What, you’re only welcome if you speak English? AND you’re a biker? Seen in Mesvres, France (Burgundy).

The grace and beauty of window design in France never ceases to amaze me all year long. But with Christmas being one of my favorite times of year, I MUST get out to see the festive displays. This is when true artistry emerges. The beautiful window display below is from Fabrice Gillotte, who happens to be a MOF of chocolate. Not only is he a master of his craft, his stuff is cute! And different. I LOVE his Santa.

Fabrice Gillotte, Chocolatier
21, rue du Bourg
21000 Dijon
Telephone +33(0)3 80 30 38 88

From the nytimes:

NOTHING about Châteauneuf-du-Pape is sleek or polished. It’s a rough-and-tumble wine, sometimes ungainly and fierce, but just as often warm, open, generous and full of pleasure.

It can be intense and complex — it’s not at all simple. Yet it sometimes can be as friendly as a big good-natured dog. Occasionally, it’s too friendly.

I was thinking about the overbearing side of Châteauneuf recently after the wine panel had completed a tasting of 20 bottles from the 2007 vintage. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by two guests, Vanessa Treviño Boyd, sommelier at Adour, and David Gordon, wine director at Tribeca Grill, which offers what is most likely the widest selection of Châteauneuf in New York.

We found some wines we liked very much, yet on the whole the 2007s left me unexcited. Stylistically, they presented Châteauneuf’s too-friendly side. Châteauneuf is always a big wine, but these wines were huge — full of lush, opulent fruit with powerful, jammy flavors.

If you like fruit-bomb wines, you will love …

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We’re getting ready to take off to spend the holidays in the U.S. so we’ve been frantically buying gifts and stocking stuffers. We came across these kitschy boxes of liqueur-filled chocolates. Unlike those little sugar bottles filled with God knows what liqueurs (we got those too!), these use dark chocolate without the sugar crust, they explain what the liqueurs are and where they are from in France AND they are in cute little shapes. Here’s what’s inside: Armagnac du Sud-Ouest (in an armagnac cork), Marc de champagne (champagne cork), Kirsch d’Alsace (cherry), Mirabelle de Lorraine (mirabel plum), Calvados de Normandie (apple), Cognac de Charente (barrel), Pastis 51 (bottle).

It’s a fun gift and perfect stocking stuffer. You can probably find them all over the large French supermarkets like Carrefour, Auchan, etc..

By the way, these have the real deal inside, no watered-down anything.

This little shop in Dijon wants you to know one thing and they’ve put it on their window loud and clear: Désolé. Nous ne vendons pas du made in China / Sorry, we don’t sell items made in China.

Sad news. Kiki the Parisian tortoise has died at age 146. News

From the telegraph:

The film, “La France change, ma région doit changer” (France is changing, my region should change) shows an eco-friendly house with solar panels on the roof, smiling schoolchildren and a mother hugging a little girl in a sunny garden.

A voice-over boasts about Mr Sarkozy’s achievements since 2007, and the benefits of living in France.

But the French TV channel Canal+ has discovered most of the footage was bought from Getty Images, and shot thousands of miles away in the US.

The family house used in the video is in Escondido, California – and UMP party bosses even failed to spot that a car parked outside it has US number plates. The class of happy schoolchildren from a mix of ethnic backgrounds live in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. And the mother with her child in the garden is really in..

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It’s old news and you’ve probably already heard that the infamous chain of malbouffe shrouded in arches of gold has invaded the Louvre. I can’t say I’m thrilled about it but face it, all those millions of American tourists ogling the Mona Lisa have to eat somewhere.

We wondered why they didn’t put the Belgian chain equivalent, Quick, in place if they were to do a fast food joint, but I suppose those finicky palettes want the best. After all, billions upon billions have been served.

So, anyway. Not long ago, I was hanging out with one of my friends in Paris and we realized we’d been walking for a long, long time. Our feet were tired and we needed to rest. We hadn’t been paying much attention because we were chatting so much. We happened to be right at the Louvre, so my friend says, “Let’s get something to drink at Le Café Marly.” I’d never been so I was game.

Le Café Marly has a terrace in one of the most prime locations in Paris: in the Napoleon courtyard of the Richelieu wing of the Louvre. We were seated immediately on the terrace facing the Louvre pyramid and it’s very chill there and awesome for people watching. The waiters seemed stiff and aloof but I’m sure it was because they were being watched. I say this because later when I went upstairs to use the restrooms and from where I took the shaky video (below), the waiters suddenly got all flirty with us.

It’s not cheap here at Le Café Marly but I suppose you’re paying for the view. My friend ordered a glass of champagne and it cost 15 euros. I ordered a teeny, tiny coffee at 5 euros. I can’t attest for the food here but I’ve heard it’s okay but very expensive. So if you’re on a budget, either decide you’re going to have a little splurge day, or pass and head on over to McDo’s!

Le Café Marly
93 rue de Rivoli, Cour Napoléon du Louvre
Telephone: 01 49 26 06 60
Hours: 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily
Metro: Palais Royal