Creative Sanctuary

Finds

Villa Léandre, Will Hardy

By Allison

villa léandreVilla Léandre Road, located in Paris’ 18th arrondissement, sits amidst the bustling hilltop attraction that is Montmartre. Villa Léandre is a relic of the past, as is exemplified by the homey air that its Art Deco style maintains. Renamed in 1936 after the comedian Charles Léandre, the street embodies a bygone era, the Paris of 100 years past. Though Paris and even Montmartre itself have continued to urbanize, Villa Léandre has stayed true to the style of arts décoratifs that originated in France and developed during the 1920’s.

The style of Villa Léandre was once more exemplary of the Montmartre around it, a veritable village some years ago. Indeed, Montmartre was known for its scenic views, vineyards, wineries, small communities, and windmills. Montmartre and Villa Léandre evoked an escape from the city sprawl to something more familiar, more comfortable. Villa Léandre stands as a singular gem maintaining such simultaneous vibrant and sleepy atmospheres, all thanks to the art deco style that characterizes the street.

Art Deco, not to be confused with Art Nouveau, is a French artistic and architectural style that founds its roots in a France fresh off the first World War. It is defined by moderated ornamentation, luxurious materials and craftsmanship, and modern design standards. The brickwork facades and individualized gardens of each house embody the Art Deco style, setting Villa Léandre apart as a representation of the city’s history that has been altogether left behind.

Due to urbanization and modernization, this rich history and these picturesque scenes were lost, replaced by smog and steel, but also by museums and boutiques. While Montmartre has much to offer– the strange cemetery that contains the tomb of famous authors and French figures such as Emile Zola, La Maison Rose, Le Clos de Montmartre which is the one vineyard left within the quartier– there is a certain palpable mystique to the Paris of the past that is preserved within the Villa Léandre Road.

Although the antiquated Art Deco architecture of Villa Léandre embodies some aspects of what one might consider quintessential French style, there is another key aspect of the road that contradicts its French nature. Though Art Deco is French in origin, all the houses lining Villa Léandre are inspired by English themes. Thus, the street is a pastiche of French and English styles, giving it a dual nature. Villa Léandre is at once both French and not French, at the heart of Paris while altogether removed from what Paris has become in the modern day. Villa Léandre occupies a unique place in the French Capital, as it constitutes a rather unknown piece of a Parisian history worth learning.

References

Solosophie. “Villa Léandre: An English-Inspired Art-Deco Street Montmartre.” Solosophie, 2 May 2019, www.solosophie.com/villa-leandre/.

Young, Michelle. “Villa Léandre: An English-Inspired Street in the Heart of Montmartre, Paris.” Untapped New York, 12 July 2013, untappedcities.com/2013/07/12/villa-leandre-english-inspired-street-montmartre-paris/.

“Paris Guide Paristep.” Čeština, www.paristep.com/en/.

“La Villa Léandre, Une Impasse Pittoresque Aux Faux-Airs Britanniques.” Paris ZigZag | Insolite & Secret, www.pariszigzag.fr/balades-excursions/balade-paris/la-villa-leandre-une-impasse-pittoresque-aux-faux-airs-britanniques.

Chriswac. “La Villa Léandre. Montmartre.” Montmartre Secret, Montmartre Secret, 6 Apr. 2017, www.montmartre-secret.com/2017/03/la-villa-leandre.montmartre.html.

Larbordière Jean-Marc. Paris Art déco: L’architecture Des années 20. Massin, 2008.

The Oldest Home in Paris, Joshua Hay

By Allison

auberge Nicolas FlamelToday, Nicolas Flamel may be best known as the supposedly immortal philosopher who plays a key role in the Harry Potter franchise. In real life, his house at 51 rue de Montmorency – la maison de Nicolas Flamel – has gained an immortality of its own as the oldest still-standing house in Paris.

The façade of the building is made up of several doors and windows interspersed with beautifully carved columns. In 1407, when the house was first constructed, one would have been able to see a carving of Nicolas Flamel himself standing next to Jesus Christ. Today, this image has faded away. One can still see ornate images of saints and angels as well as the initials “N.F.”

As for why Nicolas Flamel built the house, the large Middle French inscription running the length of the building’s face provides an answer: We working men and women who live on the porch of this house constructed in the year of our lord 1407 are required by law to say each day one Our Father and one Hail Mary in prayer to our God whose grace pardons our trespasses. Deeply religious and with a bevy of wealth, Nicolas Flamel and his wife Pernelle constructed homes free for use by the city’s poor, with the only requirement being that these people pray to God each day.

The house has lived many lives in the centuries after. At the start of the 20th century, a restoration project was given blessing to repair the building and bring the surviving carvings on the outside walls back to life. The home was named a historical site in 1911. During World War 2, it briefly served as a brothel. In the 80s, it spent time as a disco. Today, one can visit the house of Nicolas Flamel for a delicious meal from the restaurant which operates out of its ground floor.

Beginning in the 17th century, rumors caused by faked manuscripts about Nicolas Flamel would give him a reputation as an alchemist who created the immortality-giving Elixir of Life and was able to create the philosopher’s stone which turns lead to gold. This is certainly the impression the great novelist Victor Hugo had of Flamel, as Hugo became convinced Flamel had visited him in a séance and described what life on Mercury looked like – he also incorporated the alchemist as a worldly detail in his monumental Notre Dame de Paris. This Flamel is unknowable and greedy, always lusting for more gold and more life, yet in the house of Nicolas Flamel, one sees a man of deep selflessness who found a better sort of immortality by reaching out and helping the poor of his city.

References

« La plus vieille maison de Paris » Paris ZigZag : n. pag. Web. 2 Mars 2020. https://www.pariszigzag.fr/secret/histoire–insolite–paris/la–plus–vieille–maison–de–paris

« Histoire de la plus vieille maison de Paris. » Vivre Paris 21 Février 2019 : n. pag. Web. 2 Mars 2020. https://vivreparis.fr/histoire-de-la-plus-vieille-maison-de-paris/

“Victor Huge and Nicolas Flamel.” Victor Hugo Central. n. pag. Web. 11 March 2020. http://www.gavroche.org/vhugo/flamel.shtml

Image Attribution

Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0). 11 March 2020. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auberge_Nicolas_Flamel,_Paris_11_February_2017.jpg

La fontaine Médicis, Laura Godlaski

By Allison

medici fountainTaking its name from the powerful Medici family of Florence, Italy, la fontaine Médicis is a hidden gem nestled in the popular Luxembourg gardens in Paris. Marie de Medici (1575 – 1642), who was the widow of King Henri IV of France, found herself weary of living in the Louvre after her husband’s death.  She decided to have her own palace, Palais des Médicis, constructed (~1623 – 30) on the left bank of the Seine.  Feeling nostalgic for the style of the Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens in her hometown of Florence, she commissioned both her palace and its surrounding gardens to be modeled on this same Italian Renaissance style.

The Fontaine Médicis in her gardens was originally not a fountain but a grotto (a scenic natural or artificial cave, the latter often constructed as a decorative element for a garden), known as La grotte du Luxembourg. It was most likely the work of Tommaso Francini, who had previously built grottos for gardens in Florence, in Rome, and in France for Henry IV.  Marie de Medici particularly adored La grotte de Buontalenti in the Boboli gardens, and so Francini took much of his inspiration from this style, with nymphs as a central feature of the grotto.

medici fountainHowever, much of the original design has been changed or replaced in a number of reconstructions over the years.  These include the change in form from grotto to fountain along with other modifications in 1799 by the celebrated Jean Chalgrin  (1739 – 1811), architect of the Arc de Triomphe.  The most notable changes took place later, between 1864 – 66, when the fountain was moved about 30 meters to its current location in the Luxembourg gardens due to the construction of la rue Médicis.  There, the fountain was extensively rebuilt into the version we see today.  This final construction was based on the designs of Alphonse de Gisors (1796 – 1861), with sculptures by Auguste Ottin (1811 – 90), and contains a number of decorative elements.

The Medici coat of arms is centered on the top exterior panel of the fountain.  Other main features of the fountain Galatée et Acisinclude a central niche featuring Ottin’s statue of Acis holding Galatea, the two lying together under a rock on top of which is perched Polyphemus, ready to launch the stone fated to kill his rival*.  The side niches are decorated with a statue of a faun (probably Pan) and a huntress (probably Diana).  Because the fountain no longer had a “back” once it was moved to its current location, a large bas-relief by Achille Valois (1785 – 1862), featuring Leda with Jupiter transformed into a swan**, was moved from another salvaged fountain (originally at the intersection of the rue du Regard and the rue de Vaugirard) and placed on the new back wall for the Medici fountain.

Original viewers would have likely been familiar with these classical stories, given the revival of classical Roman and Greek myth during the Renaissance and the subsequent popularity of these themes in art and design.

Finally, Alphonse de Gisors also added the long water basin, extending approximately 50 meters from the fountain, and surrounded this basin with vases still in place today and in which are placed colorful flowers according to season.  There are typically more Parisians than tourists who come to relax on the benches here.  La Fontaine Médicis is a tranquil and beautiful place to sit quietly, listen to the soft babble of water, and find a bit of respite from the metropolitan pace of Paris.

*In Greek mythology, the Cyclops Polyphemus was deeply in love with Galatea, a sea nymph; however, she was in love with the young shepherd Acis, and the two used to mock Polyphemus’s songs of love for Galatea.  This statue depicts the moment when Polyphemus catches the lovers sleeping on a hill, just before killing Acis by crushing him under a huge rock. 

**Leda was the beautiful daughter of a king, and her beauty attracted Jupiter/Zeus.  Because Leda had already just been married to another king, however, Jupiter/Zeus decided to turn himself into an alluring swan in order to seduce her. 

References

“La Fontaine Médicis au Jardin du Luxembourg.” Paris 1900 l’art nouveau. pars. 1-2.           www.paris1900.lartnouveau.com/paris06/jardin_du_luxembourg/la_fontaine_medicis.htm. 1 Mar. 2020.

“Le Jardin du Luxembourg: La Fontaine Médicis.” Sénat: un site au service des citoyens. p. 1; all pp. in “Pour aller plus loin.” www.senat.fr/visite/fontaine/index.html 29 Feb. 2020.

“Paris-Insolite: La Fontaine Médicis.” Un jour de plus à Paris. pars. 3-12. www.unjourdeplusaparis.com/paris-insolite/fontaine-medicis  1 Mar. 2020.

Images 

Desmarais, Robert.  Galatée et Acis.JPG. Photo prise à la Fontaine de Médicis, Paris, Created 1 August 2008. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10222872   Wikimedia CommonsRetrieved 11 March 2020.

“Paris-Insolite: La Fontaine Médicis.” Un jour de plus à Paris.  www.unjourdeplusaparis.com/paris-insolite/fontaine-medicis  Published with permission from the website. Two images retrieved 1 Mar. 2020.

Rue des Thermopyles: Paris’ Pastoral Paradox, Meg Whelan

By Allison

rue des thermopylesYou’re strolling on a Sunday afternoon through the 14th arrondissement. As you pass by Pharmacie Didot-Pernety, you make a turn and enter another world. This stretch of plant-adorned, pastel-painted, bicycle-embellished cobblestone is so far from the grime-covered, metro-lined, Seine-smelling city you left behind. You have discovered the paysan within Paris. Welcome to the Rue des Thermopyles.

The street finds its name in an ancient history. Its characteristic narrowness reminded an old quill-wielding Parisian of the tapered passages of the 450 B.C.E. Battle of Thermopylae. And so, this Greek nomenclature wrote its way into the French landscape. The Rue des Thermopyles has been described as a place which lingers in the past and exists outside of the Parisian present. It is the pastoral charm and tranquility of this street which garnered local attention when it was released from private control and made public in 1925. Due to this history, the residential area remains comparatively free of the cafés and shops which clutter every other Parisian street. For a brief 280-meter stretch, your surroundings convince you that you must be in the French countryside.

Yet, on your Sunday afternoon meander, you might notice the ways in which modernity is altering the street’s vintage character. In between the blue, pink and yellow flower boxes, white walls have become the collective canvases for the community’s artists. Miss Tic, the Parisian-born daughter of a Tunisian immigrant and French farmer, is a celebrated feminist graffitist whose compelling work contrasts the pleasant scene of the Rue des Thermopyles. The black-and-white image of a woman with a sword and shield is captioned: “Dépasser le passé. Toute une histoire.” This striking call to arms finds great contrast within its fairytale-like environment.

As you investigate the neighborhood’s street art, be careful! You might accidentally fall prey to the roaming Instagrammer searching the neighborhood for the perfect background to post. The Rue des Thermopyles has become quite the Internet attraction in recent years because of its simultaneous accessibility and foreignness. Just search #ruedesthermopyles, and see for yourself. Is that the back of your head next to the purple heart-shaped door?

References

“La rue des Thermopyles, le charme bucolique du 14e.” Paris Zig Zag. https://www.pariszigzag.fr/balades-excursions/balade-paris/rue-des-thermopyles-le-charme-bucolique-du-14eme

“Paris: Rue des Thermopyles, promenade fleurie et souvenirs du village de Plaisance – XIVème.” Paris la Douce. 1 April 2017. https://www.parisladouce.com/2017/04/paris-la-rue-des-thermopyles-promenade.html.

“Qui est Miss Tic ? Artiste street art ou féministe ?” slave 2.0, 23 January 2017. https://www.slave2point0.com/2017/01/23/qui-est-miss-tic-artiste-street-art-ou-f%C3%A9ministe/.

Vellut, Guilhem. “Rue des Thermopyles @ Paris.” Wikimedia, 14 June 2017. Image. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=20&offset=20&profile=default&search=rue+des+thermopyles&advancedSearch-current=%7B%7D&ns0=1&ns6=1&ns12=1&ns14=1&ns100=1&ns106=1#/media/File:Rue_des_Thermopyles_@_Paris_(35182129971).jpg.

 

 

 

The Covered Passages of Paris

By Allison

galerie vivienneIn spring 2020, my students and I embarked on an exploration of the City of Lights in our Unlocking Paris class.  Each student investigated an aspect of Paris that might not be known to the typical tourist–artistic movements, architecture, and monuments. They then composed blog posts dedicated to their subject, went through peer editing, and finally revisions.  Over the next month, I will feature their insightful, lively work on Creative Sanctuary.  Our hope is to share beautiful Paris with our readers.  I launch the series with my post on Paris’ Covered Passages.  

Airy, glass-ceilinged passages make for some of the most charming and pleasant Paris strolls.  Although the first passages were wooden and appeared at the end of the 18th century, most of them were constructed in the first half of the 19th century.  At the time, the layout of Paris remained essentially medieval—streets were narrow and somewhat difficult to navigate.  The construction of covered passages, connecting two streets and reserved for pedestrians, allowed for easier circulation and provided shelter from inclement weather.  Aesthetically pleasing, the privately owned passages boasted mosaics, murals, spiral staircases, and filtered light.  Covered passages became the height of fashion and of commerce, housing boutiques, restaurants, and even hotels!

Before the 1860s and Haussmann’s urbanization of Paris, there were 55 covered passages.  With the arrival of train stations, department stores and the widening of city streets, they fell out of favor and many were victim to destruction.  Today, 17 covered passages and “galleries” remain.  Especially elegant is the Galerie Vero-Dodat (1826), built in the neoclassic style by a family of successful butchers.  Today this gallery is home to Christian Louboutin’s workshop as well as a Lute-maker.  Another of the most stunning is the Galerie Vivienne (1823), where the bookstore Librarie Jousseaume has operated since 1826.  The Hôtel Chopin is found in The Passage Jouffroy (1847).  Formerly the Hôtel des Familles, Frédéric Chopin and his mistress George Sand used to rendezvous here.

Other passages are less elegant and more economical for Paris wanderers and residents.  The Passage du Caire (1798) is the longest in Paris and until recently was heavily populated with fashion wholesalers.  The Passage Brady (1828) is known as a center for Indian and Pakistani food in Paris.

References

Boyer, Paula.  « Dans les passages couverts de Paris. »  La Croix 20 January 2019 : n. pag. Web.  9 February 2020.  https://www.la-croix.com/Culture/Art-de-vivre/passages-couverts-Paris-2019-01-20-1200996629

Canac, Sybil and Bruno Cabanis.  Passages couverts de Paris.  Issy-les-Moulineaux: Massin, 2011.

Galerie Vivienne.  By David Pendery – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43508185

« Passages & Galeries. »    Web.  9 February 2020.  http://passagesetgaleries.fr/

 

By Allison

creative sanctuary bannerThe joy of the creative process, minute by minute, hour after hour, day by day, is the sublime path to true happiness.     –George Lois

This blog went live three years ago today!  I launched Creative Sanctuary well after peak blog craze with no desire to become an influencer and no intention to monetize this space.  I had recently published my book and felt an intense need to step away from academic writing.  It was time to channel some of my creative energy into brief, accessible passages about travel, tea culture, and cuisine.  I admittedly post much less than I initially anticipated.  In my ideal blog world, I would write every week.  But given life’s pace, I am lucky to post once a month.

Blogging has been immensely satisfying.  It allows me to continue practicing the craft of writing, my photography has improved, and I’ve done a tiny bit of coding.  I seem to be finding my niche blogging on France as well as on personal, yet universal topics such as extreme rest.

Even when I don’t have time to blog, I’m always generating ideas.  I’d love to write about my collection of vintage fashion prints, about ethereal Korean green teas, and I have so much more to share about Versailles!  As I hoped, Creative Sanctuary has become one of my “creative sanctuaries.”  Working on this blog is consistently joyful.

Creative Sanctuary has featured the work of young creatives, including the lettering of the fabulous Olivia Murrell.  Over the next month, I will publish the work of fourteen students from my spring 2020 course Unlocking Paris.  Their bright pieces will bring Paris to us at a time when the City of Lights remains largely inaccessible.  Moving forward, my blog will continue to explore creative life in its many forms.

https://www.creativesanctuary.net/2102-2/

Buy Vintage, Save Money

By Allison

limoges stacked teacupsDuring a recent visit to a Central Kentucky flea market, I overheard a mother instructing her children:  “These are antiques, so they are three times as expensive.  Don’t touch anything.”  Her words have been rolling around in my mind for a few days, and I must admit that I find antique and vintage pieces to be very reasonably priced.  Why?  For most people, “old” things are not desirable.

I am dazzled by my recent haul of “old” stuff.  I brought home four vintage Limoges teacups—delicate, floral, and elegant.  There are no chips, and the saucers are intact.  I paid $9 each.  I haven’t tried to date them or research the pattern, but I’m guessing that my teacups are from the 70s or 80s.  I am tickled by the idea of sipping my morning tea from the delicate porcelain cups.painted limoges plate yellow

When I can get my act together to find a vintage or antique plate rack, maybe I’ll display them with the four hand-painted Limoges plates that I scored in the same booth ($6 each).  These floral plates are a delight, each featuring a different flower.  When I turned one over and saw that it was signed by “Maude”, that sealed the deal.  Knowing the name of the artist who painted my plates makes them all the more special for me.violet limoges dish

 

In another booth, I found a charming soap dish painted with violets, also made in Limoges ($7).  I’m guessing that this piece was painted in the 50s or 60s.  It somehow feels older than my cups, saucers, and plates, due to its patina.  I’ll place it in my guest bathroom with a pretty little soap.  I finished my great buying day by scooping up a set of eight embroidered napkins.  They must be several decades old.  I’ll bring them to the dry cleaner for a good cleaning and starching.  They’ll be so beautiful during tea time!

embroidered napkin

Did I need any more cups, saucers, plates, and linens?  Absolutely not.  Though had I not been wandering around the flea market with my friend Shelley on that Saturday afternoon, I probably would have been spending money in other ways.  All of the items I purchased would be more expensive new, and it’s unrealistic for me to expect to find the beautiful craftsmanship and handwork that are not valued as they once were.  Bringing vintage and antique items into my home gives new life to pieces that people have left behind.  Placed next to the newer items in my home, they create a unique style for a small price.

Inspirations

More flea market inspo

Hand-painted beauty

Decorating on a small budget, NYT

 

Recent Reads

By Allison

winter readsThese days, I’m living my best book life.  I have short, precarious stacks of books all over the house:  travel guides, novels, poetry, cookbooks. I love my books, but I am hard on them.  I make copious notations, I stash them in my bag when I’m on the go, and if I sense someone needs my book more than I do, I give it away.

Our winter wasn’t as cold and snowy as some, but it was grey and damp.  I spent those months dabbling, skipping from book to book, and rereading a few favorites.  If I begin reading a book and I’m not hooked after a few chapters, I set it aside.  I spent ten years as a student of literature, and I always read what I was instructed to read.  Now I’m more reckless.  Sometimes I purchase a book simply because it has a pretty cover.  I read more in English.  Unfinished books linger.  It’s glorious to flit between subjects and genres and to touch so many different books in one sitting.

For this post, I gathered a selection of some recent and favorite reads that might lead you to your next book.  Dainin Katagiri’s The Light That Shines Through Infinity has been a steady, insightful spiritual companion that I have already gifted to a friend and that I will reread multiple times.  Michelin’s guide to Brittany has had me dreaming about France’s rugged coasts, and Alexandre Maral’s Versailles: côté ville, côté jardin has furthered my research on the Royal City.  My cookbook collection is unmanageable, but Emeril Lagasse’s review of Bottom of the Pot made Naz Deravian’s new book on Persian cuisine irresistible.

A few months ago, I embarked on a poetry project with a friend.  Each month, we read one poem by Irish poet Eavan Boland.  We stay with that poem for a whole month, and then we each compose our own poem that is inspired by and seems to grow from the month’s poem.  Writing and sharing poetry terrifies me, but our Eavan Boland project has helped me to go deeper with poetry and to feel brave enough to write my own poems.

If English is my first and most comfortable language, French is my chosen and beloved language.  My French winter reads were delightful.  I’ve been enjoying random selections of François Cheng’s De l’âme (About the Soul).  He unfailingly brings me beauty as he bridges philosophies of the East and the West.  In Le camélia de ma mère (My Mother’s Camellia), Alain Baraton, the head gardener at the Château de Versailles, sings the beauty of his mother’s favorite flower.  And after teaching L’Elégance du hérisson (The Elegance of the Hedgehog), last spring, I am treating myself to a third or fourth reading of Muriel Barbery’s novel on the beauty of friendship.

Inspirations

Discovering Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca

Thoughts on beauty and grief

More reads on Creative Sanctuary

Tiny Tea Set, Lively Energy of Life

By Allison

children's tea setIn the realm of space, your life is nothing but the lively energy of life, interconnecting with everything.
–Dainin Katagiri

Every so often, I spread the pieces of my childhood tea set on my bed.  It’s in pitiful shape—broken, glued, re-broken, re-glued.  I love that I played so hard with these tiny, clumsy cups and plates.  I almost remember my gracious, chubby fingers pouring imaginary tea as I brushed wisps of long, brown hair out of my eyes.  I can almost see myself breaking piece after piece in my basement playroom.

No one in my family drank tea, so I must have created my own imaginary tea stories.  I don’t recall my solo tea parties, yet when I lay my hands on the shards, I access the lively energy of life that children incarnate.  This cherished energy still resides deep inside me.  Light, open, and expansive, this part of me responds to people who are patient and curious.  Sometimes I forget the connections that defy time and geography, but the energy of this homely wabi-sabi children’s tea set transcends place, space, and culture.  Through it, I recall that it was a gift from Grandma Rose Mary.  She couldn’t have known that tea would become my language and my passion.  In this sense, her gift of imaginary tea was prophetic.  Grandma’s gift allowed me to create my first tea rituals and to explore what it might mean to share tea with others. My tea rituals have evolved, but I embrace the awkwardness of human connection as it plays out over shared tea moments.

In the realm of space, my life is nothing but the lively energy of life, interconnecting with everything.

La rue des Deux Portes

By Allison

la rue des deux portes versaillesWhile the grandeur of Versailles resides in its Château, its charm is surely in its diminutive streets, passages, and courtyards.  Lying in the shadow of the Château, la rue des Deux Portes (The Street with Two Doors) has mixed residental and business since the 17th and 18th centuries.  Connecting the rue Carnot to the Place du Marché, boutiques and restaurants saturate this short pedestrian way.  La rue des Deux Portes is lively, local, and picturesque, well worth a quick visit after your market trip or Château visit.  Alternatively, make an afternoon of shopping on this street and in the antique district, le Quartier des Antiquaires, also located close to the Place du Marché.

Allison’s Tips
Access
Leaving the Château, take the tree-lined avenue de Saint-Cloud to the avenue de l’Europe.  Take a sharp left on the rue Carnot, where you immediately see the south entrance to the rue des Deux Portes.

Coming from the Place du Marché, the north entrance to the rue des Deux Portes branches off the rue Ducis, on the west side of the Place.

Boutiques
Coffee and Tea Merchant—La Finca 15, rue des Deux Portes

Kitchen Store–Culinarion 13, rue des Deux Portes

Hat and Glove Shop–Falbalas Saint Junien 10, rue des Deux Portes

Toy Store–La Palette de Jeux 12, rue des Deux Portes

Cuisine
Maison Sephaire 17, rue des Deux Portes
Traditional French butcher and caterer that provides high end, traditional French food to go: artisanal charcuterie, pâté, roast chicken, and various sides such as carrot salad

Les Biscuits de Madame Georges 7, rue des Deux Portes
British inspired afternoon tea featuring homemade Bundt cakes

Eléphant d’Argent 6, rue des Deux Portes (Thai restaurant)

Crêperie des Deux Portes 12, rue des Deux Portes

Nightlife
BiBoViNo Versailles 15, rue des Deux Portes
Wine shop and bar featuring high quality « bag in box » wines.  BiBoViNo’s liquor license requires that food be served with alcohol, so patrons must also order charcuterie and/or cheese boards to accompany their wine.

L’Equilibre 8, rue des Deux Portes
Trendy tapas bar with more than thirty wines by the glass.  Happy hours from 5-8 p.m.      Arrive early to grab a table!