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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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New website up and running

Hello! The new website is up and raring and ready to be read! - if you want. It's called Londonette, and can be found at londonette.com. Huge thanks to everyone who kept me inspired and writing. I'll be updating Londonette daily - and will provide links here too, so keep reading!

Here's a taster of my latest article...

When Jil Sander produced a handbag that looked exactly like a paper bag in her autumn 2012/3 collection, I rolled my eyes along with the rest of the wannabe FROW. "Paper bags are for vegetables, not for wallets!" I scoffed, "And paper bags are free, not £185!" That was the Official Position for about a week - before I started wanting one myself.

The reason, as far as I can tell, is this: the more interested in fashion I become, the more I aspire to sartorial simplicity. Accessorize, for instance, with its sequins and glitter and union jack tat, is the enemy. So is Monsoon (though it's basically the same thing). Desigual is also death - it overcrowds its fabrics so criminally that I was almost insulted a few weeks ago when one of their reps tried to give me a freebie as I passed in front of a London branch. "Do I look like a Desigual fan?" I thought angrily, before giving myself a massive mental smack.

Sander's paper bag bag is both conceptually daring (because it looks like something shit) and visually gratifying (because it has beautifully clean lines and a zen colour palette). I bet that at least a few of the people that rushed to her shops to buy the thing did so out of grudging respect for her audacity as a designer - or artist. The wankiness of the bag - the fact that it's agonizingly 'concept' and arrogant in its demand that the viewer reconsider his understanding of fashion - is precisely the point, or at least a point, of the bag.

This is a rather roundabout way of introducing another bag that I've found, and like. I saw it in Greenwich Village in New York, in a store called Zachary's Smile, which was twitching with dungarees-wearing assistants and weirdo sunglasses. It seems that the designer of this pretty thing drew inspiration from Sander - although this model didn't have the logo name on the front, and was roomier, softer and less rigid. If push came to buy, I'd still purchase Sander's - but only because she got there first.

Read more at Londonette.com

#bags #paper bag #jil sander #londonette #londonette fashion #londonette street style #londonette clothes #clothes #paper #recycling #green fashion

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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More to follow...

Hello! I've now left Paris and based temporarily in Rome. It's very sad not to be in France anymore, though I am enjoying the perks of being in Italy (excellent figs, gelato, constant warmth). I'm in the process of setting up a website (londonette.com), which will provide similar material to what I've been churning out for this blog - so the usual mix of weird recipes, street style, cultural reviews. That should be up and running within the next month.

Thanks very much to all who have been reading and sending me messages. It's made the writing worthwhile. I hope I've been of use to Paris-visitors and a good distraction from university work. Here's one of the last photos I took while in Paris. I'll miss it.

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Asparagus Spaghetti

French asparaguses - asparagi? - aren't great. Either they're stumpy and white, lacking in flavour as much as in looks, or they're green and spindly, waiting to wind their fibres around your teeth. Thankfully, I have guests this week and two out of the three brought me asparagus from the UK. This dish is probably the second best way I've devised of eating asparagus - the first being with lots of melted butter and salt.

Asparagus Spaghetti

Ingredients

About 20 stalks of British asparagus

2 packets of lardons

1 leek, sliced into finger-length segments

1/2 pack of Boursin cheese / garlicky cream cheese

1/2 cup of whole milk

1 egg

Instructions

1. Cut the asparaguses in half and boil until tender. Drain and rinse in cold water.

2. Put enough spaghetti for two on to boil.

3. In a large wok, fry the lardons with a tablespoon of olive oil

4. Leave to cook for about three minutes on high, then add the leek

5. Cover this with a saucepan lid and lower the heat, allowing the leeks to soften

6. When the leeks are soft, add the boursin and mash it into the mixture

7. Add milk, dash-by-dash, until a creamy sauce begins to form

8. The pasta should now be ready. Drain it and add it to the wok, along with the asparagus

9. Stir everything up while heating it still adding cream if need be.

10. Crack an egg over it and stir it in, then serve immediately with parmesan

#asparagus #healthy #food #londonette in paris #londonette #londonette recipes #leeks #bacon #lardons #pasta #spaghetti #uk #paris #french food #grub #guests #melted butter #eggs

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Les Chatons d'Or Soirée

Last night, wepulp.com hosted an awards ceremony for young and promising advertising creatives. The evening's slogan, 'Avant de rugir, il faut savoir miauler' ('before you can roar, you have to learn how to purr') captured the spirit of the affair, which was a well-judged celebration of new talent, too often snubbed by awards in favour of older and more established companies. I had a great time eating, drinking, learning ad-speak and spotting stylish people. Here are some of the best.

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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The Yellow Korner of the Marais

Buying photos is a strange business. On the one hand, photography is clearly a legit art form and should therefore be paid for; on the other hand, you're potentially spending your pennies on something that could be printed off in two seconds. It's hardly irreplaceable art. Photos also tend to be more straightforward than paintings - years after buying a good canvas, you should be discovering dimensions to it that you'd previously been oblivious to. That process of inexorable discovery is rarer with photos.

It's probably due to the directness of photography that it 'exhibits' so well, injecting viewers almost instantaneously into a different context. As I was wandering through the Marais a few days ago, I stumbled across what is, to all extents and purposes, a free photography exhibition, called the Yellow Korner. It's in a beautiful courtyard just off the Rue des Francs Bourgeois.

It's a shop entirely dedicated to selling photographs of all sizes and subjects. There are images of famous celebrities, papped whilst getting out of limousines, iconic moments in sport, beautiful landscapes, surrealist mind-twisters. A lot of the photos were trite and dull and depressingly familiar - but, amongst the rabble, a few clearer, fresher voices could be discerned. Good for a quick post-falafel culture injection.

#marais #art #paris #paris art #photography #photography exhibition #jewish quarter #ivy #yellow korner #londonette #londonette in paris #buy photos

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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June Joy, part II

Bloody June. Whoever said it was the best month was a fool. Today, it's just 11 degrees - I had to wear a wooly hat this morning and what's more, the weekend's sunniness has left swathes of freckles all over my face which now look silly in the morose weather. Here are some well-dressed people that consented to be snapped when it was still beautiful out.

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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June Joy, part I

A while back, when this blog was but a toddling nipper, I decided that October was the best month for dressing. The judgement has been revoked. It turns out that June, joyous June, is the best. With temperatures - so far - at a reasonable 20-21 degrees, one can go out coated/uncoated, trousered/skirted, tshirted/jumpered. The instability of the weather also breeds versatility. Here are some of the best dressed June enjoyers I spotted yesterday. More to come.

Clothes from Sandro, Harrods, Maje, DM, Vans, Zara, Topshop, vintage

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Adom Thrift Store

Ten days ago, I hit up 'Guerrisol' in Montmartre, the grimiest thrift store I've ever set foot in. This week, ever the sartorial Tantalus, and still in search of priceless/low-price couture, I went to Adom. It was rather red, rather expensive and rather nice.

The shop is divided in half, with one side devoted to women and the other to men. Though by no means a cathedral, there was enough space to root around the racks. The women's side wasn't a show-stopper - lots of nerdy jumpers and retro dresses, but all too expensive. There was an entire rack dedicated to Burberry macs, and I was about to reach for my purse when I noticed the price of the one I'd targeted - 250 eura. Too many moneyz.

The other side of the shop, the men's side, was better. There was a good range of DMs - shoes that look seriously stupid on me, but which can really sombre-up certain looks - each at about forty euros. Not pocket change, but nothing to cry over either. The coats on offer were great. I found a large speckled black number that made me look like a broken TV, as well as a fir-lined Barbour.

Also, for those still enamoured of Leo's jazzy outfit circa R&J, there were tons of Hawaiian shirts. I have a feeling these'll be coming back in soon, so it might be an idea to stock up before they run out. Not sure if I'm joking.

#guerrisol #montmartre #adom #thrift stores #vintage #paris #fashion #shabby-chic #french fashion #paris clothes #cheap shopping #cheap clothes #charity shops #bastille #budget fashion

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Le Bar à Soupes

Soup cravings tend to come knocking at about seven pm. At such times I usually bound to my fridge, jollied by the prospect of a good two-euro broth. Sometimes, however, I'm beyond the confines of my flat and face a tricksome dilemma: do I heed the craving and get soup from a nearby restaurant, not knowing whether it'll be bangin, or do I plump for something else? Enter the Bar à Soupes in Bastille.

As is just about surmisable from its name, this is a tiny restaurant devoted to soup, though they do sell one or two other things (like bread, to go with the soup). Everything's homemade by the very lovely people that work there and you can get some intriguing flavours, to take in or out. The soups come in three bowls: a small one for baby bear, a medium one for mummy bear, and a massive one for ravenous dad. Recommended.

#soup #soupe #soup bar #paris #paris food #paris restaurants #cheap eats #paris cheap eats #french food #french soup #healthy #healthy eating #healthy soups #londonette food #londonette in paris

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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L'Ange du Bizarre

Vampires and ghosts have been ‘in’ for the past two hundred years, disrupting dreams and nourishing creativity worldwide. A new(ish) exhibition at the Orsay Museum sheds light on this trend, which has given rise to some very striking works of art – as well as some bloody irritating films.

When I went to the show last week with a friend, it was peak time and the queue outside was cawing with noise. As soon as we stepped into the exhibition, the racket fell away, suffocated by the thick plum carpet and dark space. The curator – whose hand I would like to pump up and down several times – has created the perfect atmosphere for the show’s subject matter, which is laced with depictions of Hell, cannibalism, spectres, eerie landscapes and demons.

All the big-boy Parisian museums – the Louvre, the Pomp, the Grand Palais – are visited by a public that, by and large, doesn’t know much about art. Sometimes these museums therefore pelt that public with information about the movement or artist on show. It’s rarely effective – firstly because many of the visitors can’t read French, secondly because, well, such soundbites are rarely thrilling. At the same time, it can be interesting to have a bit of background information when you’re in front of a canvas, trying to draw some meaning from its contents or style.

‘L’Ange du Bizarre’ manages to teach its visitors something new whilst not drowning them in reams of data that they'll forget as soon as they leave the museum. Only certain paintings are accompanied with boxes full of biographical detail, and the detail has been clearly carefully vetted to exclude dull or irrelevant Wikipediavom. Hooray!

The exhibition is free to enter for EU members under the age of 27. It’s not an earth shattering show, but it’s still impressive.

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Sir Pizza Tart

I'm not a pizza person. I find their bases stodgy and their flavours dull - what's more, my family is riddled with celiacs, so I worry that overdosing on wheat could activate my latent intolerance. That said, there are certain summery days which cry out for a cheese and tomato blow-out. Rather than using a doughy base, however, I prefer to use shop-bought filo pastry, which makes the whole affair much lighter. Arise, Sir Pizza Tart.

This is Sir PT before cooking. I was too busy eating him to photograph him post-Aga. Sorry.

Sir Pizza Tart

Ingredients

1/2 roll of filo pastry

Cheese - preferably mozzarella, Cheddar or goat's

Meat - torn up chicken, ham or sausage

1 onion

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon of pesto

3 cloves of garlic

1 bunch of fresh basil

Instructions

1. Roll out the filo pastry until it's about the size of a laptop. Make a crust with your finger and thumb. Place on a baking tray lined with paper

2. Fry the onion and garlic together in a generous glug of olive oil, until golden

3. Add the tomato and pesto. Cook over a medium heat, stirring sporadically, for half an hour

4. Add the basil last minute, then pour the mixture over the base

5. Sprinkle with meat and cheese

6. Bake, for about 15 minutes under 200 degrees. Consume immediately

#pizza #tart #tomato #mozzarella #summer #healthy #dough #pastry #filo pastry #londonette #londonette in paris #londonette recipes #celiac #pesto #basil

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Oh les beaux jours

Of all Beckett's works, 'Oh les beaux jours' is one of his least forgiving. Waiting for Godot and Endgame are, of course, bleak, but both plays are at least animated by the toing and froing of their four protagonists. Oh les beaux jours, by contrast, is essentially a one-womaner, featuring Winnie, a fifty-year-old blonde buried up to her waist.

The show is currently on at the Theatre de l'Atelier in Montmartre and stars Catherine Frot, who, I'm told, is a French celebrity. Her performance left little doubt as to why she landed such a juicy role, for her Winnie was almost without fault. She navigated the repetitive lines and ritualistic stage directions with ease, injecting grimacing charm when it was called for, oozing sex and vulnerability and optimism all at once. Her costume was particularly appropriate - a dishevelled silky night-dress, that plunged downwards to reveal a slightly wrinkly cleavage. Perfectly 'Winnie'. Willie, meanwhile, her turtle-like husband, was taken on by Jean-Claude Durand, who did fine.

Despite the strength of the show, I remain on the fence about Beckett. All his texts - his prose writings especially - gesture towards a yawning void at the centre of the human condition, a void I wholly accept, but one which I find pretty uninteresting. Great theatre, to my mind, is person-altering, and though I admire Beckett's way with words, his cauterising humour, his mathematical precision and literariness, I couldn't count him amongst the writers that have changed me.

Personal views aside, the Atelier can only be congratulated for such a robust production. Beckettians and non-Beckettians alike will find much to like - or at least to mull over - here. Recommended.

#beckett #samuel beckett #happy days #winnie #willie #frot #french theatre #irish theatre #laughter #stage #paris #drama #plays #french plays #Oh #beaux jours #beauty #sex #silk #blonde

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Oppan Marais Style

Au weekend, Parisians like to go to the Marais. They also like to grumble at the fact that everyone else likes to go to the Marais - 'Mais franchement, c'est un truc de ouf!' - while placidly sucking on a cigarette as they push through the crowds. Here are some of the most styléd Marais-flaneurs I spotted yesterday.

Clothes from Zara, Topshop, Chloe, New Look, Office, Urban Outfitters, Harvey Nichols and vintage/charity shops

#gangnam style #gangnam #marais #french #paris #paris fashion #couture #street style #chic #elegant #high street #flaneur #jewish quarter #ouf #charity #zara #vintage #topshop #new look #office

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Alternative Mash

Of all the carbs, mash is the most condescended. High-brow restaurants rarely serve it and, in many households, it's only brought to the table if there are 'bangers' involved (sausages, to non-Brits). That said, normal mash, based on boiled potatoes, isn't desperately exciting. Here's an alternative that serves as a great accompaniment to spicy, meaty dishes. It's also healthier than normal mash, due to its high carrot content.

Alternative Mash

Ingredients

3 large sweet potatoes

3 large carrots, diced

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

1 handful of chopped fresh coriander

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 tablespoon of yoghurt

Instructions

1. Peel the sweet potatoes roughly and chop them into small chunks

2. Boil for about 15 minutes, then add the carrots

3. Boil for another ten minutes, then drain.

4. Mash up with the rest of the ingredients, adding more yoghurt if necessary

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Ballsy Guacamole

Guacamole is notoriously unreliable. While some shop-bought varieties can get it right - Waitrose's "Creamy and Delicious" is particularly good - often, they're sloppy and under-seasoned. Good guacamole has muscle - it should be chunky, pea-green, tangy and interesting. This sort of guacamole is very easy to whip up yourself - here's the recipe I use, but it's crying out for customisation (adding ricotta could work).

You might ask why there are two avocado stones in the mixture. According to a friend, keeping them in prevents guacamole from turning brown. Balls + ballsy flavour = good guac.

Ballsy Guacamole

Ingredients

2 very soft avocados

Zest and juice of one lime

1 red onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon of minced fresh ginger

Lots of salt and pepper

1 mild green chili pepper, chopped

Instructions

1. Chop up the onion into as small slices as you can be bothered to make

2. Remove the flesh of the avocado with a spoon and mash up with a fork

3. Combine with all the other ingredients and serve, balls in.

#guacamole #balls #garlic #chili #red onion #dips #zest #lime #londonette #londonette in paris #londonette recipes #guacamole recipe #paris #healthy dips #healthy food #health #summer food

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Black Market Cafe

There are three things that all aspirational cafes should have: 1) good, uncomplicated Wifi, 2) good, uncomplicated loos, 3) good, uncomplicated drinks. It's weird how often these rules are flouted - and weirder still when cafes fail on all three counts while retaining a degree of charm. The Black Market cafe in Montmartre is a classic example - it should crap, but manages, somehow, to be pretty nice.

It's a stone's throw from the rue de la Goutte d'Or, which serves as backdrop to one of my all-time favourite books. Had I not been with a trusty friend, I would probably have walked passed it, Leaky-Cauldron-style, Muggle noggin in the clouds. The emo, black-painted exterior did not bode well but inside, it turned out to be welcoming, with about seven tables and two strapping young proprietors.

So far, so fine. I whipped out Tilda, my comp, and tried to connect to the promisingly entitled 'Black Market Cafe' wifi. Nothing. I was assured, unhelpfully, that they used to have internet, until visitors stopped going there for conversation, and started going there for work. The audacity! The lack of internet would have been digestible with the help of an exciting beverage - a milkshake, say, or a peach juice - but there were hardly any items on the menu. Even the banana cake ran out when we asked for it. So I settled for an espresso, two glittering euros for four bitter gulps.

Despite the lack of internet and lack of thrilling drinks, however, Black Market is still nicer than most cafes in Paris. There was little distracting Anglo-Saxon chitchat; the service was prompt and attentive, if mostly apologetic; the coffee was intense and ethical. The loos, however, were 'une totale blague' - you had to leave the cafe, type a code into a door slightly down the street, go through a hall, out into a courtyard and up some stairs to find an extremely basic toilet that had no paper, no light and no basin.

So - a great cafe for computer-less, espresso-lovin', pee-less adults who live in the area. Not so recommended for others.

#cafe #paris #coffee #black #black market #montmartre #paris cafes #assommoir #zola #muggle #leaky cauldron #wifi #milkshake #peach juice #espresso #banana cake

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londonetteinparis-blog · 11 years

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Guerrisol Thrift Store

Buying second-hand clothes is a universally acknowledged 'good thing'. It snubs the fast-fashion industry (mother of dodgy infrastructure); it recycles; it encourages shoppers to think creatively. It can also, however, be a bit gross. The shoes you walk out in could easily be those that Auntie Pat was wearing when she passed away; they could also flood at the first sniff of a puddle. Guerrisol, by Montmartre, embodies the pros and cons of thrift shopping. It's cheap, varied, fun, challenging - but also a bit rank.

There are three or four Guerrisols in Paris. I went to the one closest to my flat, by Barbes Metro, about twenty minutes from Montmartre. My expectations were both high, due to a trustworthy friend's recommendation, and low, because of a particularly articulate reviewer on Yelp, who says of Guerrisol, "This place is disgusting. It smells like dirty, old clothes. It also smells like the unwashed masses (patrons, I'm looking at you!)".

The shop is certainly aesthetically challenged, a sterile mixture of hospital and homeless shelter, and body-guarded by unfriendly heavies who seem wholly uninterested in generating a friendly vibe. Often, my desire for a bargain is cowed by my snobbish fear of depressing places (e.g. Primark, Reading, T K Maxx). But there are times when you have to swallow your silliness and get your hands dirty. So I started rummaging.

Despite the horrific disorder of the clothes racks, there was a respectable amount of interesting items. Mostly, these consisted of coats, one of which I bought. There were also some nice dresses, corduroy trousers and exciting shirts that I could imagine working well with leather trousers. The shoe shelves, however, were a total nightmare - reminding me uncomfortably of the displays of certain European museums, showing altogether different piles of vacated shoes.

'Guerrisol' is definitely not for the lily-livered. It smells odd, it looks depressing; most of the shop's contents are ugly. But if you look carefully, you're guaranteed to be rewarded. I'll be back.

#guerrisol #thrift store #paris thrift store #londonette fashion #londonette #londonetteinparis #paris cheap #cheap clothes #corduroy trousers #shoes

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