Sunday, December 27, 2009

Paris is a state of mind...

Last night I watched 'Zorro - The Musical' at the historic Folies Bergere, and fell in love with the music of the Gypsy Kings once again. It was an exhuberant and passionate production. How wrong can anybody go with flamenco and fencing, fabulous sets, gorgeous costumes and great singing? No wonder it is such a huge hit in Paris. I followed the plot in bits and pieces, but it didn't matter at all.Diageo and Luisa ki love story kept me enthralled. I even forgot about the cold and was ready to brave the wind chill factor and go in search of dinner. We found 'Toi', after walking in and out of Cafe Chic, which as its name suggests is indeed tres chic.
Earlier, Arundhati and I had changed God knows how many metros and travelled the length and breadth of Paris in search of the perfect Galette de Roi, which is the season's treat and is sold with a paper crown. The trick here is the li'l gift that is baked into the gateau. Kids love it and so do adults. The other X'Mas speciality is the clementine, which is a juicy, tiny orange. Dried figs and marons are two other yummy offerings, along with the classic macaroons ( Pierre Herme macaroons are packaged like haute couture and considered top of the line).
We walk and walk and walk. I have bought a pair of pale blue Uggs, to protect my aching feet. The Grand Palais beckons. There is a cirque inside its imposing interiors. There is also the Dali exhibit, this one featuring the master's work in gold. My darling daughter is being super patient avec moi. Let's hope I don't wear her down.

13 comments:

supriya said...

quite a classical description of paris shobha ma'am! Seems you alongwith your daughter having a ball there! keep rocking...

The Panorama said...

I love Paris:) It's a city you never get tired of. Enjoy your stay!

Anonymous said...

Am a new blogger and great to read ur blog Shobha mam. Can't forget your visit to Christ University in Bang :)

Well.. Your experience in Paris soundS Tres excellent :) ..
The French words in the blog gives it a real French touch... Love the language and Paris :)
Season's greetings mam.

Alex Engwete said...

As I read this second post of your Paris travelogue, what Walter Benjamin, also a great lover of Paris, said about the Paris dandy “flâneur” (stroller) of the 19th century comes to mind: “The street becomes a dwelling for the flâneur; he is as much at home among the facades of houses as a citizen is in his four walls. To him the shiny, enameled signs of businesses are at least as good a wall ornament as an oil painting is to the bourgeois in his salon. The walls are the desk against which he presses his notebooks; news-stands are his libraries and the terraces of cafés are the balconies from which he looks down on his household after his work is done.”
Now, Madame, you’ve turned into a Parisian “flâneuse.”

Jogeshwar said...

I liked reading this post, seems like you're having a lot of fun in Paris. It is interesting why is Galette de Roi sold with a paper crown, you love it because there is a li'l gift that is baked into the gateau or otherwise :)

Maria said...

Paris in winter sounds nice!

Unknown said...

This is the most astonishingly unbelievable crime story ever known in the whole world and it is happening live!!

An IIM Alumnus is running around the country from city to city for the past 2 months fleeing from a very powerful

nation wide real-estate mafia cum police nexus. He having learnt that the landlord of the place he was renting was

actually a real estate gangster who ammassed several properties by ecivting the original owners by either killing

them or by staging mass psychjological dramas to drive them mad This Real-estate mafia have isolated and have cut

him off from the whole world - family,friends,colleagues,acquaintances,phone,email,etc and some 30 of his batchmates

and their families are being severely threatened to do what the mafia asks them. This nexus uses sophisticated and

classified police espionage gadgets like phone jammers and laser based room surveillance techniques. everything and

now the mafia is playing some unbelievable psychological drama in order to drive him mad by using gangster arm

twisting techniques to convince all his friends and contacts. Whoever he has contacted has been terrorised by the

real estate gangsters; for instance his engineering batch mate and one of his best buddies has been terrorised so

much that he himself is conducting surveillance of this guy and sending back information to the mafia. Similarly

another one of his friends in the US has actually started threatening this guy and has been proactive in convincing

other batchmates that he has gone insane.

Nobody has come forward to help him due to the gangsters and the police who are themselves part of the mafia. The

mafia and police nexus is constantly following him everywhere staging fake flights,fake passengers, fake cabs, etc

in a bid to prove him mad to the whole world.These fake dramas are being staged so that this guy, when he eventually

approaches police and court and would try to desperately convince everyone by saying that there are 20 to 30

thousand people all over the country following him, he would then be unanimously termed as insane before being

immediately dismissed

This is most unbelievable since this IIM Alumnus is updating the entire story live on his twitter id 'jai_vinayak'

and has uploaded more than 100 pictures of the chase with the help of phone camera
. He has now gone to as many as 22 cities in India staying in as much as 21 hotels everywhere. His life is in danger

as well but he has not lost any spirit and continues to update his twitter. Every contact he has tried to make has

been systematically brain washed and arm twisted into believing that he is schizhophrenic. The number of people so

far involved in this country wide chase psycho drama is a whopping 20,000 to 30,000 people plus.

If you dont believe this....pls go ahead and see his twitter 'jai_vinayak' yourself!! Dont forget to see the

pictures as well.

If you like psycho crime then this is the most interesting one in the whole world.



Ruchi Dhingra

Manjiri Agnihotri said...

I don’t know about western music, bcoz I am not listening. Hope, you both was enjoyed. “I am the typical marathi mulgi” (ha….ha….)
I want to share one thing to you that whatever I was reading about Arundhati in your books, her maximum quialties are matching with me.
(Sorry for any grammatical mistake bcoz my English is not so good. )

vaidehi said...

it always feels gr8 to read ur blogs shobha ma'am....

ur paris description has taken me back to the French lectures during college days..which i hardly understood... :)
have a happy stay..take care

Theyoginme said...

Its great you can enjoy Paris this way with your daughter. Happy New Year!

चंद्रमौलेश्वर प्रसाद said...

so many dishes which i have not heard leave alone tasting :) hope you enjoyed paris sans paris hilton :)

Unknown said...

Wish you all a very Happy n Prosperous New Year....may 2010 bring lots of happiness for one n all!!!!

Regards
New Year Parties in Mumbai
New Year Parties in New Delhi
New Year Parties in Bangalore

saravanan said...

hey, you can recharge your pre/post paid mobile free of cost everyday. visit www.pricesbolo.com