Get your maillot de bain ready for the fifth edition of Paris Plage. This hugely successful city beach with sand beaches, cafes, palm trees, and even a floating pool, occupies a two-mile stretch on the banks of the Seine. So for those of us who are stuck in Paris this August, Paris Plage will be a cool retreat from the heat.

Celebrate the storming of the Bastille and the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 with the giant fete that will take place all over France. The military parade down the Champs Elysees is a good way to start the celebrations, finished with a magnificient fireworks display after dark. Check out the Mairie de Paris' website for all the details.

This week we welcome Caroline, chef and blogger behind Les Culinos-Tests, as our Blog de la Semaine:

Who are you?
I'm Caroline, a woman with a "fiancé" and our child (a girl, 11 years old). I work at home. I don't like my work because it is very dull (I manage universitary books for a big publishing firm), so when I'm fed up with my work, I try to get some pleasure by cooking new things : for instance, a "croque-madame" (toasted cheese and ham sandwich topped with fried egg), with... 16 small quail eggs instead of only one hen egg. Why 16 quail eggs ? Well, to get more pleasure : one mouthful = one yolk explosion inside my mouth. Aaaah, so great ! ;-)
What is your favorite thing to do in Paris?
There are so many things to do in Paris ! If not coming back from one bank of the Seine to the other after a loving night (please try to do it one day ! Cross Alexander III Bridge about 6 AM o'clock, with a blue cloudless sky and a rising sun, the head and the heart full of love, and tell me if Paris is not the most beautiful city in the world... ;-)), so, I was telling you, if not coming back... you can go to walk at the Montparnasse cemetery. No no no, it's not bluesy at all ! It's so quiet, with flowers and nice tombs (you can even see the tombs of famous people : Jean-Paul Sartre et Simone de Beauvoir, who didn't ever live together in the same apartment but are now spending their time together in the same tomb, or also Jacques Demy, the producer : it's the most nice and pretty tomb of all the cemetery, a small green and poetic place right in the middle of the town).
Or you can just sit down during hours in the Luxembourg Garden, or outside the cafés.
When did you start your blog?
2004, in November.
Where do you blog from?
14th arrondisement (near Montparnasse-Raspail square)
Why blog?
Blogging is a great way to be really and personnally creative without being lonesome : you can publish page after page (you don't have to wait until you have finished writing a entire book), and instantaneously you can get reactions, so you can enter into discussion, receive encouragement (or criticism ;-)), laugh and joke with people, and so on. You're not lonesome as any author can be. You're creative like any other author, but you're all day long connected with people. It's very nice to me.
How many other blogs do you read? Which ones?
I prefer surfing : so in fact, each week, I read hundreds of various blogs, it depends of Google answers to my questions ! Sometimes I read culinary blogs, but usually I read political or personal blogs.
Anything else we should know about your blog?
Yes ! My blog is absolutely advertising-free, entirely free, and it always will be. However, I am preparing professional redeployment in connection with my blog : I will leave my job in next December and will soon prepare a culinary book with most of texts and photos from my blog. So, next year, my life will surely be better than now, thanks to my blog. After that, we'll see !...

Ok, so it's 2am and you are starving, and everything in your quartier closes up by midnight. Give Nemo a ring-- they deliver chic consumables from 10pm to 6am, everything from sandwichs to dessert. You can even order the bubbliest of nightcaps, champagne, to impress the new copain who walked you home....

May 19-21

Lire la suite

Enfin! After 6 years of construction, the Musee de l'Orangerie, the long, elegant building at the end of the Tuilleries near Concorde, has finished its construction and is set to open its doors to the public on May 17. The entryway showcases one of the most beautiful works by Monet (les Nympheas), and the museum houses other great works by Picasso, Cezanne, Modigliani, and more, alongside a conference room, temporary expos, and classrooms. Will this become another tourist fave? A voir....

There seems to be a bit of a hullaballo going on right now about the metro renovations in Paris. I'm still wondering why the addition of escalators and elevator always seems to get put aside for the asthetics underground, but nonetheless, some renovations are better than none, n'est-ce pas? It seems that 240 stations are to be renovated between now and 2015, adding new futuristic chairs, white tiles, new lighting, GSM for cell phones, and other stuff to control the 'fluids' underground. That said, the metro is a handy dandy way to get around Paris, and isn't it great when you come out into a new station and find that *surprise* it is one the cool, decorated ones? Some of my faves are Varenne (line 13, with its Rodin statues), Hotel de Ville (line 1, with its giant history lesson), and FDR (line 1, with its retro 50s orange decor). Any other favorites out there? And what about the metro you are blogging from?

Some of the metro fun facts to know and tell, from the Figaroscope (12-18 April): number of kilometeres covered by metro= 212; number of stations = 297; shortest line = the 3 bis, with 1.3km; longest line = 13, with 22.5km; most frequented line = 1 (with 141 million passengers a year)

Okay, so as most of you know, parfois it's tough to get going, to get the groove on, to get your mojo flowing, to get a bit of blogspiration. I've watched my husband time and time again stay up late, until the 'bewitching hour' when he may or may not get the inspiration to blog or write something else for work. Me, it's hard to say what inspires....Sometimes it's a glass of rose on a sunny spring day today!, sometimes it is a "vive la France" moment which can be rare, sometimes I just get excited about things and want to share them with someone, anyone out there in cyberspace. So why do you blog?

The City of Angels is US city on the minds of the residents of the City of Light at the moment. In both art and fashion, LA is a la mode. It started with the "Los Angeles 1955-1985" expo at the Pompidou, which focuses on the 'scene' of Los Angeles when it began emerging as such in the mid-50s. And to capitalize on the theme, Galeries Lafayette is exposing the glitter and gaudiness of Los Angeles in a "Made in LA"- themed promotion with famous LA brands, selling everything from underwear to cowboy boots. So if April in Paris hasn't given you a spring in your step, check out these options for some California sunshine.

Ever wondered what was available at those great big places called libraries that we ceased to frequent with the birth of the net? Now you can peruse the dusty shelves from the comfort of your couch. The Mairie de Paris' site now offers a Catalogue des bibliothèques municipales spécialisées, which lets you search the catalogs of various libraries around town. Kudos to the Mayor's site for giving us one more reason to use it as a fountain of useful information.

Ahhh, April in Paris—the soleil is finally shining, and it’s the perfect time to brag and blog about living in the City of Light. Need some inspiration? Check out the over 2000 Parisian blogs on Paname Ensemble’s blog map, listed by the metro station where they are based. Is your blog listed?

Or if you’d rather just do a bit of reading about what’s going on in Paris, check out some of the great blogs out there in the blogosphere. Are you a foodie? Check out the mouth-watering entries on Chocolate & Zucchini. Just can’t get enough of day-to-day Paris? Check out Paris Daily Photo for photos and commentary. And be sure to watch this space for upcoming news and events, interviews, and random thoughts.