Until March 14, 2007, art lovers can discover these Egyptian artifacts that were uncovered during marine excavations directed by Franck Goddio.  The hope is that the exhibit will help further our knowledge of Egyptian history. The main period of history that is covered is from the 8th century BC to the 7th century AD.

GRAND PALAIS.
Avenue Winston-Churchill 75008 PARIS
http://www.grandpalais.com  
 
Dates and times
 
From 12-9-2006  to 3-16-2007  
 
Full price : 11.50 Euros with reservation. 10 Euros without reservation   
Reduced price : 9.50 Euros with reservation. 8 Euros without reservation. Free admission for - 13     
 

If you love Paris and you like walking, this event on January 6 is for you.  For 20 years, the Rallye Paris Tour Eiffel has provided two circuits that take you through the best known neighborhoods of Paris and their monuments:  Les Invalides, Eiffel Tower, Concorde, the Louvre, the Hotel de Ville are included in the 14 km (8.7 miles) walk.  Add to that the Opera Garneir, Les Halles, Notre Dame and the Pantheon if you choose to go all the way and walk the full 20 km (approxmately 12.5 miles)!  There is a third 14 km circuit this year which will focus on the riverbanks and bridges of Paris.

Walkers from all over the world and all walks of life participate in the Rallye.  It even begins in the mid-afternoon, allowing you to sleep in and get a good lunch before taking off!  What a great way to start your New Year!
Circuit information:
Circuit 14 km (Les Gobelins, le Val-de-Grâce, la tour Montparnasse, les Invalides, l’Ecole Militaire, la Tour-Eiffel, le Trocadéro, les Champs Elysés, les Quais, le Musée d’Orsay, la Concorde, le Louvre, la Conciergerie,l’Hôtel de Ville…)

Circuit 20 km (La Madeleine, l’Opéra, la Comédie Française, les Halles, Beaubourg, Notre-Dame, la Sorbonne, le Panthéon, la rue Mouffetard, la Mairie du XIIIè, le quartier Chinois…)

Second circuit 14 km « sous les Ponts de Paris » (Under the bridges of Paris)

Departure:   Halle Georges Carpentier 81 Boulevard Masséna 75013 PARIS. Métro : Porte d’Ivry (ligne 7) 
Find more information at the organization’s Web site:
http://www.godillot-familial.com  
 
 
 
 

January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany, honoring the Three Wise Men’s visit to the baby Jesus.  In France, this holiday is celebrated in homes from Paris to Marseille, who  enjoy their annual “Galette des Rois” or “King’s Cake”.

Made of a light puff pastry, the Galette des Rois is filled with a delicious almond paste and baked to a golden brown. It is usually eaten as a dessert. Inside the galette hides a “feve”, a porcelaine figurine that many children collect year after year. The lucky person who finds the figurine is crowned “king” or “queen”, and there is even a paper crown for the coronation ceremony!

If you are lucky enough to be in Paris on January 6, you can buy a galette in just about every bakery or pastry shop in town.  Here is a list of the best according to Le Figaro magazine:

1- Stohrer: 51, rue Montorgueil (IIe)
2- Lenôtre: 10, rue Saint-Antoine (IVe)
3- Paul: 89, rue Saint-Antoine (IVe)
3- Gérard Mulot: 76, rue de Seine (VIe)
4- Kayser: 10, rue de l’Ancienne-Comédie (VIe)
5- Pierre Hermé: 72, rue Bonaparte (VIe)
6- Monoprix: 50, rue de Rennes (VIe)
7- La Grande Epicerie de Paris: 38, rue de Sèvres (VIIe)
8- Rollet-Pradier: 6, rue de Bourgogne (VIIe)
9- Ladurée: 16, rue Royale (VIIIe)
10- Dalloyau: 101, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré (VIIIe)
11- Hédiard: 31, avenue George-V (VIIIe)
12- Fauchon: 26, place de la Madeleine (VIIIe)
13- Arnaud Delmontel: 39, rue des Martyrs (IXe)
14- Stéphane Vandermeersch: 278, av. Daumesnil (XIIe)
15- Boulangerie Pain et Passion: 117, av. d’Italie (XIIIe)

Interested in making your own galette?  Here’s a good recipe:

(Serves Eight)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb frozen puff pastry
2 eggs
7 oz almond paste

Preparation:
Leave the puff pastry at room temperature for about 2 hours until defrosted but still cold.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Line a baking sheet or pizza pan with baking parchment or grease the pan and lightly sift flour on it. Shake off any excess flour. Roll each sheet of pastry into a circle about 12 inches across.

Place one circle on the prepared pan.

Mix the egg with the almond paste until smooth and spread the mixture evenly on the prepared circle of pastry, leaving a border 1 1/2 inches wide all around. If you have a small china, insert it into the almond mixture (you may also use a bean as the fève. The person who gets the fève is the King or Queen.

Place the second circle of pastry on top and press it down tightly around the rim.

Beat lightly the remaining egg and brush it on the top of the cake. With a long-bladed knife, press lightly but firmly through the egg glaze marking a crisscross pattern. 

Bake for 20–25 minutes until golden and puffed. Do not check for doneness for at least 15 minutes, as the pastry may collapse. Serve slightly warm or cold.

Hergé, the Belgian creator of the beloved character “Tintin”, would have been 100 years old in 2007.

The Centre Pompidou is hosting an exhibition in honor of this artist through February 19, 2007.

The exhibition highlights the importance of comic strips in the history of 20th century art. 

The exhibition is in two parts:  the first covering Herge’s life and earliest sketches, including the creation of Tintin in the 1930s. The second part features a collection of original artwork by the artist.  Hundreds of original sketches will be made available to the public through this exhibition.

Paris shops will offer 30 - 70% off usual prices starting this January 10 and ending in mid-February, a total of six weeks of bargains!  By French law, these fabulous sales may only occur twice a year:  in January and again in July.  So if you happen to be in Paris during these months, be sure to take advantage of what many of us must miss!  You won’t see prices this low during the remaining months of the year.

As the end of the sales period draws near, the reductions get more and more interesting.  It’s a gamble:  either buy early and assure that you get the items you want, or wait and possibly get a better deal, or lose the item altogether!  Either way, it’s a lot of fun for January!

Vive “Les Soldes”!

As of December 23, 2006, the Paris Metro will operate on Saturday evenings until 2:15 a.m. (as opposed to 1:15 a.m.).

The same will occur on Friday evenings as of June 29, 2007.

Of course, the metro is extremely safe, but at 2:15 you could be sharing your car with some interesting passengers!  Just be careful!

If you’ve never eaten there, you should.  You don’t even have to eat in the place, since seating is very limited and it’s mainly a take-away restaurant.  Other falaffel places continue to try and do business on and around the Rue des Rosiers, but it’s L’As du Falaffel that is truly the best in most people’s opinions.  In fact, a few months ago while I was walking the Rue de Rosiers I was stopped by a guy who had opened his own Fallafel place just down the road from L’As, giving out free samples right in front of L’As.  In my opinion, that would only confuse people and give L’As du Fallafel more business!

Today’s New York Times is running an article about the L’As du Falaffel and what makes it so good.  Warning, if you read it you might want to have immediate access to a good nearby Middle Eastern restaurant!  Or better yet, if you are lucky enough to be in Paris, run out to L’As du Falaffel to take care of those cravings!  But I have a feeling there might be a line.

Now you can have Pierre Herme chez toi, but the only caveat is they only deliver in France for the moment.  They plan to expand shortly, though.

So until then, why not browse their online shop?  They are highlighting a lot of Christmas goodies right now.  It’s the next best thing to being there!

Pierre Herme Web Site

Looking for a good cause to get involved with this holiday season?  Or maybe a very unique gift for someone!  The Menu for Hope is what you are looking for.  Each year, Menu for Hope raises money that goes directly to a world hunger charity.  Last year, $17,000 was raised for UNICEF. 

This year, Menu for Hope III will raise funds to support the UN World Food Program, which provides hunger relief for needy people worldwide. The event will take place from December 11 -22, 2006.

On our Menu this year is a great list of amazing food and travel related prizes. We hope that they will entice you to give whatever you can, and with some luck you can win unique and wonderful gifts from around the world.

Here’s how it works:

1. Go to the donation page at (http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhopeIII)

2. Make a donation! Each $10 will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice.  Please specify which prize or prizes you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation.  Do tell us how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code-for example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for UW01 and 3 for UW02.
If your company matches your charity donation, please remember to check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

3. Please also check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win.  Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

4. Check back on Chez Pim on January 15 when we announce the result of the raffle.  The drawing will be done electronically.

This year ParisTripTips has donated the following prize up for raffle (Prize Code EU32):
Set of 8 Paris walking tours PLUS a Custom Itinerary for your next trip to Paris:
Walking Tours: These walking tours are the key to understanding the streets of Paris.  Each of the eight tours covers one of Paris’s neighborhoods in depth, including monuments, museums, history, places of interests and great places to eat or shop.  You can bid on the package and know that your next trip to Paris will be incredibly successful!
Custom Itinerary for Paris:  Going to Paris but don’t know how to manage your time?  The custom itinerary is just what you need.  After a phone or email interview, I will come up with a perfect plan for your time in Paris based on your tastes and interests.  Each itinerary includes our reservation making service for the hotel(s) and restaurants in your itinerary.  There is nothing left to do but enjoy an expertly planned trip to Paris!

Next Step: Go to the main site right away (http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhopeIII) and make a donation.  One of these prizes would make a fantastic gift for someone you know (maybe even yourself)!  If you would like to bid on the ParisTripTips Prize, be sure to indicate Prize Code EU32.

Other sites for information:
DavidLebovitz.com
ChezPim

Bread & Roses
7 rue de Fleurus
75006
Metro:  Notre Dame des Champs

This bakery caters to celebreties such as Catherine Deneuve, so it can’t be too bad!  It is an organic bakery, and its special baguette is called the Puissance Dix, named for the 10 flours that go into making it.

Le Quartier du Pain
74 rue Saint-Charles
75015
Metro:  Charles-Michels

This bakery near the Eiffel Tower makes eight kinds of baguettes, and its master baker has been named one of the best in France.

Le Moulin de la Vierge
105 rue Vercingetorix
75014
Metro:  Pernety

This is a unique bakery in an actuall mill that dates back to the 14th century.  Their original baguette is called the Flute Bio, and it is an organic wheat baguette.  They also sell wonderful jams.

Au Duc de la Chapelle
32034 rue Tristan Tzara
75018
Metro:  Marx Dormoy

The dough for these baguettes is mixed completely by hand and has a sweetish taste.

Eric Kayser
8 rue Monge
75005
Metro:  Maubert-Mutualite

This is a chain bakery, but the original is on rue  Monge.  Many high end restaurants commission their breads from Kayser.

For the complete article click here.