Tag: France

The Best Local Places for Pastries and Dessert in Paris

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There are many places to grab dessert in Paris. But what are the local specialties? What if you are on a brief trip and want to try as many local favorites as possible? Here’s how to pack in as much sweets in a day of Paris favorites:

For breakfast start off with freshly made pastries and a coffee. You could grab some from any bakery (boulangerie in French), that’s what me and my friend did on our first day we were there. I really wanted to have a beignet (kind of like a fritter or donuts with filled hazelnut chocolate creme or preserves). I tried one at a local bakery near our hotel but it was overloaded with chocolate. For the next breakfast we grabbed pastries from Liberte . It has a very modern look to it, and beautiful pastries. I bought a whole box for us to eat with a friend we were meeting that day.

Around later that day we went to the Notre Dame and happened upon a pastry festival. They had live music, baking, and pastries for sale! We tried Pain au raison and Pain au chocolate. I don’t usually like desserts with raisins, but that was actually better than pain au chocolate.

After lunch we craved a pick me up so stopped by my favorite: Lauderee

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With many locations through out Paris, it is known for its macaroons, another famous French treat. This is definitely a Instagram worthy place and is extremely fancy (I even saw a Asian Instagram star with many cameras there taking a million photos of herself). They have a huge dessert, coffee, tea menu and it is impeccably served with beautiful china. Luckily Lauderee has locations in New York city and is just as good!

After the excitement of the day we thought we shouldn’t go to bed early. Why not explore late night Paris? Searching for a nightly haunt, we came upon a part of Paris that was packed with locals and wished we had known about it earlier. The area around the bookstore/cafe La Belle Hortense has restaurants to eat and the cafe itself, though small has dessert and meals. I had some of the best creme brulee there in my entire life.

So there you have it. Some hints on what to try and where to find them. Bon Appetit!

 

Easy Parisian Chic

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The museum Louvre in Paris

As fall approaches, one can learn a thing or two about updating the warm winter essentials from Parisian women. There is nothing really to it, actually you may find you already have what you need.

When I visited Paris earlier this year in late May, it would get chilly at varying times of the day then the sun would magically appear warming things up. In Atlanta, we have sporadic weather sometimes as well in the fall. But while walking around Paris and observing what is it that Parisian women wear, I noticed a pattern.

Women would wear either a wool blazer, leather jacket, or a dark trench/parka. They would usually carry a understated bag (not necessarily a brand name), a simple light colored scarf around the neck, dark sneakers or ankle boots, and dark fitted jeans or fitted trousers. Hardly if no makeup, and simple undone hair. Parisian chic really is effortless.

Instead, I would say, Parisians emphasize: layers, easy reliable go to pieces, a carry all simple bag to use while commuting, and more importantly: Parisian women probably emphasize skincare. Their skin, no matter what their race, was flawless. Organic food probably helps a lot as well, and the fact that French skincare works great. Some of my favorite French skincare brands are Clarins and Loccitane  because they include a lot of natural ingredients from plants. Having Asian skin, those work for me as well (though my favorite skincare brands are Japanese and/or Korean and they have become pretty trendy as well in America, which makes me so happy!).

Thanks for reading my blog post about how to be fashionably effortless like Parisian women! I hope this helps save you time (and maybe some money) with the variety of choices for fall, these go to pieces you can use season after season!

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Me and my friend were walking around the Eiffel tower and it became hot again after a chill spell! I had to hang my bulky sweater coat over my shoulder ha ha.

Paris inspiration: Shakespeare and Company

Shakespeare and Company

Picture taken by me, April 2014.

I recently came back from a trip to London and Paris. I loved both cities but Paris I adore even more. Right by the Notre Dame is a bookstore/library called Shakespeare and Company. It’s a famous place for people interested in anything related to literature and though I expected less, I was not disappointed.

Inside S&C

As you can see the shop with a small library on the second floor has this wonderful old school atmosphere. With stone walls, low timber ceiling, dusty chandeliers, and books packed in every corner the cramped quarters allow the perfect retreat for book lovers. On the 2nd floor there is also a desk with a typewriter…writers would come to have a quiet place to be inspired, with views of the river near the cathedral.  There is also a resident cat! That sealed the deal for me.

Lately, I had thought about a library/literature/book project that I could get involved in to help promote reading and literacy in Pakistan. Currently, I volunteer at Educate Haiti Now! A nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to quality education for Haitian children. Since I am also interested in writing it seemed like a logical step to do something to promote literacy/reading/writing in Pakistan. Shakespeare and Company, all the way in Paris, may have given me just the inspiration I needed.