After the Koreans, the Japanese...

Again with Benjamin, but lunch this time, at the ever-reliable, ever-delicious and ever-inexpensive (that's three for three in my book) at Higuma.

I had the Yokisoba (the photo to the left) - prepared before my eyes at the counter (the best place to eat; you can watch the chef ply his magic) while Benj had a hearty soup and a beer. Odile went for the Miso Lamen, served as a "set" with 7 gyoza (meat-filled raviolis; worth the trip to rue Sainte-Anne in their own right).

Afterwards (it was a late lunch: 3pm-ish) we stopped in at Epices Roellinger - a wonderland of spices, herbs and oils, all dreamed up by the famed chef from Cancale.

Kookil Kwan

At Benjamin's suggestion we joined him at this excellent Korean restaurant. Again at his suggestion we ordered some openers - including a dish unknown to me, pajeon (a pancake-like dish, seen at left)- quite delicious - washed down with a half-bottle of makgeolli (and 2 glasses of red wine ... after all we are still in France).

For dinner we each had a different dish. I ordered the Pork Bulgogi (delivered table-side on its own little stove). All dishes accompanied by banchan (side dishes), including the ubiquitous kimchi (fermented cabbage) and greatly  enjoyed by all three of us.

Winter will break soon...

Paris as I love it today.

We went to see Fabrice Luchini do his stuff at Théâtre de l’Atelier. His "stuff" this afternoon was to read from the writings (primarily, but not only) of the philosopher Philippe Muray. Fascinating texts, superb and idiosyncratic delivery and much that was illuminating ... and (mercifully) funny. There was even a riff, early on in the piece, on "innovation"!

Right after the theater we hied ourselves over (we don't get to do as much "hieing" as I'd like) to l’Eglise Sainte Elisabeth to hear a concert (including a good dose of jazz tunes) by "Le Choeur International de Femmes de Paris". My favorite? The sadish-sounding but hopefilled ballad "The Rose".

A new friend of ours, Florence, sings in the group, and afterwards we went with her and some of her friends  to have a drink nearby. I was angling to have everyone go to "Merce and the Muse" for coffee/tea (heard about it here ... and I promise myself I will return soon as it is conveniently located near the Marché des Enfants Rouges), but since she closes at 5:30pm on Sunday we ended up next-door at Café Crème, which proved to be just lovely.

Then back home for R&R (Rest and Read) ... I am deep into Dan Simmons "The Fall of Hyperion" .

Les « Hautes de GammeS »

Bonne Nouvelle ... micmag

Slamming doors, mole poblano ...

We went (with her parents and other friends) to see Félice in the play by Georges Feydeau, "Tailleur pour Dames". Quite amusing bedroom farce!

Afterwards we dined next-door on the rue de Lappe at Cielito Lindo, owned/run by Maurice and Ana (he used to live in Myriam's building).

Today "La Chandeleur" is celebrated in France. On the non-religious side it seems to be an excuse to eat a lot of crêpes (the French cunningly having replaced the original Pan-inspired candles by, of course, something edible).

As I am currently waiting to board my train to Paris from Lyon this evening (and posting thanks to the free WiFi at the public library here) I will delay my gratification until tonight when I hope Odile will agree to a stack of pancakes (my version) for dinner!

Auf Wiedersehen, Berlin...

Just enough time for a caffè macchiato at Cindy's Diner at the Tegel airport  (there's also one in Basel it seems) before flying back to Paris. I'll have to try their burgers next time!

Berlin 2011 - Day 5

Had a nice Berliner Kindl Dunkle Bock beer for lunch (better said, with lunch). B+

Afterwards we returned to the Wirtshaus Wupke (we went there last time in September)






And here's how we ended up the night (writing out postcards for you ... some of you).

Berlin 2011 - Day 3

Had a nice Märkischer Landmanm with lunch. Off to see Anita in the afternoon. Then dinner with the IIME Workshop people at the Hackesche Höfe.

Berlin Day 2

This post "in process" ....

bip

http://manzini.de/

http://www.radeberger.de/index_en.html

Radeberger started in 1872 when the brewery was founded as „Zum Bergkeller,“ in Radeberg, a suburb of Dresden. Radeberger ranks number 9 amongGermany's best selling breweries.

This beer was also brewed for a period for the King of Saxony. ^[1] It was the first brewery in Germany to brew beer exclusively in the Pilsner style and which still exists today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiserschmarrn

Second JOP trip of 2011 - Berlin Day 1

We pick up "los JOP en vadrouille" for 2011 in Berlin where José has come to work (IIME) and also to take advantge of the weekend to visit our old friends ... and make new discoveries.

Ulf kindly picked us up at Schoenefeld airport and we drove back to his place on Konstanzer Straße in the Wilmersdorf area. After settling in and resting a bit (we took our taxi this morning came at 5:15am) we figured out how to get to the Fraunhofer Forum, near the "Museum Island", for a quick inspection of the locale where I'll be participating in a pilot workshop.

The quick inspection turned out to be over 3 hours due to some technical problems. The team there is fantastically helpful and tenacious so all turned out well.

Afterwards (having zapped lunch) we stopped at a new place (for us) called Bagels & Bialy's to eat . I washed down my excellent Bagel Rosenthal (Frischkäse, Parmaschinken, Tomate & Salat) with a nice Staropramen beer.

Then we picked up some groceries nearby and took the U-bahn back to Ulf's for an apéro that segued into a light dinner. I greatly enjoyed a new beer: Březňák Světlý Ležák 12° (a Bohemian Pilsener beer by Pivovar Velké Březno).

For the nightcap we walked over to one of Ulf's regular watering holes, the Helion (we were there 4 months ago). We ran into the same "pilier" of the bar, a rather euphoric urologist.

Los Jop en vadrouille

Dinner at Terzo Mondo

We had dinner with Ulf at this place (where he'll be doing his Kabarett [Anarchie der Mitte] later this month)and met the owner, Kostos. Quite the character.

Some boilerplate: Run by a well-known Greek actor, Kostos Papanastasiou, Terzo Mundo on trendy Savignyplatz has been attracting revolutionaries and fans of Greek cuisine since the sixties. The actor-cum-landlord fled Greece during the dictatorship and is still politically active today. The back room is a meeting place for countless protest movements and if you are lucky, you will witness the guitar-wielding maestro perform his protest songs in person.

Pearltrees - now embedded

 Here is a brand-new function for Pearltrees (the innovative tool that "lets you organize, discover and share the stuff you like on the web") which I have been using regularly for the last few months. 


I find it incredibly useful and empowering. If you click any "pearl" of my pearltree it will activate the browser mode in an overlay. Enjoy going through it and, if you like, consider using it yourself. Go to: http://www.pearltrees.com

Nouvelle exposition à L'usine

We ran into Clément (he goes by his last name) and Totoche at one of our favorite Portuguese restaurants (name on request) at lunch today - totally by chance. A bottle (or  two) or red wine later we decamped to La Commedia for café and now plan to meet at his vernissage tonight.

La Cité de la Réussite

Last week I received an invitation (via the Greater IBM network) to attend a breakfast session at the Sorbonne, where Alain Bénichou, chairman of IBM France, discussed IBM's vision of "Building a Smarter Planet". Even though early on a Sunday morning (and the same day as the Paris marathon - not that I'm running these days due to a herniated disc) I did indeed get up and over to the Sorbonne (a truly marvelous venue).


This event was part of La Cité de la Réussite, the largest forum for debate and intergenerational dialogues in France. The 2-day event, brings together high-level speakers from diverse professional backgrounds to focus on issues facing the city. Established in 1989, La Cité de la Réussite has been held annually at the Sorbonne ever since. La Cité is a center of public debate for all citizens and an international think tank where leading figures from academia, industry, the arts, sciences, politics, social sciences and religion gather to exchange ideas and confront different points of view.


Odile and I spent most of today there - in three different sessions (I'll add the details later in this same post). Suffice it to say that it was all quite invigorating.

Dante's smiles ...

''Les Sourires de Dante" is a little bistro, cozy and quiet (but not too!), on the Place Michel Audiard in the 14th arrondissement - not far from us. They serve "bio" wines and quite good "Italian-ish" dishes.  It has taken over the location that was "Le Godet d'Or" - run by our quirky friend, Jimmy La Watt (who chanced to stop by tonight). The new, and quite amiable, owner is Francis - well-versed in wine (and knows our chef friend Kevin - we all need to go to his place "Autour d'un Verre").


This was our first visit here (it'd been open a bit over a year and a half) and, although not warm enough to eat outside tonight, we look forward to returning.

Allez votez !

We're voting (in France) this afternoon. Et toi ?

More info on French elections here.

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UPDATE:

Spring awakenings - L'éveil du printemps

Wedekind is the first playwright to have made the discovery of sexuality a central theme. He speaks of the time when a child changes into an adult. Questions are concrete. Flowers have bloomed, fruits are not yet present. Spring does not spare the characters of this “children’s tragedy”: in the heart of the erotic opening, some of them meet death. In 1891, the questioning of Puritanism and of Prussian education caused a scandal. The play shows youth as it is and not how we would like it to be ...