Have you heard of Christine and the Queens? Yes!? Then you know how awesome she is! You can skip the rest of this post and just click on this link to buy tickets to see her perform at the 9:30 Club on May 31. French musicians don't grace US stages very often, and when they do, we - Frenchies and francophiles - have a responsibility to go cheer them on. Otherwise, they won't come see us anymore ;-) If you have no idea who Christine and the Queens is then let me introduce you to the best French band you're not listening to right now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs40yxHjTxQ Christine and the Queens is the androgynous alter ego of Héloïse Letissier, a stylish 27-year-old Parisienne who ...
Parisienne
Paris vs New York: The Striped T-Shirt Edition
Paris mon Amour or New York my Love? That's the question that JCrew's little sister Madewell is asking in its second collaboration with the French label Sézane®. After a successful first capsule collection last year, Madewell x Sézane is back with flared jeans, a very Parisian-chic little black dress, Ulysse lace-up sandals, accessories like a flirty printed scarf to wrap effortlessly around your neck, a "Féminin et Masculin” gray sweatshirt that's guaranteed to sell out as fast as the "Superbe" one did in 2014, and, my personal favourite, this set of two striped tees: J'adore New York, but Paris will always be my home so I just ordered the red-striped shirt. I can't wait to show it off ...
Six Budget-Friendly French Wines for Bastille Day
From a baguette relay race at Paul to diner at Bistrot du Coin or a fancy patio fête at the Sofitel Hotel, there are plenty of options to celebrate France's national holiday, le Quatorze Juillet, in Washington, DC. If you're more of a homebody, why not stay at home and watch a great French film while sipping a good bottle of French wine! For the films, I've narrowed down 20 of the best French films available on Netflix right here. And to help you find the perfect bottle of wine to go along whichever flick you pick, I turned to Michelle Lim Warner and Michael Warner, co-owners of DCanter, for some suggestions. One of the things I love about the Capitol Hill wine boutique (other than the ...
Liberty Enlightening the World… For 130 Years
Did you know that the Statue of Liberty, this universal symbol of freedom, is technically French? Yep, one of America’s most iconic monuments was born in France to Mr. Frederic Bartholdi, a French sculptor who modeled her after his mother, and given to the people of America as a gift of friendship from the French people. 130 years ago today, she arrived in new York Harbour after a long trip across the Atlantic Ocean in 350 individual pieces. These pieces took about a year to be reassembled and the 450,000-pound statue was officially dedicated on October 28, 1886, by President Cleveland. To celebrate the anniversary of the Statue of Liberty's arrival in the United States, google created a ...
Bread Furst Loaves Now Available at Whole Food P Street
Occasionally, I'lI venture out to Van Ness for great bread at Mark Furstenberg' Bread Furst... but if I can get his loaves closer to home... well, that's definitely something I'm excited about! And, as of last Friday, four of his loaves are now available at Whole Foods on P Street: corn rye, whole wheat, multigrain, and teff rye. Hurray! Too bad they're not selling his croissants too :( ...
New Éclair de Dessert Collection at Paul Bakery
Looks like it's definitely éclairs season in DC! After introducing two decadent new éclair flavours for Valentine's Day (framboise & trois chocolats,) Paul Bakery is keeping the momentum going with a whole month of new limited edition éclairs. A new line-up of tasty éclairs with join Paul's traditional flavours vanille, café and chocolate. Jot down this schedule! The Un Éclair de Dessert campaign will debut on February 25 by tackling one of France's most beloved dessert: the Paris-Brest. What's that you ask? It's actually kind of like an éclair! Named after a bicycle race that used to take place way before the Tour de France was a thing between the French capital and one of ...
Les Merveilleux de Fred Opens in New York’s West Village
I spent the past week in New York City for a work event, and just had to find some time to visit the newly opened bakery Aux Merveilleux de Fred. HAD TO. The Manhattan version of Frédéric Vaucamps' meringue-shop looks like his many Parisian outposts, with a stunning chandelier, rows of merveilleux in display cases and an open kitchen that allows passers-by on 8th avenue to see how the pastries are assembled by hand. And the pastries? Well, they're just as marvelous on this side of the Atlantic ;-) If you're not familiar with the merveilleux pastry, you're not alone. This traditional northern France sweet had fallen out of fashion until the late 90's, when Fred decided to make it the ...
Postcard from France: Cour Bérard in Paris
Cour Bérard is a small street in the 4eme arrondissement in Paris. It's the home of the Moretti & Moretti, an art galerie which focuses on street art, digital art and installations. I headed to the galerie to check out its Konny Stedin exhibit. If you've been to Paris recently, I'm sure you spotted some of the German street artist's work. Her signature black and white portraits, with the red paint tears, can be seen throughout Paris, like this one below which I snapped a few years ago outside of Beaubourg But the best street art wasn't inside the gallery. It was actually outside, in the street, which was lined with graffiti black cats. Cour Bérard is a small street, but it's ...
Postcard from Paris: a Paws Café at Café des Chats
Paws Café... Pause café... get it? OK, that was a bad pun, but I couldn't help it. Just like I couldn't help visiting both of Paris' cat cafés during my last stay in the city. In my defense, one of them is just a few blocks away from my parents' apartment. When did rue Sedaine become so hip? The original Café des Chats, located in the haut Marais close to Beaubourg, opened back in the fall of 2013 and turned out to be so popular that a second location near Bastille was added. Margaux Gandelon, the young entrepreneuse who launched the "café chat" concept in Paris after a successful crowd-funding campaign, was directly inspired by the "neko" cafés in Japan. She describes her project as ...
10 Paris Instagrammers You Should Follow
I follow all sorts of people on instagrams. My friends, of course. Foodies. Travelers. Cat owners. Even a few politicians (bonus when they post #FridayKitty pics every week!) But I have a soft spot for people instagramming from my hometown. Here are some of my favourite Paris-based snappers right now: In addition to having a pretty dreamy job in PR for Ladurée, Delphine also runs Goût'd Food, a lovely French food blog with an accompanying instagram feed GOUTDFOOD that's as sweet as you'd expect. DESSERTED IN PARIS is the instagram account of Taj Spiegel, a graphic designer and pâtissier with a passion for shoes and pastries. Follow him for snapshots of gorgeous-looking desserts ...