Visiting friends always make the best excuse to eat in new restaurants (well, new to us anyway) and we took advantage of it recently to check out an Indonesian restaurant not far from our place. Restaurant Indonesia – I know, not the most imaginative of name but does the job perfectly – is just steps away from Luxembourg Garden, thus location-wise, it’s central and a walk in Luco after lunch would have been a good option. When it is not raining, that is.

The restaurant is long and narrow, and upon arrival we were warmly welcomed by the sole server(!) waiting on all the tables in the dining room. On a Saturday afternoon in a restaurant full of diners, that was an impressive feat. She left us to peruse the menu at our leisure – a small basket of prawn crackers was also deposited in the centre of the table so we can snack in the mean time – and we decided to go for the rijstafel (i.e. rice table – a Dutch word in origin, bearing in mind Indonesia was formerly a Dutch colony) where we would have a selection of dishes to share between us instead of restricting ourselves to just a handful few main dishes.

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I’ve been trying to capture the lightings on Boulevard St Germain this evening without really achieving the crispness I’ve been hoping for. Luckily in small image size, you can’t quite see all the blurry edges, hehehe. I really should consider either upgrading my gears (but with majority of my dosh going to travel and food, gears tend to be relegated to the bottom of the list) or get a tripod (but isn’t it plain ridiculous to carry one for a camera that’s pocket-sized?).

What I love about the lightings here is their representation of celebratory flutes of champagne – the streams of fairylights already resemble the flutes themselves, and if you’re there in person, you’ll see synchronised lighting that travels from the bottom to the top, one at a tip, like the bubbles popping up towards the surface of the flute. So adorable! And festively magical!

There are some very eye-catching gigantic lips in Saint-Germain-des-Prés at the moment. An art installation, it seems like it’s here to stay for a month. The way this installation works is through public interaction – you’re supposed to talk into the microphone in front of the lips and it’ll be reinterpreted by these lippy “flowers”.

Created in 2010 by LLND who were duo artists originally from Saint-Germain-des-Prés themselves (but have been living in China for the past 3 years), this piece is intended to be a form of art and cultural exchange between their home neighbourhood and Huai Hai Lu in Shanghai (their adopted neighbourhood?), promoting the spirit of communications. Unfortunately, when I was there, the sculpture didn’t seem to be in working order. Hmmm…

Any visitors could hardly miss the rows of little metal stalls running along the River Seine in the centre of Paris. Les bouquinistes, that’s what we call them. Originally they were stalls meant to sell books (bouquins = books, les bouquinistes = booksellers) but over the years they have somewhat evolved that a large number of them now sell kitschy souvenirs, postcards, random objects and paintings.

Of them all, I find paintings and etchings most interesting. Sure, they’re mostly reproductions but some are very good reproductions. Scenes from various places of interests, or just something that inevitably evoke the memory of “Ah France…” or “Ah Paris…” make these pieces highly endearing to non-locals. One day I’ll get one to frame up too but first, let me find the ultimate picture that I’d like to keep. ;)

One of the things that I miss most after my move to Paris is the kitchen in my old place, which not only is very well equipped, functional and pretty, it is also bigger than my entire studio apartment at Cité U. Yes, I know, I was spoilt. I have also since vowed never to take my kitchen for granted anymore.

My new apartment do have a proper kitchen now (yay!), albeit a rather cosy one. It has since kicked start my kitchen daydreams again, of owning something sleek, with full spice rack, a KitchenAid on the counter, an Aga keeping the room warm, and let’s throw in a few Le Creuset too. And oh, a good shelf of awesome cookbooks and Larousse Gastronomique would be highly appreciated too. ;)

Just a couple of weeks back I blogged of the cat that fishes and now while exploring around my new neighbourhood, I found “the dog that smokes”. Not just a plain cheap ciggie, but of a nice-looking old-fashioned pipe. Only in Paris, that the dog would smoke in style ;)

Even then, this is not the only Au Chien Qui Fume in this city. A quick web search shows that the main one (or rather, the top search hit) is actually a restaurant at rue du Pont Neuf within the heart of Paris, and there’s another at Versailles. I don’t think these are part of a chain, given their logos are different. One imitating the other when it comes to name branding?

I’ve been mostly cocooned indoors in the last couple of days, and today must be the height of laziness (but really it’s the last push to really get better, pronto!) that I haven’t even step out the building. Therefore, let me entertain you with a photo of the stairs from my floor… :p

I must say I adore this set of stairs. There’s a certain quaint quality to it, like something out of an old movie, where you expect to see the gentleman running up with a bouquet of flowers (not roses though, something else more unusual would be nice) while his sweetheart waits at the landing with bated breath while trying to contain her excitement.

Ps: I think my brain is simply fried and my imagination running even wilder than usual…

Who wants to get me a giant chocolate Santa? ;)

This delicious looking creature is currently attracting a lot of attention of anyone passing the chocolatier Patrick Roger on rue de Rennes – I was not the only one trying to grab a photo. Just how cool it is to have this masterpiece in your home? Set on the table, it is taller than me and even in comparing its height to mine, it’s still standing pretty tall.

It makes me curious now what centrepieces have he got in his other branches around the city. There are, afterall, five of them altogether. I’m normally here, or at the one on Boulevard St Germain – about 15 minutes walk between the two. It has been a while since I last shopped there though. Perhaps it’s time to revisit and get some Christmas goodies for those near and dear.

Well well, time really flies and looking at the calendar today, we’re merely a couple of weekends away from Christmas. I have no idea where the year has gone, perhaps stolen away in the middle of the dark dark nights. As I walked towards Pierre Hermé this evening, I tried not to panic at the thought that I still have much to do before flying back to Ireland for my Christmas break!

Things are really starting to get very festive just about everywhere right now. On rue de Rennes, fairylights and ornaments sparkles in the dark, and at its junction to St Germain, the trees are lit in the way that it reminds me of champagne bubbles fizzing its way up to the top of the flute. Here, a lone bicycle is covered in pines and cranberries. Either way, there’s only one message in them all – Christmas is in the air.

Everywhere I look, it’s now all about Christmas. Ho, ho, ho! With about 5 weeks to go, I guess it’s time to start writing up the shopping list for presents to the people near and dearest to us. Or maybe even start shopping itself. Last minute rush cannot be fun although with my new apartment next to a main shopping street, perhaps it won’t be as bad for me?

During the build up, of course you’ll need something to help you count down the days. Best with a wee bit of treat. One a day, you know. That’s why they have advent calendar, with the little doors that hide your candy or chocolate of the day. They’re not cheap though. Well I guess it won’t be cheap if you try to buy from Jeff de Bruges instead of Cadbury’s… Now who wants to get me one of these? :p