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 " Would it make sense to heat your house and leave the windows open?" recently claimed 3 Green members of parliament (well "Députés" in French) who are currently trying to pass a law that would prohibit the use of terrace heaters in France. Needless to say that restaurants and cafés do not really share the same opinion; they argue that since the smoking ban it's the only way for them to keep smokers within their reach! Both parties use figures (CO2, watts, gas...) that do not match, of course. A very French debate... BTW, I took this photo rue du Pont Louis-Philippe, at the restaurant chez Julien, very nicely decorated.
 It's cold, gray, a little rainy... It's the perfect moment to have a little tea. Like this nicely dressed lady that I photographed at a terrace near Beaubourg (she probably had a macaron or two, wrapped in this ugly white paper on the table!) The French tradition of tea is not as strong as in England or China, but the market is apparently increasing (2 ou 3 French people drink tea against 1 out of 3 ten years ago). It is still considered as an "elite" beverage, and more feminine than masculine. There are several nice Salon de Thé in Paris ; the most famous ones are probably Mariage Frère (a tea specialist) and Angelina (an upper class hang out). If you're interested, here is a little selection of other cosy addresses (in French).
 One of the side effects of the smoking ban in cafés and restaurants is that smokers feel compelled to go outside in the street to have their shoot fix. And what happens when they are outside altogether? They talk, laugh, chuckle... drop their cigarette ends on the ground and trigger much anger from the neighbors! The problem has become so important that the town hall had to react and launched a massive campaign. The photo I took shows one of the posters you can now find outside many places. It says "Outside, let's talk quietly" and the little shoeshine box on the left is, in fact, a portable ashtray that is provide for free to cafés and restaurants so that they can give them to their customers.
 I took this photo on my way back from the office last evening at... 10 pm! Who said the French only work 35 hours a week! Anyway, when it's late and when you have nothing in your fridge, I think there is no better alternative than a pizza ;) There are dozens of pizzerie in Paris all claiming to serve the best pizzas of course (see here for a selection). By the way, did you know that the pizza was invented about 3000 years ago by the Egyptians (it was more a flat bread at that time). Its name comes from Pinsa, which is the past participle of Pinsere (to spread in Latin). The things your learn on PDP!!
 It's been a while since I've posted a food photo ;) This one is fresh from last night (Saturday), I took it at L'Incroyable (the Unbelievable), a restaurant located 26 rue de Richelieu in the 1st arrondissement where I was invited to a birthday dinner. What is hard to believe in this restaurant is the kind of mixture they dare doing: coca cola vinaigrette, foie gras bonbons (candies), fish and Chorizo... Portions are a little small for my taste, but the menu is reasonably priced and the flavors are truly unbelievable!
 When I heard Katie (from San Francisco), Lynn (from Phoenix) and Michael (from Miami & Paris!) were to meet at Les Deux Magots (one of the most famous cafés in Paris, located in the Saint Germain area) tonight, I was not sure I could join because of my work. I finally managed to get there at 8:30 to find out that Thibault, Guille and Heather, a newbe also from San Francisco were also there. We all ended up having dinner in the area and spent a super evening. I don't know who started this PDP thing, but it was a pretty good idea ;)!!
 Regular visitors to Paris Daily Photo surely know who I believe to be my oldest fan: Tomate Farcie (stuffed tomato)! I could not help but thinking of her when I came across this restaurant on Boulevard Sebastopol. I did not try it, I just found out on the web that they mostly serve dishes from Provence (a French Southern region). Have a good weekend everyone.
 I'm just back from a mythical place in Paris: La Coupole. Located at Boulevard du Montparnasse, this brasserie was created in 1927 and remained one of the hottest places to be seen at until the 60's. People like Josephine Baker, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre and a large number of other artists and celebrities of the time used to go there for a drink and a good dance in the basement dance hall. I went there for the inauguration of the brand new Coupole (dome) that 4 artists just decorated.
 I'm just back from dinner with the Benauts - and Michael who showed them Montmartre and Le Sacré Coeur this morning - at the excellent Le Georges restaurant on top of the Pompidou Center (also called Beaubourg Center) and here his the view we could see from the table we where sitting at until the sun went down for good. We had a lovely time and I'll post more photos on the making of later. But right now I just want to go to bed! Have a nice Sunday - and a good Labor day weekend if you're in the US.
 You're looking at a little piece of Australia in Paris! No, this is not the Australian embassy, but one of the famous Café Oz's in France, true Aussie bars, where they sell Australian beer, show rugby matches and speak with a funny accent! Why am I dealing with Australia today? Well simply because after Cheltenham and London, the Benauts are in town and I just had a wonderful dinner with them (for those of you not familiar with the Benauts ( Ian and Andrea), let's simply say, they are regular visitors and commenters to PDP, true francophiles and genuinely nice people.
 No, it's not usual to come across a goat and a cabbage in the middle of Paris ! I simply spotted this cute little scene in front of a restaurant in the 15th arrondissement (235 bis rue Saint Charles more precisely) called La chèvre et le chou (the goat and the cabbage). The funny part - well, if you're interested in improving your French - is that this name is also a pretty common expression that we use when we're in a situation where we have to please two opposite parties. I believe the translation in English would be "To have one's cake and eat it too".
 I met up with some friends the other night to catch up after vacations and drown a few sorrows for the upcoming rentrée, and discovered this bar called La Cordonnerie. Located at 142 rue St Denis, this former shoemaker's shop now boasts some of the cheapest beer and happy hour in town, along with what I'd consider to be the aged clientele where those points are extremely important!
 Gee! Like some of you mentioned it, it has been 3 days in a row that I posted a photo expressing movement, I think it's time for a still one! I passed by this restaurant - Le saut du Loup - at night the other day and here is what I saw first at the entrance (of course my photo is a little darker than what it looked like in reality!). Le Saut du Loup is a very pleasant restaurant/bar especially in the summertime because you can have lunch or dinner outside, in the Louvre gardens - that is on the other side of the rue de Rivoli, where I took this photo (which reminded me of an old one I took in 2006.
 After yesterday's post and all the discussions it triggered I thought it was a good idea to bring some peace to this blog! And who best that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (better known as Mahatma - great soul - Gandhi) the man who contributed to giving India its independence and fought, among many other things, for the liberation of Indian women. I found this bust in a restaurant where I had lunch yesterday in the 15th arrondissement. Have a great weekend everyone.
 Last night (Thursday) I managed to take some time off to go to the restaurant with some friends and I had a very Parisian dish: un steak Tartare. That is raw beef, prepared with a mix of ingredients (including Ketchup, egg yoke, onions, Worcester sauce, etc.) In this restaurant (General Lafayette) they even add nut chips and blue cheese chucks. Yummy! Well that is if you like raw meat of course ;) I looked everywhere and could not find the origin of Steak Tartare for sure, but one thing seems to be certain; originally it was meant to be horse meat. My friends told me that in the US, restaurants would be reluctant to serve raw meat, because of liabilities...
 ... There is not necessarily fire but sometimes steam! Like in this restaurant called " à toute vapeur" located near the Gare Saint Lazare in which ALL food is cooked in one of these giant ovens. I owe the idea of visiting this place to Serina, a visitor to PDP, who works for Goosta, a site dedicated to Paris restaurants - not yet in English ;~(. She says the food there is really good and healthy. I did not get the chance to taste it, but one thing I can tell you, it was not easy to come up with a nice photo!
 I did a little compilation of your contributions [thank you very much for that] for the CNN survey and it was really interesting to see how, for most of you, what best defines France's reputation is... food! I then could not help but posting what I had for lunch today when I met Elisabeth - one of the earliest visitors to PDP - who is currently in Paris at the moment (see a photo of her with Michael on the making of). Yes people, in Paris, on the Place des Vosges, at La Guirlande de Julie's, red snapper is served with its head! I did not eat the latter, but enjoyed the dish very much. Have a nice week.
 I'm just back from a nice evening with fellow bloggers (no, not from the City Daily Photo community, but French bloggers) organized by Laurence, a Belgium girl of Korean origins, who lives in Paris. It's always nice to see for real people which life you follow through all these gadgets such as Facebook, Twitter, Pownce, Seesmic, Friendfeed... you name them (yes, I am a geek, I confess!). We gathered at Le China (Ex Le China Club) a very nice place, beautifully decorated that just reopened (located near Bastille, on 50 rue de Charenton). I do recommend it if you're looking for a quiet and cosy place to have dinner or a drink - and if you're comfortable having Chinese food while in Paris!
 What would you say about opening a little Coffee shop (well rather a tea shop..) in Paris? That's what Aimee (on the right in the photo - the other young lady is called Louisa) was dreaming of, in her native Kansas... And she did! Just six months 2 weeks ago, on the Butte aux Cailles, a pretty trendy area in the 13th arrondissement. " I love everything about France [including her French hubby!], she said, except that I'm far away from my family and that it's hard to get peanut butter and Blue cheese dressing in Paris!". Do pay her a visit ( 1, rue Jean-Marie-Jégo) if you're into tea and want to see a typical, yet not so touristy part of Paris. Update: Aimee also has a blog.
 I'm going to make you sooooo jealous! This morning I went to hotel Le Bristol for a press conference (something about Samsung partnering with a food guide) and I was lucky enough to sit next to one of the most talented chefs in France: Michel Roth from the Ritz (more precisely from L'Espadon, the Ritz restaurant). I asked him all the stupid layman questions but he was really cool about them and answered very nicely. BTW, as you may have guessed from the photo, I had Foie gras (see another photo here) Eric Fréchon's style (the Bristol chef). Pretty unusual for breakfast, but sooo good!
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