rue des Martyrs, Rose Bakrery, Kristine

Every single trip to Paris I meet up with my second-cousin, Kristine (an Older French Girl par excellence) for Sunday Brunch in Pigalle.

Khristine lives in the 9th.

 We always go to English-style Rose Bakery (my preference not hers) at 46, rue des Martyrs

 I always get their yummy mixed salade plate (14€). Kristine always gets the smoked saumon(14€) and we split.

 We never get dessert (le crumble, carrot cake, scones etc.) at Rose Bakery because Kristine (a retired dental surgeon) does not eat sweets except chocolate. In France 🇫🇷 chocolate 🍫 is a separate food group.

 After we part, I always cross the street to patisserie Delmontel 39, rue des Martyrs.

And torture myself choosing among the gorgeous delectibles.

 A Sunday walk up rue des Martyrs is full of torture and delectibles.

 Like this tarte fine abricot from patisserie Landemaine.

 The food browsing potential on Martyrs is endless.

 Pets like to browse here.

 Fromage/cheese? mais oui, beaucoup

 Seafood also, beaucoup.

 Terra Corsa at #42 is for Macaron Jill, married to a Corsican.

 You don't have to be a meat-eater to appreciate French boucherie in my opinion. Visit rue des Martyrs  between 10 - 2 on Sundays for a real Parisian neighborhood jaunt (not many tourists). But go to Rose Bakery before noon for brunch or wait in line for an hour.
See You next time Cousin Kristine!

Piaf and My Second Cousin

I was surprised Monday morning, to see an ad for La Vie En Rose in my sidebar!

On the flight over to France I saw A Good Year, an adorable film that takes place in Provence. Marion Cotillard plays the female lead, sought after by Russell Crowe. I'd planned to see La Vie en Rose in Paris, not knowing Cotillard also plays Edith Piaf..

My cousin K. (really my second cousin) lives in Pigalle and I knew she'd want to see the Edith Piaf movie. K. always dresses in blue, always wears a blue beret like a true Frenchie... She's tiny and a bit of a "piaf" (slang for sparrow) herself.

She saw many Piaf concerts and attended Piaf's last, final concert. K. knows all the songs.

My cousin has a Tea Cup Yorkie...another little piaf / sparrow called Punchy. We did get to see La Vie En Rose together (it was called La Mome in Paris, slang for "the kid"). It was in French with no subtitles. Still at the end, I cried buckets and my cousin sang the La Vie en Rose song... On the flight home I got to see La Vie en Rose with subtitles and watched it 3 more times. My cousin was born in Poland. Her motto is, Carpe Diem.