No. 42 — A year in Paris 🇫🇷
Petit fours for friends
My name is Linda. I write a bi-weekly newsletter about computer science, childhood and culture - and there are 9 726 of you listening. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with anyone you think may find it useful.
An elderly man in a bakery, choosing carefully one, glorious bread slice, tranché s’il vous-plait.
How my yoga teacher asks us to raise our hands, like we are offering petit fours for a friend.
Saturday mornings, when the Rue Poncelet fruit sales people sing opera about their tomatoes.
All the half-tones: the beige sandstone, the grey-blue accents in doors and fences, the zinc roofs, the pink sunsets on our balcony.
It’s been a year of Paris. I still very much look at the city as an outsider, but have started to see the simple joys a city as elegant and grandiose as Paris can offer. (See - Rohmer in Paris. Wes Anderson in Paris.)
One of those pleasures are all the friends from around the world who stop by here. I get asked recommendations a lot, so decided to also jot down here some notes of things I’ve found enjoyable. Returning to my usual writing soon!
Museums →
Louvre, d’Orsay and Cluny are essential, but my personal favourites are the smaller museums that combine a distinct building and feel with a single, curious story: Marmottan-Monet, Jacquemart André, Picasso Museum and Rodin Museum (pack picnic!). From the modern ones Bourse de Commerce-Collection Pinault (find the mouse!) and Louis Vuitton Foundation on opposite sides of town, have always something interesting on display.
When walking around I keep an eye for posters, they are the best way to learn about new exhibitions.
Parks →
My favorite neighbourhood park is the stunning Parc Monceau. Aim for midday and you’ll see hundreds of kids. On a weekend, pony rides. If I have time, I love wandering in the Buttes-Chaumont park with it’s fake cliffs, waterfalls and mountains.
The Promenade plantée was the world’s first elevated park walkway, a precursor of High Line. And finally, a local one: 1990’s park, Promenade Pereire, is an interesting example of urban design, a 1 kilometer long, narrow park also built on top of old railways, now in the middle of a street with pergolas, play areas, sculptures and kitchen gardens.
Rue Cler, Rue Mouffetard and Rue Montorgueil, Rue Legendre and Cite des Fleurs for flâneuring
Read →
Shakespeare & co is of course legendary, but for a less crowded and equally well curated English bookstores go to The Abbey & The Red Wheelbarrow. After buying a book, continue either to Jardin Luxembourg or to Cafe Flore - lots of people taking selfies at this famous coffeehouse, but worth a visit for they have a literary prize called Prix de Flore. The winner gets an award, but charmingly also a glass of Pouilly-Fumé at the café every day for a year.
I love how you see people reading everywhere. There is seemingly a French bookstore on every street corner and the books they showcase don’t have splashy covers, but are about philosophy, physics and world politics, all in beige covers. Some custom store favorites are OFR, L7 (associated with late Lagerfeld), Librarie Galignani and La librairie des enfants.
During the summer heatwave I worked at Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand. BnF was majestic, focused (and well ventilated!). The newly opened Richelieu site is on my to-do list too. The most beautiful library so far has been Bibliothèque Sainte Geneviève.
Food →
Paris may be best known for Michelin-starred restaurants, but food culture is everywhere. It’s difficult to recommend any one place, and since the city is so big, so I’ve tried to pick recommendations throughout the city. A warning: the popular places almost always require a reservation.
I love a long petit déjeuner in one of the classic street bistros. It’s always the same combination of coffee, bread, pastries and juice, and doesn’t really matter which one you take, as long as you bring a book.
For lunch, try Gramme (3eme), Mokonuts (11eme), Le Fumoir (1eme), Le Mary Celeste (3eme), Le Jourdain (20e), Racines (2eme)
For dinner try Cheval D’Or (19eme), La Fontaine de Mars (7eme), Chez Paul (11eme), Kodawari Ramen (6eme), OMA (9eme)
The food markets and specialty stores are worth a visit. It took me forever to learn to do grocery shopping here (in Helsinki we go to one place, here I easily go to three or four on one go). Try Marché des Enfants Rouges (3eme). Les Inseparables (17eme). Mamiche (9eme). Le Zingam (11eme). Les Paniers D’Alain (online).
Linked List
In computer science, a linked list is a linear collection of data elements whose order is not given by their physical placement in memory. But here it is a selection of things I’ve been reading lately.
Walking routes in Paris are always much appreciated. Here’s three from the city of Paris. And here’s a hand-drawn map from Tove Jansson on her Parisian saunters - I’ve yet to walk this one!
The Spotify Weirdness. Robin Sloan on Spotify’s algorithm, taste and hidden weirdness in the world. (There are new editions of the Penumbraverse books that a) glow in the dark b) I’m wrapping into many Christmas gifts!)
Found the Building Beauty program, a post-graduate diploma on architecture, through Jack Cheng. It combines a lot of the topics I’m interested in right now: architecture. urban design, quality, nature and even software engineering into one, beautiful, Italy-infused syllabus. There might be others among the readers, who will enjoy following the school
Classroom
I’m hoping to surface and share stories from all of you and I’d love to see your creations! Here are a few teachers using Ruby in creative, fun and inspiring ways.
A two-year old who always gets Ruby from the library. Might be for the bright cover colors, but very cute still!
