bonheur: biff

Showing posts with label biff. Show all posts

If I Lived in Paris...

If I lived in Paris I couldn't get a Nathan's Hot Dogs.

I could get a big bucket of moutarde for a song. But what to put it on?

No funky little food carts in Paris for a quickie

You have to go some place like this - Moulin de la Vierge

And buy something like a palmier for quick bite

Big-ass smiles are a big non-non in Paris as if you didn't know...

Only serious-faced multiple drum majorettes beat out Vuitton's tune in Galeries Lafayette vitrine for Christmas

No pink cap erasers to speak of to fit my beloved Papermate yellow pencils (the French must be for Canada). I wish Staples would open in Paris...

Pantone Pink Barbie seen at CDG - probably a universal item..

I wouldn't find any NYC yellow cabs if I lived in Paris...

Do you think La Poste would give me a lift occasionally?

No chorus lineup of poodles in Paris like in Bergdorf's windows...

Just Paris dogs, who look you up and down and check out your shoes, bag and scarf.

Speaking of darling dogs, Biff has made it into the Financial Times' HOW TO SPEND IT (many thanks to author Karen Wheeler). There's a story about Parisbreakfast too btw.

Lizzie and Charlotte are in Paris now and not minding doing without Nathan's Hot Dogs or pink erasers.

Course French Bear wouldn't mind if I lived in Paris.

Hmmmm I wonder...

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Buster + Musee de la Chasse

Biff move over!
This weekend I met Buster.

And it was a coup de foudre/instant love (at least on my part). Buster is a rescue dog and gawd knows what breeds made him, but he is noble and reminds me of hunting dogs of yore...

Surely Buster could have posed for Velasquez...

His bearing is regal..

And he looks like he could easily fit into any good French chasse/hunt.

Have you been to the ever playful Musee de la Chasse et de Nature, a too well kept secret on 26, rue des Archives 75004. Just recently renovated. You can visit free on Wednesday evenings.

They have a special room as an homage to hunting dogs with a few contemporary pups thrown in. Note the porcelain Westie on the left.

A cousine of Buster's?

Of course Buster would never steal shoes like some dogs (Biff has a penchant for shoes and hats ahem).

Buster, noble lad keeps his natural, organic stick at the ready next to his leopard poof.

There are dog's poof paintings at the musee. Who knew?

By the indication of a charming thistle neither dog nor man is welcome to sit down on this dog-embroidered chaise dans le musee.

You can take all the photos you want at Musee de la Chasse. The guard showed me this witty trompe l'oeil/fool the eye painted mouse lurking in a corner.

Here's a bit of unusual information author Karen Wheeler, Biff's owner passed on while driving in the French countryside. I assumed the gorgeous landscape was due to astute French sense of aesthetics, with its stratigically placed perfect clumps of trees breaking the monotony and making a landscape artist's heart beat faster.

Not at all the case!

The French government pays farmers annually to maintain these green hedgerows so local wildlife (boar, venison etc.) can live here and provide a source of food a table.

If only New Jersey with it's surfeit of deer and bears roaming people's back yards would take heed...Hmmm

A French dog fetching merely a glove/gant on rue du Bac. Looks a bit like darling Buster non?

Buster has his own blog,

My Life by Buster

Svp don't miss charming Musee de la Chasse!
26, rue des Archives 75004

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Biff Tout Soul

Darling Biff and Tout Sweet author Karen Wheeler were there to meet me at the gare de Poitiers on Monday.

We went for a grand tour around town starting at the Hotel de Ville.

I suggested to Biff we visit le Palais de Justice so he could divorce Karen and marry me. But lucky for Karen they would not let Biff inside without a complete pat-down and a prance through the metal detector. He refused on principle.

On to Romanesque Église Notre-Dame-la-Grande de Poitiers.

Here Biff could enter as long as he was carried and no one saw...

Biff shows me Poitiers famous artisanal parapluie shop where you can still get your broken umbrellas repaired - a charming must-see. Who knew?

And the best patisserie in Poitiers - Claude Lafond. I could not resist trying a regional Broye galette - a big flattened scalloped cookie made of mostly butter from the Charante and a bit flour. Another must-do in Poitiers.

At midi/noon we went off for lunch to another town. Biff says we must be a table at 12 sharp or we lose the chance to eat at all in France. Ohhhh

A lovely 3-course formule(for a mere 12.50 euros) at the Hotel de France - Saint-Savin. Leave Paris for lunch if you want a delish bargain.

Darling Biff, who has been tres bien-eleve/well behaved up to this point, decides to steals cheese from my bag (thoughtlessly left on the floor by moi) and then has a go at Bear. Mais non!

Back at chez Karen Biff repents...

And dreams a bit.

Like all good French children Biff knows how to attend/wait for his supper patiently without whining or complaining.

Unfortunately a table Biff loses it and makes noises regarding the Claude Lafond dessert box. Fortunately Maire Martine is present to put a stop to this rare bad behavior, ahem.

Have you read Karen Wheeler's adventures with Biff in the Poitou-Charante? You'll be enthralled I promise.

Her latest, Tout Soul is gripping tales.

You can read a chapter here.

Bonne nuit et au revoir Biff and Karen.

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La Cite de L'Ecrit et des Metiers du Livre

September is the time of the French la rentree - pommes for the teacher, pens/plumes, notebooks/cahiers, schoolbooks, you name it...

Darling Biff insisted on taking myself and Tout Sweet author, Karen Wheeler(his mum) to La Cite de L'Ecrit et des Metiers du Livre - sort of a prep trip for La Rentree.