Go to one of the Eiffel tower’s restaurants, 58Tour Eiffel to see the style and design of a well known Parisian designer. Buy your ticket on line and save yourself one and a half hours in the line — and this wait to mount the Eiffel Tower is in February!

On this second visit to the restaurant 58Tour Eiffel, I want to feel the ambiance of Patrick Jouin’s design and style as well as enjoy the restaurant’s picnic-in-a-basket lunch. Around Paris, you see the works of Mr. Jouin either on the street with Velib’ or the sanisettes (public toilets) or in the shoe department at Galeries Lafayette.

Renovated in 2009, everything in the two restaurants (the Jules Verne and 58) of the Eiffel Tower relate to the tower’s structure. I want to pay more attention to the design of 58’s chairs, the menu, the place setting, the lamps, the colors, and the symbols on the tiles and bathroom doors.

The tower’s first coat of paint in 1889 was red iron ocher. You find this contrasting copper color set against the rich chocolate color of the décor in the napkins, on the cover of the menu and on doors. The tiles below the kitchen counter are fish and plants taken from nineteenth century dictionary illustrations – timely for the building of the Eiffel Tower.

Light travels through the hairnet steel Gustave chairs and through the large windows. This gives the atmosphere of the restaurant a certain lightness that contrasts beautifully with the lightness of the food.The interior design of the 58 is the work of Patrick

Gustave chair in hairnet design; red iron ocher color menus

Gustave chair in hairnet design; red iron ocher color menu

Jouin (also the Jules Verne restaurant designer) and Pierre Tachon in collaboration with the famous chef, Alain Ducasse. Nothing is left to chance. Weight is very important in the tower; everything must be light. Even the food is prepared below ground; the chickens are emptied, the vegetables washed and peeled.

Life at 58Tour Eiffel moves smoothly between the meal times. Lunch is over at 58Tour Eiffel around 5:30 p.m. but the ambiance is already changing by 3:30 p.m. One of the waitresses and the maitre’d are conducting the changeover from lunch to dinner. They have been through several restaurant and theme changes over the years on this very floor; when it was “La Belle France”, “Le Parisien”, “Altitude 95”. The music is changing tonight as every night from modern to lounge, the tables are set with wine goblets, the lighting will be subtle enough to avoid reflection on the glass.

After lunch, as we are ready to leave, I suddenly notice my emptied water glass. It has a deep inward projecting curve on the bottom. What part of the tower is represented in this glass?

Repairs on the Eiffel Tower are performed every seven years, chipping away the old paint

Chipping away the old paint on the Eiffel Tower

Parts of the tower’s structure run visibly through the restaurant. Our table is located next to the window on the second floor of the 58, with a view directly in front of les Jardins du Trocadéro. I look up and see the beams; I look down at the balustrade and walkway below — but the hints about this glass shape are hidden from view.

As we leave the 58 looking for the stairway down, I hear tapping from above. Every seven years, the Eiffel Tower is refurbished, scraped, pounded and painted.  Looking up I see four workers attached by ropes to the East pillar of the tower. They are tapping away the rusty spots and the old crusty paint pieces with their multilayers of colors from the past, which are falling to the ground.

The sun is shining, I look to the South pillar and there, shining brightly in the sunshine against a cloudless sky are hundreds of curves that resemble the bottom of my water glass. Coincidence or reality? In my mind, I have solved the mystery!

Picking up the picnic basket

58Tour Eiffel picnic basket designed by Pierre Tachon; he designed the monogram for the Jules Verne restaurant

58Tour Eiffel picnic basket, designed by Pierre Tachon

When you are welcomed into the 58Tour Eiffel and shown to your table, your brightly colored menu explains the procedure. In sum, you follow the instructions. Your picnic basket contains your cold items; your server delivers your beverage and hot main course and your bill once you ask for it.

The menu is priced at 17.50 to 22.50 euros – a children’s menu is available. The menus are available on line and change twice a year.

Tickets

Restaurant kiosk between the pillars of the Eiffel Tower; buy your tickets here to go up the elevator and avoid the lines

Restaurant and ticket kiosk below the Eiffel Tower

Avoid the 1½ to 2 hour line for the elevators if you are eating upstairs. Buy your tickets ahead of time (the elevator for the Jules Verne is free).
Order your tickets on line; choose from two ticket options. Or buy your elevator tickets at a kiosk marked “restaurant” between.
Near to the kiosk is a special entrance marked with flags for the restaurant or if you bought your tickets on line. This ticket service kiosk is an apparent mystery awaiting discovery. The personnel are standing around, the entry way is empty. At this writing, the stairs (1,665 of them) are the same price as the elevator if you use this service.

RESTAURANT 58 TOUR EIFFEL (Handicap accessible)
Tour Eiffel 1er étage
Esplanade du Champs de Mars
75007 PARIS
+33 1 72 76 18 46

Latest facts about the Eiffel Tower: 249,976,000 visitors as of December 31, 2009

Visit Colleen’s Paris website - subscribe to Colleen’s Paris newsletter.

The Centre Pompidou in Paris opened an exhibit of Patrick Jouin’s work , “La Substance de Design” on February 17.

If you have been to Paris recently or are arriving soon, you will notice the hand of Mr. Jouin, a contemporary designer, almost immediately on the streets of Paris. Look for a “super loo”, the recently installed sanisettes, and the Velib’ bicycles, designed in his studio.

When we entered the fourth floor of the Centre Pompidou and passed the ticket taker, a voice beckoned us; it sounded live. In fact, we were about to discover 20 projects his agency as created over the past ten years: created to be useful in everyday life.

In this scenographic presentation, the designer presents several of his designs from conception to completion. “He” stands between two screens (he is on the screen as well), one showing the idea, the other showing the production. During the presentation, various clients appear, including, the chef, Alain Ducasse; Professor Damien Léger, a sleep specialist, and Alberto Alessi. Not to leave food preparation out of the picture, Mr. Ducasse uses one of Mr. Jouin’s designs, the Pasta Pot, to present his method for cooking pasta without water!

Scenography for La Substance de Design exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from February 17 to May 24, 2010

Scenography for La Substance de Design, 20 works in ten years by Patrick Jouin

The scenography explains the agency’s methods in a very entertaining way with English subtitles on the floor of the screen. It is fascinating to watch the sanisette in production and the method for cleaning itself and the glass blowers of Murano producing bulbs for the Lustre Ether.

Mr. Jouin, who once worked with Philippe Starck, appears to look for functionality in his designs. Examples on display include a spatula, Tarti’nutella, to spread Nutella on your bread, a lightweight footstool, One Shot, produced in one piece that one opens by lifting the center; the Murano-made lightbulbs found in the Las Vegas restaurant, Mix; cutlery Zermatt for

Fleur by Patrick Jouin is a one-piece lamp that opens and closes as a flower

Fleur by Patrick Jouin

Puiforcat that will not soil your tablecloth; the restaurants for Alain Ducasse at Plaza Athénée, the Jules Verne, 58Tour Eiffel, Mix in New York and Las Vegas; the now famous carbon and leather chairs, Jules, at

the Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, and the Gustave, fauteuil bridge, for the 58; the sanisettes, the Velib’ bicycle concept; the recently opened shoe department at Galeries Lafayette, the one-piece table lamp Fleur that folds open and closed.

The exhibit along the walls include drawings, models and test models.

The exhibition catalog is available in English and French at the Pompidou book store. (Book signing is scheduled for February 27 at 4 p.m.)

La Substance de Design runs from February 17 to May 24, 2010
Centre Pompidou 75004
Metro: Hôtel de Ville
Open: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (ticket office closes at 8 p.m.)

Closed: Tuesday and holidays
Admission: 12 euros/reduced tariff 9 euros (you can buy your tickets on line)
Tickets: The Pompidou website provides tariffs and two-day pass information

Visit Colleen’s Paris website - subscribe to Colleen’s Paris newsletter.

Pasta Pot for Alessi by Patrick Jouin, Alain Ducasse devised a recipe using this pot to cook pasta without water

Pasta Pot for Alessi by Patrick Jouin

The one-piece footstool, One Shot, lift up and it folds for carrying; in back is the carbon and leather chair designed for the Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, Paris

One Shot and Jules creations by Patrick Jouin

Rent A Wheelchair (R.A.W.) specializes in renting manual and electric wheel chairs in Paris. They are lightweight, easy to manage, clean, modern, comfortable, etc. Their website, currently in French, is being translated into English! Yea!

If you plan to use it for a weekend or a vacation this could be your answer. Rent a Wheelchair will drop off your chair or scooter at your hotel and pick it up when you leave.

Their products include the manual wheelchair, Action 2000, the electric wheelchair is the A200 Otto Bock, and the electric scooter is the Wedge. Photos are shown on their nos matérials” webpage.

Their Paris en fauteuil roulant page provides links for two transportation maps; one is the Paris bus/metro map, the other is the Paris region train and RER map. Please note that only one metro line is accessible, Line 14.

All of the buses are accessible and the RER requires speaking with the personnel in the ticket office (accueil) for help. According to a French television report, plan ahead. They have to arrange for two or three people to come to your aid. The doors to get through into the RER station itself is usually not a problem. Due to a gap, entering the RER car requires a small metal ramp to be placed between the platform and the car. It is completely do-able.

Other aids are located under the “Autres aides techniques à louer” section, including a lift if you want to holiday in Paris and need help raising up in bed and require a bed lift (“lève-personnes”)

Reserve and pay on line.  They provide tariff information as well as deposit and insurance information.

Contact R.A.W. for full details: their hours, phone number and email.

Visit Colleen’s Paris website - subscribe to Colleen’s Paris newsletter.

The story of the French galette and the crêpe begins with religious and secular customs, the seasonal calendar and candles.

Galette at the creperie le Petit Josselin with cider in a pottery bowl

Galette at a crêperie along rue du Montparnasse

Legends say that that these round pancakes represent the sun and that spring begins in February; and that to ward off moldy seeds to be sown in the spring, a galette is made with last year’s buckwheat. Legend also says that around 492, Pope Gélase I, is known to have offered crêpes as nourishment to pilgrims who walked to Rome for a religious event forty days after Christmas.

And I thought a crêpe was just a pancake modified from a Swedish recipe!

Crêpes and galettes in France are serious business. They even have their own season. It lasts from February 2, La Chandeleur (Candlemas), to Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday (a flexible date). Customs, traditions and commerce are involved in this annual event.

Why February 2?

Without going into detailed calendar history, the beginning of February symbolized the end of winter and the return to the fields. In the Roman and Gaelic calendars, spring began on February 6. The Celtic calendar established spring as the first day of February, which later changed to February 2.  According to the Celts the birth of the first lamb, usually the beginning of February, meant fresh milk. In our modern calendar spring is related to the solstice, about eight weeks later. In some ways the dates of old calendars are still in use.

European secular traditions for the February 2 date involve animals, the planting season, and the weather. European tradition used a bear and its shadow to predict spring’s arrival. As tradition crossed the Atlantic, the bear evolved into the ground hog in the United States and Canada. A sunny day means winter is six months longer; a cloudy day, spring is around the corner. If the groundhog sees its shadow, it goes back to hibernate. With darkness turning to light, candles played a large role in this February month. Thus the origin of the festival’s name for candles – La Chandeleur or Candlemas.

In the secular sense, processions with lit candles were meant to keep away the bad spirits, bad weather, and death; the candles lighted the way for good omens for the spring planting and summer harvest.

In the religious context, parishioners and pilgrims walked in procession with blessed, lit candles celebrating the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple during Mary’s purification. According to Mosaic tradition, this purification occurred forty days after giving birth to a child (in other words, February 2). Candles are not even mentioned now, but food continues to be the source of the ritual.

Interior of Crêperie le Petit Josselin

Breton pottery dots the chimney in the crêperie; a large chunk of Breton butter sits on top of the shelf in front of the chef

The difference between a galette and a crêpe

Everyone knows a crêpe, but it has a relative, the galette, which is based on buckwheat (sarrasin/blé noir). Traditionally, you begin your meal with a galette filled with meat, poultry or cheese combinations, drink Brittany cider (brut) from a small pottery bowl and finish with a crêpe filled with something sweet for dessert. The galette and the crêpe are made with different ingredients; the galette is based on a flower or a weed and the crêpe is based on wheat.

Over the past 9,000 years the ingredients of the galette were made from all sorts of cereals and served as a basic staple. The galette is made from buckwheat and is gluten free. Its original recipe was water, salt and buckwheat. It hasn’t changed much; they added an egg.

Buckwheat is believed to have its origins in Asia. In one version of the story, the Crusaders brought the triangle shape seeds of the buckwheat flower to France during the 1100s.  Another version of the story has the buckwheat being imported from Holland to Brittany (Bretagne). Brittany possesses the climate and soil most favorable for growing this flower.

The galette has a basic shape — round. Some people use it as a dessert either because they have an allergy or because it can be made into a delicate, sweet galette by altering the ingredients.

The crêpe, however, with sugar and flavorings added comes in various shapes. In Carcassone, Florence’s family eats oreillettes, Monsieur Voiriot, originally from Lyon, produces bugnes at his Paris boulangerie for the crêpe season. Both recipes add the liquid fleur d’orange. In Champagne, crêpes are known as tantimolles, vautes in the Ardennes region, roussettes in Anjou (Maine-et-Loire) and crupets in Gasgogne.

Buckwheat versus Flour

Wealth separated the class structures in France and separated their baking ingredients as well. Buckwheat was seen as lesser than wheat. French landowners used wheat for their breads and used the buckwheat as a thickener in their soups. The farmers and lower classes used the buckwheat for everything. During the various French revolutions of the 1800s, a democratization process took place and wheat was no longer reserved just for the wealthy. It became available for all (when there wasn’t a famine) and by consequence buckwheat lost its influence in cooking.

Customs

A popular custom of the past was flipping the crêpe for a good harvest. Farmers flipped a crêpe to the top of an armoire; the crêpe supposedly attracted the mold so the seeds for sowing would not get moldy and would produce a good harvest.

Another custom for luck and prosperity involves flipping the crêpe while holding a gold piece (Louis d’Or) either in the hand holding the frying pan or in the opposite hand. If you want to be successful at flipping your crepe, a website will tell you how to succeed with the “art form” and the proper recipe. The crêpe must stay within the pan!

For prosperity, Nicolas’ family would put the Louis d’Or in the palm while holding onto the frying pan handle, flip the crêpe, fold the gold piece in the crêpe and place it on top of the armoire. Today, the tradition stays the same except no one leaves it on top of the armoire anymore.

Dominique and her daughter use a one euro piece in place of a gold coin. Dominique flips her crêpe for prosperity and luck. Salomée, her daughter, flips hers about twenty times and makes a different wish each time.

Elodie’s family eats crêpes the evening of February 2, but she forgets why.

France follows this annual ritual in the preparation for making the crêpe. The newspapers run photos of crêpes and suggested recipes. By the end of January the magazine, Figaroscope, rates the best galette restaurants in Paris. However, sometimes the best Paris crêperies are kept a secret with admonitions to not tell anyone else. The crêpe stands can also be an excellent alternative. The Paris Mayor’s office has a crêpe vidéo for you. And their website about la Chandeleur also has a list of crêpe stands that they recommend.

On February 2, the day that I was looking for a new frying pan, everyone else was buying a crêpe pan. I already had one; had already made sweet and non-sweet crêpes and did not even know there was a date to start the season.

Judging from the number of crêpe pans sold when I went shopping, the number of crêperies along the rue du Montparnasse and the innumerable crêpe stands in the capital, there may be a season, but in practice, the Paris crêpe season continues ad infinitum.

Crêperie: le Petit Josselin, 59, Rue du Montparnasse, 75014 Paris, telephone: 01 43 22 91 81

Visit Colleen’s Paris websitesubscribe to Colleen’s Paris newsletter.

Hi Everyone!
Voici some of the latest Paris photos and news about museums, a bookstore, and the winter sales: (Subscribe)

Current Paris exhibition: ISADORA DUNCAN
Judging by the large number of visitors the day I visited the Bourdelle museum, the dancer, Isadora Duncan, is still popular after all of these years. Duncan is the subject of an exhibition at the Antoine Bourdelle museum in Paris until March 14, 2010. The theme of the exhibition is “Une scupture vivante”/A living sculpture.

She fascinated the sculptors and artists, Bourdelle, Rodin, Carrière, Grandjouan, de Segonzac, Clará, etc. all translated her energy and vitality into bronze, on paper and in words.

Perhaps she is still popular and her life and work admired because she stood out as an individual wanting to tell a spiritual truth about her dance form; she was an emancipated woman. The exhibition concerns male artists admiring the female form. She was a contemporary of Anna Pavlova and Mata Hari, among others.

Women criticized her on two levels, the entertainment (the positive) and the editorial (subjective). She was invited to perform at numerous theaters and private salons in Paris. However, one female critic sums up her objective observations with a subjective description in the June 5, 1903 issue of La Vie Illustrée. The critic, Madame J.D. describes Duncan’s appearance, shares her point of view on Duncan’s speeches about antiquity and the meaning of dance. However, she thought that Duncan was simply there to show her legs, round and muscled, her bare arms and her body — harmonious as a Grecian image — and her mauve eyes. (more…)

Judging by the large number of visitors the day I visited the Bourdelle museum, the dancer, Isadora Duncan, is still popular after all of these years. Duncan is the subject of an exhibition at the Antoine Bourdelle museum in Paris until March 14, 2010. The theme of the exhibition is “Une sculpture vivante”/A living sculpture. (more…)

What is going on in Paris? What time does it start? How long does the exhibit last? Where can I listen to a concert? Where can I find a flea market? Is there a flea market or antique show near my hotel?

These types of questions can be easily answered with up-to-date responses as soon as you step off the plane in Paris. For 35 cents stop at a “Relay” in the airport and pick up a copy of l’Officiel des spectacles.

Or, before you leave, visit their website: offi.fr paris.  The website includes exhibitions outside and within Paris. If you would like help with the translations on the website, please contact me at info@colleensparis.com.

If you buy the small format magazine it is chock full of information. Look in the table of contents (Sommaire) in the front and take it from there. (more…)

If you have never heard of the French artist, Fernand Pelez (1848-1913) you are not the first. His work on display until January 17, 2010 at the Petit Palais in Paris, France, is a retrospective of his beginnings as a traditional, academic artist to his bold later works that resemble photography.

These later works, which are the focus of the exhibition, are like photographs created with a paintbrush; these are eyes looking into an imaginary camera. The social themes of Pelez’s later paintings capture the realistic side of city life: the despair, fatigue, poverty, and death as well as those earning a living from the 1880s to the First World War.

Pelez’s early paintings begin with strong, deep colors of sumptuous fabrics or surroundings and legendary drama of religious stories where people look at the victim or up to sky. They transition to the muted colors of the street, the characters against the corner walls, the background ironic advertising, the characters looking at the viewer. The Petit Palais presents other painters with similar themes but whose characters seem less vivid, clear or haunting. (more…)

The following is an example of the latest newsletter that I send to my subscribers. If you would like to be placed on the mailing list, follow the “Subscribe” link. Otherwise, I will be publishing a new copy of the newsletter in this blog when I send them. As I always say: “Enjoy!”

Hi Everyone! Voilà! Some Paris highlights ….
Sightseeing
The Eiffel Tower has been celebrating its 120th birthday all year with exhibitions and the party isn’t over yet! If you are in Paris between now and December 31, you are in for a spectacular Eiffel Tower light show. While I was photographing vignettes of the show, the oohs and aahs made me think that I was watching fireworks.
The show times are 8, 9, 10 and 11 p.m. Talk about bang for your buck (or euro) – the light show is the usual five minutes of sparkles and then 12 minutes of multicolored lights and designs. Visit the Eiffel Tower website for more activities.
The Catacombs are closed until the end of 2009 due to acts of vandalism during the night of Septemer 14 and 15. Vandals attacked the displayed bones and lights causing damage severe enough to cause the closing of the 1.7 km (1 mile) path. Paris has about 300 km (186 miles) of underground galeries, quarries, and these catacombes. A guard discovered the damage but there was no forced entry at the Colonel-Rol-Tanguy entrance. It is believed the vandals entered through one of the old quarry entries. The Catacombes (Denfert-Rochereau) averages about 300,000 visitors a year.
Carnavalet museum – The portion relating the Revolution is closed for renovation. However, from the 25,000 objects normally exhibited, the museum has put together a temporary exhibition of 200 objects.
Between September 30, 2009 and January 3, 2010 you can also view an exhibition on English caricatures drawn during the Revolution.
Transporation
The RATP has a guide available on the web for how to use the Metro and RER. (more…)

For anyone planning their end-of-the-year holiday in Paris, you will want to know the RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) schedules. The following is a translation of RATP’s response to my question about hours of operation:

No decision has been made yet as to the train schedules for New Year’s Eve.
However, based on last year’s schedule (under the condition that it could change) partial service will be put in place.
Lines 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 14 will run all night and stop only at the “main stations”.
RERs A and B will run through the night (every 15 minutes within Paris and every 30 minutes in the suburbs – outside zones 1 and 2).
The night buses (Noctiliens) will run as usual through the night; most likely at more frequent intervals.
The transport system will be free from 5 p.m. December 31 until noon on the January 1.
The RATP will post on their home page all of the details around the middle of December.

Visit Colleen’s Paris website - subscribe to Colleen’s Paris newsletter.


Next Page »