Not that “obvious” had stopped her from buying a dozen Eiffel Tower keyrings from a Senegalese tchotchke seller at Trocadero. At least she then had something for everyone on the field hockey team. But she still needed gifts for her three best friends. Larger Eiffel Towers? That was my immediate suggestion. Her response was beyond “obvious.” She lifted her eyes, heavy as bowling balls, and rolled them my way to convey the message “How could you possibly understand my life?”

I understood her life well enough to know that well-timed pastry stops would keep the souvenir conundrum at bay for a time. It had been easy enough on day one to say that she’d surely find something in the next neighborhood we’d visit but first she just had to try a spectacular chocolate éclair. But the Latin Quarter, the Saint Germain Quarter, Montmartre, the gift shop at the Louvre, Rue Saint-Honoré, and the Champs-Elysées had all come and gone, and the sweet distraction of pastries, crepes, chocolates and macaroons now barely lasted beyond the final bite.

Here we were on day three, their last day in Paris, and the need to find the perfect Paris memento for her friends had reached fever pitch. She would never go anywhere with her mother again. If her mother had any friends of her own, she’d understand. Her mother, Paris, the entire world had all conspired to make her miserable. She spared me in her diatribe other than to sigh loudly every time I spoke.

The woman was doing everything in her power to stay calm, mixing reprimand with sighs of her own with ignoring the girl, and confiding in me that her daughter had had a “monthly visitor” the other day. A few times that morning we’d stepped into boutiques so that the mother could soothe herself by caressing the sleeves of high fashion, only to be pulled from her fantasy by the sound of her daughter declaring, “That’s ugly.”

Finally, I said aloud what I’d been thinking all along. Actually, I’d already said it on day one, when neither mother nor daughter was ready to hear me then. When I’d said it again on day two, during our visit to Galeries Lafayette, the mother had paid attention and said, “Listen to Gary, he knows.” To that, the girl spat back, “He doesn’t know my friends.”

I was now about to give it one final try. I’d been biding my time for the past 30 minutes of misery until we were just several steps from the shop I had in mind. I consider good timing one of my best qualities as a guide and I was prepared put that to a test. We turned onto Rue Vieille du Temple. I stopped in front of the Labonal shop, positioning myself so that she would see the shop window. I steeled myself against an eventual rebuff. And I said it again, in a gentle, inquiring tone: “How about socks? French socks.”

“Everyone has socks,” she said. There were tears in her eyes.

“But not everyone has French socks,” I said. “I bet your friends don’t, and they’d love them. See all those chic women and girls walking around?” Good timing again, three cheerful young women were strolling past us on the sidewalk. “They’re all wearing French socks and tights.”

I pointed at a colorful pair in the window. “Look at those. They have a little French logo on them. You and your friends will be the only girls at school with French socks. It’ll be like your own private club.”

She actually looked. She wiped her tears. She raised her chin to a sock on display and said, “That one’s cute.”

We went in. We came out, bearing gifts, happy. I knew the perfect place nearby for ice cream.

10 French Sock Brands

Nothing says “I strolled through Paris” like tri-color socks (blue, white, red) or a discreet French logo above the ankle or on the toe, or much more that you’ll find in the ten Made-in-France brands that I’ve selected here.

While so much textile manufacturing has moved overseas in the past 40 years, France continues to produce a surprising amount fun, funky, chic, sports and workaday socks and hosiery.

I’ve selected a mix of well-known, lesser-known and little-known sock and hosiery brands that will add a hop to your step, or a loved one’s, when you get back home. Some of these brands also extend to underwear and other knitwear. Several have their own shops in Paris and elsewhere. Those and the more widely distributed brands can also be found in department stores and sock shops. Still others are largely only available through the brand’s website. Orders from overseas are likely to be cost-prohibitive, so order them to be delivered to you in Paris. In all cases, be sure to look for Made in France or Fabriqué en France on the label.

You’ll find your French socks and underpants vocabulary at the end of this list.

Labonal

The brand of the shop of my happy tale above makes good quality socks for men, women and children with a mix of lively designs and solid colors and a variety of fabrics. Labonal Pulse is their brand of sports socks while La Frenchie by Labonal is a lower quality range.

They have a number of branded boutiques and reseller displays throughout France. In Paris, the Labonal shop in the Marais is located at 11 rue Vieille du Temple. That shop also sells Garçon Francais briefs, described below, along with other French-made knitwear. Labonal is one of a handful of shops selling made-in-France products in the area. On the nearby street Rue du Bourg-Tibourg, L’Appartement Français sells sock brands Broussaud, Bonpied (1 pair purchase = 1 pair given to the homeless) and Royalties, along with other French textiles and footwear. Labonal, based in Alsace, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2024. Their factory, which can be visited, is just off the picturesque Alsace Wine Route in Dambach-la-Ville, midway between Strasbourg and Colmar.

Bleuforêt

Bleuforêt is a major brand of French-made socks and tights made by Tricotage des Vosges on the opposite side of the Vosges Mountains from Labonal.

Though not luxury products, the Bleuforêt range includes some excellent quality socks using pure and blended fabrics, including cashmere, silk and alpaca, known for comfort rather than fantasy, with many solid colors. The Vosges area of northeast France is historic home for the knitwear industry that began to dry up in the 1970s before this and other companies rekindled the knitwear flame in the 1990s. The company also produces some underwear. The brand is sold in many stores including their own. Among their Paris locations, there’s a tiny shop at 20 rue des Francs Bourgeois in the Marais, and another at 101 rue de Rennes in the Saint Germain Quarter.

La Chaussette de France (LCF)

Troyes, the former hosiery capital of France, 95 miles southeast of Paris, once employed up to 25,000 people in the knitwear industry. The town’s Musée de la Maille, Mode et Industrie tells its rich hosiery history. Despite the decline of textile production throughout France, Troyes has managed to hold out with about 3,500 employed in the industry. (Troyes is also known for its factory outlets.) LCF is especially noteworthy for its sporting socks—running, hiking, skating, cycling and mountaineering, and most particularly skiing, with a variety of graphics and colors. LCF is the sock brand of the Manufacture Tismail group, which has been knitting in Troyes since 1961. Among other places, some LCF products can be found in Paris at Au Vieux Campeur, a mountain and hiking specialist with shops concentrated in the Latin Quarter.

KlaK 

KlaK used to be call Sorry or Not Sorry, which derived that playful name from its message socks with half of the text above the heel to the left and the other half to the right. The messaging, mostly in English, continues under the catchier brand name KlaK. For example, Just + Married (perfect for the Paris honeymooner), Girl + Power, I ♥ + Apéro (for those who celebrate wine o’clock), Best + Friend, Need + Love, Sexy + Runner, Champagne + Please and Need + Coffee, among others. Founder Alice de Guyenro says that she launched her products in 2019 in her own image, as a shy gal daring to draw attention to herself, or at least her feet. Her products are most in black and white. The full range of KlaK socks can be read and purchased on her online shop, which also indicates the locations of physical shops that carry KlaK.

Label Chaussettes

Xavier Sauzay and Guillaume Deniau date their interest in entering into the sock trade to a semester abroad in Asia, where they discovered the popularity of socks as fashion in Shanghai, Seoul and Taipei. Returning to France, they also noticed that the Made in France textile trend was then underway. At the age of 26, they launched Label Chaussettes in 2019. Their brand has two major elements: on the one foot, cheery and colorful socks designed by artists, and on the other, logo socks for which they partner with such brands as La Vache Qui Rit (Laughing Cow processed cheese), France Rugby, Asterisk, Monsieur Madame (Mr. Men), and the French Navy. Their socks are made in the Limousin region of France, specifically in the factories of Broussard Textiles, a major player in Made-in-France socks. Broussard also produces for Slip Français and Klak, among others, including their own namesake brand.

Garçon Français

Garçon Français means French boy, so this is a brand for the boy or man in your life, or, guys, for yourself.

Socks represent a small portion of the brand, but here you can match your briefs for those special occasions when showing a bit of ankle is just the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Impress and attract Francophile friends in the locker room with Garçon Français written above your ankle, at the base of your foot and on your waist band. Founded by (Mr.) Vicky Caffet, the brand is headquartered in Troyes and knitted 20 miles northwest in Romilly-sur-Seine, a town whose sock manufacturing stretches back to the 19th century. As many on this list, a visitor will primarily find the socks through their direct internet shops, though French resellers, indicated on their website, can also be found throughout France. In Paris, Garçon Français briefs and socks are both available in the Marais at Les Dessous d’Apollon (Apollo’s Underwear), 8 rue de Moussy. The brand’s briefs (not socks) are currently sold in the Labonal shop noted above.

Berthe aux Grands Pieds

If you’ve ever strolled in the Luxembourg Garden in Paris and admired the statues of Queens of France and Illustrious Women on the terrace above the central basin, you may have noticed among them a certain 8th-century Frankish Queen Berthe (Bertha or Bertada in English). She was the wife of Pepin the Short and mother of Charlemagne. More importantly for this brand, she is said to have had one foot larger than the other (or perhaps a clubfoot), earning her the nickname Berthe au Grand Pied (Bertha with the Big Foot or Bertha Broadfoot).

Someone was bound to use that for a brand of socks, and that someone is Régis Gautreau. His company makes playfully sexy and chic socks, tights and tabis. While primarily a women’s brand, Berthe aux Grands Pieds also has attractive collections for men and children. Here’s an idea for a single souvenir from a London-Paris trip: BAGP’s men’s or women’s “God Save Berthe” Union Jack/The French Queen socks. BAGP has its own shop in Nantes, a tiny boutique in Passage Pommeraye. Additionally, the BAGP website indicates the addresses of resellers in Paris and throughout France, including at shops operated by Manufacture Perrin. Manufacture Perrin, located in southern Burgundy, is the producer of BAGP socks. Founded in 1924, Perrin also knits for La Chaussette Française and Le Slip Français, among others. The factory can be visited.

Missegle

Rather than coming from the world of finance or fashion, as some of those noted above, Myriam Joly, this company’s founder, comes from a rural farming background. She raised a troop of angora goats for their mohair for a decade before turning to producing high-comfort textiles with natural fabrics—mohair, merino, yak hair, camel hair, organic cotton, silk, mercerized cotton—for socks (nearly half of sales), as well as sweaters, scarves, gloves and bonnets.

Durability, sustainability and comfort are Missegle’s watchwords rather than high design. Myriam created the company in 1983, at the age of 26, and is still at it, though her son Gaëtan now oversees the operation. In 2007 she bought a knitwear workshop in Burlats, 50 miles east of Toulouse, deep in the rural department of Tarn. Missegle is one of only several workshops in France to loop-stitch by hand to create seamless socks for happy feet. Though not all of the natural fabrics come from the region (e.g. yak hair from Mongolia), Missegle production is firmly planted in the region, with the dyer and spinner workshops within 12 miles of the knitwear workshop. Other than a shop at the workshop site, Missegle products are only available online.

Le Slip Français

“Slip” means briefs and “français” means French, so underpants in French flag colors are naturally the flagship products of Le Slip Français, a Paris-based brand founded in 2011 by Guillaume Guibault. While primarily an underwear brand, the company also produces sock. Le Slip Français products are widely distributed, with over 150 resellers throughout France. It has branded boutiques in Paris, Nantes and Toulouse. The Paris boutique is located in the Marais at 137 rue Vieille du Temple.

Kindy

Kindy is an old brand for rather basic cotton socks that has been in and out of bankruptcy over the past decade but continue to sell French-made socks with little French flags above the ankle. The company is headquartered in the village of Moliens, between Amiens and Rouen in northern France. While the French-flag socks are made in France, not all Kindy products are. Be sure to check the label.

Your French socks and underpants vocabulary

Socks = chaussettes
Ankle socks = socquettes
Tabi socks = chaussettes tabi
Knee socks = chaussettes hautes
Stockings = bas, collant
Tights = collant
Underwear = Sous-vêtements (for all); lingerie (for women)
Briefs = slip (typically designating underwear for males)
Panties = culotte (typically designating underwear for females)
Boxer shorts = caleçon
Long johns = caleçon long

© 2025, Gary Lee Kraut

As mother told daughter, “Listen to Gary, he knows.” Planning to travel with your beloved teen? See here.

The post Made in France: Socks, the Gift That Saved Paris appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

For most Parisians, the granite plateaus of the Aubrac—a mountainous region of central France famed for the pampered cows and sheep that flourish on its austere, volcanic terrain—is flyover country. Or a source of food.

One need only spend a few days in Paris to encounter some of the food products from the region: Aubrac steak, raw-milk Laguiole cheese and crumbly Roquefort cheese. The finest steel to cut into these gourmet delicacies is forged right next to the remote and isolated pastures from which these products come.

Folklore says that specialized cutlery was first produced in the workshops of the village of Laguiole for cowherds and shepherds in the 12th century. But the modern era of Laguiole cutlery began in 1828 when Casimir-Antoine Moulin set up the town’s first purpose-built workshop. The distinctive “Shepherd’s Cross” design on the handles—so that a knife plunged in the ground could serve as an ad hoc altar—dates from those early days. By the end of the century, the Laguiole knife it was on its way to becoming the Swiss army knife of France, with three distinct parts: a blade, a corkscrew and a trocar, a pointy surgical instrument used to pierce the stomachs of cows and sheep afflicted with deadly bloat. The addition of the corkscrew is attributed to the diaspora of the local unemployed population to Paris, where opportunities in café and restaurant businesses were developing.

The craft tradition all but disappeared in the wake of the First World War. Production was mostly just a memory when in 1985, the mayor of Laguiole sought to revive the industry, along with the help of Aubrac-bred entrepreneurs Gilbert et Jean-Louis Costes (best known for their fashion-forward Paris hotels, restaurants and cafés).

Age-old craftsmanship collides with high design at Forge de Laguiole. The new look of knifedom is embodied by the factory designed by architect Philippe Starck. Postmodern architects Denise Scott-Brown and Robert Venturi divided commercial structures into “decorated sheds” (metal box with a prominent logos) and “ducks” (buildings where the function or product is advertised by its form, e.g. a burger joint that’s shaped like a burger), so with a 20-meter aluminum knife blade sticking out of its roof, the Forge de Laguiole fulfills both criteria.

Visitors enter through the boutique filled with showcases of dazzling steel blades accented by sleek handles fashioned from highly polished olive, juniper, cedar, ash, ebony and pistachio wood; semi-precious stone; compressed fabric, and, remarkably, varnished sand which is, amazingly, dishwasher-proof. Horn from Aubrac cattle is also used. No animals are slaughtered for their horns.

Prices begin over 100€ per knife, which may sound intimidating, but these are handmade items designed to last forever. A single knife may require days of work, and at full capacity, the Forge de Laguiole can only manufacture 200 items a day.

Visitors with tinnitus may be wise to abstain from entering the workshops, where tours and demonstrations are offered in July and August. (The boutique remains open most of the year, so off-season visitors can peek through glass windows opening onto the workshops even when there are no tours.) The hammering, polishing and sanding is so noisy that all employees wear earplugs. As might be expected in any enterprise touched by Costes sense of style, the artisans are issued hyper-chic black uniforms. Those who work in ateliers where shards of steel are flying around are decked out in metallic aprons that practically scream “Paco Rabanne.”

Almost like a feudal guild, the team spirit is tangible at Forge de Laguiole. Some employees prefer to specialize in one aspect of production while others enjoy contributing a panoply of different skills. Like Jedi knights fashioning their own light sabers, all employees, even those in administrative posts, learn to assemble a pocket knife in a rite of passage.

Once you’ve watched the welders, woodworkers and polishers at work, you’ll retreat to the boutique and examine the merchandise with even greater respect. In addition to producing traditional knives and corkscrews with the totemic bumblebee insignia (which local legend associates, apparently erroneously, with Napoleon Bonaparte’s appreciation of the town residents), Forge de Laguiole has enlisted contemporary design icons for unique cutlery. Among them, Jean-Michel Wilmotte designed knives with sleek acrylic resin handles in six fluorescent colors and Andrée Putman styled matte-finish knives with cylindrical, Art Deco-ish ebony or ash handles.

While the three-part Laguiole knife can still be found, there’s less of a call for a trocar, but modern consumers may want a specialized gourmet knife. To satisfy them, La Forge de Laguiole has worked closely with Michelin-starred chefs such as Sebastien Bras, Anne-Sophie Pic, Cyril Lignac and Gérald Passédat on specific products. This has allowed the Forge de Laguiole artisans to solve some of the thornier cutlery conundrums of the 21st century by creating, for example, a knife that can cleanly slice soft goat cheese and another for your millefeuille pastry.

There is no governmental, regional or artisanal certification connected with Laguiole knives, so at present it is perfectly legal to sell a “Laguiole” knife that was fully or partially manufactured overseas. Contrary to popular belief in many collectible sites, that bumblebee over the hinge is not a trademark guarantee. So while there’s currently no such thing as a counterfeit Laguiole, there’s a certain authenticity to have one made in the town of Laguiole.

The direction of La Forge fashions all parts of its knives on the premises and would like to see a strict regulation for regional production, as would the other Laguiole ateliers in town. Several other thriving ateliers creating both traditional and contemporary cutlery also offer tours.

Forge de Laguiole. Route de l’Aubrac, BP 9. 12210 Laguiole. Tel.: 05.65.48.43.34. La Forge de Laguiole also has boutiques in Paris (29 rue Boissy d’Anglas, 8th arr.), Toulouse (24 rue des Arts) and Rodez (3 rue Pénavayer).

Laguiole Tourist Office. Place de la Mairie, 12210 Laguiole. Tel.: 05 65 44 35 94. They also provide information about visiting the surrounding zone of Aubrac.

Food & Lodging

In Laguiole, Sebastian Bras presides over a luxury hotel complex, whose kitchen has fluctuated between two and three Michelin stars ever since his father created the now legendary gargouillou, a salad that resembles a flower arrangement. It’s one of the vegan gourmet musts of France. It may be even harder to procure a table at the family-run, roadside diner Le Relais de la Vitarelle in Montpeyroux, where Laurent Falguier’s short-but-sweet daily menu is almost sure to include tender Aubrac steak, the house charcuterie and creamy, cheese-laced Aligot mashed potatoes. LaBa Hôtel (Laguiole/Buenos Aires), has four cozy bedrooms and a tiny restaurant with a killer wine-list.

To learn about Laguiole cheese, visit the cheerful Jeune Montagne Co Op where it’s made. Marcillac is the local wine, made with the fer servadou (aka mansois) grape varietal. It’s a hearty, spicy red wine that stands up to local rustic fare.

Getting There

If you aren’t already on an exploration of the deep center of France, traveling to Laguiole is a commitment that will entail some mountain driving. The nearest city is Rodez, 33 miles southwest, capital of Aveyron, a department in the Occitania region. Setting out for Rodez from Paris by train would take some grit since it’s nearly a seven-hour ride. If looking to reach Aveyron directly from Paris, consider instead a cheerful airline named Amelia after the pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart, whose plane disappeared somewhere over the South Pacific in 1937, to whisk you to Rodez from Orly Airport in roughly an hour. (Rodez is home to the Soulages Museum, a destination in its own right, dedicated to the work of France’s most celebrated living artist, who turned 100 in December 2019. An article about the museum and the artist will be published soon on France Revisited.)

Alternative starting points for an approach to Laguiole are Toulouse to the southeast, Montpellier to the southwest and Clermont-Ferrand to the north. Laguiole is a 2-3-hour drive from any of those cities, though there is so many rural and small-town discoveries to be made along the way that the drive is more likely to take a few days.

© 2020, Corinne LaBalme for France Revisited.

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A public organization named La Réunion des Musées Nationaux et du Grand Palais (RMN-GP) is behind the commercialization of these products as part of their extensive mission within France’s national museum system.

The RMN was created in 1895 to gather and manage funds for the acquisition of works of art to enrich the national collections. Renamed the RMN-GP when the exhibition hall Grand Palais came under its wings, it now oversees 32 national museums including 20 in Paris and the Paris region, plus the Paris the Grand Palais and the Palais de la Porte Dorée exhibition space.

Commercial activities have long been a part of its mission. From its creation, the RMN sold products of the Louvre’s engraving and molding workshops. In the 1930s it began creating post cards, catalogues and guidebooks. Since 1993 it has taken on a more industrial-commercial approach as museum shops expanded in both space and financial importance within the museum system. While still tasked with making acquisitions of artwork as well as organizing temporary exhibitions, managing visitors and publishing catalogues, the RMN-GM currently oversees 34 museum shops.

And now, for your holiday shopping, you don’t even have to get near a museum to purchase some of the RMN-GP’s museum-inspired souvenirs, including items from contemporary designers and creators. In addition to an e-boutique, a selection of products from France’s national museums are available at a pop-up boutique in Paris at 9 rue de Rivoli (metro Saint Paul) until January 5, 2020.

Which bring us to Louvre Monopoly,

Marie-Antoinette and French princess beauty kits,

serving trays on which the Mona Lisa stands on a balcony with the Eiffel Tower behind her and Madame Récamier reclines on a Paris park bench,

Pompon’s panther,

Basquiat skateboards,

Liberté and 1789 t-shirts,

and I Louvre You teddy bears.

Don’t lose heart, art Louvres, the museums themselves are still there.

Text and photos © 2019, Gary Lee Kraut

The post Cute, Kitsch and Tacky Gifts from France’s National Museums appeared first on France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France.

No need for discretion. France recently marked the 50th anniversary of its law authorizing the sale and use of contraceptives. Adopted in December 1967, it is known as the Neuwirth Law, after Member of Parliament Lucien Neuwirth. Neuwirth had fought for nearly a decade beforehand for the right to contraceptive use, supporting and supported by the Family Planning Movement.

That movement was created in 1956 under the name La Maternité Heureuse (Happy Motherhood). In 1960 it was renamed Mouvement Français pour Le Planning Familial (French Movement for Family Planning), or Le Planning Familial (Family Planning) for short. Family Planning and its motto Liberté, Egalité, Sexualité gained visibility and strength as the 1960s progressed. Liberté, Egalité, Sexualité, now there’s a good reason for all of us to get in touch with our inner Parisienne.

The postal service commemorated the law’s 50th anniversary with a stamp dedicated to Neuwirth and showing three ages of women. The image of the three women is a stylized version of a prominent Family Planning poster of 1978 which bore the words “un enfant… si je veux… quand je veux” (a child… if I want… when I want.).

The Neuwirth Law primarily aimed to overturn the Law of 1920 that prohibited any action, advertisement or propaganda in favor of abortion or contraception. That post-war law had been passed on the premise that, with some 1.4 million French war dead, laws preventing further depopulation trumped a woman’s or a couple’s right to choose. So while the pill, that great liberating force in the sexual revolution, had been a hit in the United States since the early 1960s, it couldn’t play that role in France as long as the earlier law stood guard.

(As an interesting contrast on the timeline of nations, 1920 is the year that women obtained the right to vote in the U.S.; it took another world war for women in France to be granted that right, first exercised during the elections of 1945. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood remains under attack in the U.S..)

Abortion was legalized by the Veil Law of January 1975, put forth by then-health minister Simone Veil. Since 2001 abortion has been allowed until 12 weeks of pregnancy and parental authorization for minors is no longer required.

The pill remains queen despite waning influence

In France, according to a research paper published (in English) to coincide with the 50th anniversary, 83% of women of childbearing age use contraception. A 2014 U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) brief indicates that 62% of American women ages 15 to 44 use contraception.

Whereas, according to the French paper, 43% percent of contraception in United States involves sterilization (tubular occlusion for women, vasectomy for men), with about third being male sterilization, only 5% of contraception in France involves sterilization, with the percentage of male sterilization being negligible. The CDC brief gives different figures for the U.S. but nevertheless finds female sterilization (15.5%) nearly on par with use of the pill (16% in terms of percentage). Vasectomy (male sterilization) is not covered in that brief but where elsewhere reported the number performed in the U.S. is significantly higher than in France.

The pill, by contrast, is by far the contraceptive method of choice in France as it represents more than 40% of all contraceptive method use. That, however, represents about a 20% decrease over the past decade, with the initial decline largely attributed to the possible risks associated with recent generations of the pill.

The French health system supports contraception: implants, IUDs, diaphragms and some contraceptive pills are reimbursable (65%) through the national system, as is access to the morning-after pill. Those same contraceptive methods and the corresponding medical consultation (doctor’s office, school infirmary) are free to minors of at least 15, without need for parental notification.

In France, male condom use (often combined with female oral contraception) has increased since the HIV epidemic in the 1980s, representing about 15%. Condoms are non-reimbursable but are rather inexpensive.

Women who have left their oral contraceptive at home when traveling abroad to France would typically need to see a doctor for a prescription. A pharmacist, however, might help, particularly with the morning-after pill, called la pilule du lendemain or la contraception d’urgence in French

If you or your partner has packed FDA-approved condoms, rest assured that they will make it through customs even if they don’t bear the EU stamp of approval. But why ruin the fun of shopping overseas.

The Condom King, Le Roi de la Capote

The French word for a condom is un preservatif or, colloquially, une capote. (It used to be more commonly called une capote anglaise or English bonnet/hood/overcoat, as the English, upholding their side of tit-for-tat terminology, would refer to a condom as a French letter or French tickler for the fanciful kind).

The word condom will likely be understood in Paris, but ask for a condom in southwest France and you risk being given directions to the charming town of the same name, in Armagnac country, midway between Bordeaux and Toulouse. Condom the town would rather that travelers associate it with the architectural appeal of its cathedral and cloister and with the culinary and cultural appeal of Gascony rather than with French letters, though many an English-speaking traveler has undoubted entered the town on the snick of its name alone.

The town aside, France’s premier destination for all things condom is in Paris and online at Le Roi de la Capote, the Condom King, a shop created and owned by Marc Pointel. Pointel opened Le Roi de la Capote as an online shop in 2005 and eight years later opened a brick-and-mortar, rather a latex-and-gel shop in Paris’s 11th arrondissement. Seventy percent of its sales are online, while it’s the 30% of in-store sales that Pointel sees as a sign of its success. The store is located at 106 boulevard Richard Lenoir in the 11th arrondissement.

This is not a sex shop. It is a bright, open, come-one-come-all parapharmacie, a type of shop that sells health products but not medication.

Classic mass-market condoms are no more expensive here than in any grocery store in Paris (the other place to purchase them, along with pharmacies and parapharmacies), perhaps even less as is the case if you wish to stock up on a 300-pack at 0.10€ per condom for the traveling optimist or that special New Year’s party. (Note: condoms typically carry a 5-year expiration date.) Single condoms are sold for as little as 0.20€. The most expensive condoms here come out to about 1.50€ each. A small price to pay, says Pointel, for the serenity of knowing that you and your partner are protected, not planning on conceiving just then, and having great pleasure.

The French nevertheless complain about condom prices, Pointel notes, because they don’t like to pay for anything medical related.

The Condom King is the exclusive retailer in France of My One Perfect Fit (formerly They Fit) condoms, an American brand that comes in 56 sizes. A paper ruler is available to properly measure oneself or one’s partner (at home). Various types of lubricants are also available as are hygiene products and massage oils. You’ll also find some a few playful objects, including cheering but non-protective condoms (seen at top of article), such as an Eiffel Tower condom, perhaps something to offer one’s lover as a way of saying “we’ll always have Paris… without STDs.” See the website the list of products sold by the King.

While the items sold at the Condom King may lead to good fun between the sheets, Pointel recognizes their role—and his own—in helping to promote sexual health. Furthermore, the condom, since it involves at least two people, has a social role, even if that role presents itself intimately between the two. “The condom,” he says, “is the tree that hides the forest [of many public health issues].”

Erectile and other sexual problems and concerns have many roots, he says, and the best place to start is by having someone to speak with about it. “I manage to destress those who are stressed when they enter,” he says. Indeed, Pointel has the assured sense of humor to help put anxious clients at ease and the proper discretion to allow those entering the king’s domain to shop unassisted if they prefer.

He tells of an athlete in his twenties who said that condoms keep him from having an erection and a 30-year-old woman (20% of his clients are women) who said that she’d never had an organism. “It takes nerve to say that,” he says, “and once said it should be discussed.”

Even for online sales, Pointel says, many people will call before ordering, and their calls often fall into a “grey zone” between requests for purchasing advice, as other merchants might receive, and requests for information about sexual health. While he cannot by law physically examine or diagnose clients, he recognizes that during such calls or in-store conversation, the individual is seeking a form of consultation, speaking of matters that he or she may not yet have broached with a medical professional or a therapist. He fully accepts his role in listening to the individual’s symptoms and complaints and in suggesting, nudging or guiding the person, if possible, to speak with a medical or therapy specialist, or simply to correct any sexual myths or misconceptions.

(Pointel isn’t always at the front of the shop since his office and storage facility for online orders are in the back. While his assistants are quite capable, those looking for advice shouldn’t hesitate to ask if he is available. He’s fluent in English.)

Recognizing his unique position on the frontline of health issues, Pointel, who had previously studied sexology, recently completed further studies in sexual health. In June 2017 he obtained a University Degree (D.U. in French—a type of master’s degree) in the matter from the Paris-Diderot Medical School. His thesis was entitled “How and within what limits does a related and specialized parapharmacy participate in the promotion of sexual health? Practical situations and ethical questions.”

Unfortunately, he says, “the Anglo-Saxon puritanism of the major players of the Internet (GAFAM: Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft)” consider Le Roi de la Capote’s website as an “adult site” or an “adults only site,” meaning that it may assimilated with pornography.

“We’re considered to be selling ‘adult products’ whereas the condom is a key element of public health,” he says. “It’s also a tool that should be associated with pleasure. We need to ‘re-eroticize’ the condom. Thinking only in terms of protection can cause stress, and we don’t make love when we’re stressed.”

But the Condom King can only do so much for the sex lives of our perfect pouty-lipped Parisienne. La Parisienne has a lot going for her, says Pointel, “but the mouth is the first sex organ that one encounters, and she doesn’t smile enough.”

Le Roi de la Capote, 106 boulevard Richard Lenoir, 11th arr. Metro Oberkampf or Parmentier. Tel. 01 42 38 60 40. Closed Sunday.

© 2018, Gary Lee Kraut

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By Gary Lee Kraut and C. C. Bell

Partly sunny with a few dark clouds – that’s both the day’s weather and the mood of la flâneuse as she dresses for a day of idle wandering about the city. She’d like to get over to the Luxembourg Garden to see the tulips at some point in the afternoon, but she has no set schedule, no firm plans. She’ll do what she does, see what she sees.

Fresh from the shower she opens the top lingerie drawer of the dresser bought last fall at the neighborhood vide-grenier (garage sale). It’s a Made-in-France day, she thinks, a never-know-who-you’ll-find, never-know-who-you’ll-come-across day.

She smiles as she selects the comfortable Madame Aime (7 Fashion) mesh hipsters with lace trim, smiles as she recalls buying them as much for the look as for the name of the brand. Aime, pronounced like her first initial. This is Aime’s day, she thinks. She feels too nude in the matching bra so she chooses a simpler, blue Madame Aime triangle.

The flaneuse opens her Ikea closet. Feeling both insouciant and determined she takes out her new pair of Terre des Anges (Kiplay) jeans.

To break them in, she thinks. She crouches down, as though to get close to the tulips, to see how the jeans feel. Just fine.

Light pink cardigan, decides the flaneuse. She puts it on. Then, opening the window and putting her hand outside, she recalls the saying En avril ne te découvre pas d’un fil (in April be wary removing too much thread). She’ll hold off on the cardigan until a sunnier day, or until May, when you fais ce qu’il te plaît (do what pleases you). The grey and ivory Chasse Marée (Bonneterie Dupé) pullover will work well today. Work: she laughs at the thought of the word as she pulls the sweater over her head.

Looking in the mirror above the dresser she admires the way the grey and ivory pullover casually shows off her figure (enough, but not too much to be bothered). The sun the dissipates behind a cloud, stealing light from the room. I need some color, she thinks.

She tries on a scarf. No, replies the mirror, too winter. A beret? No, replies the mirror, too… intentional. Several umbrellas hang from the coat stand which she inherited the former renter. That’s it, she thinks, my fuchsia and navy blue striped Pierre Vaux umbrella, practical yet suave on a you-never-know walk-about day like today.

La flâneuse goes into the living room and stands back from the ornately framed mirror above the chimney (circa 1890). She holds the umbrella against her chest like a sword. Perfect. Ready to rumble, she thinks, or at least amble. Only then does she look down at her feet and laughs at herself for having left them undressed.

Is it too early in the season to wear her Mangalani sandals?, she thinks. Oh, but the butterfly leather reminds her of a palate of spring flowers. In April, be wary of removing too much thread, goes the saying, but removing a bit of leather, why not! She take her sandals from the bookcase in her hallway, and with it her Mangalani purse.

Fatimata Soumare, Parisian designer of the confidential line of Mangalani sandals, ballerinas and purses, is a solo entrepreneur. Unlike the others mentioned here she came to the field not by following in the footsteps of her parents but by departing from the footsteps of her fellow lawyers.

One last look in the mirror and la flâneuse is ready to stroll, to wander, to idle, and to follow her nose, her eyes, her intuition, with the vague notion that she will eventually reach the Luxembourg Garden, to see the tulips in bloom.

© 2017, Gary Lee Kraut / C.C. Bell

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“I’m just a result,” she says while outlining the family history in gemstones since the 17th century. The family long lived in the last valley of Jura before the Swiss border. Her grandfather left the valley for Paris, where in 1929 he created a workshop for cutting colored gemstones.

“As a little girl I was surrounded by things that glimmer,” she says.

She recalls the excitement in the family workshop and at home with the approach of the imperial coronation in 1967 of Shabanu (Empress) Farah Palavi, wife of the last Shah of Iran. Langlois was 12 at the time and some of the gemstones intended to decorate the empress during the ceremony came from their workshop.

Langlois has remained true to the family niche of colored gemstones and claims to work with the widest variety of stones on rue de la Paix. Rue de la Paix and Place Vendôme do indeed form a rather diamond- and crystal-studded runway. “What I know how to do best is work with an assortment of colors,” she says.

She has a particular affection for floral themes—flowers and bouquets that don’t fade—with a good deal of butterflies and angel also present in recent collections. She says that she especially enjoys working with sapphire, with the padparadscha, a rare orange-to-pink variety, being her “ultra.”

She purchases many of her stones from a brother who operates a gemstone cutting workshop in Thailand. Another brother operates a workshop n Paris.

After working as a jewelry designer for a variety of other houses she began selling her creations under her own name in 1998. Her collections are now available in 24 countries, including the US, Canada and the UK. Asia has become her largest market. Langlois’s ambition is global yet she thinks of her own creative spirit as remaining very French, and particularly Parisian in its search for balance and elegance. “We,” meaning Parisians, “have plenty of flaws,” she says, “but at least we have that,” meaning balance and eleganc.

Langlois’s haute-couture approach doesn’t launch prices into the stratosphere, particularly since she doesn’t focus on work with diamonds. Her windows in the courtyard off rue de la Paix show pieces mostly in the 500 to 5000€ range (about $700-7000), along with some high-priced creations. Or as she says, “I make jewelry at the price of a very nice dress.”

The small shop and showroom are open to the public during normal business hours. Because of the international scope of her business Langlois isn’t always present though, so to have the pleasure of meeting in person this amiable creator of fine jewelry it’s best to make an appointment.

Isabelle Langlois, 12 rue de la Paix, 2nd arrondissement. Metro Opéra. Tel. 01 42 46 75 00. For locations worldwide where Isabelle Langlois jewelry is available and to contact by e-mail see www.isabellelanglois.com.

© 2014, Gary Lee Kraut

Map

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In 1912, dance fanatics flocked to the Théâtre du Châtelet to watch Vaslav Nijinski and Tamar Karsavina of the Ballets Russes perform new-fangled ballets like Firebird and Spectre de la Rose. During intermission, bemused spectators would thumb through elaborate programs for Cocteau’s take on what it was about.

Parisian couturier Jean Doucet chose this historic venue to premiere an All-About-Avian Spring/Summer 2013 haute couture collection that didn’t need any footnotes.

With Irina Kolesnikova of the Saint Petersbourg Ballet making a star pirouette on the runway, fashionistas checked out a Very Vogue Version of Swan Lake.

In Doucet’s re-staging, good girl Odette snags the guy since Irina got to wear the feathered wedding dress in the finale—although, come to think of it, back-stabbing Odile was also invited to the party.

Far, far from the avenue Montaigne crowds, Jean Doucet’s salon adds a spark of glam to ever-so-slowly gentrifying Bercy district at 6 rue Jean Renoir in the 12th arrondissement.

© 2013, Corinne LaBalme

Corinne LaBalme, a Paris-based writer, journalist and editor, is currently working on development of a series life-style documentaries for Muses Productions.

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In an area that was once a hub of silver- and goldsmith works in Paris in the 19th century and beyond, only Lapparra maintains the tradition of creation and high craftsmen that are the duel hallmarks of the field—doing so at the same address since its founding in 1893.

While most other shops offering such high-end work in Paris are located in the 8th and 1st arrondissements, Lapparra is easily missed among the schlock jewelry shops that define commerce on this stretch of rue du Temple.

The shop feels as out of time as it does out of place. Various pieces may have an echo of Napoleon’s Josephine or of a Tsar or of Arabian night, and there might be a hint of Art Deco or of Art Nouveau or of your grandmother’s cutlery, however Lapparra doesn’t set out to create period pieces but rather to uphold classic spirit of the exacting marriage of high design and fine craftsmanship.

Olivier Gaube du Gers is the man behind the 21st-century revival of Lapparra. He bought the company in 1998 with the intent of reaffirming both the artistry and savoir faire of its creations.

“We aren’t only artists,” he says, “we want to maintain the trades that allow that artistry to be expressed.”

Wearing his signature bowtie and dandy smile, Mr. Gaube du Gers appears as at ease among the tapping, turning, firing, and precision pointing of his workshop as he does when presenting the final product to demanding buyers, or at least when showing those products to journalists.

Silver is the primary material used at Lapparra, but gold, crystal, porcelain, precious stones, and bronze are also employed here to make vases, cutlery, candlesticks and candelabras, dishware, trophies, and other ornamental pieces. Lapparra’s website shows some of the exquisite creations of silverware, tableware and decorative accessories.

Lapparra’s creations are designed to grace tables but its most publicly viewed works are the trophies lifted and embraced by winners of prestigious sporting events in France: Roland Garros (the French Open tennis tournament), the Le Mans 24-hour auto race, and the Grand Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe horserace, among others.

The famous Roland Garros salad bowl trophy, so frequently kissed in recent years by Rafael Nadal, was created by Lapparra in 1981. Under Mr. Gaube du Gers’ stewardship Lapparra’s workshop has also produced the exact copy of the bowl that’s used for creating the tournament draw and it continues to produce the exact reduced-size versions of the trophies that the winners take home.

Lapparra is by far the lesser known of the top-of-the-line smithing houses in its field in France. Another smithing house that was also founded in the Marais (in 1820) and has since moved into chicer quarters, isPuirforcat, which has its showroom at 48 avenue Gabriel in the 8th arrondissement and now belongs to Hermes.

Closer to Mr. Gaube du Gers’ heart is the grand old sliver- and goldsmith house Odiot, founded in 1690. Not only did Mr. Gaube du Gers get his start in the business of fine tableware and decorative accessories at Odiot but Odiot once belonged to him, and before him his father.

Mr. Gaube du Gers the elder had purchased that venerable house in 1973 and, in 1974 he asked his son, otherwise schooled as an architect, to come work with him for a short time. That short time turned into a lifelong calling, with Mr. Gaube du Gers eventually taking over Odiot on his father’s death. A series of events, including a devastating robbery at Odiot’s showroom by the Madeleine in 1993 and the opening of the Odiot’s capital to investors, led to Mr. Gaube du Gers’ departure from the company in 1996.

(Odiot now belongs to the holding company Investors in Private Equity (IPE) via the Compagnie Européene de Luxe et Traditions (CELT). The Odiot shop is located at 7 place de la Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement.)

After a brief stint as artistic director at Daum, the luxury crystal maker, Mr. Gaube du Gers seized on the opportunity to return to his core interests in artistry and craftsmanship with the purchase of Lapparra in 1998.

Puirforcat and Odiot naturally have a more worldwide presence through shops in major capitals. Nevertheless, 70% of Lapparra’s production is exported. In 2005 Lapparra received the prize for “best creativity” by the French Exporters Club.

Lapparra, 157 rue du Temple, 3rd arrondissement. Tel 01 42 72 16 20. www.lapparra.com. You may not immediately notice the sign for Lapparra but will surely see the sign ORFEVRE, meaning goldsmith/silversmith, over the entrance at the back of the courtyard. While Lapparra’s showroom/shop is open to the public, this is largely a house for connoisseurs and clients of prestige. Feel free to stop by, but if interested in customized work it’s best to call ahead to make an appointment either by calling ahead or through the contact form on their website.

© 2010, Gary Lee Kraut

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Even when historians speak of Alsace-Lorraine they’re mainly speaking of the former, since all of Alsace was included in that once-disputed region but only a part of Lorraine.

Furthermore, there isn’t much of the way of distinctive Lorraine cuisine to promote outside of the region. Even in Paris, the only mention of Lorraine that you’ll ever find on a menu is quiche Lorraine.

Unlike L’Alsace, a winning, cliché-heavy restaurant on the Champs-Elysées that does an excellent job of promoting Alsatian cuisine, the brasserie La Lorraine, off the Champs on Place des Ternes, ignores its namesake in favor of brassy, upscale Parisian brasserie fare. And along the street in front of Paris’s Gare de l’Est, the East Station, from where trains to Alsace and Lorraine depart, the brasserie La Strasbourgeoise (named for the capital of Alsace) is another good choice for Alsatian fare while Le Bistro Lorrain is a…. pizzeria.

Truth be told, there isn’t much in the way of Lorraine cuisine even within the region, where the harsh soil has allowed for little culinary fantasy beyond pork dishes, including the pork-and-cabbage stew/potée Lorraine, and the famous, bacon-enhanced quiche Lorraine. There’s a good amount of perch and trout from the rivers but no special fish dish that has left a mark outside of the region. And with all due respect for its wine (vin gris de Toul and Moselle), its local beer-making traditions, and its spring water from Vittel, none of those drinks is cause alone to travel, as satisfying as they may be.

Lorraine as a name remains unevocative in part due to the historical incongruence of its cities: there’s photogenic Nancy, marked by Renaissance flourish, 18th-century refinement, and Art Nouveau curves; there’s Metz, which brings together French classicism and German monumentalism; there’s Verdun, which calls to mind the horror and sacrifice of the trenches of WWI. Each of those worthy destinations (to be explored in future articles in the Northeast France section this site) is easily accessible from Paris. Since 2007 high-speed trains from Paris can rush a traveler to Nancy or Metz in 1:30 or to Verdun in 1:40, but it’s unlikely that the traveler will think of himself as going to Lorraine but rather to Nancy or Metz or Verdun.

Nevertheless, inside Paris’s Gare de l’Est the boutique En passant par la Lorraine… attempts to evoke an unevocative region with what little there is to unify it: the mirabelle plum and a 16th century folk song.

En passant par la Lorraine is the name of that song. It’s a little ditty about a woman passing through Lorraine in her clogs and it has given the shop its name and its kitsch little clogs for sale. The mirabelle plum has given it most everything else.

If visiting France anytime mid-August through September, be sure to put on your list of food experiences a trip to any market to pick up some mirabelles, sweet yellow-golden plums that are likely to come from Lorraine, which assures about 80% of the world production. Also keep an eye out for mirabelle tarts in the bakeries.

Since En passant par la Lorraine… doesn’t sell fresh produce, you won’t find any fresh mirabelles here, or even a mirabelle tart, but you will find most anything else imaginable one can do with mirabelles. You’ll find them in jams, in preserved terrines, in canned stews, in mustard, in soap, in biscuits, in chocolate, in candy, in liqueur, in beer, and in brandy.

Two other traditional dry cakes from the region decorate the colorful shelves in this shop, Madeleines de Commercy and Marcarons des Soeurs, along with regional beer and brandy (eaux-de-vie), jams and preserves made from other regional fruits (particularly blueberries/myrtilles), and various fruit-flavored bon-bons (notably bergamots de Nancy), all with a regional bent.

For heated and/or refrigerated regional fare, you’ll have to go across the street from the train station and one region to the east to the deli-caterer Schmid, which considers itself “The ambassador of Alsatian gastronomy in Paris since 1904.” There you’ll find the staples of Alsatian culinary regional identity: choucroute (sauerkraut, served with potatoes and a choice of sausages, bacon, and/or pork), kuglehopf (a molded cake with raisins), Munster cheese, and strudel. Though 400,000 of Lorraine’s Mirabelle trees are “protected” by the appellation “Mirabelle de Lorraine,” plums don’t stop at the regional border, so Schmid offers the aforementioned mirabelle tarts. Canal Saint-Martin, a 10-minute walk from here, is the place of choice for a picnic in the area.

Both Lorraine and Alsace are known for their Christmas markets, which begin around December 6, the Feast of Saint Nicolas. An alleged relic of Saint Nicolas, his phalanx, was brought from Italy in the late 11th century to the Lorraine town that now goes by the name Saint Nicolas de Port. Eventually Nick was named patron saint of Lorraine. It’s nevertheless neighboring Alsace, evocative as it is, that most highly promotes its Christmas markets. In December stalls selling Alsatian food and products are set up in front of Gare de l’Est, led by sausages, Gewürztraminers, and Rieslings.

Lorraine is far more discreet. So the shop En passant par la Lorraine… is your best bet for information—and at least some bon-bons—if curious about the region or before taking the train east. Chances are 50-50 that you’ll come across manager Jean-Paul Lacroix, himself an excellent ambassador from the region. He can tell you (in English) the history of these various products, such as how candy made from bergamot oranges from Sicily came to be used in a specialty of Nancy. If asked politely, he might even sing a little song, as he did for me: En passant par la Lorraine/Avec mes sabots… oh oh oh, avec mes sabots.

© 2009, Gary Lee Kraut

Practical information

-Boutiques

En passant par la Lorraine… Gare de l’Est, 10th arr. Metro Gare de l’Est. Tel. 01 40 35 47 80. Open Mon.-Sat. 7am-8pm. En passant… has other shops, all in the Lorraine region.

Schmid 76 boulevard de Strasbourg, 10th arr. Metro Gare de l’Est. Tel. 01 46 07 89 74. Open Mon.-Fri. 9am-8pm, Sat. 8:30am-8pm.

-Restaurants

La Strasbourgeoise 5 rue du 8 mai 1945, 10th arr. Metro Gare de l’Est. Tel. 01 42 05 20 02. Open daily noon to midnight.

L’Alsace 39 avenue des Champs-Elysées, 8th arr. Metro Franklin D. Roosevelt. Tel 01 53 93 97 00.  Open 24/7.

La Lorraine 2 place des Ternes, 8th arr. Metro Ternes. Tel. 01 56 21 22 00. Open 7am-1am.

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July 2009 – My favorite little shop in Paris, Plaques & Pots, one of the last living vestiges of the historical belly of Paris that was the Les Halles Quarter recently closed.

It had been a long time coming–rather, going. Selling enamel plaques, enamel street numbers, butcher’s paper and pottery handmade upstairs had some time been an anomaly in an quarter otherwise devoted to cafés, clubs, restaurants, and mass fashion. I stopped by to see owner and friend Josette Samuel, below, as she got ready to move on.

Her shop was one of the last authentic remnants of Les Halles, even if for some time already it had been a vision of the passing of time in the quarter as it pursued its drive to urban uniformity.

The wholesale and retail food industry left this area for modern installations in Rungis, south of Paris, in 1969, so the goods sold here long ago lost their place at Les Halles. Still, I’ve to got applaud her stubborn gumption in taking over in 2004 the shop at 12 rue de la Ferronerie formerly called Papeterie Moderne and trying to make a go of selling old-fashion practical-cum-decorative products in a space that’s probably smaller than your kitchen.

At Plaques & Pots Josette sold antique street numbers…

old street signs (left) and even old butcher’s paper (right) that she inherited from the previous owners.

Josette added her own clay pottery to the mix. Knowing that I’ve always been a fan of this shop, both in her hands and in those of the prior owners (whom I first interviewed in 1991), Josette gave me this green pot as a farewell-to-the-boutique gift. Handmade in the Les Halles Quarter.

Several other vestiges of Les Halles from its by-gone centuries as the center of the food trade in Paris continue to hold their own. Among them:
– E. Dehillerin, a family-operated store for kitchen and pastry utensils and cookware, 18-20 rue Coquillière.
– La Poule au Pot, a bistro with a décor dated 1935, serving traditional rustic fare including one of the best onion soup’s in Paris, 9 rue Vauvilliers.

– Julien Aurouze, a family-run pest exterminator that was trapping rats around Les Halles as early as 1872, 8 rue des Halles. Those are sewer rats caught in the quarter in 1925 hanging in the window on the right below.

The oldest and most lasting of the remnant of historical Les Halles is the Church of Saint Eustache, 1532-1640, which may well be the most under-visited, touristically speaking, of the major churches of Paris. It’s a Renaissance church within a Gothic body with great accoustics for its famous organ.

The enormous proportions of its interior are worth a look, but I’ve come here today to photograph one of the most endearing church sculptures in Paris, “Departure of the Fruits and Vegetables from the Heart of Paris 28 February 1969” by Raymond Mason.

“Departure” (completed in 1971) is so fitting at Saint-Eustache not only because the central food market that had existed since the Middle Ages was the raison d’être for the church but because this is a wonderful sculptural retelling of Paradise Lost, the departure from the Garden of Eden. (Also reminiscent of the departure from Anatevka at the end of Fiddler on the Roof.) Or, as the sculptor has written of that departure 40 years ago, “It’s the man of the Middle Ages that’s leaving.”

Plaques & Pots, formerly Papeterie Moderne, now joins the procession in the departure of signs and numbers from the heart of Paris July 2009.

Wishing Josette all the best in her future endeavors.

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