Tag Archives: Cafe de Paris

People Watching in Monte Carlo from the Café de Paris

Posted by Weekend In Paris in Activities/Excursions Paris, France, General Travel, Monaco, Monte Carlo and tagged with , , , , ,

IMG_2663 How perfect that my favorite spot to people watch in Paris is Café de Paris on rue Buci only to find that the best people watching in Monaco is caddy corner from the Casino de Monte Carlo at the fabulously named Café de Paris. Elizabeth and I settled into a table street-side to catch all the action on what was a chilly but beautifully sunny late winter afternoon.

IMG_2662Hot cars with good-looking men driving them and gorgeous women hopping into and out of these James “Bondesque” vehicles meant it was difficult for us to carry on a conversation for fear of missing an opportunity to catch a glimpse of another ensemble passing by. Young and old, fashionistas were everywhere! Forget the runways, if you want to know what is hot and what is not, just plant yourself down into a chair here to play commentator for your own  ”What not to Wear” Monte Carlo version.

IMG_2660The Café de Paris brasserie is a very popular spot and requires a reservation in the summer months, but in the winter you can pretty much walk right in. The inside atmosphere is slightly stuffy and the prices are typically high because of the area, but not outrageous and I quite like the Belle Époque French decor. We sat on the patio as to not miss a second of the show and we had a couple of glasses of house red wine that were pretty decent. It’s a more casual (as casual as Monte Carlo gets) and touristy place sprinkled with some super chic locals.

IMG_2666The atmosphere more than makes up for its shortcomings. We were one for two as far as the wait staff were concerned. We had a lovely young woman who took great care of us the first time we visited, but the second time we had a waiter who did not listen us and looked everywhere but at us when we ordered. Not surprisingly he brought us the wrong things and wondered where he went wrong. He misunderstood l’eau (water) for a club sandwich? Maybe he was having a bad day, but maybe he is also in the wrong profession. We’ll give him a pass and the café as well because it truly is a great spot to hang out. Remember we visited in the winter, I can only imagine how crazy it is to find a spot along the Place du Casino to people watch in the summer months, but I am willing to give it a try!

Café de Paris

Place du Casino

MC 98000 Monaco

T. (377) 98 06 76 23

All photos property of Weekend In Paris. Must obtain permission before use.

If Food is Art, French Hot Chocolate is a Masterpiece!

Posted by Weekend In Paris in Food, France, Museums, Paris, Restaurants Paris and tagged with , , , , , ,
Photo courtesy of Paris Insights

Photo courtesy of Paris Insights

Paris is gorgeous anytime of year, but there is a certain quiet beauty to the city when it snows. Currently it is snowing in Paris and I hope I will get there in time before it melts! What to do when it’s cold and wintery?

Enjoy a cozy cup of chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) in a warm café. The French do hot chocolate the best of any place I have been. It is typically poured from a small white china sauce server similar to a gravy boat. The quality of the chocolate is the key to the smooth silky concoction. Some prefer to make it with cream which adds to the richness, but if you use high quality chocolate, milk is sufficient. I practically drool as the waiter pours it into the demitasse cup in front of me. It flows rich and thick and practically makes for a meal. If food is art, French hot chocolate is a masterpiece! My favorite places for chocolat chaud are Café de Flore, Café de Paris and Café Marly.

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Photo courtesy of The Parisienne

Check out a museum you haven’t visited before or one you love over and over again when there is a new exhibition. I can’t wait to see the Salvador Dali exhibit at the Centre du Pompidou next week. It opened in December, 2012 and is going on until March 25, 2013. Of course, you could lose yourself for a whole day inside the Louvre and avoid the chilly air in Paris before heading out for a teeming hot chocolate afterwards.

That’s a perfect way to spend a wintery day in Paris!

 

Elvis is Alive and Well and Living in Paris

Posted by Weekend In Paris in Gal Pals, Paris and tagged with , , ,

On the 35th Anniversary of Elvis’ death, I am re-posting this post from my 2011 trip. Let’s Rock, everybody let’s rock!

I’ve always been a little sensitive to the Elvis thing.  For starters my parents named my three siblings normal names like Susan, Patty and John while I was stuck with the name Priscilla.  Born in the 60’s and fully aware of the hot Elvis and the fat Elvis married to the infamous babe Priscilla Presley, people always asked me, “How’s Elvis?” and thought it was a hilarious question – like I had never been asked that before.  I remember when my mother announced that Elvis was gone – her first call was to my Aunt Sue who I believe was in mourning for a good month after hearing the news.  Unreal…

Many Elvis fans found it too painful to believe that he was gone and have given in to the conspiracy theory that he ran away to Europe to escape.  I thought that they were nuts until this year.  Elvis is alive and well, living in Paris and driving a taxi.  Yes, he’s driving a fabulous singing cab!

Elvis picked us up at La Tour d’Argent after our amazing meal which I will blog about another day.  We should have known something was up when the door man at the restaurant put us into the cab and told us we were going to have a fun ride.  Two seconds into the trip our cabbie asked if we liked Elvis and put a tune on.  Happily full from our seven course decadent meal we were game to sing along.  Not long after, Elvis put his white bejeweled sunglasses on while the Gal Pals were joining him singing at the top of our lungs.  Then the true confirmation that he is indeed Elvis came at a red traffic light at the corner of Saint Germain Boulevard – Elvis put the taxi in park and we all jumped out dancing and singing in the street to the shocked locals who were queuing up for movie night at the nearby Odéon theaters.  Some pedestrians chimed in and many danced as well.  Only the REAL Elvis could get stuffy Frenchmen to dance and sing in the streets with strange American women shouting from a cab!!!!

We hadn’t quite embarrassed ourselves enough yet so we asked him to swing by the Gal Pal rendezvous place Café de Paris where we had planned to meet the newly arrived Gal Pal Lisa.  Lisa, living in Britain and not terribly big on public scenes was sitting having a glass of Bordeaux (the official wine of the Gal Pals) when to her surprise we pulled up right in front with the windows down banging out our American Idiot version of Jail House Rock.  Needless to say, The Queen Mum as we are now calling her was a bit shocked, but laughed none the less.

I know, I know…you want video as proof – well here it is at last!  Rough and ready…when watching it, look for Lisa who is in the upper right hand corner at a table.  You’ll see her look somewhat annoyed, then she puts on her glasses to see who the heck is yelling in the streets of Paris.  Enjoy folks and until I post some more video, Let’s Rock, Everybody Let’s Rock…

All photos property of Weekend In Paris. Must obtain permission before use.