some RED in my Etsy shop. Thinking of you dear PBers.❤️ Stay well please 💋 XXX

Marché Bastille

Sunday/dimanche morning was one of those BLUE SKIES days I associate with New York. Wearing my swim 🏊‍♂️ suit, enroute to the piscine/pool for the 1st time since March I realized I was too late. Better go to Marché Bastille instead (another 1st time since March). There are many 1st times post-Lockdown. 

Most shoppers were masked, behaving correctly, respecting distance. 

I always forget what an upper Paris markets are. The COLORS!

What does the smart OLDER FRENCH GIRLwear to market? Pretty international. I've yet to get a trollier/granny cart though everyone all ages has one. You can buy more stuff.

The crepe maker is smiling at me smiling at her BUBBLE BLOWER. We could all use dancing bubbles in our lives right vnow non?

The cafes are buzzing with p'tit dej' customers at Bastille

A nice morning to linger over coffee and croissant.

I run home and head for the pool. This time I get in. No lines and the pool is not full. The water feels wonderful. So easy to forget.

I always go to Eataly post-pool for a walnut salad.

And to look at the pretty bottles and packages. I miss Italy !

My Eataly haul. On 75 bus 🚎coming home crossing Pont Au Change I want to bust out singing, ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. 

Have a good, safe week dear PBers 

🐻Bear thanks you for your very kind thoughts & support ❤️xxx

Resident-of-Paris-for-another-year

I've been UPSIDE DOWN this past week looking for lost and found bank statements, birth certificates, passport, proof of residence, etc GETTING MY DUCKS IN A ROW., Tuesday, 14 Juillet was Bastille day. My annual rendezvous(appointment) at the Prefecture de Police to renew my carte de sejour  was Wednesday SO I CAN STAY IN PARIS. Naturally banks are closed Monday, Tuesday. Naturally I'm missing my January statement (You need justificatifs proving you're solvent to stay in France. Wednesday morning is VISA DAY. I ran to the copyshop (everything must be in duplicate) and bank (their wifi was super slow) before my 10:45 appointment. Hell's bells. 

Fortification required - a chocolate pavé  la Maison d'Isabelle . 

Crossing bridges as usual to get to the Prefecture on Cité.

Pandemonium reignes at  Place Louis Lepine. Much more crowded than usual. 

Once inside you go to Salle 3 and wait. Others waiting were wearing crosses. I was wearing my lucky dice bracelet and horseshoe necklace. Covered. To boot when my No# came up it was 17...my birth date, but they don't let you keep it. Its part of the paperwork. 

The dice, horseshoe and No#17 paid off. I got a really nice guy who spoke perfect English when necessary. We started exchanging papers. I handed him the letter of proof of habitation from my landlord. 

He said, "Oh you don't need that. That's only for people not paying any rent." 

I said, "Oh can you please arrange that? 

He laughed. Ice 🧊 broken. 

We were off and running, joking about robbing a bank (ref. to Netflix's, Money Heist  - they rob the Royal Mint of Spain). 

Talking about possible vacance in italy or Greece with the dough. 

People who work at the Prefecture don't have much fun, so I let him cut up my passport photos with his little red kiddie scissors ✂️ 

Everything went swimmingly.

HALLELUJAH!

Notre Dame is fittingly located a block away from the Prefecture. The French set up a viewing area with posters explaining the 3 portals and kid's drawings of Notre Dame.

I will prepare ahead for next year. Famous last words.

TMI (too much boring information dear PBers!)

Thank you dear Prefecture de Police & THANK YOU dear PBers for letting Bear be a Resident-in-Paris-for-another-year 

PLEASE STAY WELL!! 

XXX 🐻