0 The et Chocolat!

Bonjour PBers from Irene City.

I thought I'd post today because:

A. There could be a power outage at any moment. What would you read on Monday?

And... B. NY Time's Elaine Sciolino of the divinely informative La Seduction emailed me this week seeking info on Paris' salons des thes. Don't miss her article ! Besides she gave Parisbreakfast a nice mention.

Big merci Elaine! Bet you think you're in a Paris tea shop...
Looking at banks...

And gorgeous banks of tea tins?

WRONG!

You're in a chocolate shop (Duo Trio on 88 rue de Rennes, La Bonbonnière de la Trinité in the 9ème, Les Bonbons). Bet you think you're at a tea festival here...

Don't you love how the French make fun of themselves showing elegant frogs delicately sipping tea? Thank you NestleT.

Kusmi tea creates a maze of tins for sniffing

(clue: U R not at a tea tasting).

Chloe Doutre-Roussel, famous chocolate connoisseure now has her own tea to boot. Chloe filled me in. Thé/tea is a gourmet's drink in Europe and has been for 5-10 years now. More and more gourmets are choosing tea over coffee. We're talking really good teas, not flavored teas. Coffee bean aromas are too strong for chocolate. No way will you find coffee beans in a Parisian chocolate shop. et voila!
That's why all these tea tastings are happening at the Salon du Chocolat. If you're going to Paris this Fall don't miss it.

Plan accordingly - it's a chocolate lover and tea tasters ball.

Jugetsudo had this elegant booth at last year's chocolate salon...

Elaine mentions them in her article - why didn't I visit? I loved the design of their map enough to shoot it...

French Girl, like most French Girls, adores her tea. She insists I bring back fresh bags of Fortnum & Mason Breakfast tea from London to refill her precious tins on the shelf. And she's mad for her Japanese tetsubin cast iron tea pot.

Naturally as soon as I got home I rushed down to the Bowery kitchen supply stores to buy one (they're way less expensive than in Paris!). Naturally I have never used the darn thing :(

I told Elaine about Kusmi's adorable shopping bag. Whatever you do, DO NOT put your Japanese teapot inside this bag or you'll be sporting a broken toe! My bag broke just outside customs at CDG :(

BONJOUR THE et CHOCOLAT PBers!

0 La Seduction (part deux)

La Seductive Croissant, watercolor, 9" x 11"
Just like the layered French croissant, we return to the many layers of French seduction PBers...
Yesterday I watched again Eric Rohmer's L'Amour Apres Midi/Chloe in the Afternoon for a crash immersion into the seductive arts (highly reccommended in Elaine Sciolino La Seduction)...
Then headed out to the Strand Bookstore to hear Sciolino do a reading..
In the book, turn to pages 117 - 21 for why we Americans go around smiling way too much in France. SVP PBers - restrain the toothy grins and don't fling it about so generously, at least over there!
A somewhat reserved half smile (like the Mona Lisa?) is prefered.

Use your eyes first and foremost to display 'La regarde' or The Look and you'll win far more battles over there.

As a sidebar, dear Parisienne, French Girl, was in New York for a week of feasting on bagels and cupcakes (!?)

Leave it to French Girl to nose out like radar a cardigan and T-shirt filled with enough Fr ruffles to sink a ship at Hollister Co. The French attention to detail is bred in the bones...

Elaine could not have been nicer last night. She's a terrific observer of the French and their covert ways (Elaine Sciolino covered the CIA for the Times) but she isn't about to give up her smile for French savoir faire, completement.

The French think so highly of Elaine, she's being awarded the Chevalier de Legion d'honneur this weekend. BRAVO Elaine!

Elaine Sciolino's book is a delight filled with endless insights into what makes the French tick, particularly in the romantic/political arena. Open it anywhere and plunge in. You'll be enthralled like a quick trip to Paris. A PBer commented on my marking up my copy. Didn't you mark up your college texts to highlight the bits you want to remember? Same thing here.

Another PBer was distressed at my attacking a croissant with an electric knife. The knife is in the drawer - not to worry. I even put home-made Peach & Elderberry jam on it.
Bonjour LA SEDUCTION!