A Taste of France in STL: Brasserie by Niche

French bistro chairs and un café on the sidewalk, on a Sunday morning in summer. What could be more Parisian? St. Louis's Brasserie by Niche is, as I described to Tony over brunch, a little slice of Paris in STL. Our Sunday plans included brunch at Brasserie followed by the Central West End Home & Garden tour, where we explored St. Louis homes dating as far back as 1892. But first, rejoignez-nous pour le brunch! 

Tony and I often choose Brasserie for special occasions including birthdays and anniversaries, but we will make any excuse. ;-) Brasserie's dinner menu includes many classically French dishes including gougères, soupe à l'oignon, and croque madame. They recently began serving le déjeuner, too (lundi à vendredi)! The brunch menu (served samedi et dimanche) is full of deliciously sweet treats. I'm a total sweet tooth, but there are of course savory options if that is your thing! We ordered deux cafés, the brioche french toast, and sweet beignets (with housemade fresh cheese and dried plum compote - I know, right?! It's as good as you're imagining...). I also got a grapefruit brûlée on the side. Absolument délicieux! 

As I sipped my coffee and made a beautiful mess of powdered sugar with my beignets, I was giddy with the excitement of spending a summer morning this very same way IN PARIS!!! (Countdown: just over two weeks.) I am also so happy to know that when Paris is not the reality, I can enjoy a little taste right here at home grâce à Brasserie. 

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And now for a bonus peek at the Central West End's neighborhood charms. As you are likely aware, I am always on the lookout for the fleur de lis, a symbol that represents France and my hometown which has some French history and is named after Louis IX of France. The fleur de lis was out in abundance on Sunday. Here are some of the images I captured:

I love that you can see the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis off in the distance, another one of the city's gems. I also spotted the Tricolore flying proudly alongside the U.S. flag at this beautiful Central West End home.

If you are are a St. Louisan longing for a taste of France but France must wait, add Brasserie by Niche to your list. It is possibly my favorite restaurant in the city. For other tastes of France in STL, be sure to check out my previous posts:

⚜City Coffee House and Crêperie in Clayton

⚜La Pâtisserie Chouquette in Tower Grove

⚜Comme à la Maison {Like Home} in Grand Center

Stay up to date on French spots and happenings in STL by clicking on my France in STL tab at the top of the home page! As always, merci beaucoup for stopping by. 

Warm wishes from me to you and bon appétit! 

Francophile Friday (n°6): Sites pour apprendre le français

Bonjour readers, and happy francophile Friday! I can't remember exactly how I stumbled across the French language learning resources I am going to share with you today, but I can tell you that they are all very well done and fit my needs as a learner better than other sites and resources I've tried. Enjoy, and I hope you find something here that will help you along your language learning journey! 

Les habitudes d'étude et plus (study habits and more):
Eurolinguiste is a great place to begin building study habits when it comes to learning a second language. I loved Shannon's recent post, 5 things you can do when you don't have time to learn a language. I also subscribed to her Busy Language Learner FREE 7-day e-course and am excited to begin receiving more information that will further improve my language learning habits. 

Écouter et parler (listen and speak):
On Comme Une Française, Geraldine provides a wide array of videos so that you can listen to and practice useful phrases for conversation in French. I recently watched her video on how to order coffee in France. Je vais prendre un café crème s'il vous plaît. A café crème is a coffee served with cream or milk. Un café gourmand pour moi - a coffee served with des petits pâtisseries. Délicieux! This will be my first time in France as a coffee drinker. I can't wait! 

Vocabulaire, grammaire, voyage et culture (vocabulary, grammar, travel, and culture):
Talk in French is where I go when I want to brush up on a particular aspect of French grammar, but Frédéric also has fun vocabulary resources like these words and phrases related to yoga. In my French class next week we are going to be reviewing the subjunctive, so I am preparing with the help of Talk in French. Click around, because he also posts travel tips (I read his post on packing for France) and information about the French culture. Follow @talkinfrench on Instagram for even more French language resources! 

To take full advantage of these wonderful resources I recommend subscribing. Not only will it keep you up to date on the latest content, seeing those e-mails in your inbox may encourage you to make more of a habit of your French studies. I've made it easy for you to subscribe - just click the links below!

⚜Subscribe to Eurolinquiste - Start here and then subscribe on the blog (scroll down on the right). 
⚜Subscribe to Comme Une Française by scrolling down this page, and enter your name & e-mail to receive weekly videos in your inbox.
⚜Subscribe to Talk in French by clicking here.

Écouter de la musique (listen to music):
Sara'h French Covers (which I discovered through @frenchnotepad on Instagram) is a wonderful place to listen to songs you know and love en français. Her voice is beautiful and the lyrics are displayed. Definitely a great opportunity to pick up additional French vocabulary and phrases! 

Instagram:
Let's face it, we all love to scroll through Instagram. Why not make it yet another opportunity to learn French? The following accounts are as helpful as they are beautiful. You will enjoy infusing a little French into your every day by following along!

@frenchnotepad for language nuances

@frenchwords for vocabulary, phrases, and quotes 

@frenchoncall for French words and photography 

@frenchisbeautiful for vocabulary, phrases, pronunciation and photography

@mon_cahier_de_mots for useful French phrases

(Follow @frenchwords on Instagram.)

I love this quote. To have another language is to possess a second soul. Language learning brings me so much joy. I have always admired the beauty of the French language, and to be able to understand & speak the language has improved my travels and allowed me to build relationships with French speakers. I hope you find these sites to be as helpful and enjoyable as I do! Now, allez étudier le français! Go study French. :) 

Des souhaits chaleureux de moi à vous,

Fleur de St. Louis Follow Up

Happy Wednesday, readers! Here we are, post #45 (so close to 50!), and it seemed like a good time for me to look back at my ideas & goals posted here on the blog and follow up with you. Enjoy a quick recap of where I've been and where I am!

⚜Back in April I mentioned my goal to read 24 books in 2017 (about one book every two weeks). When I'm in the full swing of teaching, this feels just right. This summer, I'm hoping to fit in even more time to read. My progress: 13 out of 24 books. I should have hit 12 by the end of June to be on track for my goal, and it looks like I will hit 6 months a bit ahead! Surpassing my goal is the dream, but I am thankful to have set an honest goal to keep me going without taking the joy out of reading. Also audio books! Audio books with the right narrator (I love when they are read by the author) are a ton of fun and turn drive time into more reading time! 

⚜Also in April, I told you about this lesson I learned in regards to my French language journey:

The lesson: Next time I have the chance to speak French with natives I am going to be more confident in my abilities and seize the wonderful opportunity. 

This opportunity doesn't present itself every day here in St. Louis, MO, but I'm happy to report that the next time it did I seized the opportunity with confidence. And then the next time, it was no problem at all! I look forward to using my French daily in Paris (just 3 weeks away!). 

⚜Wow! April was a big goal setting month for me! I mentioned on April 15 that I was going to start making Coffee Break French a part of my every day routine in order to continue to better my French language skills. 52 days have passed, and I've listened to 23 episodes. Turns out one episode every couple of days is fitting better into my schedule. Did I hit my exact goal? No. Am I listening and working on my French a lot more than I was before? Absolutely. I call that a step in the right direction with room for growth (as there always is). 

⚜Still April... and this was a big one. I posed the following question inspired by a book talk I attended with author Jen Sincero:

I'm willing to bet you have a desire inside of you. If you haven't already, why not give it a chance and take a risk so that it has the opportunity to bloom into something that allows you to live your fullest, happiest life? Just some food for thought. I will be thinking on this one too.

I'm happy to report that I have thought on this. I've made some connections. I've done some research. I've sent some e-mails. There is a dream inside of me and I am getting serious about taking the leap. More to come on this. I am happy to be staying close to my inner self as I continue to move in the direction of my dreams. :) 

⚜Toward the end of May, I became interested in healthy beauty. I've continued to do research, and recently connected with a healthy beauty expert in my community. I've begun using healthy beauty products (cruelty free, vegan, all natural) and am noticing a difference in the look and feel of my skin. To start, I'm trying this deodorant, this facial sunscreen, this night cream, and this blush. I look forward to continuing to build my healthy beauty collection over time. 

A quick post today, but a reminder to set goals and check in frequently. It was a lot of fun to look back on this journey and see how far I've come already. Thank you for continuing to stop by, read, and comment. I love that you get to be a part of this journey with me. What goals have you set recently? If you quickly check in, are you making progress? What tools could you seek out to continue to move forward with your dreams and passions? You've got this! 

Warm wishes and a very happy Wednesday from me to you,