The Christmas lights are coming!

One of my favorite things last year was the Christmas season. The lights in this city are phenomenal, with every neighborhood and monument bright, dazzling, aglow...

I've been noticing the decorations slowly going up in shop windows and on grand facades. But when I was Velib'ing home down rue Saint-Honoré tonight, I was thrilled to see the stars shining bright.


Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee! C'est magique.

(Parisian) life is beautiful

Oh, how I love the LV postcards from Ruben Toledo. If ever there was a gorgeous, fun, inspiring gift, it is this.

The little things I love

• The many delicious things boulangers make with pastry dough: croissants, pain au chocolat, pain aux raisins, escargots, almond croissants…
• The many delicious ways the French prepare potatoes: steamed in butter, steeped in chicken fat, deep fried, Daupinois, gratin’d, mashed, pureed…
• The incredible-edible egg in all its French forms: omelettes, quiche, torts, sliced on sandwiches, the classic oeufs mayo…
• The overwhelming variety of bread: pain complet, boule au levain, pain aux cereals, pain de compagne, pain au lait, pain moulé, a good old baguette…

The traveling cat

Milo, international kitty, hasn't been content to sit at home. The fabulous Erin Hill has him cruising the Marais, Montmartre and, dang!, he even made it down to Giverny! Je suis jalouse.

Shooting for the stars

New York, New York. It’ll always be home. And now that I’ve had this Parisian life, it will always be different.

Being there for a shoot this past week, not being on my own terms, was très different. Not that I’m complaining. Not at all. Despite averaging about five hours a sleep a night and 5000 calories a day (or, because of?), it was great fun.

The films we were shooting won’t be live until next spring. But here’s a cute scene from one of them.

And the set of the other.

The 30th floor of the Carlyle Hotel.

Overlooking Central Park. Mon dieu.

It was a long day, so I got to watch the sunset…

… and take in the incredible views of midtown at night.

(This view could be yours, too, for $5k a night.)

After the three non-stop workdays, which included non-stop eating and non-stop drinking, and even a little dancing, I finally had a day of rest.

Or, more accurately, a day of gluttony.

Bennie and I met for a decadent lunch at Gramercy Tavern.

He didn’t want his picture taken, so I busied myself capturing the classic autumnal atmosphere.


(Which matched the gorgeous foliage outside.)

Just a few hours later, I got ready to have dinner and drinks with Amee and Jules at The Jane.

Which was followed the next day by a quick lunch at 'inoteca with Peter, Mitchell, Mel and Alison…

… before hopping back on the plane—with Carine Roitfeld (sweet!)...

...to a pink-skied Paris.

What will this coming week hold?

Up and off to NYC

I have a very quick shoot in New York (yay!). Flying back on Saturday (boo).

See you next week!

It's true, when you think about it

"Everything is a miracle. It is a miracle that one does not dissolve in one's bath like a lump of sugar.”
—Picasso

Keep it comin’

Georges: Sixth floor of the Pompidou, 4eme
Went with: Cheryl on a Saturday night
Had: Rolls and butter (ahhh, the rare and elusive French butter in a restaurant—miam!), a roquette, fig and parmesan salad and a small platter of artichokes (split between us); chicken paillard with mango chutney; chocolate fondant (split between us, though I did more damage—quel surprise).
Impressions: It’s touristy and overpriced but, boy, am I glad we went. Because the food is pretty damn good. The views are great. And it was fun to share the experience with my good friend visiting from New York.

Ralph’s: 173 Boulevard Saint-Germain, 6eme
Went with: Mel and Mrs. Unger on a Tuesday night
Had: Too! Much! Food! And wine! Kir royales, fried olives, baby eggplant, cornmeal crusted cod with kidney beans and spinach, and we split dessert: fruit cobbler… though the cobbler was really more of a shortbread.
Impressions: Every report you’ve heard is dead-on. The space is fabulous, the terrace is dreamy, and every detail is impeccably conceived and executed. Except the food. The food was just okay. And there was a bit of a snafu in the kitchen, resulting in a last-minute switcheroo for Mel’s dinner. Though the service was wonderful and accommodating, such a splurge should be much closer to perfection.

Pizza Chic: 13 rue de Mézières, 6eme
Went with: Jo on a Wednesday night
Had: We split two pies: a white pie with a creamy artichoke sauce, roquette and shaved Parm, and the other pizza, with sauce and mozzarella and grilled veggies.
Impressions: I have been obsessed with pizza lately. And I’ve been wanting to go to this oh-so-chic (really, it’s adorable) spot in the sixth for awhile. So I got Jo to broach the foreign frontier known as the Left Bank once again for an indulgent evening of pizza and wine (holy cow, 16-euro glasses of Barolo?! Little did we know. Hrmph.). Yeah, the prices were a bit much. But the atmosphere and food sure were delicious.