Many people remember the “cow art” that graced Chicago’s streets a few years back. Well now it’s Paris’s turn. Until June 16, central Paris will be showing off its latest artistic attraction: 150 cows decorated with props, paint and even clothing to represent everything from soccer players to milk vendors.

The point? After the month and a half of city-wide exposure, these “vaches” will be auctioned off and go out to pasture at various private homes and businesses. All proceeds will go to charity. What a fun idea!

According to the May issue of Conde Nast Traveler, the “hottest” tables in Paris are:

Bound
49-51 Ave. George V
75008
33 1 53 67 84 60
$19 - $38 entrees

On the Right Bank, Bound (formerly Barfly) was created by the same people who run the Buddha Bar, another trendy spot in Paris. Think pink and alligator-print inspired decor with a clientele of the “see and be seen” of Paris. They serve everything from sushi to Italian to hamburgers.

Citrus Etoile
6 rue Arsene Houssaye
75008
33 1 42 89 15 51
$30 - $44 entrees

Gilles Epie and his wife Elizabeth created this very bright restaurant, inspired by the California that they called home while Gilles was cooking at L’Orangerie in Los Angeles. “Uncomplicated” dishes are served here, but the clientele remains mostly celebrities and politicians.

Gaya Rive Gauche
44 rue du Bac
75007
33 1 45 44 73 73
$20 - $70 entrees

Three star chef Pierre Gagnaire recently bought Gaya, the famous fish restaurant on the Left Bank. You can still get great seafood here, served in a way you would never have dreamed possible. Very popular, trendy restaurant. In fact, there was a recent Angelina Jolie sighting here!

Le Comptoir du Relais
9 Carrefour de l’Odeon
75006
33 1 44 27 07 97
prix fixe runs about $48

This could be considered the first of the “gastro bistros” — bistros started by well-known Parisian chefs looking to simplify. Le Comptoir (as it is known) was begun by Yves Camdeborde. Here, they serve a single prix fixe meal every night, so you get what they give you, but you will certainly go away happy. Very difficult to get a reservation, call well in advance.

Senderens
9 Place de la Madeleine
33 1 42 65 22 90
$30 - $67 entrees

So much has been written about Senderens lately. Alain Senderens, the three star chef of the former restaurant Lucas Carton, decided to hang up his stars and cook for “everyone”. So he recently re-decorated the space that was Lucas Carton and re-openend as “Senderens”, lowering his prices and simplifying his menu. Ironically, he still couldn’t escape those Michelin stars, as they gave him two stars in his first year in business. It’s the “in” place to eat right now, reserve well in advance.

From Sunday’s “Affordable Europe” segment in the New York Times, here are a few suggestions for travelers who want to watch their pennies yet still enjoy all Paris has to offer:

Dining: Le Troquet, where you can get a 3 course meal without wine for 30 euros.

Lodging: New Orient Hotel in the 8th arrondissement. A single is 82 euros and a double is only 105 euros.

Sightseeing: Take the No. 69 bus. It goes by some of the most famous monuments and most historical neighborhoods in Paris.

Paris is a city that receives 18 million overseas visitors every year, 10 million of which come from the United States. Its museums, its monuments, its theaters are some of the best known in the world. In fact, the Notre Dame Cathedral receives around 10 million visitors every year, and the Eiffel Tower — 6 million.

But Paris is a city that is constantly on the move, constantly changing and trying to be better. This is part of what attracts people year after year. For Mayor Delanoe, the future of Paris includes reducing air pollution by promoting public transportation, development (10 percent of Paris is currently being developed by some of the world’s greatest architects) and job creation.

Paris has experienced a great deal of turmoil in the past few months, without a doubt. But it is refreshing to know that Paris is a dynamic city that refuses to rest on its laurels or to give in to its troubles or to the naysayers.

To read more about Delanoe’s plans, read this article he wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle.

What is a day like for one of the world’s leading chefs? This article from France Magazine gives you a peek at the life of Pascal Barbot, chef at the critically acclaimed “L’Astrance” in the 16th arrondissement. L’Astrance was recently named #22 of the top restaurants in the world.

Pascal Barbot
The Paris Chef who just can’t commit
by Susan Hermann Loomis

In person, Chef Pascal Barbot is everything that his admirers say he is: an unpretentious young man who bounces instead of walks, has an insatiable curiosity and a truly humble desire to serve simple, joyous, seasonal cuisine to diners who fill his tiny restaurant tucked away in Paris’s 16th arrondissement.
Talking with him, you would hardly guess that the 25-seat L’Astrance, which he opened five years ago with Christophe Rohat (like Barbot, formerly of Alain Passard’s Arpège), is one of the hottest tickets in town. It takes a full month to get a reservation now that Michelin has awarded it two stars and Gault Millau has given it a 19/20 score—and named Barbot Chef of the Year.
“My cooking has a strong base in milk,” Barbot explains, as we talk one day in the handsome upstairs dining room decorated in dark gray with calendula-yellow chairs and banquettes. Suddenly I remembered the appetizer that had won my heart during my first visit to L’Astrance. I’d called later to ask what the delicate little foam on top was and, to my immense surprise, learned that it was milk mixed with a touch of vinegar.
It turns out that Barbot has his heart in his native Auvergne, a rustic region in the center of France where milk—usually in the form of cheese—plays a huge part in the culture. “I love milk, I grew up around milk, I use it in everything,” he says. “Everything” includes a fabulously light potato and fromage frais dessert that is lightly sweetened and very pure, as well as a wonderful carrot purée poured on cardamom-scented yogurt and topped with frothy milk.
Like many of Paris’s great chefs, Barbot haunts food markets daily to find the best possible ingredients. Tuesdays may find him at Rungis, the huge wholesale market outside Paris; other days, he’ll visit the nearby market at Iéna in the 16th arrondissement, or perhaps seek out a marché that specializes in exotic ingredients. While always looking for seasonal products, his real criterion is what looks best at the moment. This makes him the sort of chef who is unwilling to commit, to the point that L’Astrance has no written menus, simply suggestions of the day.
Guests are offered elliptical choices such as saumon tiède (lukewarm salmon) or St. Jacques cuite et crue (cooked and raw scallops), without any details. “That way, I can create dishes on the spot with whatever I’ve found at the market that morning,” Barbot says.
Saumon tiède, for example, may appear on the table with melted leeks or with soy sauce and mustard. If foie gras is offered, it might come accented with tart verjus or accompanied with truffles. If a gorgeous turbot leaps out at him at the fishmonger’s, he may bring it back to the restaurant and serve it with a pork knuckle and a condiment of melted onions and grapefruit.
For Barbot, cooking is clearly much more a matter of poetry than of menus and recipes. “No two dishes I serve are ever the same,” he says. “So no one who comes to this restaurant ever has the same thing twice.”
To get another take on this vibrant, young chef, I ask what he cooks at home. His response is a flat, “Cook at home? I don’t eat at home.” What’s more, he says he rarely goes out. Pressed, he admits to eating whatever he finds at the market that day. As it turns out, Barbot is as humble as any good French home cook, not quite believing that anyone would want to hear what he has to say about the dishes that are dear to him, beyond what he makes for guests at the restaurant.
“Sometimes the things I make at home are simply horrible,” he admits. “Like putting soy sauce on pasta just so I can taste both. I like to pick up things and try them together—I love fiery sweet pepper paste with fruit, or wonderful tomatoes with mozzarella, you know, simple things.” He becomes increasingly animated as he remembers more dishes. “I also make my own flavored oils, milk-based sauces….” He trails off into a private culinary reverie before returning to the conversation, which has switched to his vacations.
“I never plan anything in advance,” he says. “For instance, my vacation starts this Friday, and I’m not sure yet where I’ll go. But wherever I go, I’ll try to take some cooking classes, because I love to do that.” He talks enthusiastically about classes he took in New Orleans and Thailand. “I like to get new ideas, pick up new flavors and techniques.”
These ideas naturally fuel his creations at the restaurant, resulting in such dishes as cured lemons served with young duck, Parmigiano-Reggiano that is turned into a fondue, and thin slices of abalone and perfectly cooked pigeon swimming in a mandarin-orange broth with a touch of licorice.
Barbot jumps up and says, “Come see the kitchen.” On the way, I shake hands with a tall young American chef. The rest of the staff includes a Japanese pâtissier, a Chinese line cook, a dishwasher from the Dominican Republic and an Argentinean woman who is putting the final touches on a cake her grandmother taught her to make. “I’m so glad, I’ve been after her to make something from her family and her country,” Barbot says. “Last week, the American cooked, and we had barbecue and chocolate chip cookies. Both were delicious.
“I love bringing foreigners into the kitchen because they teach me, ” he adds, with a mischievous glint in his eye. “I get them to cook staff meals, and that way we can all taste their specialties. Of course, I cook for the staff, too. I guess you could say that is my home cooking these days.”
He talks about some of the dishes hemakes for them, such as lentils with a cornichon granité (“It’s just lentils with a twist”), fresh coconut with cabbage (“I serve it with roast pork, it’s nothing complicated”), and tuna with cilantro oil (“It’s so simple—the real trick is cooking the tuna perfectly”).
Barbot tightens the strings on his apron as I say goodbye. Walking back into the Paris afternoon, I can’t help but smile. No wonder it’s such fun to eat at L’Astrance—everyone preparing the food is bursting with his own culture, his own ideas, his own desire to share what he knows. And Barbot is wide open to learning it all.

“Restaurant Magazine” recently held its award ceremony for the world’s 50 best restaurants. Of the 50, 8 are in Paris itself.

#3: Pierre Gagnaire, 6 rue Balzac, 8th arrondissement

#15: Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athenee, 25 avenue de Montaigne, 8th arrondissement

#17: Le Cinq, 31 avenue George V, 8th arrondissement (at Hotel George V)

#22: L’Astrance, 4 rue Beethoven, 16th arrondissement

#25: L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, 5 rue Montalembert, 7th arrondissement

Rounding out the top 50 were these other Parisian establishments:

#40 L’Ambroisie
#43 Paul Bocuse
#44 L’Arpege

The new A318 planes will be equipped with OnAir, which allows mobile phones to be used without disrupting navigation.

There will be a six month trial period from March - September 2007 on flights between Europe and North Africa. Air France will be polling passengers on their opinions on the new facility. The poll results will determine if the service will be extended to the entire airline.

This service will allow passengers to:

- receive and send calls and SMS’ on a mobile phone,
- receive and send emails on a laptop or PDA,
- access the internet in WAP/imode.

As much as the service is convenient, I have to say that the last thing I want is to hear phones ringing and overhear everyone’s endless conversations while in flight. It seemed that the airplane was the only place you could escape the ever-present cell phone.

Source: http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/article/20060404100154121

Ok, the balloon is tethered to the ground, but it still goes up 150 meters over the grounds of the André Citroën park in central Paris.

The balloon can carry up to 30 adults or 60 children, and the ride is completely safe, quiet and gentle. A great way to entertain children while visiting Paris!

Do contact Aeroparis before arriving if the weather is at all questionable.

AEROPARIS
Parc André Citroën 2, rue de la Montagne de la Fage 75015 PARIS
Metro : Javel
RER : Javel
telephone number : 01 44 26 20 00
fax : 01 45 58 19 99
email : aeroparis@aerophile.com

Prices: Weekend: Adults 12 euros, 12-17 year 10 euros, 3-11 years 6 euros, under 3 free
Week day: Adults 10 euros, 12-17 years 9 euros, 3-11 years 5 euros, under 3 free

Hours: Open every day from 9 a.m. until 30 minutes before the park closes.

These sisters will play a concert of jazz, ragtime, chamber music and classical music during this unique piano event.

Accompanied byt eh Basel Chamber Orchestra on April 25 at the Cité de la Musique.

CITE DE LA MUSIQUE.
221, avenue Jean-Jaurès 75019 PARIS
Metro : Porte de Pantin
Information : 01 44 84 45 00

It is true that in Paris there are cafes and bars just about everywhere you look. But if you want a good cocktail, where do you turn? There are, of course, the high end hotel bars that can be daunting, and the cafes that cater to tourists where you pay too much. As a visitor without a “favorite” it can be hard to make a good choice. This article from a South African newspaper explores more options for a good drink in Paris.