Welcome to French at Heart, a photography blog with few words, but many pictures of a country I love, France. All of the photographs were taken by my husband, Dean Polis, and myself, Dawne, and edited in Adobe Photoshop. If you like what you see, I would be honored if you'd leave a comment. And if you would like to learn our Digital Photography secrets, and make photographs like these yourself, [ oh, yes, you can do it!] we would be happy to lead you on an image making adventure to France with us. You may contact us here or at my email iluvfrance@wildblue.net
Our work is available for purchase and licensed by McGawGraphics.com

Sunday, April 29, 2012

in the sentier


As I start to think more about our upcoming trip to Paris, my longing sends me to the bookshelf to see if I can get a little closer to the City of Light through reading.  I just finished Penelope Rowland's "Paris Was Ours" and it is  truly a wonderful collection of essays written by 32 writers who, for a short time at least, had the opportunity to live in Paris.   
Now I'm I'm getting cozy and  re-reading 
Cara Black's 
and I'm reminded that the rue Montorgueil is in the Sentier. This is an area in the 2nd Arrondisement, home to the garment district, as well as to some shady ladies on the rue Saint-Denis, or so I've been told. We once rented an apartment right off the rue Montorgueil, and although I never saw the shady ladies,
I do know that it's the garment district, as my friend and I brought back to the states an entire shopping bag filled with lace that we found discarded in the trash outside one of the ateliers.[ Maybe we were the shady ladies!]

 We walked by this interesting place every day for two weeks, and for some reason we never ate here.  But it remains one of my favorite buildings in Paris.





My favorite type of "shabby chic".
What about you?  Have you ever eaten here?  And have you ever read Cara Black?
I think her mysteries are "interactive" as you can read them with your Paris city map open beside you and follow her protagonist, Aimée Leduc through all those familiar 
quartier rues.

11 comments:

  1. Hello Dawne

    I love how you are researching and getting in the mood for your trip to Paris. I can see you are a good traveller with wonderful imagination. I have not read Aimee Leduc's mysteries and I love the concept of following the protagonist with a Paris map.
    Have a wonderful week

    Helen xx

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  2. Ooooooo my dear friend, I thought I had already joined this since I have this wonderful blog of yours on my BLOG ROLL!!! I got your email...I will come back later. THANK YOU FOR VISITING ME AND TALKING TO ME! Oh how I love your photos. And Photoshop? I can barely figure out how to PUT TEXT!! I need a lot of time with it!

    I LOVE YOUR PHOTO HERE an please don't take away this blog; I follow you!!! LOVE Anita

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  3. Le Sigh. How I wish I could join you, Dawne, but alas, it is not going to be possible :~(

    But I will be with you in spirit and hopefully you will have time to blog a bit while you are there~~although I will understand if you don't :~)

    Hugs,
    Elaine

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  4. Hi Dawne,

    Have not eaten at this restaurant, nor read the books, but will see if I can track them down.
    I love the photos and what a lucky find, ...lace in the trash, must have been your lucky day.

    Happy new week
    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  5. Hi, Helen, thanks for stopping by. I have not been blogging lately, but I will be over in a minute to see what you are up to. As for the Cara Black mysteries, they are fun escapism, and kind of my grown up French-girl version of my beloved Nancy Drews! If you want to read one, start with Murder in the Marais. That's her first, and it really sparked my interest in finding out all I could about the treatment of Jews in Paris in WWll [ long before Sarah's Key].
    Anita, I DO see your beautiful face down there now!! This blog has always been a bit wonky, telling me I have 15 more followers on my stats page than shows up here. Weird!! Merci, Petite!
    Elaine, dear, I know that we will get together someday, and when we move to France you will come for a long visit!! How's that sound??
    Carolyn, I will have to email you about all the other Parisian books that "take me away". Yes, you might like Cara Black. She has mixed reviews, but it's wonderful escapism! I'll be over...

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  6. Wow Dawne, that building is divine, as you say, the best of shabby chic. If you could drown out everything else around, it would not be too difficult to imagine oneself in a different era!
    Thanks for showing and sharing.
    Di
    X

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  7. Bonjour Chere Dawne!
    Talk about being away from blogger...I have been so inconsistent, this has been such a busy Spring, my friend.
    This building is gorgeous...the details are stunning, I love it.
    And books about Paris are always a delight.
    Thank you so much for visiting me, and I agree wholeheartedly regarding character before career. Wise words indeed.
    Have a beautiful weekend, sweet friend!
    Bises,
    - Irina

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  8. I have eaten there several times on different visits to Paris. The last time I was there (November last year) the outside of this building was under renovation and covered by canvas? or something like like it while work was going on. I don't know if it will be finished yet or not. I, too, have stayed in the Sentier area several times and read Cara Black's book "Murder in the Sentier" while I was staying there. All very good fun at the time.

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  9. I believe I have a photo of this resto on my blog too. Very interesting place. The whole St. Denis area really freaks me out. I'm a left bank girl and always will be!

    As for the folly in Normandy...I couldn't find the note on Pinterest. Go to my Chateaux of France board and leave me a note under the one you're talking about. I met the American couple in Paris after I got back from Normandy. If you can't catch the caretaker outside you won't be able to see it. She's very private herself. I think the owners were intrigued with me because no one has probably ever hunted their place down like I did. I came all the way from Texas! They also thought I was interested in purchasing it. I was determined to see it come hell or high water.
    Also, I met with Mimi while in Paris. In the next few months after I get settled in our new place in Maine I'm going to start writing for her mag too! Thanks for the connection.

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  10. Dawne, I found your beautiful boards in Pinterest via Anita Rivera (an amazing artist I met via Etsy) don't you love the circles we make with creativity and art? Your work is so enchanting, I am reading your blog like a novel, and I almost feel you take us to all these places with your camera. Well...I won't make it long, I just wanted you to know I am going to pin a few of your images in my boards and if you want me to remove them, I will do it right away. Here is the link: http://pinterest.com/gristello/tattered-and-romantic/
    Bright Blessings. Griselda

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