diane, abroad
October 7, 2012

My Paris, Week 13: Rose Bakery, Poilâne, Merci

I’ll be honest, reader. I’ve been a little heartsick this week. To cheer myself up, I took myself out on a lot of nice lunches in light-filled restaurants and visited lots of pretty streets despite my tired soles.

Rose Bakery
46 rue des Martyrs, 75009 (Notre Dame de Lorette)
01 42 82 12 80

Bread and butter is my snack of choice when things aren’t going well. I’ve eaten a lot of the best bread and butter in the world this week.

Poilâne
38 rue Debelleyme, 75003 (Filles du Calvaire)
Tel +33 (0) 1 44 61 83 39

Merci (Café Cinema, concept store, and Used Book Café)
111 Boulevard Beaumarchais, 75003 (Saint-Sébastien-Froissart)
01 42 77 00 33

I go on these walks to remind myself that in most ways, my life is a dream life and any problems I may have are first-world problems. I am a very lucky girl indeed.

Music to live by: Hold the Morning [Hey Marseilles // To Travels and Trunks]

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dining out, paris
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  • http://theroamingbean.wordpress.com The Roaming Bean

    I am in love with your pictures. They remind me why Paris is my favorite city in the world! Merci!

  • http://lostinrelocation.com kathrinjapan

    Your pictures take me back to when I was in Paris. I know how you feel. It is hard to intellectually know how blessed and marvelous your life is and still feel wistful.

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      Wistful is just the right word. Thanks for visiting.

  • http://jsinclair1987.wordpress.com jsinclair1987

    Makes you want to hop on a plane or train to Paris, great pictures

  • http://sueannm66.wordpress.com sueannm66

    Gorgeous photos!

  • http://greykouprey.wordpress.com Tassos

    Brilliant photos. I can relate to the desire to eat good food in pretty places when I’m feeling down, especially when it’s food that reminds me of home. I’ll admit sometimes its not so easy here in Phnom Penh. Wouldn’t mind a fresh croissant for breakfast instead of rice and fish all the time! Again, great photos that capture the Parisian aesthetic.

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      At least you get to travel and see the world. I have a friend studying in Cambodia right now, and I hear it’s beautiful. But yes, there’s not much better than a croissant hot out of the oven!

  • http://thesalonierresapartments.wordpress.com thesalonierresapartments

    These photos are absolutely beautiful! You’re such a talented photographer. Thank you for sharing with us!

  • http://andasfortoday.wordpress.com andasfortoday

    I love Paris, your photo’s are amazing and a great guide to little café’s and bakery’s, I will take a visit next time I am in Paris :) Thanks for sharing!

  • http://lplk.wordpress.com edgeledge

    Great pictures, you have put this together to present a wordless story that really conveys everything.

  • http://allmussedup.wordpress.com Valerie {all mussed up}

    The Rose Bakery cookbook is one of my all-time favorites — I love Rose and Jean-Charles’ sensibility! Glad to see it made your list. (: I am so intrigued by Merci! It’s definitely going on my list for the next weekend I pop down to dear old Paris.

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      If you like the aesthetic of Rose, you’ll love Merci. Plus, I hear the profits from the shop are donated to a children’s charity in Madagascar!

  • http://379design.wordpress.com Mia

    Hi, I really like the look of your blog. Really nice pictures from Paris. Just been there my self!:) Im a failry new blogger, and was just wondering. How do you make the pics fit so nicely together? Would really appreciate a tip :)

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      Thank you! I use the Print feature in Adobe Lightroom and fit the photos, but WordPress recently released a feature called Tiled Galleries that allows you to make mosaic-style photo collages without external software. You can check it out here: http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/tiled-image-galleries/.

      • Mia

        Thanks so much for getting back to me, really appreciate it :) I will check out both options. Cheers! :)

  • http://scintillatingsilver.wordpress.com S.C.

    I’ve never been to Paris, but I know I love good, real bread and butter.

    I also wish we had a bookstore/cafe in my city (Barnes and Noble doesn’t really count, does it? Not the right atmosphere.) It seems like one of those “only in Paris” things.

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      Where are you from? I’m sure there’s a hole-in-the wall café with a similar feel close by, even if it doesn’t have walls full of books. :)

      • S.C.

        I live in a fairly big American city, so I’m sure there is one. But it’s probably in the artsy district that’s way too expensive for me to live in.

  • http://mariniere.wordpress.com la marinière

    I agree with Valerie, the Rose Bakery cookbook is delightful and the photos are beautiful. I’m glad I found your blog, Paris is my favorite.

  • http://redtoenails.wordpress.com/ Red Toenails

    Sigh…love!

  • http://lastnorthboundtrainhasgone.wordpress.com rmk

    Love the photos. Getting cake or sitting and reading a book can be a good cure for the traveler’s blues.

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      Amen.

  • http://starlight427.wordpress.com starlight

    love love love your photos! very nice!

  • http://nicswanderlust.wordpress.com Nic Freeman

    Lovely lovely lovely! Hope the Parisian adventures and Freshly Pressed status brought some cheer.
    Nic

  • http://broadsideblog.wordpress.com broadsideblog

    Your use of light is lovely. I especially like the image of the chandelier through the window.

  • http://expatedna.com Edna

    Really enjoy Rose Bakery — but after 8 months of living in the city still have yet to get to Merci! (PS nice work getting on freshly pressed today!)

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      Thanks Edna! Let me know if you have a free afternoon and we can meet up at Merci!

  • http://thesoulshines.wordpress.com Meghan Johnson

    From one heartsick woman to another, thank you for this. What a perfect dose of whimsy in the morning.

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      Glad to share and shore up.

  • http://beautywhizz.wordpress.com beautywhizz

    Super pics, great photo story!

  • http://sannekurz.wordpress.com sannekurz

    Perhaps a bit of a heart sickness is just the right thing one needs to completely embrace the melancholy Paris can have in autumn. – Very amazing images. Make me wanna stroll with you through the roads, parks and alley ways.

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      True. Paris can be such a beautiful curmudgeon.

  • http://emiliahearts.wordpress.com emiliahearts

    I just discovered your blog and I love it. Your pictures are wonderful. Me and my boyfriend are visiting Paris just before Christmas and your posts are the perfect way to build excitement for my trip!

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      That’s a great time to visit Paris. That’s when I first visited the city last year and fell in love with it. Make sure to visit lots of winter markets and drink lots of vin chaud!

  • http://www.brouhaha-access.com Busanee Dominguez

    Your photos are so beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I am sorry for your home sickness, but it seems you have made the best of it.

  • http://sobevegchick.wordpress.com SobeVegChick

    Beautiful. You evoke a feeling here, not just a story. I can hardly wait to read more. Enjoy belle Paris!

  • http://www.denwrites.com den

    Absolutely beautiful shots. I loved Paris, and your photographs are making me want to return! I often write about Paris. These images are inspiring new stories…

  • http://unrelatedtolife.wordpress.com unrelatedtolife

    I so much agree with what you said in the last lines of the post. All our problems are first-world problems. We are really fortunate to be living the way we live. And I al so thankful to it :) The pictures are beautiful!!! Will be visiting Paris soon too. You added to my inspiration to see this city again.

  • http://tcknextstop.wordpress.com Dounia

    Beautiful photos. They capture the simple beauty of Paris; thanks for sharing and congrats on being freshly pressed!

  • http://blinkpack.wordpress.com blinkpack

    Josh here from the BlinkPack blog. Posts like this remind me that when time and money allow, I look forward to visiting this great city. I found you on the ‘freshly pressed’ section — well done. Cheers!

  • http://becomingcliche.wordpress.com becomingcliche

    Wonderful photos. They tell a story I want to hear.

  • Being June

    Beauty and bread and wisdom all in one post. I hope you’re feeling better now. Thanks for sharing.

  • http://sportsandthecross.wordpress.com sportsandthecross

    Wonderful images! I look forward to visiting France someday!

  • http://lepiphre.wordpress.com lmicheles

    You are lucky. Ah, to be abroad.

  • http://wildebeastadventures.wordpress.com wildebeast adventures

    I enjoyed reading this (while listening to Hey Marseilles, who I love as well) because I am also currently abroad in France…I know firsthand what it like to be able to go to places like this every day

  • http://dailydevoresource.wordpress.com dailydevoresource

    I have always wanted to travel to Paris and these photos give me hope for that one day. Awesome Stuff!

  • http://melissaburklow.wordpress.com Melissa Burklow

    Fabulous pictures! Enjoy your time there. What I wouldn’t give for some fresh French bread and butter. *scrapes butter spread across burnt square toast* Hmph…

  • http://escapinglondoner.wordpress.com escapinglondoner

    love the photos, so typically french and you shoot them fantastically! you get a real sense of france from them :)

  • http://pamanner.wordpress.com Pamela

    Love the photos–is it wrong that I’d want to kiss those lovely rustic stone steps? Or a beautiful loaf of bread? Or one of the glorious chandeliers? ;-)

  • http://asoulswalk.wordpress.com asoulwalker

    I love the photo of the swing.

  • http://twistedsistersdesign.wordpress.com twistedsistersdesign

    Such great pictures, so warm :)

  • http://jareenimam.wordpress.com Jareen Imam

    I love this post and your photos. I just started learning French a week ago, and just looking through your photos makes me want to spend a few weeks in Paris. J’espère que vous sentez mieux. Salut.

  • rm32

    Hello i love your photos and i love Paris to, check out my blog i have loads of french recipes :)

  • http://baniamor.wordpress.com Bani Amor

    awesome photos!

  • http://heffwit.wordpress.com heffwit

    J’ai envie de retourner à la France! I really like your photos :-)

  • http://beautyblogorlando.wordpress.com beautyblogorlando

    You’ve brought tears to my eyes– I’ve been missing France like crazy this week & have contemplated throwing up my hands and running away to the city. Let Paris love you back– and check out Le Rendez-Vouz des Amis in Montemarte if you need a good drink in a cozy atmosphere…

  • http://sarahforshaw.wordpress.com Sarah Forshaw

    Congrats on getting freshly pressed, it is well deserved. I love your photographs, they are sublime. Makes me want to travel even more now!

  • http://thewalruscafe.wordpress.com 1walrus

    Lovely. My wife and I were in Paris almost exactly five years ago, and she was thrilled to discover Poilane. We’ve been raving about the bread ever since. Thanks for bringing back some great memories!

  • http://outandaboutinthecity.wordpress.com KylaB

    I love to snack on bread and butter too. Thanks for this post. So many good ideas and wonderful photos.

  • Vasilia

    Beauitfully delicious… great pics… what cafe dreams are made of.

  • http://angelinacarrera.wordpress.com Angelina Carrera

    Love your blog, your pics and your adventure! You and I have chosen the same template for our blogs…..it’s interesting to see how someone else uses the space. I’m a fan.

  • http://narcissistadotme.wordpress.com narcissista1

    Damn. You just ruined my diet.

  • http://truewarriorsofgod.wordpress.com ifightforgod

    Great pictures! Amazing blog!

  • http://bentobreak.com Mei

    Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing. :)

  • http://lydiaruthfrancis.wordpress.com Lydia{takes pictures}

    Obsessed with these pictures. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Paris!

  • http://lifeonhighstreet.wordpress.com jwilson917

    Yum. This post made me miss French food. Paris is such a great city.
    http://lifeonhighstreet.wordpress.com/

  • http://www.SayGudday.com Say Gudday

    Wonderful city, isn’t it?

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      It’s the most beautiful city in the world.

  • Tales of Braške

    One of these days I will visit Paris as well:) looks amazing!

  • http://recoveredbaptist.wordpress.com Recovered Baptist

    Beautiful photos! I am currently in the process of moving from San Francisco to Luxembourg, and am writing about it on my own blog. I cannot wait to explore France!

  • http://denisediscovers.wordpress.com denisediscovers

    This transports me to Paris. I love the sense of wandering around that your photos give!

  • http://sheyjohn.wordpress.com sheyjohn

    Great blog, nice to see someone appreciating life! keep at it, love the shots too.

  • http://edgeofthearctic.wordpress.com edgeofthearctic

    Beautiful entry! As an American expat myself (landed myself in Norway) I can empathize with your need for comfort food. Your photos are amazing and your observation that your problems are of the “first-world” kind is so poignant.

    Coincidentally I just wrote about missing Milano cookies, along with other comfort foods, on my own blog.

    Is it ok if I link to this post from my blog? You can check it out at edgeofthearctic.wordpress.com

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      Thank you! I’ve always wanted to visit Norway, despite being a chicken about cold. And of course it’s okay to link to my blog!

  • http://renderuntoceaser.wordpress.com renderuntocaesar

    You seem to be having a wonderful time. The photos are really engaging. I’m off to remind myself what a baguette with butter tastes like. Haven’t had one in ages. Congratulations on being freshly pressed.

  • http://gunsandnobutter.wordpress.com David Gottfried

    Bread and Butter are so basic, yet so amazing — heart-soothing, solace-giving, forever sweet. I remember many years ago hearing old people tell me that their one wish in the afterlife was to have a hot roll, butter, coffee and the New York Times every morning.

    I have been to Paris. I couldn’t afford haute French quisine so I kept eating at cheap and ultimately boring Vietnamese restaurants. But for Lunch I invariably had Bread, Cheese and Wine.

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      I usually can’t afford haute cuisine either, but there’s so much history in the cheese and bread and wine here it feels like the simplest meals have the weight of centuries on them.

  • http://feeltheairinparis.wordpress.com Feel the air in Paris

    Your pics are amazing! Keep goin’!

  • http://playingintheworldgame.wordpress.com The Old Wolf

    Ouais, merci pour rien, maintenant j’ai faim. :P

  • http://goodmorningjoe.wordpress.com maitchd

    Wonderful pictures! Makes me feel very calm and relaxed when I look at them :)

  • http://goodmorningjoe.wordpress.com maitchd

    How do you place the pictures so nicely?

  • beautyonthedoorstep

    Un beau clin d’oeil a Paris et le style de vie francais.

  • http://laavventura.wordpress.com Jennifer Avventura

    I love the empty wine bottle on the empty street. It says so much for your mood at the time. I’m an expat living in Sardinia, Italy and have the same feelings of homesick/heartsickness as you. But I have to remind myself that this is the life I choose, I choose to live this dream, no one told me to do it. It’s a wonderful dream when we pull ourselves out of the dark street corner, no?

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      That is exactly what I thought when I came upon it on the sidewalk. It’s a unique experience, to be sure, and we take the good with the bad.

  • http://tableofcolors.wordpress.com tableofcolors

    BEAUTIFUL photography! I so wish to visit Paris some day!

  • http://intheendless.com zeynepmutlu

    beautiful! hopefully will be in Paris next year! fingers crossed!

  • http://theshellhammer.wordpress.com theshellhammer

    Oh how I miss Paris. Thanks for sharing, you are quite the lucky person indeed!

  • radhiyahh

    beautifully captured images of good details of Paris.

  • http://anamchapa.wordpress.com anamchapa

    very beautiful pics!

  • http://ianreyno.wordpress.com ianreyno

    Once I laid my eyes on the very first page of your blog, my heart leaped. And then I thought to myself, someday, I will be just like you. Thank you for being my heart’s sip of coffee.

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      What a compliment. Thank you for visiting, Ian, and I hope the sip was rich and satisfying.

  • http://thoughtsontheatre.wordpress.com thoughtsontheatre

    Oh my goodness, your photos are breathtaking. Whisked me away to the city.

  • http://jensinewall.wordpress.com jensine

    Stunning and I wouldn’t mind a stroll on the Seine but for now it’s just the Liffey for me

  • http://rbjello.wordpress.com rbjello

    Gorgeous photos and great recommendations. I have to check out Merci!

  • http://pursuitofhappieness.wordpress.com pursuitofhappieness

    I’m so happy I found you, this is a pleasure to read! I’m coming to Paris for the first time over Christmas. I will be reading intently!
    -Sush

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      Christmas last year was the first time I visited and fell in love with the city. Bring lots of warm clothes and make your restaurant reservations well ahead of time!

      • pursuitofhappieness

        Excellent, thank you for the advice :-)

  • Monte

    I totally agree that bakeries are a good source of comfort food! And being in Paris must be awesome for that

  • http://ronyshapira.wordpress.com ronyshapira

    such beautiful photos! I can’t wait to go to paris!!
    thanks for sharing :)
    xx
    http://wattwewear.wordpress.com/

  • http://hibakanj.wordpress.com hibakanj

    very nice photos ! <3

  • http://edgeofthearctic.wordpress.com edgeofthearctic

    Reblogged this on Edge of the Arctic and commented:
    Here’s a wonderful blogpost about an American expat in Paris and her local comfort food.

  • martinaturini

    I lived in Paris last year, and I miss it! Your pictures are beautiful,I do really see Paris and its places in them.

  • http://scpworkasx.wordpress.com scpworkasx

    Nice blog it reminds me of being in Paris – love it.

  • http://amouramy.wordpress.com amybaratta

    I enjoy your pics, I am here in Paris for a month alone and your blog is a great guide for me! I’m all about bread and butter, can’t wait to check out these places! I am starting my first attempt at a blog, a design blog of sorts. I love how nicely you arrange your pictures, trying to do that on ipad, if you have any tips would appreciate it!

    • http://dianeabroad.com Diane, A Broad

      Hi Amy! That’s great that you’re visiting Paris and I hope you enjoy your time here. WordPress has a way to automatically create tiled galleries, which you can read about here: http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/tiled-image-galleries/. You should be able to use that tool with an iPad with the web browser; I’m not sure if the WordPress app does it. Hope that helps! Let me know if you want to grab a drink while you’re in the city. :)