The Most Beautiful Metro Stations in Paris

I was looking for pictures of the murals (and other historical aritfacts?) in the Bastille Metro station mentioned in the Landes "Paris Walks," and I stumbled on the web posting on the most beautiful metro stations in Paris  I think we may have to stay longer than a week

Centre Pompidou

The Centre Pompidou website says that the least crowded time to visit is after 5 pm. By then U.S. museums would be closed but the Pompidou is open every day except Tuesdays and May 1st (that notorious day) from 11 am to 9 pm (last entrance at 8 pm). And their library, which is free, is open from noon to 10 pm! Plus they offer free wifi access to all visitors for an hour and a half so that you can "easily find additional information on the artists and works that are on display, using the Centre's own website, pick up your e-mails, update your blog, etc."

Rick Steve's episode on Paris

This is an experiment in embedding videos. This episode has some dated elements such as prices in francs, but it opens in front of the little, tiny hotel where we stayed in 2003. And it shows the bakery where I got Mitch his breakfast" flan natur"

Navigo Card

David Lebovitz recommends the weekly Navigo Découverte card that runs from Monday morning to Sunday evening. You need to pay 5 euros for the card and need a small photo of yourself but it is only 16.80 euros compared to 29.90 for a 5-day Paris Visite card. Lebovitz has a posting on Paris Transit Options as well. Here's the official Navigo website and further information from Paris by Train. It says don't let the clerks at the station intimidate you by saying it's not available to tourists.

16 Rue St. Paul, Paris - our home away from home

Yes, we will be in the Marais which retains the charm of medieval Paris as it escaped Baron Haussmann’s redesign of the city and later the major urbanization overhaul in the 1960’s. Originally the area was a swamp, flooded by the Seine and used for market gardens. It started to become residential in the 13^th century with convents followed by the nobility’s country homes. The nearby Place de Vosges (Place Royale) was built by Henri IV in 1605 and spearheaded the development of the elegant hotels particuliers reminiscent of tiny castles. And it includes the Pompidou for a little of the 20^th century.

Yet, we are also close to the proletarian Bastille with less elaborate buildings and the symbols of the 1789 Revolution. And its markets!

So here is a picture of our apartment’s living room (salon). Click on the picture to see more of the apartment. Close examination does show what appear to be a radiator or two to answer the question about heat.

And if you will click here you can tour the 4^th Arrondissement with an American academic who has rather rudimentary web skills but an interesting website with music and a weekly news update, as well.

Concert in Notre Dame

Do you think we could go to a Gregorian Chant concert in Notre Dame on 8 Mars, 2011. This one is not free, but not too expensive either (18 Euros). And it's St. Nicolas so what could be better.

Musee d'Orsay

Musee d’Orsay
I love Victorian railway stations – the immense size and the skeletal structure and the knowledge that their prominence in both size and the public imagination was so short-lived, so I’m very taken with the Musee d’Orsay, an art museum in a converted railway station. The Orsay train station was built on the eve of the Paris Universal Exposition of 1890, service was inaugurated in 1900 and only continued for some 30 years before the station was abandoned as the platforms were too short for long-distance trains. In its day the station and its hotel were absolutely luxurious and train stations around the world (Grand Central in NYC and Union Station in DC) were modeled after it.
After its abandonment it served a variety of purposes (movie set, holding center for returning prisoners of war, etc) and was slated for the wrecking ball until it was saved in 1977 with a proposal to transform it into a museum devoted to 19th century art (from 1848 to 1915..well, sort of).
So not only does it have a wonderful building, but also a wonderful collection. And it is much, much smaller than the Louvre so we should be able to handle it. The website is very sophisticated And even if you’re not coming along you’ll be able to visit the museum online. There are a number of videos which I will watch myself when I’m on a better computer.
How will we get there? We’ll take the 69 bus or just walk. And how much will we pay? 8 Euros. There is a lunchtime concert on Tues, March 8 at noon-thirty. I wonder if that’s included in the admission. (No, 12 Euros regular, 6 reduced rate, but that allows admission to the permanent collection) Oh this is confusing. My next job will be studying up on the museum pass.

Top Restaurant Lists

OK, OK, I know this is not how we operate, and we really don't trust guidebooks atall but I couldn't resist.

• Paris Notes: Top 20 Restaurants
• Sally Berstein: Top 10 Restaurants
• NY Times: Paris Restaurants - good for readers' suggestions for budget bistros
• Best Restaurants in Le Marais
• David Lebovitz's Favorite Parisian Restaurants - Read more about A la Biche au Bois and about The Breizh Cafe Creperie located in the Marais. Even more about the Breizh Cafe

Sunday Day #1

So, if we arrive at 8:20 am and get through customs in 1-2 hours, take the Air France bus (Is it free?) to Gare de Lyon - RER Station, will we have time to zip up to the Marché Beauvau/Aligre before taking the metro to the apartment? :-)

Or should we follow Penny's plan of dropping luggage off at the apartment and walking over to the Bastille Market on Boulevard Richard Lenoir between les rues Amelot et St Sabin, since it is supposed to be open only on Sunday and Thursday. In any case we have to go to the market on Sunday because everything is closed on Monday...Fortunately it doesn't close until 3 pm. One person says "Aside from all the expected fares such as vegetables, fruits, cheese, and both raw and cooked meat and fish, the Bastille market also sells plenty of unexpected items: sewing machines, beeswax figurines, and mousetraps, to name a few. The best time to get a deal is just as the market is closing. Vendors will sell plastic bags burgeoning with fruits and veggies for 1EUR!" Hopefully we won't need the mousetrap!
Ahh! I see that the Bastille Market is more commonly known as the Richard Lenoir Market since it runs along Boulevard Richard Lenoir.
Then I suppose we'll have to go back to the apartment to drop off the vege-tables before we go tromping around Paris. We can hit Place des Vosges on our way to or back from the marché.

Does anything happen Sunday afternoon or evening that is de rigueur in Paris? Here's an article on Sunday in Paris which tells you to go eat at the markets or at ethnic restaurants, or in the Jewish quarter for a falafel.

Paris Blogs

One runs across these all the time and wonders whether they are worth giving a permanent place to on a blog roll in the right column. Until then, I'll list a few here. And also look at this list of The top Ten Paris Food Blogs but we probably can't afford the restaurants.

• Chocolate and Zucchini. The author Clotilde Dusoulier wrote a book by the same name and Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris and that also has a list of Edible French Idions.
• David Lebovitz who wrote The Sweet Life in Paris
• The Paris Traveler - last post in 2008
• Paris Breakfast - this artist says "Each morning's post is an 'amuse bouche', a bite of Parisien life style to savor with your morning coffee." and accompanies her blog with watercolors. She also has a post on What Do I Wear in Paris??
• Adrian Moore
• Dorie Greenspan: Paris

And then one runs across sites that you don't know where to post. Like this one: Le Grand Magasin de ma ville (in this case, the 4th arrondissement of Paris). They appear to be commercials for all kinds of businesses and will give us a chance to practice our French! Or you could review Lonely Planet's Top Things to Do in Paris but there's no indication of how they were determined. I did like the comment on the Berthillon ice cream tasting like children's laughter and I'll be sure to try their bitter cocoa. But I find I don't much care for Lonely Planets favorite Paris blogs.

Marchés Volants

I thought open air food markets (marché de plein air) and street markets were pretty much the same but Clotilde Dusoulier lists the marchés volants (roving markets - greenmarkets for which the vendors come in on specific days, set up their stands for a few hours, then pack up and leave). Many of these are later in the day than the street markets that they say run from 8:30 am to 1 pm. There are a lot of them and more as you get outside of the central arrondissements.

Another blog (Paris Connected) says: "Food markets are part of Parisian way of life, there are at least 69 outdoor and 13 indoor markets, and they’re all very popular. Sunday morning’s market is a social institution, and one the most famous is 'le marché d’Aligre', located in east center (between Bastille and Gare de Lyon)." A street market that is best Friday, Saturday or Sunday morning. This is where the Baron Rouge hangs out. "On the Aligre square stands a covered market, le marché Beauvau-Saint Antoine, a bit more expensive, but opening in the afternoon also, and offering many other products, like cheese, fish, meat, poultry, delicatessen, Italian food, selected olive oils and Caribbean dishes."

The Gridskipper also lists Markets for Late Risers or for those that work... And Discover France also has a market list with times and metro stop. And the Guardian has a list of the Best Paris Markets. And French Travel Tips also has a list of markets by arrondissements. We should look at the 10th and 11th arrondissements since there aren't many in the 4th arrondissement.

1st Arrondissement
Marché Raspail: "The most glamourous and the most expensive market on the Left Bank, where the celebrities do their shopping." BioOrganic. Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Boulevard Raspail entre les rues du Cherche-Midi et de Rennes. M° Saint-Placide, Rennes, Sèvres-Babylone

4th Arrondisement
Place Baudoyer Wednesday afternoon from 12:30pm to 8:30pm and Saturday morning from 7am to 3pm.

5th Arrondissement
Maubert in Place Maubert just across the Ile de Saint Louis on the Left Bank. Tues, Thurs, Sat 7 am-2:30 pm

11th Arrondissement
Marche Richard Lenoir (Bastille)
"Beginning beneath the famous monument at the Place de la Bastille, two long alleyways of tempting French gourmet products stretch for almost a kilometre. There are street entertainers and musicians, and stalls to hunt down include an irresistible wine seller, Eduard Mace, specialising in rare vintages, and Jacky Lorenzo, Paris's most famous fishmonger." Sunday and Thursday mornings. YouTube Video.

Marché Popincourt
Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, between rues Oberkampf et Jean-Pierre Timbaud
Tuesday and Friday from 7h à 14h30. Evidently it operates when the Bastille Market doesn't. Here's another blog that gushes over the cheese ladies there.
Métro : Oberkampf

19th Arrondissement
Marché Belleville-Ménilmontant
"No, the bobos [same as bohos?] have not gotten this far. At least not quite... Belleville & Ménilmontant undoubtedly remain the last real popular areas of Paris in the true sense of the term, a melting-pot where die-hard Parisian, second generation North Africans and Chinese cohabit most of the time in perfect harmony." This area also has a lot of artists.

Le Baron Rouge, 1, rue Theophile Rossel, 12th

Wine? You ask about wine. Take a look at this place - open Tues-Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm.

This wine bar and bistro with nine yards of character is located behind the covered Beauvau market, just off place d'Aligre. It's a source of wine en vrac, that is, from the barrel, which buyers carry away in their own bottles or in a plastic container called a cubitainer. This colorful place has the cracked tile floors, mustard-colored walls, and ancient zinc bar that virtually define the word bistro. A dozen different red and white wines are available for tasting. Get a glass of Sancerre or Beaujolais to go with your veal sausage and pan-roasted potatoes, and you'll stop thinking about restaurants with Michelin stars.

On weekend mornings during the season, a truck pulls up to the curb with oysters from Brittany, and soon the feasting begins, spilling out into the street. For 5 or 6 euros you get half a dozen shucked oysters and a basket of brown bread and butter. Buy a glass of wine at the bar inside and find a place to eat at one of the barrels on the sidewalk, or on the hood of a parked car. There is likely to be a brass band, singing, dancing in the street, and general merriment.

Markets of Paris by Dixon and Ruthanne Long

Murder in the Marais

I actually like this mystery by Cara Black, especially since it mentions a lot of the places close to the apartment, like Place des Vosges, Ile de St. Louis, and Rue des Rosiers. It gives a real feel for the ancient apartments (without heat - it is November) and the story isn't too bad either.

Paris Update reviews one of Black's latest: Murder in the Latin Quarter.

And there is also a series of historical mysteries by the French writer Claude Izner, which is actually (Thank you, wikipedia) the pseudonym of two sisters, Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefèvre, both booksellers on the banks of the Seine. You can read all about the series at the Gallic Books website.

And then there is A Novel Bookstore (Au Bon Roman) by Laurence Cossé, another French writer, about two booklovers who jointly open a bookstore that only sells the "best" books... The Washington Post notes that the address of this bookstore is next to Sylvia Beach's original Shakespeare & Co., at 8 rue Dupuytren.

Ah, so many books set in Paris and only 2 months to read them all!

36 Hours in Paris

Sigh. I'm afraid I'll never find these New York Times articles for the well-heeled nightclubbing foodies worthwhile reading. The restaurants are too expensive (only 50 euros) and trendy (my gosh, who wants foie gras for every meal?? especially in miso soup or a duck burger with foie gras!). And when the first activity listed on Saturday isn't until 11 am? Of course, if you don't get home until 4 in the morning I guess that is reasonable. The only thing appealing was the walk along "the gentrified Canal St.-Martin" where we hope there are not too many "stylish young families and boho-chic couples". Boho-chic? What would I do without Wikipedia?

Obviously the New York Times is catering to the upper 1% of the population very well. Remind me to steer clear of GISELA WILLIAMS.

Bus 69 Sightseeing Tour

This route runs from the Eiffel Tower to Pere Lachaise Cememtery, and I've seen it mentioned several times. Why go underground when you can take the bus and see the scenery? Eiffel Tower, Ecole Militaire, rue Cler, Les Invalides, Louvre, Ile de la Cite, Ile St. Louis, Hotel de Ville, Pompidou Center, Marais, Bastille, and Pere Lachaise. One ticket from your carnet gives you 1.5 hours to complete your one-way trip, jumping on and off buses as often as you like (but not the Metro). Board through the front door, validate your ticket in the machine behind the driver. Push a red button to let the driver know you'd like to get out at the next stop. Exit through the rear door. Buses run every 10-15 minutes (7:30-21:15) but not on Sunday. Karin Ling mentions 69 in GoNomad.com (as well as some other interesting stuff) and notes that

"This very bus takes you to Belleville, where market stalls line the main boulevard on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Though the food market is traditionally a French phenomenon, at Belleville it’s gone through an evolution of its own: the fruit selection is more exotic, the permission to touch the produce more explicit...The neighborhood is at the crossroads of several cultures"

Continue reading and she talks about the "Bibliothèque Publique d’Information. Enter from the back of Centre Pompidou for an airy space with more than your predictable library offerings (television & language "tapes"), all free of charge."

And I discovered a company, Paris Bus Cards, that actually sells a set of cards that provide bus itineraries. Here is the link to Itinerary 3

which includes..."Get off at the St-Paul stop. It’s a fun shopping street. La rue St-Paul, with its many interesting shops and bakeries, is a delightful place to stroll."

:

How to Ride the Metro

Whatever type of ticket we end up buying we'll need to know how to use the Metro, so you MUST watch this "How to Ride the Metro" video attentively. And then check out the RATP link on the sidebar, and, yes, it's OK to click the little British flag symbol to change the text to English.

Des Escargots et des Poissons

So, I suppose that snails fit into shellfish. Geobeats has a video on Escargot Dining on the restaurant L'Escargot Montorgueil, which was also on Pierre Rival's list of Affordable Bistros in Some like it Haute, "The 80 best places to eat out in Paris." (Maybe we could afford this one: Le Polidor: Former crèmerie and hangout for penniless Left Bank writers; now a student restaurant in the heart of the Latin Quarter. Still serves substantial, soulful food for a few pennies.") And in fact they have a PLATS DU JOUR selection on their website.
LUNDI : Boudin, purée 10€ (Blood sausage and mashed potatoes - I'm assuming)
MARDI : Hachis Parmentier 11€ (Shepherd's pie)
MERCREDI : Boeuf Mironton, purée 12€ (beef stew)
JEUDI: Petit salé aux lentilles 13€ (salted pork with lentils)
VENDREDI : Hachis Parmentier 11€
SAMEDI: Gigot d’agneau, flageolets 16€ (Leg of lamb with beans
DIMANCHE : Gigot d’agneau, flageolets 16€

Now, I was going to talk about a fish restaurant too. Chowhound posters have talked about La Cagouille in the 14th arrondissement. They offer:
Set menu of the day (Le menu du jour) €42 reduced to €38 ($50)
STARTER, MAIN COURSE, DESSERT, COFFEE, ½L WINE

Express menu of the day (La formule du jour) €26 reduced to €23 ($30)
STARTER + MAIN COURSE OR MAIN COURSE + DESSERT

France Today has a list of restaurants by arrondissement with seemingly frank comments. Perhaps we should just take walks to (or bus/metro) to areas further from the center (like Belleville), find inexpensive restaurants and have lunch there, and then cheese, salad, bread and wine at the apartment for dinner. Of course we do want to eat French food and not ethnic food I suppose...

Steak Frites and Other Meat Dishes

I'm trying to figure out how to make Brasseries & Bistros in Paris useful. It's not a very readable book except that the recipes catch your eye: Rocquefort Creme Brulee, Calf's head, the Crying tiger, baked black pudding and house mashed potatoes, morel risotto with asparagus... But it does have the names of 51 bistros so I started looking them up with Google (beginning with Au Boeuf Couronné, the one that serves the calf's head) and ran across a New York Times review that was part of a 2007 article by Mark Bittman: Steak Frites: Seeking the Best of a Classic, in which he also mentions Le Relais de Venise which only serves Steak frites and salad 22€ ($30). Sounds pretty good to me: " You start with a romaine salad with walnuts and horseradish vinaigrette, decent enough (included in the price). The beef is brought sliced, on a communal platter, and served with a secret herb-butter sauce (tarragon, shallots?), along with the very good fries, and then set to rest above votive candles on stations near each group of tables. You get more when you ask for it, usually with freshly made fries."

Ahhh... but the Relais de Venise website is in English and they have a location in New York City. That's no fun. Well, if we decided to go, it could be when we visit the Bois de Boulogne.

On the other hand, Mark Bittman's favorite was Le Severo, which was a bit pricier but he only had good things to say about it, called the blood sausage "ridiculous", and "The boneless fried pig’s foot is crunchy-crisp, with that sticky fattiness that can make meat-eating such a pleasure." Fernando would absolutely love this place. And David Lebovitz has a blog posting on it as well.

Shopping in Paris

I just ran across Paris Shopping website from the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB). I guess we're missing the January sales but I was just thinking that I need a nice felt hat. My Italian one from Sym's lost its shape in the rain on the Camino. Maybe something along these lines.

It also appears, from the ParisInfo.com website, that the Marais is a "trendy" area. Is that good or bad?

Les Marchés: Rues Commerçantes

As opposed to periodic open air markets that only set up a few days a week, rues commerçantes are streets that have a concentration of boulangeries and patisseries, supermarkets, produce stores, poultry stores, fromageries, triperies, boucheries, and charcuteries. The Paris Traveler lists Ten Street Markets and says there are "just too many" to list them all.

1st Arrondisement
Rue Montorgueil
Metro: Les Halles
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-6pm and Sunday morning

5th Arrondissement
Rue Mouffetard
Metro: Censier-Daubenton
Hours: 8am-1pm, Tuesday to Sunday

6th Arrondissement
Marché Rue de Buci - wide variety of produce and seafood, Open daily.
M° Mabillon, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Odéon

7th Arrondissement
Rue Cler in the 7th towards the Eiffel Tower
Rick Steves: Rue Cler - The market is at its best Tue–Sat 8:30–13:00 or 15:00–19:30, Sun 8:30–12:00, dead on Mon.
Slow Travel France: Rue Cler

Sablaise Poissonerie, Rue Cler - a video advertisement for a popular fish market, practice your French!

12th Arrondissement
Marche d’Aligre
Metro: Ledru-Rollin
Every morning except Monday, 8am to 1pm. This is also listed in the Marche Volant section. "The market area radiating off the Place d’Aligre is one of the most diverse in the city. It’s a mix of Parisian food market, North African bazaar and flea market, where young and old Paris collide. There are clothing bargains aplenty and classic cafes such as Le Baron Rouge for sitting and sipping. Expect a cultural adventure."


17th Arrondissement
Rue Poncelet

Best Croissant in Paris

So I'm looking for croissants and this search is an effective way to pull up food blogs. First one being David Lebovitz who sends me to Le Figaro's article with a list of the highest rated croissanteries and also to Chez Pim's map of the best croissants in Paris. Chez Pim says "What I usually do when I find myself in a new apartment or hotel in Paris is scout the neighborhood (online and on foot) for a few nice looking places..."

Chez Pim led me to Contest results de la Chambre Professionnelle des Artisans Boulangers-Patissiers, in case you want to find the best almond cake, the best baguette, the best croissant, the best brioche, the best apple tart....

But the Chambre isn't the only one with lists of the best patisserie/boulangerie. Check these out!

• Travel & Leisure: Best Boulangeries in Paris
• New York Times: The Best Croissant in Paris
• NY Times: Flaky Croissants: Finding Paris's Best
• Savoring Chicago: Best Croissant in Paris? - more on Paris from this blog
• More google results...

Paris Visite

The Paris Convention and Visitors Office offers online purchasing of museum and transit packages. Their Paris Visite page offers a 5-day transportation pass for 29.90 euros ($40). The pass allows unlimited travel on the bus, metro, tramway and RER networks in Paris and its suburbs (Zones 1-3). One can purchase it online (although I'm not sure how it is sent to you). A single metro ticket costs €1.60, and can be used for one journey, including all connections. This ticket, valid for zones 1 and 2, allows you to travel anywhere in Paris. On the buses, you use the same tickets as in the metro, with no limit of distance (including suburbs), except on the Balabus, Noctilien and routes 221, 297, 299, 350 and 351. But on the bus, your ticket is only valid for a single journey, with no connections. Looks like it would be simpler to just get the Paris Visite pass, even if we don't use $40 worth, since it covers the whole public transport network (metro, RER, bus, tram, suburban train, Montmartre funicular). These travel passes can be purchased in main metro and RER stations, in SNCF train stations in Ile-de-France and in Paris airports. Certain passes are also available at the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau.
AND THE TRAVEL PASS MUST NOT BE PUNCHED IN THE MACHINES ON THE BUSES. JUST SHOW YOUR CARD TO THE DRIVER AS YOU GET ON.

Montmartre

Which I always confuse with Montparnasse... Remember Amelie, Montmartre. We need to go the the Funicular. RATP says we need to take the #69 bus west on Rue Rivoli to Rue du Pont Neuf. Then take Bus #85 north to ROCHECHOUART-CLIGNANCOURT, which goes along Rue de Clignancourt, to the east of the Sacre Coeur, and crosses Rue Rochechouart. Now, where did Amelie live?
Fernando talks about the Moulin Rouge but what about Au Lapin Agile?
Why, we could follow In the footsteps of Amelie Poulain!

Les environs de la rue st. paul

Well, we need to see where the nearest 7-11 is! Here's a bistro that has a Happy Hour from 5 to 8 pm: Le Preau. Its beers are 5 euros ($6.63) so maybe we will be buying liquor at a grocery store. Another apartment rental site has a comment that mentions: "Boulangerie Malineau on 25 Rue Saint-Paul is the closest “boulangerie” (bakery) to the apartment. They open at 7 AM and are perfect for croissants and “pain aux chocolate”." So we won't have to go far for a patisserie in the morning.

Paris by Train

Thinking about how to get from the airport to the apartment on Rue St. Paul, I came across this site, Paris by Train which gives the directions from the airport to Paris, although it was posted in 2008.
The RATP ParisVisite page recommends the RoissyBus ("RoissyBus is the most direct and easiest mean of transportation from Charles-de-Gaulle Airport to the center of Paris.")
The RER train takes the same and looks more straightforward. Take the RER to Chatelet-Les Halles and then the #7 Pink metro line to Pont Marie (Cite des Arts). More info at Aeroports de Paris.

I also downloaded the iphone app from RATP, which allows you to search for a route from one station (bus, RER, Metro) to another, which you can also do on the RATP website. We just have to remember that our metro stations are Pont Marie on the #7 Pink line and Saint Paul on the #1 yellow line. And, oh my god, the RATP gives you your carbon emissions for the trip: Les émissions de CO2 pour cet itinéraire sont estimées à... And we can remember that there are also many buses that stop at "Saint Paul": BAL, N11, N16, 69, 76 (which you take east to the Pere Lachaise cemetery, and 96. They offer a map of Paris with the bus routes which I wish I could print out (but maybe they offer it in print form?).

Paris by Pastry

This small book follows the tastings of Jeanette and Georgette as they "stalk the sweet life on the streets of Paris." The way that Georgette (Joyce Slayton Mitchell) writes, you'd think she was a young blogger but she's written 34 books and there is a photo of a pair of middle-aged women on page 162 which I assume are the author and her sidekick "Jeanette". Though not slender they are nothing like the roadtripping Jane Stern so they mustn't be visiting 12 patisseries a day.

Marais

If all goes well, we'll be staying in the Marais quarter of Paris, the 4th arrondisement. Here are some links to more information.

• GoParis@about.com
• GoParis: Paris in March
• A Cheapo day in the Marais

Forever

Last night we watched the documentary film about the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and it was worth its 95 minutes. It isn't a travel film but a study of people and burial customs, I guess you could say (they even interview an embalmer and show him touching up a beautiful corpse -- was she really dead?). Sure, they visit the tombs of famous people like Modigliani, Chopin, Marcel Proust, and Oscar Wilde but it is the relationship that living people have with these tombs that the director concentrates on. And, yes, it makes me want to go visit the cemetery, although it was filmed in the spring or summer when it was bright and sunny and when we go in March it is bound to be a bit grayer. I'm not sure that it inspired me sufficiently to read Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu but the comic strip version of it sounded like a good idea. One of the cemetery's visitors was Stéphane Heuet, the graphic artist that illustrated it. And the film did make me want to find out more about the Iranian wrtier Sadeq Hedayat. The director Heddy Honigmann did a very good job, even if sometimes she focused on the interviewee enough to make him/her squirm, although I suppose even that was rehearsed.

Rick Steves also has a walking tour of the Pere Lachaise cemetery. I'd like to go see where Edith Piaf was buried and maybe Abelard and Heloise. To get there from Rue St. Paul, walk up to Rue Rivoli and , and take Bus 76 west in the direction of LOUISE MICHEL to CHARONNE-BAGNOLET.

Paris

SHOOT!!! I just saw that the weather in Paris was 28 degrees!! Jesus Christ that's cold! Almost as cold as Pittsburgh.
So Fernando, Penny and I are definitely going to Paris in March for Fernando's spring break. We are waiting for a response from Vacation in Paris about the apartment and then we'll buy the tickets. Nonstop from Delta or Air France.
Naturally I am trying to immerse myself in all things Paris and naturally beginning with books:

• Paris
• The Piano Shop on the Left Bank
• Hungry for Paris (102 best restaurants - which we probably can't afford so we'll do the shops and markets instead)
• Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris
• Markets of Paris
• Paris by Pastry

And Films

• Travel with Kids: Paris (not that we are taking Isabel just yet but it has a tour of the Paris Sewers. Actually it started out well, they took the chunnel from England to Paris but then the DVD got stuck. Too scratched.)
• Forever (A tour of the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris)
• Impressionists on the Seine
• Paris, je t'aime - I didn't realize that we'd already seen this one
• Six in Paris
• Paris

Speaking of film lists, here are 8 Great Movies for Paris Travelers from Enduring Wanderlust. Not the greatest list so let's try this one from the Alliance Francaise of San Francisco: 20 Films in Paris.

Rutas por España

The Don Quijote newsletter highlighted this website for travel in Spain: Donde Viajamos. It is in Spanish but you can find a location you are interested in on a map and then read the article.
For instance, you can learn about the Fiesta de la Lamprea in Arbo, if you like Lampreys. Or you can browse through their 13 Ruta Gastronómica destinations. Or you can check out the Festivals.

Planning a European Trip for Spring Break

So now I really do hope to get to Europe next year in March during Fernando's spring break (March 5-13). I'm looking at some Italian walking tours along the Amalfi coast like this self-guided one from Mac's Adventure except that they say from April to October. So there are also walking tours of Tuscan Hill Towns and Umbria. I'll peruse them and go from there. They don't seem to offer any of France.
Then there is Girasole which specifically offers walking tours in Italy, and you can choose varying levels of accommodations. They have both guided and self-guided (which is what we'd be more interested in) and they begin in March. Maybe the small inns don't open up until then. Or maybe it is just too cold and rainy for walking in March, even in Sicily!
Perhaps I'll investigate this British Hooked on Walking site and see where we could possibly go in March. March might be too early for walking anywhere. Well, there is this one for Madeira available from January 10th...and then there is this one in the Alentejo area of Portugal beginning in February.

Cruise Round Up

There wasn't much at Costa Maya like I thought but we did go to a Mayan ruin two and a half hours away by bus. All in all I did enjoy the cruise: one didn't have to think about where to eat or where to stay and the food was very good, both the OceanView Cafe buffet for breakfast and the Grand Epernay dining room for dinner.

Third Stop: Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico

It doesn't look like there is much here except beaches and a reserve.

• Royal Caribbean Costa Maya

Second Stop: Cozumel

OK, let's see if this is any better than Cancun in 1994!

• A Walking Tour of San Miguel, Cozumel
• Los Cinco Soles - Mexican artesanias
• Supermercado Mega on YouTube - 1/2 mile south of ferry pier

First Stop: George Town, Grand Cayman

First stop is George Town on Grand Cayman Island (oh, oh, here's my chance to be a real tourist). We dock at 7 am and leave at 4 pm.

• Fodor's Cayman Islands
• Cayman Islands Street Maps - an interactive map where you can get details on Georgetown, where the Solstice stops
• Cayman New Resident Food and Drink - Seven Fathoms is their rum
• Cayman NR Shopping and Services - locate a mall
• Cayman Craft Market - government sponsored
• Cayman Good Taste Restaurant Guide - includes maps
• Chicken Chicken! - roasted chicken
• Champion House II Restaurant - where the locals eat local food (curried goat, oxtail with broad beans, turtle soup, and heavy cake); 43 Eastern Ave., George Town

Caribbean Cruise: Cayman Islands

That's right. Paris has been temporarily sacrificed to a Caribbean cruise so we can spend quality time with our son, daughter-in-law, their family and friends and learn how to play Mah Jong. It's a Celebrity Cruise to the Western Caribbean and I better find out a little about what I'm visiting. Here's the schedule:

• Sun, Sep 26, 2010: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Depart: 04:30 PM
• Mon, Sep 27, 2010: At Sea
• Tue, Sep 28, 2010: George Town, Grand Cayman (Tendered); Arrive: 07:00 AM; Depart: 04:00 PM
• Wed, Sep 29, 2010: Cozumel, Mexico (Docked); Arrive: 09:00 AM; Depart: 06:00 PM
• Thu, Sep 30, 2010: Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico (Docked); Arrive: 08:00 AM; Depart: 06:00 PM
• Fri, Oct 01, 2010: Roatan, Honduras (Docked); Arrive: 08:00 AM; Depart: 05:00 PM
• Sat, Oct 02, 2010: At Sea
• Sun, Oct 03, 2010: Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Docked); Arrive: 07:00 AM

Paris and biking

We'll never get to Paris at this rate! The Washington Post just ran an article on Paris and then biking the countryside: Couple plans to tour Paris, then cycle through nearby parts of France. It includes some useful links but the tab for 10 days is $6,000.

Google Maps Paris

I've got a list of Paris market streets here that I'll have to enter on a google map of Paris.

Paris Bakeries

Oh, my! I haven't told anything about our trip to Hong Kong!! We had a wonderful time and I'm ready to go back. I'm going to have to get a baby laptop so I can post things while I'm away. Presently I'm only using the blog to prepare for the trip, not to tell about it.
So on to the next destination: Paris! Penny suggested that and also that I brush up on my French.
In preparation, here is my first list: ten bakeries to visit by Dan Lepard.

Sai Kung

I was checking out the Kowloon Motor Bus Company schedule for Route 92 that goes from Diamond Hill to Sai Kung. It leaves every 15 to 20 minutes and takes 41 minutes travel time. It makes 28 stops and since the website uses google maps you can click on each stop and see what it looks like and even go to a street view! Should I check out each stop before we go? NO! Juan will say. You need to leave something to see when you finally GET to Hong Kong.

Pedestrianisation

You didn't know there was such a word, I bet! You can read all about the Hong Kong Transportation Board's plans for Pedestrianisation to promote walking and to improve the overall pedestrian environment. They also show the streets blocked to vehicle traffic in the different neighborhoods which will give us a good idea which streets we want to walk down.

10,000 Buddha Monastery

We haven't told Papi about this one in Sha Tin. Do you think he would like to go?

Streets in Mong Kok

I have to remember which streets in Mong Kok I want to walk down. The Ladies market is on Tung Choi Street which is closed to traffic south of Argyle Street, a major thoroughfare that is hard to cross -- both for pedestrians and traffic.
Another interesting street is Canton Road near Shantung Street to the west of Nathan Road. At that intersection there is a Japan Home Centre. Canton Road goes north for a block or so and then seems to stop at Nelson Road which also looks like it is closed to traffic. This is right next the the Langham Place mall so maybe we can zip over and walk the area, along with Shanghai Street.
And it is definitely 239 Reclamation Street that has the store with lots of baskets, just north of Waterloo Road.
When we walk down to Ladies market or to Nathan Road, I think we should take Fa Yuen Street since it looks like it is closed to vehicle traffic and full of stands at the upper end where it meets Prince Edward Road. We can walk down Fa Yuen to Mong Kok and then cross over using the elevated pedestrian walkway. And then after Argyle Street take Tung Choi Street (if you can find a place to cross Argyle).

World's Greatest City

And as I continue browsing through CNNGo, there's an article on 50 Reasons Why Hong Kong is the World's Greatest City, and the number one reason is the public transportation.
Then some other interesting tidbits:
8. It has the best "soy sauce Western" food.
9. Hong Kong has the highest density of 7-Elevens in the world.
11. You don't need cash in Hong Kong, just an Octopus card that makes a "doot" sound when you run it through (just doot it).
15. Bird market, sneaker street, ladies market, goldfish market, flower market … all centered in the bustling Mongkok neighborhood within walking-distance of one another.
18. The tastiest embryos
Thick, fluffy and moist, with an even, lemon-yellow tone -- such are the seraphic scrambled eggs at Australian Dairy Company served between two slices of white bread with the option of toasting. Add a splash of chili sauce and we’re in comfort-food heaven. 47 Parkes Street, Jordan, Kowloon.

CNNGo: Dried Seafood Street

CNNGo has an article on shopping for dried seafood for Chinese New Year. "Dried Seafood Street" stretches along some 200 shops on Des Voeux Road West from Queen Street to Centre Street in Sheung Wan (Western) on Hong Kong Island. In this article there are instructions for preparing dried abalone, dried fish maw, dried oysters, black moss, dried scallops. And they even mention dried sausages, although not exactly seafood...

12 Hours Time Difference

It's unsettling to look at my weather widget for Hong Kong and realize that they are half a day ahead of us, so that it is 6 pm there tomorrow while I am writing this at 6 pm today. I don't know if I'm going to be able to stand 14 hours and 35 minutes on a plane without being able to lie down. I don't suppose they'd appreciate me stretching out in the aisle...

Kowloon City Market

Surfing through the Hong Kong Streets with Google Maps street view got me to the Kowloon City Market which is near the park that they turned the Kowloon Walled City into. I thought I wrote all this stuff down somewhere but I can't find it. Or maybe I was just surfing. In any case, one needs to cross Prince Edward Road early because it is very difficult to find a crossing further on. Sort of like crossing a freeway. Cars can't even do it. The Kowloon City Market Cooked Food Center is open from 6 am to 2 am every day.
At the base of the drive that goes from Prince Edward Road to the Royal Plaza Hotel there is a crosswalk that will take you to the other side of Prince Edward to the Flower Market.

Streets of Hong Kong

As I'm clicking along Hong Kong streets in Google Map's street view, I'm looking up things about them, for instance, Portland Street which runs parallel between Shanghai Street and Nathan Road. Because it has little shops, it looks interesting but Wikipedia says that it is also a famous red light district between Dundas and Argyle Streets. Good to know I suppose although it looks pretty innocuous in the Google street view early in the morning.
North of the swanky Langham Place mall, there are tile and building material stores. Perhaps we can go down Shanghai Street and then up Portland Street and then down Nathan Road. After all, Portland street is only 3/4 mile in length.
It might also be interesting to take a look at the "shop houses" or tong-lau on Shanghai Street. The wikipedia article led me to Hong Kong University's Hong Kong Heritage Stories. Fantastic! more for me to read!
Now I am at Yin Chong Street near Fa Yuen (Sneaker from Soy Street to Nelson Street) Street and going east it is full of fruit and vegetables stands. There is a waffle shop at 95 Fa Yuen just before Argyle Street, but then you can't cross Argyle street so I'll have to take a right. It is quite easy to navigate the street view if you make it full screen and then use the up and down arrows to move forward and back ward and the right and left arrows to change direction. After the right on Argyle you can take the next left on Sai Yee Street and at #121 there is a Lei Garden Restaurant. That is where CNNGo Top 40 article says to go for Chicken Feet. Then take a left on Fife Street and back to Fa Yuen. A right on Fa Yuen will take you another block or so but then you are foiled again by Mong Kok Road but that is near the Fa Yuen Street Complex with a wet market inside and a Mong Kok footbridge network overhead. Evidently the Mong Kok footbridge is the only way to cross Mong Kok Road, and it is also hard for cars to cross it. Tung Choi Street seems to be one of the few streets that goes through. Evidently the photos taken south of Bute Street were taken later in the day since all the store fronts are open. But north of Bute Street, Tung Choi is very deserted with store fronts closed up.
If you keep going north on Tung Choi you eventually run into Prince Edward and if you hang a right, you get to the Royal Plaza Hotel. If you keep going beyond the hotel, there is a right on Kadoorie Avenue which winds up into a residential area that is very pretty and quiet (and probably quite expensive) and would make a nice morning walk to get away from the hustle and bustle of the shops. This is a very wealthy and thinly populated area so I don't understand how they could say that Kowloon is the most densely populated area in the world. Kadoorie Avenue loops around the hills and then down to Argyle Street.

CNNGo: 40 Hong Kong foods we can't live without

I came across this article looking for tofu pudding. The subtitle is "Street-style comfort foods, reptiles, and a lot of pork -- here are our picks of the most delicious and iconic food items of this foodie's paradise". So there are 40 items we should try (or maybe not, I'll pass on the stinky tofu, chicken feet, snake soup and cow offal). Juan and Mandy, which do you recommend?? Maybe a wife or sweetheart cake?
And I notice that OpenRice.com has an iphone app but alas it is in Chinese.

BC Magazine

I still haven't found out what "BC" stands for (British colony?) but BC Magazine includes restaurant reviews. In this issues Urban Delights, they mention the neighborhood of Sai Ying Pun, sandwiched between Sheung Wan to the east and Shek Tong Tsui and Kennedy Town to the west on Hong Kong Island. The MTR doesn't go there so you'll have to go by tram or bus.
They mention the Ba Yi Restaurant: Flavours of the West, that sounds interesting: Specializes in cuisine of Xinjiang province of western China. Their specialties are the roasted lamb skewers ($30/5pc) and Xinjiang noodles ($23); camel, mutton or beef with pancake wrap, traditional Xinjiang salad, fresh cold yoghurt drink. I put it on my google map.
Another issue has an article on summer desserts, and they mention Honeymoon Desserts, which has a Thai Black Glutinous Rice and Mango in Coconut milk that sounds good. Some of the other ones I'd like to taste (Durian Glutinous Dumpling, Red Bean & Green Bean Soup, Sweet Ball & Sesame Soup & Walnut Soup, Mango Pomelo & Sago Grass Jelly with Sweet Soup). There's a branch in Langham Place.

GOOGLE MAP NOW HAS STREET VIEWS OF HONG KONG

Wow!!! It just happened!
Now we can drag the little guy for a street level view of Hong Kong
Check it out on my google map!
Is this in conjunction with the Google China move to Hong Kong?? Evidently it happened March 15th.

36 Hours in Hong Kong

On Sunday, The New York Times ran a 36 Hours in Hong Kong. Of course, most of it recommends night clubs and drinking holes we would never go to, upscale stores (T-Shirts for US$120) and chic restaurants we can't afford. One really has to look hard for information that we can use, like maybe the great views from the urinals in the Peninsula Hotel.
Although maybe we could afford the Dim Sum at City Hall Maxim's Palace and they do recommend getting off the Midlevel Escalators to visit Cat Street. However they link to sites for "serious antiguities" and "contemporary galleries" rather than simple chinese arts and crafts and odds and ends, but then those types of stores don't have websites. And the second day, they send you to Stanley, the tourist haven for souvenirs. No Temple Street Night Market or Mong Kok or Yau Ma Tei.

Maotai, Mooncakes & Monks

Currently I'm reading a book by expat Hong Konger Jessica Bellas about her experience living in Hong Kong, to which she moved in 2006. It was printed in Hong Kong and the only reason I can figure that the Green Tree Public Library had an autographed copy is that the author was born in Library, PA, in the South Hills. It is fairly interesting even though it is supposedly a compilation of emails she sent home, essentially a blog. One thing becomes clear: there is a large expatriate community in Hong Kong which appears to operate independently and quite separately from the Chinese majority. Bellas ostensibly moved to Hong Kong to get away from George W. Bush but the choice of Hong Kong, run by big business and government bureaucracy with little input from the people, seems like a weird alternative.

Arts and Crafts and Souvenirs

This is a collection of figures from Cat Street on Hong Kong Island taken by Laszlo Ilyes, an engineer from Cleveland. They remind me of the Ekeko god of abundance from Peru and the Caga Tío from Barcelona. I definitely need one of them to round out my collection.

City Between Worlds

So that I don't forget the name of this book on Hong Kong that I enjoyed because it was well written and informative, here are the details:
City Between Worlds: My Hong Kong
By Leo Ou-Fan Lee

Time Out Hong Kong

At last!! The layout of Time Out Hong Kong is normal and navigable!! Or maybe it is only normal in IE8. Whatever the case may be, I am having fun exploring it, especially the Big Smog Blog. Big Smog has "streetwise" feature articles that explore an individual street in Hong Kong. The tributaries of Jordan sound like something we might want to check out!
Oh, Oh, Juan. There's an Ikea in Sha Tin: "Pots and pans
If you can’t resist a little shopping, head up the street to Homesquare. This three-storey mall specialises in homeware, including an outlet of quirky Italian brand Alessi. For those whose budget is more student than tai-tai, the whole of the third level is taken up by a branch of the ever-popular Ikea."

Where Juan and Mandy want to take us

Dinner
1. Peak Lookout
2. Chubby Little Sheep (hotpot)
3. Banquet at boathouse in Sha Tin (seafood)
4. Seafood at Sai kung
5. Temple street (outdoor street market)
Breakfast
1. Dim sum in Sha tin with mandy's grandparents
2. Australian dairy company
3. Congee in Cheung wan
4. 7-11 for bakery stuff
And for lunch....or snacks
1. Tofu pudding in kowloon city
2. Thai in city plaza (sha tin) or kowloon city
3. street vendor waffle (sooo good) Is this the same as mini egg-puffs?
4. Big Buddha vegetarian restaurant
5. Dessert place in Western market (Honeymoon Desserts?)
Wait, Juan, you have forgotten the Noodles.

Ding Ding

Making my google map of Hong Kong I ran across the Ding Ding Tram Guide Map from the Ding Ding Hong Kong Tram Guide from the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Hong Kong Food

I was browsing YouTube for Hong Kong Wet Markets and came across Hong Kong Street Food which led me to South China Morning Post's site on YouTube.

• Dim Sum
• Hong Kong Street Food
• Dim Sum at Lok Yu Tea House

And then there are others, like Le Gourmet TV:

• Main Hong Kong Page
• Le Mong Kok Street Food
• Light Vegetarian Restaurant in Kowloon
• Seafood on Lamma Island
• Egg Tarts
• Maks Noodle in Central
• Stinky Tofu Chinese Cheese
• Clay Pot Rice
• Snake Soup
• Kowloon City Market Food Court

And Trip Film and Anthony Bourdain (the TV show chopped up into 10 minute segments). Anthony Bourdain says that the street food stalls have been moved indoors to "food courts".

• Dim Sum In Wan Chai
• Anthony Bourdain: 1/5 Temple Street Night Market
• 2/5 Hand made noodles in Tai Po
• 3/5
• 4/5 (Alvin's deconstructions)
• 5/5 (Dim Sum)
• Anthony Bourdain: Dim Sum in Hong Kong

• bamboo steamers
• Happy Cow Guide to Hong Kong Vegetarian Restaurants

And then there are feature articles on Hong Kong food:

• Taste.au: Hong Kong Specialties
• Travel & Leisure: Eating in Hong Kong

5 Things to do in Hong Kong

Since we will be there Monday to Friday, I'm making a list of things I want to do, so that we can coordinate. These are detailed only so that I know which public transport to take and in which direction to walk.
1. Take the Airport Express (Round Trip Ticket - Kowloon Station HK$160) to Kowloon station and then the complimentary shuttle bus (K5) to the Royal Plaza Hotel. Take the train to Sha Tin.
2. Kowloon: Since these are in the neighborhood, we could do these things any day. Visit the Yuen Po Bird Garden & Flower Market (7am-8pm) and Goldfish Markets across Prince Edward Road. Then walk down Fa Yuen Street (lined with stalls) to 123A where they have a municipal building with a wet market and public library. Walk over to Langham Place Shopping Mall and visit Seibu and Muji. Go to the nearby Bird Market. The Ladies Market is on Tung Choi Street to the east of Nathan Road between Argyle and Dundas Streets. Walk down Nathan Road to Waterloo Road and then west to Shanghai Street and shop for kitchenware. Go down to the Jade market on Battery Street (10am-4pm) And maybe go to the Temple Street Night Market for dinner.
3. Hong Kong Island. Walk over to Prince Edward Station and take the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui Staion. Walk past the Peninsula Hotel and take the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island. See the IFC Building. Take the tram to Sheung Wan, the Western District of Hong Kong Island. Maybe do the Central and Western District Walk. Take the midlevel escalators uphill after 10 am. Go down via Peel Street and visit the wet markets along Graham and Peel Streets down to Central Market. Can we take the Tram to Victoria Peak the same day? If so, do we want to take the 15C bus from the Star Ferry to the Lower Terminus of the Peak Tram, go up to Victoria Peak, come down and do Sheung Wan afterwards? Depends on when the skies are clearest?
4. Catch the MTR at Prince Edward, get off at Wong Tai Sin and visit the Wong Tai Sin Temple. Then take the MTR to Diamond Hill and visit the Chi Lin Nunnery and the Nan Lian Garden.
Or go to Lantau Island. Do we want to spend the time seeing the country side with a ferry trip from Central to Mui Wo, a bus trip to Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery and a walk back down to Tung Chung? But do we want to take the Ngong Ping Skyrail? Do we have time for this?

Discover Hong Kong on Flickr

The Hong Kong Tourist Board (discoverhongkong.com) has a presence on Flickr where users can contribute photos of Hong Kong. There is one contributor Briyen that is creating "One Year in Hong Kong" and has nicely annotated photos that really show the fast-paced life there.

Once a Week

Golly, it looks like I only post once a week. Today I made reservations for the flight from PIT to LAX using our dividend miles, and since it was cheaper, I chose first class, which means that for 100,000 miles we are flying first class to LA, with a stop in Phoenix because nonstop is not an option with "award travel". At least Fernando cannot say I'm not using the miles. If only the trip were to Paris...
Today I picked up an Insight FlexiMap to Hong Kong, so I can easily pick out where we are staying and where we want to go. I have become fairly familiar with the layout of the city by now and I am also pretty familiar with the main tourist attractions. I spent about an hour at Borders looking at their Hong Kong books - actually I probably only really looked at one of them - and I can't even remember its name...(Oh, it was a DK Top Ten Hong Kong) I've been looking for a Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, or Moon handbook for Hong Kong but really haven't come across one. At home right now I am reading a Culture Shock book that has the most interesting section on history that I've read so far. Some history can be pretty dry.

Hong Kong Transport

There are so many different ways of getting around in Hong Kong that we'll have to try each one. And to make riding them easy, maybe we should get the Octopus card at the airport so that the fare is deducted automatically. The transports below marked with an asterisk take the octopus card.

1.* The Tram on Hong Kong Island.
2.* The Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island.
3.* The Peak Tram up Victoria Peak.
4. The Midlevel escalators on Hong Kong Island
5.* Take the MTR.
6.* Take the Kowloon-Canton Railway/MTR to Sha Tin.
7. Take the Mui Wo Ferry* to Mui Wo and then the New Lantao Bus to Ngong Ping* (read this travel account) and the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island.
8. Or take the MTR* to the Tung Chung station (from Prince Edward take the Tsuen Wan (red) Line to Lai King and then switch to the Lai King (yellow) Line to Tung Chung) and catch the Ngong Ping Skyrail (74 HK$ one way) up to the Tian Tan Buddha. (Here's a YouTube video for the connection. Check out the other "Walk Me 2" videos on getting around in Hong Kong.)
9. Walk from the Tian Tan Buddha down the Wisdom Path, then walk down to Tung Chung Fort and back to Kowloon on the MTR*.

Hong Kong Department Stores

Fodor's lists various department stores as good options for picking up souvenirs and kitchenware. Plus there are branches in various parts of the city and Fodor even mentions the New Town Plaza in Sha Tin, "decidedly off the tourist trail". Festival Walk in residential Kowloon Tong (20 minutes from Central on the MTR) is a Fodor's Choice for malls. I'm not one for malls unless it is raining but I do like to pop into foreign department stores, and I must admit that I enjoyed the malls in Bogota, not as much as the mercados of course. The Royal Plaza Hotel is connected to a mall (Grand Century Place) with a Sincere Department store. Fodor's also mentions Wing On for household items.
Other department stores are Chinese Arts and Crafts and Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium.
And then there is always the Japanese department store Seibu, one branch of which is at Langham Place in Mongkok. There used to be a Seibu in Los Angeles when I was in high school. It had lovely fabrics but the store did not last long. Seibu also runs Muji and there is a Muji at Langham place and also at the airport.

Hong Kong Neighborhoods: Sheung Wan (Western)

I'm reading through Fodor's Hong Kong and want to remember what I'd like to see. What better way than to enter them here so I can pull them up on my iphone. I should try reading this blog on the iphone...
Fodor starts out the neighborhoods with "Western" (Sheung Wan) -- "Western has been called Hong Kong's Chinatown" -- and since I've always loved San Francisco's Chinatown, that is reason enough to visit. Sheung Wan is on Hong Kong Island, to the west of Central and it has the Midlevels Escalator. Its iconic structure is Western Market, alas no longer a produce market, but the narrow streets to the west of it are trade streets: herbal medicine on Ko Shing Street and Queen's Road West, dried seafood on Wing Lok Street and Des Voeux Road West, ginseng and birds' nests on Bonham Strand West and chops (engraved seals) on Man Wa Lane. There are flea market items (aka antiques) on Upper Lascar Row (Cat Street) and a long narrow stair called Ladder Street (just like Pittsburgh) that you can take on your way to Man Mo Temple. Hong Kong Tourism Board has a Central-Western walking tour that covers these sites.
But Fodors says that to the west of Man Mo Temple is a "sleepy area filled with small shops" called Tai Ping Shan (the Chinese name for Victoria Peak and one of the oldest residential districts) and the Sheung Wan Wet (produce) Market at Sai Ying Pun and Centre streets. I'll be on the lookout for wet markets.

Walking in Hong Kong

Most of what I'm learning about Hong Kong is where to eat! So, naturally, I need to create a walking itinerary so I don't gain TOO much weight.

• Hong Kong Tourism Board Hong Kong Walks

Nan Lian Garden

This Tang Dynasty style garden located in the north of Kowloon has a vegetarian restaurant where the meals are prepared by the Chi Lin Nunnery. From the photos it is really a beautiful oasis in the middle of a city. Check out Carol Abroad's Blog. She has 3 postings on the Garden and lovely photos.
So after we walk around the garden for an hour we can treat ourselves to some vegetables!
Vegetarian Restaurant at Nan Lian Garden

Hong Kong Restaurants to Try

I've been reading some of the blogs on Hong Kong posted below and am making a list of some interesting sounding restaurants:

• Australian Dairy Company for scrambled eggs on bread and steamed milk pudding
• Kung Wo Soybean Factory for Tofu Fa (silken tofu soup)
• Sunsing Teahouse for tea and teaware

Happy New Year

It's time I got back on the Hong Kong travel trail, now that Fernando has applied for a passport renewal. Here are some Flickr albums of Hong Kong.

• Hong Kong 0911
• Hochit's Hong Kong Collections
• The Wamphyri

And here are some blogs on Hong Kong

• KampungBoyCityGal
• TastyTreats
• Big in Hong Kong

And here are some videos:

• GeoBeats
• YouTube: Hong Kong Revealed
• Hong Kong Eats
• Hike to Stanley
• YouTube: Hong Kong Wet Markets
• YouTube: Hong Kong Street Food