Monday, April 19, 2010
Survey for Lovers of Vancouver, BC
Friday, April 16, 2010
April in Paris
I have been obsessed with finding miniatures and craft shops in Paris, and have so far come up with quite a few, but anyone who knows of heretofore undiscovered ones, please let me know.
Here's a preliminary list:
www.dentelles-et-ribambelles.com
(Montmartre)
6, Rue Trois Frères
75018 Paris, France
(+33) 01 42 54 20 72
Specializes in miniature musical instruments
http://www.emmaflam-miniman.com/
The most amazingly lifelike cakes, cookies and accoutrements. HOW do they get that convincing texture on their madeleines, for example?
3 r Louvre 75001 PARIS
(+33) 01 43 54 01 43
fax : .01 43 54 90 58
29 rue des deux ponts
Paris 75004
www.lileflottant.com
chocolates, miniatures -- the best in Paris, actually
(+33) 01 40 01 08 09
6 Rue Fabre d'Eglantine
75012 Paris, France
www.paindepices.fr
29, Passage Jouffroy
75009 Paris, France
(+33) 01 47 70 08 68
Specializes in dollhouse furniture, electrical items, plumbing and décor items. When you ask about miniatures, almost everyone mentions Pain d'épice.
And I recently found a few miniatures -- actually more of the scrapbooking kind -- at Le Bonheur des Dames. I will add more info when I have downloaded my photos. This place -- on rue Desmesnil under the arches of the old aquaduct -- mainly has a wonderful collection of ribbon and supplies for embroidery.
City destroys harmless trees!
Last month's tempete in Vancouver, knocked down quite a few trees, notably the one pictured here, which fell across East 12th Avenue. Fortunately, no one was hurt -- and because the tree landed on another tree across the street, even the house shown in the background was spared damage.
But -- upon inspection a couple of days later -- it turns out that the City of Vancouver took the opportunity to cut down two OTHER trees. Apparently, they used the excuse that these trees also represented a threat (even though they did not), but the real reason is that these trees have all ended up being "too close" to the street, so they have been a thorn in the side of City Engineering for ages.
It seems to me that if we have a city law in place to "protect" trees, the law should apply to ALL trees, and not just the ones that do not "insult the sensibilities" of city workers, n'est-ce pas? Especially when we lose trees in Stanley Park and wring our collective hands over the loss. Shame on the City of Vancouver! (And Gregor Robertson is supposed to be such a tree-hugger, too!)
Canada Post offence
In order to expedite a letter's delivery to our recipient, we have learned that the fastest method is to drive all the way into downtown Vancouver and drop the letter right into the mailbox in front of Canada Post's main building on Georgia Street. During the winter games, we were greeted by this annoying sign affixed over the mail slot. No apology.
And to add insult to injury, the powers that be at Canada Post had the nerve to start out with "For your convenience..."
How convenient COULD it be, when the post office is closed?
I rest my case. Gr-r-r-r!