waterloo station

Berlin, 2008

Notting Hill Gate

I lived in West Kensington for two years and my tube stop was either Barron's Court or West Kensington depending on where I was headed. Before that my friends Jamie and Justin lived in Notting Hill and I stayed with them many times over the years. Their stop was Notting Hill Gate (pictured above) and it has a certain nostalgia for me now that J&J have moved to Maida Vale.

Pool Series

another paris shot

Concorde Metro

Louvre Stairs

The last month or so in Paris I was really getting into motion blur. I took a lot of pictures like the one of the stairs at the Louvre and down in the metro with an long exposure in black and white. I love the kind of "ghosting" you get when you let the lens stay open a long time and people pass in front of the lens. Then too there is the accidental quality of not quite knowing what will happen with each shot and letting an element of randomness enter into the work.

Pere Lachaise, 2009

I've always been drawn to cemeteries and Pere Lachaise in Paris is probably the most amazing in the world. It's like a huge open air museum. Where else can you hang out with Oscar Wilde, Balzac, Sarah Bernhardt, Chopin, Jim Morrison and and Marcel Proust?

photography: pool series

Next Year in Los Angeles!

We went to Passover seder the other night in Woodland Hills and had a lovely time.  

Passover is my favorite holiday.  As a writer, I admire a holiday that is built around a story.  Going around the table and reading that story aloud and singing always makes me feel connected to something bigger than myself.  I have been lucky in my life to have great Jewish friends and mentors and feeling connected to their traditions makes me feel closer to them as well.

I was raised in the L.A. suburbs by a lapsed-Catholic father and a lapsed-Mormon mother.  We were left to our own devices when it came to figuring out god, religion, the afterlife and etc. Not that we were raised as complete heathens -- they had very strict senses of right and wrong and believed in common-sense family values, they just didn't force us to accept any single religious view of the world.

It was great in a way to have that freedom, but I always envied my friends who were Catholic or Jewish; I envied the idea of growing up with a sense of certainty about the way the world works.  Even if only to have something solid and imposing to rebel against, as most of them did later on.  I have dabbled with Buddhism, studied at the Kabballah Center, even found some parts of Catholicism attractive...but I have never found a faith to call home. Maybe I'll always be a bit of a heathen at heart...or maybe it's enough to believe that treating people (and the planet) with compassion and respect is enough.

That's my deep thought of the day.

La Fougasse -- pattisserie extraordinaire!

We are lucky to have one of the best patisseries in Paris on our block here in the 3rd -- La Fougasse on rue de Bretagne.  Good lord!  Not only do they have some of the best bread and croissants around, also they have killer desserts in about a two dozen varieties.  Tarts in chocolate, lemon, apple, pear, strawberry.  Cakes in white, milk or dark chocolate.  Macaroons.  Eclairs. Chocolate and almond croissants.  Too many to name!  Our favorite has been the trapezienne which is a sort of custard/banana cream pie with a delicious graham cracker crust.  La Fougasse is the reason I have gained ten pounds in the past three months!

Chez Janou

Current fave Chez Janou is about 15 mins away.  We drop in when we are on the way to the movies near Bastille.  The atmosphere is very homey and inviting, warm buttery lighting and a casual low-key vibe.  Food is excellent, of course.  As the French would say, it's a "good, honest bistro."  Had dinner there last week with my good friend Fleur and her Parisian friend Emilie (who also loves Janou).  Amazing ratatouille, duck, spinach salad with goat cheese, braised lamb, grilled tuna, a nice house red and the best chocolate mousse ever.  Damn, I'm getting hungry.

My "brick"

In the mornings, I have been swimming at the Cour des Lions pool and then riding a Velib bike up Canal St. Martin.  On the weekends I ride along the Seine since they close the highway down to cars.  Trying to get back in shape for the Malibu Tri in Sept.  

A Night at the Opera

Arts & Metiers

I've been trying to get out to see as many museums in Paris as I can.  One of the oddest is the Musee des Arts & Metiers.  It is billed as a "depot of new and useful inventions" and it houses all sorts of random, forgotten and downright weird artifacts.  19th century flying machines. Early cameras.  Zoetropes. Magic lanterns.  Focault's pendulum.  Cotton gins.  Steam engines.  

It's like the attic of France.  If you are a fan of steampunk you'll love it.  If not, you still might be carried away by the space, since part of the museum is set in the old priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs.  They've taken this old church and added a very cool modern superstructure to house exhibits.  It's like a movie set.  I think this is the only place in the world you can see a bi-plane flying through a cathedral.

Fashion week

It's fashion week here in Paris and everywhere I go I see fashionistas in their black on black outfits running between designer studios and shows here in the Marais.  American and Japanese buyers have taken over Cafe Charlot.  This is a very creative neighborhood of art galleries and designer ateliers.  In our building Jack Henry, a young american designer, has a studio and buyers and photographers have been making the trek back to his space.  A friend of a friend went to Stella McCartney's show the other night, which was held a couple of blocks away.

It's weird that the recession (the French call it, mildly, la crise -- they make it sound as if the global economy is just having a bad hair day) doesn't seem as intense in Paris as it seems in the States.  Restaurants and stores and the streets; people are out spending money.  The only sign I have seen that acknowledges the problem is a piece of poster/graffiti art that has popped up on walls around the Rue Vielle Temple -- "Protest Rescession, please dress up."

Weekend in Rome

The best thing about being based over here is being able to get on a plane and be anywhere in Europe in two hours.  You can fly off to Prague or Istanbul or Barcelona for about $100.  Spent a great weekend in Rome eating pasta, pizza and gelato, taking in the Sistine Chapel, the Colessium and the ruins of Ostia Antiqa, Rome's ancient seaport.  Got lucky with the weather too:  mid-sixties and sunny.   Real springtime weather.  

I

it's all about gelato!

Chez Jenny -- onion soup

Chez Jenny is a culinary institution on the Place Republique.  A classic brasserie that's been around since the 1920s.  We pass by all the time since Republique is our nearest metro stop.  Finally had dinner there the other night and were treated to the best onion soup I've ever had.  It's mostly about melted cheese!  Chez Jenny is a real meat lover's place -- sausage and sour kraut are the mainstays.   

Velib -- Free Bike Rental System

One of the coolest things in Paris is the Velib bike rental system.   There 1,450 bike kiosks in town.  And each kiosk lets you check out a bike and return it to any other location.  The first 30 minutes are free, each 1/2 hour afterwards only costs 1 Euro.  

What a cool idea to get people out of their cars, which decreases both traffic and carbon emissions.  And it's a cheap, pleasant way of getting around town.  It's genius!  

Les Enfants Rouge Market

One of the best things about where we live in Paris is that we are right next door to the Marche des Enfants Rouges.  It's the oldest covered food market in Paris (since 1615).  Not only can you pick up the catch of the day at the fish stand, wine from the wine stand, organic produce at the vegetable stall or a bouquet from the florist...you can also sit down for a meal or get take out from a dozen stands serving pizza, pasta, sushi, couscous or classic french bistro food.  The atmosphere is very lively and friendly and it is the centre of the neighborhood.  By the way, the market gets its name from an orphanage (which closed about 300 years ago!) in which the kids were dressed in red.

the perfect meal

My all-time favorite meal is roast chicken, a salad, french bread and red wine.  There are a couple of good rotisserie chicken places down the block from us and a couple times a week we buy a bird for lunch or dinner.  The chicken just melts in your mouth.  Perfect!

theatre du chatelet

This is actually from last Sunday, when I went to a morning concert at the Theatre du Chatelet.  I love old European theatres and opera houses with their dusty red velvet drapery and gold filigree.  Heard some Bach, Beethoven and Liszt.

Friday night at the Louvre

One of the best things about living in Paris for a few months is being able to go back to museums like the Louvre and the D'Orsay and really spend some time there.  Usually, when I am travelling, I make a mad dash through the museums and then on it's to the next place.  

The Louvre is open until 9:30 pm on Friday nights and since D was working late, I took advantage and spent a couple of hours enjoying it.  It is so vast!  I don't know if it is possible to see the entire museum even in multiple visits.  Plus, I usually end up people watching as much as anything.

Pita!

We have found the best Pita Sandwich in the world!  It comes from L'As du Falafel on the Rue des Rossiers in the heart of Jewish Paris, the 4th.  It's pretty simple:  hummus, cabbage, eggplant & grilled chicken in a pita pocket.  Not sure if it's the fresh ingredients or the special sauce they add that makes it so damn good.  On Sundays you will find a long queue down the block as people line up for their falafels and pita sandwiches (which are a super-cheap 5 to 7 Euros!).  Lenny Kravitz endorses it as his favorite restaurant.  How can you go wrong?  

It's funny that in the world's highest temple of gastronomy, this humble and inexpensive pita  has become our favorite meal!  

Jhumpa & Mavis

Went to a reading at Village Voice books in the 6th by Jhumpa Lahiri and Mavis Gallant.  Jhumpa is one of my favorite contemporary writers.  Her short stories are brilliant old-fashioned tales about family, love, loss and longing.  She counts Mavis Gallant as one of her inspirations.  Gallant has lived and worked in Paris for fifty years and she is one of those "writer's writers" whose influence is greater than their sales figures.  

The place was packed to the rafters and full of wealthy, articulate, sophisticated characters who all seemed to know each other.  It felt like we had wandered into a Woody Allen movie!  The reading was wonderful and 87 year-old Mavis in particular had the crowd in stitches with a very funny (and racy) piece she wrote a few years ago.   Jhumpa was very gracious, intelligent, down to earth and self-deprecating and we came away liking her even more.

jeu de palme

grey slush

We got a big snowstorm last night and I went out this morning expecting another winter wonderland.  Alas, it had turned into ugly grey slush by 10 am.  Very New York.  Somehow, I never pictured Paris covered in grey slush.

raise the red lantern

Red lanterns have been popping up along the streets of the quartier.  We are getting ready for Chinese New Year.  I love that there is a mini-chinatown along Rue du Marie two blocks away, with take-out noodle joints, an asian grocery store and Pho restaurants.  Plus, Paris's Belleville Chinatown is only two stops away via metro.  Like London and my hometown, Los Angeles, Paris is a great multicultural stew.