Page 16 – La Muse Blue

THE ANT'S MIND IS MINE

My mind
flies like a leaf of paper
unglued, unstitched, yet unfree in the wind’s arms

Like an ant always searching for directions
— sensing, feeling, and changing the path
when the obstacles turn unsurmountable

But, I got more than the sea pulled by the moon’s arm
I am the moon
Directing my thoughts like a shepherd his herd,
stopping the mind spinning vanities

A high tide flushes in strong emotions
A tsunami hits at times — the mind aches, suffers — anxiety, fear, panic!
Calm, please. A low tide shifts the gear to ease all

Retreating deep into my soul, my fingertips, the hand, arm, shoulder,
my whole self returns to my primal truth
The mirror of all that never vanishes
The eternal something in nothing.

A foolish pursuit
for those who have never connected
not me, nor thee
The simplest the path the ant chose, the faster it gets to the safe home
where it belongs and I do, too

The Ant’s Mind Is Mine was inspired by

After meditating on a beach I was mindfully observing nature’s activities around me. The sea, the ants climbing over the pebbles, some carrying dead ants, others pieces of grass, some walking around larger pebbles, others heading straight over the tall rocks. Struck by their fervor, I connected them with the behavior of my mind. Reading back through some of my old notes, I mused about the nature of the mind.

Even before, I was fascinated by the ants in the forest when I practiced shinrin-yoku, what the Japanese coined as forest-bathing. My mind connected with the surroundings and I felt at peace. Aware of the nuanced activities around me, the experience awakened my interest in the natural world beyond just hiking or passing inattentively by. For more details read soon my review of the book Forest Bathing by Dr. Qing Li, one of the initial researchers into the scientifically proven benefits of shinrin-yoku on stress reduction, happiness, and as a medication-free solution to depression. The practice, like ikigai, was integrated into the Japanese culture of health. The Government supports shinrin-yoku, and the centres with professional forest guides have spread around the world.

What I did on the beach and in the forest was using involuntary focus that William James, the 19th century thinker, called the soft fascination that comes naturally without forcing the mind to concentrate. The mind needs space, a step back, in order to be fully aware of what it sees. In Salvador Dali’s surrealist art there is plenty of space and time captured. The depth of the mind was painted on his canvases where perspective is the force behind subjectivity. In the poem The Ant’s Mind Is Mine I am inserting my own perspective on how I see my mind operating.
Let me know if yours is any different!

SILENCE In the Age of Noise: meeting the experience of Erling Kagge

The phone is ringing, alerts blinking and vibrating, buzzer banging, cars growling, and neighborhood construction drills into our lives constantly activated through civilisation’s disruptive sounds. We get quite upset by noise. Erling Kagge writes beautifully concisely about “our primal need for silence”. The author, a Norwegian explorer who as the first documented person walked to the South Pole alone, without even a working radio, is the most fittingly equipped writer to elaborate on silence. More, by connecting to his other passions – art (Rothko, Ed Ruscha, Catherine Opie), philosophy (ancient and modern), including other forms of creativity (performance art by Marina Abramović), and personally speaking with the world’s greatest influencers (Elon Musk), he distills the essence of mind’s expansion beyond any preconceived boundaries. Kagge writes: “One universe stretches outwards, the other inwards.”

Experiencing silence

Through silence you discover the other dimension of existence. “It is as if the moment and eternity become one”, when “time suddenly stops” and that is the pleasure to “experience the fullness of time in the moment”. The freedom from reasoning is bliss. Ancient Eastern philosophies encouraged everyone with access to this wisdom to rest the mind in order to thing clearly. The Japanese insert long pauses in their conversation as the meaning also dwells in this silence. The author shares his admiration of haiku as “brevity’s poetic form”. I do not fully agree with Kagge adding: “Words create boundaries for our experiences.” At times words can communicate to others a broader, more expansive experience of a certain moment, highlighting something we overlooked. The author confesses with Socratic humbleness: “There is so much I don’t understand, and art reminds of that”.

When we speak about silence, we do not consider the absolute nil of acoustic vibrations that even soundproof chambers cannot create – for most living beings have their heart beating or other organs constantly emitting some form of noise. I would rather define silence of which the author mainly speaks – quietness. The low, not disruptive and mellow sounds that allow other forms of consciousness to manifest themselves. A violent storm increases fear, therefore it cannot be felt as silence. When you study you go the library, and some great writers spent productive time at retreats for their work’s progress. I mused on sound, so go deeper here.
Thoughts are noisy. The rotor of ceaseless words, escalated by emotions needs to be managed to experience a true silence. Overthinking is a disease of the mind, distracting you from the most important ideas that can go unnoticed. Silence is about “allowing each moment to be big enough“. The wordless of Aristotle, the unspeakable of Plato, the nothingness of Zen Buddhism and Taoist wu-wei (non-action, no desire). Also in music “using fewer elements allows the original ideas to emerge with greater clarity.” Beethoven and Miles Davis knew of this soundless power inserted in their songs. Anticipation is elevated, and the murmur in your head will only be appeased by some form of action – hence the song commences or continues.
We need to pay attention to silence to experience it. In my poetry, the stream of consciousness pours out when I create space for silence. Stillness of the mind is necessary for creativity. Lord Byron’s longing to learn Armenian language at the Mechitarista Monastery on a island off Venice might well have been an excuse to escape his busy life.

Silence today

The monastic experience of silence can be created in your everyday life. Even if you live in the blast of Manhattan or the density of Monaco, the humdrum of Mumbai or the motorised maze of Beijing. Kagge puts it poignantly in the first sentence kicking off the book: “Whenever I am unable to walk, climb or sail away from the world I’ve learned to shut it out.” He developed his listening and turning it off though practices such as yoga, meditation and mindful breathing, but there are other ancient techniques focused on creating inner calm – from contemplation, prayer, Taichi, Qi Gong, martial arts through monastic retreats. Today, getting away is a high selling travel pun including lavish spa treatments, but it does not have to be pricey to get silence.

The father of three living in Oslo, is aware of the intricacies the modern life thrusts upon us daily from sunrise until we shut our eyes down at night. Essentially, silence is a measure of your own experience. The meter is set high in urbanised spaces, lower in rural areas. The outside factors can be mastered though and that is what SILENCE In the Age of Noise is about. You will not find how to tricks, habits or rituals to create silence, but from the author’s direct experience you learn how important finding this space within you is to your wellbeing. We all have distinct ways – I create silence through acoustic, meditative music, strolling in a forest, flower arrangement, whisking a bowl of matcha or mindfully inhaling the scent of a candle in my home or hotel.

Psychology and philosophy of silence

Tapping on human traits such as boredom, and their acceptance, letting go, as a better option than “busying oneself becomes a goal in and of itself, instead of allowing that same restlessness to lead you somewhere further.” Connecting with your purpose brings joy. He further quotes Seneca on the perils of “experiential poverty“.
Silence gets us closer to truth, mused generations of philosophers across many cultures. The rustle of the mind creates numerous biases and it is believed in some schools of thought that through silencing the snake in our head, the poison of judgement divorces from the bodily desires for truth to emerge pure. In the book truth and silence intermingle very closely.

“Silence is more exclusive and long-lasting than other luxuries”. In the highly urbanised societies we live in the 21st century, he notes the growth in silence industry. From sound baths, though meditation pods, forest retreats and remote experiences, we now pay for glimpses into silence. In today’s fast-paced, forward moving and growing world, even the rich have to deal with noise. The construction boom of our economical ‘progress’ introduced highly disruptive, almost ceaseless sounds even to Monaco and Hong Kong where triple-glazed windows are almost as rare real diamonds in the sky. Country living has never been more desirable. Nowadays, it is not the avoidance of the plague but escaping the motorised cityscapes that drives us next to pollution away from the tightly populated cities to silence.

Do not forget that “being on the journey is almost always more satisfying than reaching the goal”. Coming from the pen of someone who reached the Three Poles Challenge on foot – North and South Pole, Mount Everest – I must take his wisdom to my heart and practice it throughout my life in all seriousness. This book is highly recommended to anyone seeking purpose and joy.

Creativity and Taoism: A Study of Chinese Philosophy, Art and Poetry by Chung-yuan Chang

Truth is timeless. Creativity and Taoism was originally published half a century ago, yet its newest edition published by the London-based Singing Dragon timely reminds us how ancient Chinese philosophy can relief modern anxiety to “attain an inner serenity and reach a higher and more integrated level of consciousness”. As in the Western positive psychology thought “cast aside the negative side of life – it’s a fulfillment of the positive in dealing with the affairs of the world.”

The common ground of Creativity and Taoism

Professor Chung-yuan Chang interweaved the anchors of Chinese taoist philosophy with creativity. The author was a Chinese scholar based in Hawaii. Familiar with impactful Western philosophical concepts as much as the breadth of Eastern wisdom, he was respected in his field. In Creativity and Taoism, he masterfully, with a clean storke of clarity painted how we all can benefit from millennia of Chinese cultural and spiritual refinement.
From mindful calligraphy, the depths of poetry to the simplicity of the Chinese painting (that transcended into much of Japanese art), Chinese Taoism profoundly influenced the creative process of its artists.
Yet, tao principles were also a well of productivity for Western thinkers like Hegel (‘nothingness as the absolute one’), while C.G. Jung seeked the psychological content in Tao “as the method or conscious way by which to unite what is separated” such as a “reunion with the laws of life represented in the unconscious” when opposites are brought to consciousness.
Oneness, nothingness, tranquility, self-realisation, peace, sympathy, and free expression through creativity (concepts further explored – follow links) are the echelons of Tao. These are formless principles including such paradoxes as expanding and gathering symbolised by the YIN and YANG. The pursuit of truth is the essence of tao. Unlike most intellect-emphasising dogmas, taoism views reasoning as a burden. Instead, intuition and the creative side of the brain are believed to access truth.

The importance of focus in art is uncontested. Many of the Ch’an Zen Buddhist monks in China channelled their enlightenment through the brush in the form of calligraphy, painting and poetry. In the chapter on self-realisation, the well-read author draws from ancient texts such as I Ching, the Book of Changes by Lao Tzu, treatises by his ancestor Chuang Tzu, and relevant commentaries by Western experts on the respective subjects. My own creative pursuits in poetry sourced tranquility of the process from the wisdom of these authors. Silence (of which one of my poems next to a book by Erling Kagge and others wrote poignantly) was another essential guide to my intuitive connection with the well in my subconscious.

Nonbeing or Wu in Chinese can potentially tame disruptive and excessive curiosity of the artist. Instead it channels HIM (the author mentions solely Chinese male artists since the Buddhist monks as well as philosophers were inherently men) into the depths of the self-less oneness (as in yoga).
Creativity fascinated humans ever since cave painters drew on the protected, rocky walls. Native tribes elsewhere evolved a unique relationship with nature and the spiritual universe manifested through various art forms. Most ancient cultures embraced the metaphysical in artistic pursuit, therefore it is enlightening to dig deeper into the most impactful techniques.

Creativity and Taoism in contemporary art

When in Paris, finishing reading Creativity and Taoism, I saw Tao’s potential in one of my favourite contemporary artists work. The Chinese immigrant in France, Zao-Wou-Ki was a genius of calligraphy, abstraction and grand-scale thinking. Many of his friends were poets. In the above painting Le Vent Pousse La Mer painted in 2004, I found tranquility despite its stormy form. The oneness of existence penetrated the oeuvre. The tiny detail of a boat radiated nothing in comparison with the great canvass. I would not be able to discern these, were I not seeing the annotated examples of the older generation of Chinese masters inside the book. I was lucky to see some of these masterpieces at exhibitions from Beijing to London, but the context provided by Creativity and Taoism immensely shifted my perception of the seemingly simple, unpretentious yet appealing scrolls.
Focused spirituality was poignantly expressed through art in China. In fact, the creative process of the best calligraphers, painters and poets manifested their own achievement of Tao. Nodded by the lauded poet’s eye of Sir Herbert Read, the chapter on Chinese poetry “very much increases its significance for English readers”. Indeed, I used to be confused by some Chinese concepts, the awkwardness of some verses and simplicity of its pictorial depictions, but Creativity and Taoism illuminated many dark corners of my ignorance. Now, I am able to appreciate the vastness of Chinese art with a greater depth and understanding.

Creativity viewed through scholar’s thorough research often spins into overt reasoning, yet the author penetrated into the Tao philosophy so deep that he clearly relates seemingly conflicting concepts in a smooth strikes of genius. “Tao itself is inexpressible”, he explains, still “the invisible Tao manifests itself through art”. This means the sophisticated touch emerging only from the clear mind through the artist’s brush. The realisation of the universal truth know also as “the supreme ultimate”. In Western thought, Permenides, puzzling other philosophers, held that it is “impossible to speak about that which does not exist”, while Aristotle and Plato were in sync with that taoist concept that “truth is unspeakable”.
Simplicity are truth are not easy to explain in the breadth of art and life. Only clarity and mastery of the field guide to valuable comprehension. The elusive concepts of Tao become attainable for any reader who opens up to its pure creative potential.
The book is a hive of wisdom. Chung-yuan Chang awakens the reader’s mind to pursuing art as a free yet focused practice with true purpose. I realised that perhaps creativity is Tao – something from nothing. As Lars Ulrich, the legendary drummer of Metallica, wrote in the foreword to another book about prodigious creative activity – in Noma Recipes: “There is a starting point, and often, an end point, but what dictates when that end point is reached?” Your connection with intuition steps in creativity as much as in other meaningful decisions.

SILENCE: the meaning of quiet space

“In silence, clarity comes to you.”

Silence is pure
A soul without garbage,
the secret of success
when clarity matters

What is it –
that does not speak?
Buried thoughts under the carpet of ruminating mind

Nonverbal cues sell more than words
Such septitude of influence trumps any wasteful sprawl
The meaning is mine, not of those who spoke

Influence goes far beyond words. A gaze, glance, smile, wink, frown, and more, the aura is way more eloquent than any voluptuous speech of a gifted orator. Look at the moon on a clear night, its deception mesmerises us. The light that is not of its own but taking from the sun’s source illuminates the night, it does not speak, yet it communicates a little secret of the universe. What is the meaning of quiet space?

Have you ever observed whether you feel better in silence or in a noisy, stifling city? For some, the constant rambling of motors is thrilling, for others (like most of the residents of Monaco who annually flood out during the Grand Prix races) it is a torture. Most city dwellers, who can afford it, escape to the country (once, I worked on a hit BBC show moving people out of the city) not just for more space, but the quietude of the less populated areas.

Pilgrimages have for long attracted believers precisely for the opportunity of silence. When you say I need to clear my head, what do you mean? Well, translated – I want silence to contemplate things. Which still includes some inner noise, but more focused in the silence that surrounds.

Books were devoted to silence. Authored by a famous adventurer, artists, a mountain climber, monk, even women write about the power of silence. Some, like Susan Cain, analyse introversion psychologically. I agree with Kenya Hara “Creative questions require no answers” writing in White.

What you say is often not understood as you mean it. Your own lens does not see the same way as most others. Psychology studied our individual biases, and vehemently advising that often you are better off keeping your mouth shut. It took me three decades to apply this wisdom at least sparingly into my usually eloquent encounters – I speak even with trees (some scientists like Peter Wohlleben justify my ramblings in their best-selling books), the birds (don’t you talk to dogs?) and with my own mind – a big talker, sure she needs a tape over her mouth, you may think. Sometimes, they answer me, we communicate — the trees, birds and me. Do not call me mad for I am an artist with boundless imagination. Salvador Dali and other surrealists went well beyond my fantasies. And, what a great excuse, I like to think.
Read more about silence in my musing on Sound.

COLLECTOR OF PEBBLES

“He who knows contentment is rich” Lao Tzu

Gems everywhere you see
Yet the blinds of envy and fear

Hide the nameless diamonds
Through the creases of illusions

Back then as now
The ancient sage knew

A true value of discernment

A clear vision to see free
Is living with yourself in joy

I see,
My gem’s icing was polished by ages in the sea
Its cracks of wisdom, beauty marks of time,
Adventures in the memory of healing wounds

Scratching its surface – your face
I feel years, centuries of resistance
A sudden beauty swells from my heart
Caressing the pebble in my palms
Chosen from the myriad of others
The diamond I treasure the most

A reminder of this precious moment
For as long as the stone lasts

The lover that never leaves me

Even if it were all I have
The connection with nature
Its truth is rare
She is rich, we poor

Robbing her off her treasures
The wealth that endures
Storms – quakes – floods
Hundreds of lifespans
Mighty, she outlives

my and your ordeal.
I keep the pebbles

~ Joy

Lao Tzu‘s wisdom is timeless. The transforming ancient Chinese philosopher and poet revealed universal truths about humanity, nature, good governance and the ethics that can benefit us all. I keep returning to his tiny book – one of the greatest writings on virtue ever produced. In the West, Cicero et al. did virtue justice too. Tao Te Ching contains everyday guidance and inspiration in such density that any practical mind must appreciate it even more in today’s rushed world. This poem was inspired by random readings in Book One: “He who knows contentment is rich”, [33] …, and in Book Two the poems XLIV, XLV, XLVI (in the Penguin edition) stirred my creative heart.

Connected with nature, yet

Ever since I entered, free, the realm of nature as a child, I was attracted to and collected stones. My parents’ balcony towered with my precious, weighty gems, so at some point I was summoned to throw most of them out. Sad at first, yet I felt that I did not lose much. Once, we will meet again, I thought. I knew even then that these everywhere stones will not be probably picked up by someone else. Hoarding this literally priceless objects was my personal quirk. Unlike a stolen diamond though, I could find easily another pebble to please my eye and soften my naturist heart. Over the years, I kept bringing stones from my faraway travels to more than sixty countries. Now, in my own home, I have a piece of Tasmania, New Zealand, Uruguay, Colombia, Nepal, Hong Kong and almost any country or island (Andros, St Barths, …) that has rocks freely available on its land.

A souvenir from everywhere that once might had been on another place entirely. What they have in common though is that they are pieces of Earth (I don’t collect meteorites) and the symbolic oneness scattered across the world reminds me of us.

The human animal after all has a face, but it also has a soul, the psyche that can as much connect as alienate us from the other organic or inorganic beings.

This morning on the beach, just before a vile summer storm heiled ping pong balls on my bare head, I strolled in the clear waters of the Mediterranean sea. Freshening up my legs after an hour’s hike on the rocky French coast, I gazed through the salted glass of the sea, when a bright, clean pebble with a cake-like icing hues captivated me, so I picked it up. I loved the stone from the moment my fingers touched its smooth surface. Aware of its charm, once back on my beach blanket with a book, a wholly new, fascinating world opened itself for my curious eyes.

I started to see dozens of pebbles, tiny like a baby’s nail, some shaped like those face massage stones sold at beauty shops for more than $20, others weirdly irregular yet with that wabi beauty. Their potential as jewellery worn by anyone sold on their beauty, stroke me as an analogy of value. As the economists say — everything has the value (as with wine) that customers are willing to spend for it. I am glad that some stones are still available for free!

LUST: Desire judged by the unfree minds

Rumi, the adored Persian mystic, mused on the purpose of desire. Before him, most Eastern philosophies and religious dogmas entertained the trade offs of lust. Taoist, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, and many other guiding principles emerged. Most concluded that asketism rather than boundless indulgence benefit humanity.
I wonder, isn’t a balance between discipline and surrender to some cravings better for the mind though?
I love Rumi’s poetic view of soul as “the taste of pure water”. Usually most appreciated when one is very thirsty. Life’s necessity that is more if you lend it your awareness.

My poem was inspired by all the above as well as by my intuitive picture mandala I created in California:

A fine line our soul
A net of emotions
Caught between desire

and

Quenched thirst
we crave
we judge
we feel
and dream about

the unattainable

I craved adventure
I judged silence
I wanted freedom

The first sip awakened my lust for more
dreaming about swimming in the air
bubbles of oxygen carrying my body around

the world, weightless, without judgement

and pain

Let it rain, let it be vain, floating

in the tender vibrations of surrender

my soul opened —

Sound is not silent as now I crave
the nothingness of ether, not my grave
Everywhere – even in my thoughts

no regrets

just a mirror of my pure self

~RB

Pure surrender feels so different from the tight, preconceived discipline when control directs our every step. Try it for yourself. Taste freedom through meditation or being alone in nature — this kind of solitude liberates my mind.
If you are interested, I recently mused about the meaning of sound in our life and its scientific concepts and wrote a poem here.

Lust is not an ideal guide for everything, yet desire is judged by the unfree minds especially perhaps too harshly. Without passion and cravings we would not be genuinely happy, we would not go beyond ourselves to create and to invent. Love without passion is friendship and companionship, not fire in your heart. Sometimes, we need that fire to warm us inside. Therefore, indulge passionately, but keep the measure balanced with restraint. The planet is sufficiently populated already, plus one cannot put as much love into a dozen offsprings, one or two can retain and perhaps even appreciate our loving attention more likely.

Semilla: buzzing market cuisine for locavore foodies in Saint Germain

Semilla fills an authentic yet contemporarily-aligned french niche in Saint Germain created by the expats and tourists flocking into Cafe Flore, Brasserie Lipp et al. This millennial Parisian bistro has been for over a decade drawing in regulars of all ages – local or seasonal visitors like ourselves – to its convivial, fast-paced, casual and transparent, industrial hip womb.

The clipped paper menu (only in French as usually) hangs on the stone wall of Rue de Seine. Passing by, we always peak what is cooking. Sometimes casually walking in, other times reserving a table on the go. The founders Juan Sanchez and Drew Harré literally own this snippet of a street. Their Fish project across, a tapas concept Cosi next door, a wine bar, what is next?

Market cuisine plated small

The ‘seed’ of Semilla is creativity that daily sprouts from the Parisian markets and its chefs called up by the grand eye of Eric Trochon, M.O.F in 2011. The chefs’ rooster changes frequently. We sampled the cuisines of Matthieu Roche, Thomas Estrader, and now Pablo Thiollier-Serran whips the seasonal delectables, creating and changing recipes as the produce arrives into the kitchen. Pure Cuisine selon le marché. Some menu items disappear at lunchtime, and if you come for a late dinner on a Sunday night, the order options can shrink substantially. God, I craved that agnolotti pasta with house ricotta!

The majority of their superb quality edibles is sourced as locally as possible. From the best maraichers, gourmet providers like Terroir d’avenir next door from Frenchie, another popular bistro in Paris, French butchers and the wild-caught fish and seafood are delivered mainly from the Atlantic ocean. Current produce providers are always highlighted on the menu. In contrast to nearby Ze Kitchen Gallery, another contemporary bistro favourite of ours, the plates are distinctively European. There are no Asian intrusions on Semilla’s simple, monochromatic service. Rather, the French tradition, the Gallic meadows, mountains, rivers and seas are the source for innovation here.

Semilla does special lunch menus for a fixed price. Usually, a trio of starters like tapas served on one plate. Including a soup – like Onion velouté or Artichoke bouillon with mushrooms. Accompanied by a seasonal play of vegetal notes like Beetroot salad with hazelnuts or small fish course like Mackerel escabèche (maquereau). The third bite, when we went, was always a variation of Parmesan sablé topped with mushroom or olive cream.
Followed by a fish, meat or vegetarian main course of your choice. Pork (cochon) as much as French beef (beuf), with its race specified on the menu (also from Belgium), often enter the carnivorous plates. Only once over the years, we got a plate cooked badly. A bland slice of pork with overcooked green peas and stringy artichoke barigoule recently reminded us of the school meals one eats with a sour face, boring. On the veggie side, once at lunch I enjoyed the main plate of Roasted Carrots with verbena, spinach cream and lentils. Desserts follow further down.

Semilla: vegetarian friendly as a contemporary bistro should be

At dinner, a la carte offers more flexibility. The starters are tapas size, but Semilla had to add some large plates in Paris to qualify as a bistro. Steak or fish like Crusted hake with mushrooms, cilantro and I relished once, satisfy. I often go for the vegetarian starters like the exquisite Green peas with its iced husk cream, savory and Corsican fresh brocciu cheese (sheep’s) and the refreshing sweet Beets with fresh cheese, green mayo and granita on a hot summer evening. Green asparagus was still in season and so were the champignons femme fatale – the morels, so by combining the two with oxidative Vin Jaune from the Jura in a cream sauce I was flying high! Cheese often slips into many vegetarian plates at Semilla. Fresh goat cheese in beets with granita, parmesan with hazelnuts in a sable for an indulgent vegetarian plate.

À partager — to share

Pour terminer either a dessert or artisanal farm cheese touches your palate with a powerful finale. While seasonal fruits drive the sweet offer, with sorbets popping on the dessert plates during the summer, traditional pastries like Calissons, Clafoutis or Financiers are updated for contemporary tastes. Sansho pepper, sesame ice cream and even vegetables (as in green pea sorbet) freshen up the sugar-touched temptations at Semilla.
As cheese lovers we incline to Semilla’s impeccably sourced fromages. Ossau-Iraty, hard ewe’s milk cheese from Northern Basque Country and the only AOC cheese of the Pyrénées, pampered us once. There are only a handful of producers of this balanced yet deep nutty tasting elastic cheese, so try when you see it. Blue Fourme d’Ambert, fresh goat’s cheese, Tomme du Jura, aged Comtè or niche unpasteurised cheeses are served with a bowl of market leafy greens.

There are always wine suggestions, moods of the moment, that the sommelier highlights on the menu. We like to sample by the glass offerings, nothing fancy, but some worthwhile discoveries. The wine list is Francophile, with practical pitcher option for many bottles. Coffee roasted locally, while tea was selected by a French tea master, and the tisanes (verbena, lemon balm, linden, mint, orange flowers) are organic.
You can sit in the open room sided by the bar counter and opened into the kitchen where all the hum physically competes with the aural noise fuming from the diners’ mouths. Tucked on a side, there is a tighter space with alluring photographs of fresh produce hanged on the white-cast walls. Unlike the user-unfriendly reservation system of Septime in the Marrais, Semilla feels more authentic, less pretentious hip and more accomodating. No need to prepay, just casually pop in and eat well.
As with many other establishments in France, €500 bills (“except for a tip”, how amusing!) and Amex are not accepted.
54 rue de Seine, Paris 6
+33 143 543450
Daily for lunch 12:30-14:30; Dinner from 19h.

Best bakeries in Paris: best traditional bread, organic loaf from ancient grains, baguette, croissant and pain au chocolat

Long comme un jour sans pain, long as a day without bread, the idiomatic French saying captures what along with butter and cheese, well might be a true national dish in the country of bakers. Bread and butter on the French national flag could eradicate any confusions. Excellent news for some of you is that since 1993, all bread in boulangeries in France must be entirely made on the premises. In the abundance of excellence, I cannot stop at selecting just top five bakeries in Paris. I am sharing all my favourites for their diversity – best bread, organic loaf from ancient grains, creative baked slices, baguette, croissant and pain au chocolate. For brioche, I need to return and scout for more, since some bakeries only sell it on weekends! A dozen samples of brioche in one day, anyone?

Best ‘miche’

Every real Parisian has a favourite bakery, usually in their neighbourhood so the bread’s crisp, fresh fragrance of wheat, and soft, holes-ridden mie (the crumb interior) are eaten as soon as they come out from the oven. Unless, you are a customer of Poilâne, whose iconic, giant, round country loaf (known as miche) baked in their wood-fired ovens can be delivered to your door. Some old traditions do not die even with the new generation taking over the family business. Poilâne has expanded its production beyond its lovely Rue du Cherche-Midi home-base. The exports ship from an outside of Paris “Le Manufacture“, yet when in Paris get yours baked here. Occasionally, tours underground into its flour-dusted cellar, allow to sniff the leavened fragrance in full. Aside from its sturdy pain campagne, I like their flaky buttery puff pastry topped with caramelised apples. Enjoy this sweet treat in their convenient next door café.
Traditional baguette

Best sourdough fro ancient grains

For bread, I asked my local friends, and was fortunate, indeed, to taste the wonderful organic sourdough from Le Bricheton [50 Rue de la Reunion, 7520]. In their authentic, young French neighbourhood of Saint Denis, far beyond the tourist zone, Maxime shapes loaves from wholesome grains (spelt, rye, even a chestnut). A true artisan, his opening hours are reduced to two hours only on some days, the Sundays, Mondays and other random days (check their Facebook page for actualities).

Recently, Alain Ducasse browsed in, and the social media went buff, the proud locals lauded the baker as their king. Coincidentally, I enjoyed his chocolate with Le Bricheton bread the past fall in my hotel bed. A wonderful pairing! The secret is no longer, so I can share it with you. The multi-Michelin chef was impressed, nodding he will be back.

Best baguette

The best golden crusted, white sourdough (au levain) baguette was brought to my attention by the legendary three Michelin starred chef Alain Passard, who loves the pain au levain sourdough loaf from Stéphane Henry. A discreet artisan boulanger in the not so trendy end of Canal St Martin, the only buyers are workers or residents from the area. I bought as much as my reusable cotton bag could carry. Soon, chewing on the sunshine crust with an airy mie center, I was smitten. I preferred it to the bien cuite hard crusty baguette traditionelle. Also their buttery, large, soft and fragile crusted croissant, chewed so moist that I will return! The sourdough (sliced upon request) surprisingly lasted for three days in my hotel room. Tasting great with the butter I got at Terroirs Sans Avenir, my favorite produce vendor. The cheesy olive, ham, tomato savoury rolls rival my other favourite bakery’s creations.

Best pain au chocolat

I have been indulging at Du Pain et des Idèes for years. Every journey by Eurostar stops over at the nearby boulangerie. North of Canal Saint Martin, this is now a hip area, ripe with artisan temptations. Their chocolatine pain au chocolat is my absolute winner. For more sweet delights still, the seasonal tarte finne – cherries in June, apricots in July, figs in August, while apples and pears are laid on the puff pastries in fall – are unmissable.

The croissants are too soft, bending like gummy bears and the twisted sacristians are too sugary for me, but a true sweet tooth will surely relish them. I am not a fan of their organic bread though, the pain des amis is most popular, but the savoury mini rolls fit perfectly into a paper bag to carry on a train or taxi ride. The organic goats cheese and spinach is my coup de coeur, while my husband is puff into the farm bacon with reblochon cheese and dried figs, also bio. I can never stop at one. Sublime!

Best croissants

Croissants are a thorny theme for the Parisans, for everyone has his/her personal preference. The best croissant for me is the mini roll of perfect buttery layers that like my granny’s strudel peel off as you pull them with your horny fingers around. How fun! Like a child, most recently I relished in the two-horned cone’s perfection at a nearby green park. Nesting under a chestnut tree with a friend, it made our day. No leftovers for the always asking pigeons. A family business since 1859, Benjamin Turquier of RDT received the best croissant award in 2015, so expect a small snaky lane sticking its tail out of the tiny bakery on Rue Du Turenne. Using only AOP butter is costly, but simple baked pastries do not keep secrets – they shout the quality of the sparse ingredients inside! His chunky studded chocolate bread is only good when ultra fresh, while the pain au chocolat peels of like the croissant and is good, but does not reach the magnificence of Du Pain et des Idèes.

Best creative bread

Organic bakeries have sprung up with the ‘bio’ trend swiping over France. Some are rather amateurish, while others bake better and more creative breads than other “normal” boulangeries. The indulgent breads at De Belles Manières bakery in Paris are the most original and creative slices I have had the salivating pleasure trying. Their low gluten, red and white quinoa bread (Le Pain des Incas) matches cheese wonderfully, while their black olive slice is decadent on its own. Flat, shaped like a focaccia, the sourdough starter and abundant ancient grains inspire some of the flavours. Long and narrow, the pistachio and cranberry bread, with Emmental cheese-filled loaf, dried fruits, as well as the simple, perfectly baked spelt or rye and baguettes lure in the Marais crowd. Winning the best organic bread award recently stamps its appeal.

Patricia Wells, the renowned restaurant critic, for three decades Paris resident and author of The Foodlover’s Guide to Paris put it well: “Bread is life. It’s food that makes you feel good, feel healthy; food that goes well with everything”. Unless you are a cealiac, a quality, sourdough-based bread should not rise any regrets. I cannot more agree with her, writing: “The good French loaf is made with respect for the simple nature of the ingredients: wholesome, stone-milled wheat grown in France; a fresh sourdough starter (levain) or yeast (levure); pure water; and a minimum of salt.” The only extra touch in the creative, curious contemporary world is that the grains used expand beyond wheat, making eating bread perhaps even more exciting experience.

The best bakeries in Paris I selected use often organic, local ingredients, are all purely artisanal, do not have chains all over France and abroad, summed up, you must try them all on your next visit to the metropolis of fine food!

Best tea rooms in Paris selling their own tea

Paris tea culture has evolved tremendously over the past twenty years since I visited the enchanting French capital for the first time. Beyond the established commercial giants and the ‘historic’ Parisian maisons du thé, the new wave of authentic tea rooms welcome the tea curious. Here, you find quiet or an intimate conversation if you desire. Tea is my daily bread and I travelled the world to visit hundreds of tea rooms and shops, therefore I offer a global perspective while seeking local nuances.

The best tea rooms for me NOW in Paris: authentic, boutique, quality, savoir-faire

For me, the best tea rooms now in Paris are all small in size, their owners are passionate about tea like authentic wine growers, still not commercially scaled, intimate, sustainably-minded, and offer specialist and personal advice.
My choices offer a substantially less touristy experience and their teas are top quality. Some are more creative, other purist, offering traditional teas in a contemporary designed tea room.

As most Asian businesses in Paris, these are also located in the triangle between the Marrais, Saint Germain and the Opera. I selected these not just for the quality of the tea, the staff’s knowledge, but also for their distinct atmosphere.

ARTEFACT is perfect for newcomers as well as seasoned tea drinkers open to trying niche pure teas. Each tea is described by its aroma and characteristic taste, making any new choice easier. Artéfact also creates superb tea, fruit and herbal blends infusing them into the best iced tea I have tasted to date – based on black tea and fragrant flowers. From the pure teas, the hand-picked, directly sourced spring tea leaves of White Bud Puerh from Lincang in the Southern Yunnan Province of China delight with their floral sweet, deep resinous and malty taste. Each label on the loose leaf teas treats customers with transparency – from the exact sourcing, type of cultivar, production method and how to brew it for best result. Art exhibitions brighten the stone walls of the two floor boutique.

The duo behind KODAMA call themselves as “alchimistes infuseurs”. True to their ethos, you find the most interesting, while some very unusual blends named with a pinch of irony and perhaps even philosophy. Think Rehab Bio, La Vie Comme Elle Vient [Life as it goes], Tous les Chemins [All the paths], and the Sticky rice tea that I loved. The most popular in the heat of summer are the curated iced tea blends, in winter the chai latte warms you up. Yet, for me, the award winning master-roasted hojicha from Japan stroke the inquisitor’s mind. The whisky and cherry smoked ones a bit too much, but one-offs like this sparkle the cosy cocoon of Kodama. Colourful origami float above the tea bar, where daily fresh pastries seduce your sweet tooth or a rambling belly for a slice of cake. If the stools are not comfortable enough, snap the low tables at the back.

TERRE DE CHINE pioneered pure Chinese (including Taiwanese) teas brewed in traditional gong fu cha style, tasted (paid for unlike in most China) and sold with transparent labeling of the harvest month to authenticity seeking tea connoisseurs in Paris. For a quarter of a century the owner has educated parisians about tea terroir across China and proper preparation technique for each. From the well-known teas like Taiwanese easily pleasing oriental beauty oolong, floral elegant white teas from Fu Jian like Bai Hao Yin Zhen to single cru or top of the echelon rock teas and aged pu’er from Yunnan, the cradle of the tea plant, Terre de Chine is still one of the best tea rooms in Paris. Purist, no food is served and tea is the coup de coeur of conversation. There is a two seat bar and a few chairs along a table for the experience.

best tea in Paris CHINESE TEA IN PARIS

YAM’TCHA indeed is Yam. The name comes from Cantonese tea time with dim sum. Focused on well-known, top quality Chinese teas (white Silver Needles, legendary green Longjing, Tie Guan Yin oolong, Wu Yi rock tea, some raw – Sheng and ripened – Shou Pu’er, and others) plus baos and Chinese stuffed dumplings (dim sum). The fit is perfect and the minimalist, focused offer eases your mind into a pleasant state of tea’s magic. Impeccably curated by Hong Kong native husband of the Michelin starred French chef Adeline Grattard (of Netflix fame) whose restaurant is just around the corner. A dream couple! For the most calm time come either early or after the lunchtime rush. Must try is the melting English stilton bao, but the tofu-based vegetarian dim sum were great too.

Chinese tea in Paris

JUGETSUDO is THE place in Paris for Japanese green tea. Zen your mind as the Japanese staff impeccably whisks a bowl of matcha at the massive wooden bar. As if I were in Tokyo. Just the design is more contemporary chic. Most of its green teas are now organic. The yuzu citrus flavoured series, seasonal spring cherry blossom scented sencha, roasted houjicha, and pastries by the celebrated Paris-based Japanese pastry chef Sadharu Aoki and Patisserie Tomo lure inside. Downstairs, rotating ceramics exhibitions, even an occasional tea ceremony ritual complement the cultural immersion. More recently, Jugetsudo succumbed to commercial opportunities. Collaborations with French chefs and candy manufacturers divert from the tea theme. Anne Sophie Pic created exotic flavoured tea blends, while Valrhona, the premium producer of professional chocolate, whipped up a matcha bar. I was hooked on the freeze-dried strawberries coated in matcha-infused white chocolate. Sampling great things is dangerous. The mutual French affair with Japonisme continues to bring in the country’s talent and established brands.

The best tea rooms in the millennial Paris not only sell a wide range of top quality tea, but shield from the enrapturing city noise. Swarms of tourists grouped into disruptive formations, fuming buses, and the chic-pax smokers on cafe patios escaping offices and store entrances stalk your sense of wellbeing. Pollution, the scorching summer heat or the deep chills of winter, whip you indoors where either a warm embrace or a cup of refreshing iced tea provide comfort (read about What tea time can do for you).

Attention disrupted: grow resilience in the age of distractions

Attention can feel surprisingly spacious, almost boundless. It can be focused but also divided (multi-tasking, stress), and certainly it can be disrupted by various causes. Yet, ironically narrowing your focus liberates your mind from contesting ideas. The reel of thoughts that do not cease is interrupted either by the helpful power engine of mindful breathing techniques or the harmful storm of a shock. Either grabs our attention.

The Speed of Your Perception by Olafur Eliasson

Advertising and digital mobile technology additionally contest for any available slice in your mind. It is a vicious cycle. Ads are more precisely targeted after you handed the online companies over your personal data, thus more tempting. Living in the age of distraction is stressful. Our attention span has been shortening significantly over the past decade with smartphones dreadfully fast outsmarting us.

The hangover from our information binge fogs the mind and sabotages attention. An abundance of psychology research reaffirms that attention works best when only one activity is mindfully taken on in the present moment. Doing more at the same time exhausts us and leads to more errors.

Attention as a voluntary focus on reality

The uninterrupted battering of information hails taxes the mind. To avoid errors, decreased productivity and dissatisfaction with life, we must regulate the flooding stream of thoughts. Rest is a good start. A proper break, silence and space. NOTHINGNESS.

As we try to combat distractions, meditation, mindfulness, yoga, qi-gong and martial arts are booming. The ancient Chinese and Indians have been using these happiness and longevity tools for millennia. Our will may force attention, but the easiest, most natural flow of liberating attention is spontaneous. As when you do something you truly enjoy. How hard is to stroll on a beach or to read a great book? It just happens and nothing easily distracts you. When overwhelmed by a city o life in general, try just sitting under a tree in the park, inhaling the free for all air.

Attention is the magnifying mirror of our consciousness, our true selves. Without its zoom we ignore the depth of things we see or think about. We miss perhaps essential details. Essentially, attention, bound with your attitude, is necessary for happiness. This is one of the reasons why humans across diverse cultures called up selective focus for millennia.

Evolutionary, our brains constantly seek new information. This anti-attentive mind design can benefit us as well as harm. For our advantage, we must develop our attention in order to thrive. Our contentment hangs on a positive outlook and awareness of our automatic responses.

Age of distractions: adapting to the disruptive environment

We live in an attention deficit culture. While the crisis of our ability to contemplate our actions prior bulletting them into the twittersphere cannot be blamed on technology alone, its ever present mobility adds to our chaotic state of mind. Further, as James Surowiecki warns in the New Yorker: “Overwork has become a credential of prosperity.” As we work 24/7 plugged into our devices the instant connectivity throws more distractions into any moment. Yet, to be productive, not quantity, but quality of work counts as more in the final equation. Long hours decrease productivity.

The global, interconnected society will pay for this lack of attention. We cause and become victims of accidents when distracted. Adam Gazzaley, neuroscientist and professor in neurology, physiology and psychiatry and Larry Rosen, professor emeritus of psychology in California write in The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World: “while in 2004 an estimated nationwide (US) 559 people had hurt themselves by walking into a stationary object while texting, by 2010 that number topped 1,500, and estimates predicted the number of injuries would double between 2010 and 2015.” That was then. Now selfie posturing kills Insta-stars as they headstand on cliffs, boisterously risking in their quest for more digital followers. Virtual causes of death are on the rise.

The business of temptiations

The foggy mind is getting cloudier. Human attention is constantly contested as if we were prey in the wild. Hunted by the admen, by numbers driven media and political campaigning, you are being emotionally manipulated into their agenda. With work and information consumption moving online, our focus is diverted from what we set up to do to buying unimportant stuff. Targeting us with campaigns that halo meaning is deceivingly vicious. Privacy is traded like gold and we sell it for simple small comforts.

Living in a society where influence and power without responsibility is not harshly penalised is dangerous. We should fear the era when intrusive website cookies and software and populists rule over our minds – well, this Orwellian dystopia is happening now.

Physiology of attention

Emotional targeting sensitised us to the point when our oversaturated brains become ignorant to almost anything requiring our emotional response. Psychologists all too often prescribe therapies for the ‘epidemic’ of the ADHD to restless kids. As if their fidgeting was something that the naturally newness seeking growing mind had not commonly experienced before the second millennium AD. In order to survive we had to seek food, shelter and water, but also any information about potential threats. The dopamine boost is a reward our brain washes into our body-mind system. Today, we see humans as having a disorder when their attention cannot be sustained. Not everyone was born to be a nerd, jewellery artist or a security camera watchman.

Monks, kings, soldiers, martial arts practitioners, weavers, knitters, artists, writers – anyone doing something that requires focus – have for ages worked on developing their sustained mind. Taosists, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, … all included contemplation, prayer, or other form of meditation in their religious practices. Across classes, cultures, races and religions, we people searched for calm focus of the mind.

The many easy tools to improve our attention:

Unless, you are a hermit living away from the millennial society, you cannot escape the fate that “virtual and real worlds are near point of synthesis”, Paul Taylor wrote in the Financial Times already in 2013. Once machines communicate, they can be left alone to do their job. Then perhaps, we can devote our entire lives to paying attention to what is important. Although there are countless benefits of improved safety by reducing human error and simplifying our lives, as with any revolution it will continue to be a bumpy track. We must beware of becoming robotised. The recent launch of Google Duplex is a stark warning.

You do not have to give up the millennial lifestyle to immunise yourself from manipulation. We are lucky to still have choices (a friend even tattooed it on her wrist), the freedom of will and democracy. Do not get entangled in technology’s inevitable glitches before they are perfected. Being aware of where I need AI versus where my own brain and skills will do me good, is the decisive force for my happiness. We do less manually for convenience, yet we must be involved at least mentally.

Awareness protects you to see clearly, be open to all sides and to detach from the emotional whirl thrust upon you. Those in power or on their way to usurp it, know how to exploit our attention limits and manipulate us into their extreme views. Through clarity of awareness, we can detach ourselves from the emotional charge that marketing and political propaganda unleash.

By taking away most of attention-requiring activities from humans, technology widens the blank space in our mind. We need to find effective ways to train focus on daily basis. Deep attention is fundamental to our survival. No attention, no memory.

A distinctively human activity like hand washing dishes (Bill Gates does it) and walking for groceries or to work, can become our regular mindfulness training. I love cooking. Preparing a meal requires my full attention. Chopping, measuring, heating, baking, is all about precision. On weekends or creative days when I allow myself plenty of space in real time as well as in my mind, I flow in the process of recipe creation.

Life coaches and self-help literature commodified being in the now. Yet, you do not need to pursue complex strategies to stop ruminating and focus on what matters. In photography ‘having an eye’ and capturing it, means paying attention to one’s surroundings. Tobias Buck wrote after observing one of the most distinguished contemporary photographers Wolfgang Tillmans: “pictures – beautiful, meaningful, unforgettable pictures – can emerge when we least expect them, and in the most unlikely of places.” Selective attention can illuminate fundamental work that can only be realised now.

Breathe mindfully. Focus on the inhale, on how the cool air warms entering your nostrils, moving through the body’s cavities, expanding them. Imagine the Earth reaching like a beam of light through your limbs, out from your fingertips and toes to the space outside. According to the taoist philosophy, this is becoming one. In buddhist practice this is the union of the body with the mind (the goal of yoga) and the universe. Stop everything, experience the current pure existence and enter the state of “nonbeing”. Then, like a vacuum cleaner, the exhale sucks out the dirt, the tensions and pain. The monkey mind becomes pacified. Meditating monks seek this freedom from heavy emotions. Once you enter in, it is difficult to go back to the noise of daily life. This is a flash of nirvana or spiritual enlightening.

There is science behind this. Neurologically, focused, meditative breathing reverses the electric charge of neural pathways. Coltish fidgeting is swiped away into peaceful calm. By such focused breathing connection to the ‘essence’ of our existence, according to the taoist philosophy but also confirmed by recent research, we release emotional tensions through calming our nerves into smooth circulation of stimuli.

You need to disconnect in order to plug into the right socket. We must let go of something in order to invite in the needed. Attention is weak when we are tired. To be able to listen to yourself and clearly perceive the world you need mental energy. Lack of sleep, overwork, taxing and unhealthy environment, heavy meals and a mind burdened with worries do not leave much space for focus. As with any limited resource, an excess outflow empties the precious reservoir. Recharge regularly.

This dose-sensitive mindset also must be developed step by step over a regular period of time. If you drain yourself by overreaching, like trying to replicate a three Michelin star kitchen of 30 cooks by yourself when cooking at home, you will be discouraged from improving. On the other hand, a daily attentive session with yourself is like a delicious slice of cake, one bite will please only if you get another tomorrow.

Ultimately, where we put our attention should be connected to what matters. Instead of obsessing over the self-help literature’s costly tools, muse about what is important to you. Free from ego and outside manipulation, engage in a meaningful discourse with yourself. Then, your focus shifts where it should be – to knowing yourself and accepting who you are.

Some of the biggest tech minds like Steve Jobs use(d) meditation as a tool for creativity. Without focus consciousness is not being attended to and we are lost in the tearing past. Breakthroughs in science and creativity are lost in the present – future chaos. BODY SCAN meditation is an effective focus shifting tool and in my experience easier for beginners than the breath meditation I described further above.

Tech-detox is a buzzword taken seriously by social media bingers or voracious news browsers. Their awareness of it is a promising start. Attention like any addiction is broken by change. A shift in activity – inner (breath, thinking) or outer (silence versus noise) sharpens or disrupts focus. By disconnecting from their addictions and quieting one’s mind a person connects to herself. Technology, like food, cigarettes, drugs, running et al. is addictive, and we must realise when we slide into its sticky hands. Only then we can change.

Music whose wavelengths synchronise with our brainwaves can significantly assist our focus. I often work with acoustic music, but for someone else an absolute quietude or ramblings at a popular cafe work best. T Bone Burnett, A 13 Grammy Awards assembling composer, producer and songwriter alerts in an interview with The New York Times: “the electronic universe has been shrinking our attention spans for decades now. I want to crate periods of time where people can just sit in pure sound without stimulation, where we can allow ourselves to relax into pure sound.” Indeed, music is like breath. Its tone and pace quieten our mind or dishevel it.

What’s the most natural, easy way to improve your attention? I said it – nature – spending time in green environment, free from motors and abundant in bird songs, does magic. Ancient Chinese sages have taken their working hours in nature seriously. Nature is the source of creativity, it frees your mind from negative emotions and by organically resting, your tired brain regenerates to soak more in. Those weekend escapes to the countryside are about more than getting more space away from the urban noise.

Exercise shoots a similar boost to our attention. Ancient cultures embraced attention manipulating practices. In China tai-chi, qi-gong and martial arts, in Israel Krav Maga, in South America capoeira, but a mind clearing run or a bike ride can do.

Still, some tribes smoke or ingest natural drugs expanding their attention field and the West has been seeking mind-altering substances for centuries, but this may not be a sustainable route to contentment.

Without paying attention, we can miss a Nobel Prize-worth discovery, cut our finger, even lose our life or endanger others. By improving it you will sharpen your work, reduce stress, and boost your relationships. Through attention we get closer to truth, while in the lack of it, reality fizzes out into a cloud of ignorance. Neutralise all noise that disconnects you from what matters now.

Whirling in the vicious current of emotions, sinking deep, paddling up to the light of attention, we finally float on the Earth with an ease of a leaf dancing off from a tree.

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