L’année de vie dangereuse

Friday 31 July 2026 La Fleur de Vigne Restaurant was a good choice for dinner last night, with Japanese couple chef Takayuki and (pastry chef) Mayuko Nozue combining Japanese techniques and flavours with French cuisine. Lovely technique and generous portion size. (certainly NOT the Tully pub, though). Set Menu of three courses. Wines: Sancerre Rose, Sancerre blanc blend and a bottle of Joseph Mellot Pinot Noir Food: Smoked Salmon, Crottin de Chavignol (local goat cheese cream), herb salad, trout roe almonds. Beef tataki, coriander and mango sauce, yuzu-kosho mayonnaise, onion chips. Guinea Fowl croustade, foie gras, mushrooms and cabbage (Wellington style) caramelised apple and port wine sauce. Rack of Lamb with thyme, ratatouille, confit lamb croquette, lamb jus Wasabi mochi tartlet, matcha whipped ganache, brown sugar caramel and mint sorbet. Crème brulee with Sancerre honey and goat cheese ice cream. They have 5/5 reviews. Worth it I reckon. Beef tataki Smoked ...

Monday 27 to Thursday 30 July 2026 We cleaned the house prior to the arrival home of Sandrine and Greg and then drove to Briare, a nice little village on La Loire with a canal boat marina. We grabbed a baguette from Lidl, parked ourselves under a shady tree overlooking the canal and made a gruyere and ham roll. We then walked along the  Briare Aqueduct which carries the Canal latéral à la Loire over the river Loire on its journey to the Seine. Between 1896 and 2003 it was the longest navigable aqueduct in the world (660 metres). Then a large cold beer on the terrace of the Petit Gite, before we drove the short distance to Sancerre, home of the famous Sauvignon Blanc, often referred to as 'eau de Paris', where we are staying until Friday. Sancerre is a medieval hilltop town and wine region in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France, with panoramic views of the Loire Valley. Our BnB is a clean, neat one bedroom studio apartment, with a good kit...

Thursday to Monday 23 to 27 July 2026 Thursday was a recover at home day. Friday, we went into Paris again, back to the 13 th Arr t for a look at the street market, a walk in the gardens and lunch in Rue de la Butte aux Cailles. Our restaurant recommended by our Paris Greeter was closed for the holidays and many others were not opening until evening, but we had a good burger at Restaurant Tanneurs and a walk through the Jardin Brassai. At 33 Rue de Croulebarbe we saw Paris' first residential high-rise building from 1960 known as the Tour Croulebarbe. Here we met an 80 year old lady who came out of the building as Lady P was photographing it. She has lived there for years. A retired theoretical physicist who spoke five languages, she entertained us for a couple of minutes. A train ride to Bercy Metro and a walk to the Seine was next, where there were many pop up restaurants. We had a glace and a glass of ‘pas terrible’ Rose and watched some seriously stupid people swimming i...

Wednesday 22 July 2026 Nice cool weather now, so off to Paris again. This time the Champs Elysees was blocked off as preparations for Sunday’s finish of Le Tour were in full swing. In search of a dose of culture, we went to Petit Palais art gallery, just off the Champs on Av Winston Churchill. His statue is outside, along from de Gaulle’s statue at the other end. The gallery was impressive and it was free. As we were there prior to lunch time, the crowd was light and we enjoyed the sculptures and paintings. It’s quite a find. On the way to the gallery we passed Eglise de la Madeleine, the biggest church Flashy had ever seen. Staggering away from this vision, he almost ended up in the queue for US passports, until he noticed all the sub machine guns and heavy police presence outside the embassy. We were filling in time to 2.30 pm when we had a “Tasting Cheese with Max” experience booked. This is up in the 18 th and our lunch spot was Jules and Jo restaurant. Ah, but the chef wa...

Monday afternoon, 20 July 2026 We managed to book a Paris Greeter (a worldwide association of free walks by locals). We asked for the 13 th arrondissement as we’d not spent much time there. So, after lunch we met Philippe, a retired GP at Metro Corvisart and commenced a pleasant two hour walk around the streets, looking at street art and quiet streets lined with bars and restaurants. It is a dynamic, multicultural district on Paris's Left Bank, seamlessly blending ultra-modern architecture with old-world village charm. The 13 th is famous for housing Paris's main Asian Quarter and bohemian neighbourhoods and the site of  "the barricades!" Philippe chose the La Butte-aux-Cailles neighbourhood, a slightly hilly, cobblestoned enclave with lots of students. Resembling a quiet, artsy country village, it is packed with vibrant street murals, independent shops, and cozy bistros - and practically no tourists. During France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (187...

Wednesday 15- Monday 21 July 2026 France lost to Spain in the World Cup last night. The neighbourhood was quiet! Thursday, we caught the tram into the very big shopping centre - Belle Epine three stops down the road. A smaller version of Chadstone but, close your eyes and there is absolutely no difference in layout and style. Same for supermarkets the world over. All muzac is in English. Kiabi and Primark came to the rescue with cheap polo shirts and swimmers. Next door to Belle Epine is Marche International de Rungus, the principal wholesale market of Paris mainly dealing in food and horticultural products. With an area of 232 hectares, it is the second largest wholesale food market in the world (after Central de Abasto in Mexico City, which has an area of 327 hectares). There are tours available but most leave at 04h30 from Montparnasse, so more research is required. Only nine days left in Chevilly Larue, so the Metro to Paris for a few visits next week, exploring areas we have...

Tuesday 14 July 2026 Tuesday was a warm but not stiflingly hot day and we started with a buffet breakfast in the small dining room. Normally, I’d leave it there with your image of another hotel buffet. Well, I’ve had many breakfasts in many hotels all over the world. This was not the best but it was quite good. Best breakfast sausages I reckon. Anyway, we were delightfully surprised when breakfast lived up to its reviews. There were people on the street, like us heading to a vantage point to see the flypast but nothing like New Year 2023/4 on the Champs.  Our vantage point on Pont Royal was perfect as the hundreds of jets, prop aircraft and helicopters flew straight down the Seine, over our heads. A long walk back to our hotel to collect our backpack, via a little street-side beverage at a people watching bistrot, then a short walk to M14 and we were home in an hour for a cooling shower and a little nanna nap. A great couple of days in Paris exploring some areas we hadn’t s...