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Ann Mah

adventures in food, france and beyond

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Flâner

Rodin’s garden

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Last week an afternoon stroll brought me to the Musée Rodin where, for the price of one Euro, I entered to flâner in the garden. For a little while, I enjoyed the sunshine, statues, and peonies.

And then…

I cowered under the awning of the café for at least twenty minutes, watching the rain and hail pummel the ground. Occasionally a fat, icy drop fell on my head. It was a beautiful, messy, inconvenient, spectacular interlude. Eventually, the rain lightened enough for us to dash out and buy an umbrella. By the time we had finished our transaction, it had stopped. Isn’t that always the way?

Le Select (Paris)

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Once upon a time, before a deadline reared its head, I used to go out during the day for hours at a time. The past few weeks? Not so much. Here then, are some photos from a month or so ago, from lunch at Café Select.

I first read about Le Select in The Dud Avocado. Like so many other details of Elaine Dundy’s comic novel, I thought it was exaggerated or invented. Not so. Le Select exists, as it has for decades, on the boulevard du Montparnasse, a glass-terraced café with rattan chairs and grumpy waiters. The former Hemingway watering hole (but weren’t they all?) is now the favorite hangout of French Green Party presidential candidate Eva Joly.

Across the street is another famous Hemingway café, La Coupole, and around the corner another, La Rotonde, and down the block still another, La Dôme. But Le Select is still Le Select.

Good for a croque monsieur (12.50€)…

A salade chèvre chaud (13€)…

And a coffee (2.80€).

Because it’s always lunchtime somewhere, n’est-ce pas?

Le Select
99 boulevard du Montparnasse, 6e
tel: 01 45 48 38 24

Carte postale: Un petit café

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Sipped on the beautiful terrasse of the Café Select.

P.S. Posts have recently been light because I am working frantically on finishing my new book, which is due in less than two weeks (insert quiet freak out). I’ll be back soon.

P.P.S. I’m very excited that said book will be a hot title at the London book fair. Here’s a lovely mention in Publishers Weekly!

 

Watch cats

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They’re not easy to spot — shy and a little stealthy — but there they sit, behind glass storefronts: Watch Cats. It has taken me months to collect these photos of Paris kitties in shop windows. They’re a secret French feline force keeping the mice at bay.

I’ve never eaten at the restaurant Lard d’Enfance in the 6e, but I love it because whenever it’s closed, someone pulls out a chair so their house cat can watch the world go by. Even though the cat is usually elsewhere (he must have many napping spots), his chair is always there, ready to be perched upon.

I didn’t knock on the window, I swear! But this cat’s ear’s pricked up all the same at the sound of my camera.

The picture of health in a pharmacy window.

A spokes-cat for the film, Chat Potté? (Actually this fluffy creature was standing guard in a vet’s office.)

A feline maitre d’ on a break between the lunch and dinner service.

How about you, mes amis? Have you spotted any cats at your local businesses?

P.S. View more French feline photos here and here. And some gorgeous Maine Coon Cats here.

Marché aux puces

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As a child, I remember spending hours and hours waiting while my parents shopped for antique furniture. They used to bribe me with Famous Five novels, but those books had no chance of lasting long enough for my speedy eyes and their lengthy negotiations. As I sat in dark corners illicitly popping bubble wrap, I had no idea why they found a boring old, ugly wooden table so interesting.

Fast forward 30 years. Now that I have an apartment of my own, I can finally say this: Mom, Dad, I get it.

All I want to do is spend time in flea markets. Marche aux puces, brocante, vide grénier — call them what you will, they all offer the same thing: other people’s junk. And I’m obsessed with it.

So far, my scourings have yielded a set of Thonet café chairs, various digestif glasses, a gilt-framed mirror, and an Art Deco lamp.

 

Oh, and these dishes. A mismatched set of dessert, dinner and soup plates. I plan to add to them until I have a full service of dishware in different patterns. I’m hoping to start a collection of blue-and-white china, you see (is this lunacy?).

Anyway, I’ve only just started my flea market explorations and am far from an expert. There’s a wealth of information about Paris’s Marché aux Puces on the internets, including these articles here, here, and here. But I can offer these bits of advice:

1) If you’re in the country for the weekend and you see a sign advertising “brocante” BEG your traveling companion(s) to go. Country flea markets have great prices.

2) Research the Porte de Clignancourt market before you visit — it’s actually a warren of many different markets. I found the best bric-a-brac (bits of china, cutlery, linens) at Vernaison. Everyone loves the Marché Paul Bert — it’s fascinating, but focuses mainly on furniture. Prices here are astronomical.

3) The Porte de Vanves market is smaller, with more bric-a-brac and some reasonable prices. I bought the aforementioned mirror here for 40 Euros. On the other hand, the selection is much more limited than Clignancourt.

Happy hunting!