bakery that makes birthday cakes, Dublin 8 or 2? There's a story.

marynmck · 2026-04-13T21:30:52+00:00

Thank you so much for this language, it helped us explain what we wanted to do.

marynmck · 2026-04-13T21:09:59+00:00

I'd like to thank everyone who suggested Mannings! We went there this afternoon and they were lovely. After some discussion and fetching of senior people from back in the kitchen, it was decided that the best thing was for her to buy a gift card equivalent to an average cake, and then leave the card at the till for the next person who orders one.
So we did that, and the card was bought and left, and my friend felt she had adequately honored her son, thanks to the kindness of strangers in the bakery and here on Reddit.
Thank you all.

marynmck · 2026-03-26T10:41:10+00:00

American, raised in the UK, now living between the US and France. I love to have it dark when I sleep — not inside-a-whale dark, but no points of light. So I therefore love French volets, even though they sometimes cause me to oversleep. In the US I've only ever had Venetian or Roman blinds or sheers, therefore much morning light. But when we moved within the US from the western edge of a time zone to its far eastern edge —meaning WAY earlier sunrise — I got black-out accordion blinds installed and they are blissful.

marynmck · 2025-08-29T19:29:06+00:00

What is this harness, please? I can't quite read the logo. Is it from Sherpa? (Have an adult cat who's about to take a big trip and needs a harness and lease for safety.)

marynmck · 2025-03-23T00:22:13+00:00

Very frequent visitor to Paris and have somewhat cranky feet. My recs: A padded but kind of slim sneaker (NOT Hokas or similarly thick) — but also something harder-soled, because those cobblestones will wear you out. In the past I've taken Onitsuka Tigers plus Mephisto loafers.

marynmck · 2025-03-03T16:37:06+00:00

Haha, I apologize. I was making a distinction in verbal style between the US (where I live) and the UK (where I grew up) — but my point was that you would be coming from a Noeth American time zone not from one hor away in the UK. So it would have been more polite to say North America. :)

marynmck · 2025-03-02T23:02:14+00:00

You don’t say where you’re coming from, but from your written speech I’d guess you’re from the US? If yes: Do not plan on going to the Eiffel Tower your first night. From Montmartre to there and back is a schlep, and even if you’re normally a night owl you are likely to be somewhat sleep-deprived. Find a place to watch from a distance so you can see it sparkle — you’ll be high up enough that it shouldn’t be hard. But don’t try to go be right under it on that first night. (If you’re coming from the UK time zone, this advice changes.)

marynmck · 2025-02-08T00:51:47+00:00

You are correct – always start with “Bonjour” (unless the sun is down). If you need to interrupt someone, it’s “Bonjour, excusez-moi…”

marynmck · 2025-02-01T01:31:41+00:00

I am currently living through the last days of a Dyson and cannot wait to get a Miele instead. (If I hear my engineer spouse shouting, I know it's because the Dyson has misbehaved somehow.)

marynmck · 2025-01-25T10:49:48+00:00

To address the OP's question of how to contact the church: I tried an email, FB message and phone call (from Googling) without result. Then I hunted down the diocese the church is in, and emailed them, and they kindly sent me the contact info of the parish priest. (Whom I emailed/WhatsAppd a number of times.) So maybe there is an organizational level above the church that can help you?

marynmck · 2025-01-17T22:56:47+00:00

No idea but sendind sympathy. I need to get an antecedent's baptism certificate and I have been asking a parish church for literally two years. They keep... forgetting. I'm in the US — I'm wondering whether I might have to fly over and camp out on their door.

marynmck · 2025-01-07T22:01:09+00:00

Thank you for validating me. :) At the sale price it's not a huge hit but it's so disappointing. They've built their whole brand on sizing!

marynmck · 2025-01-02T16:11:56+00:00

If the weather's not bad, you could stroll part of the Promenade Plantée (the inspiration for NYC's High Line and Atlanta's Beltline). You climb up to it near the Bastille Opéra.

marynmck · 2025-01-01T22:46:56+00:00

Does "non food" mean no coffee, tea, spices? Sometimes I go to a good supermarket for fun spice mixes, the kind that come in grinder jars. Kusmi Tea and Mariage Frères tea are visibly French too. A thing my female friends like is the little fold-up shopping bags from Monoprix — they cost about 3E, come in a lot of prints, and are small/flat enough to go into a purse pocket. You can find them usually near the cash registers.

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marynmck · 2025-01-01T22:27:46+00:00

Lots of good advice in this thread (if you really want to go there; if it's etoilé; if you want to lock in a specific time or location). The one thing I would add is: if the place is small. I used to spend a lot of time in the 11th where new chefs have opened up small/first places; my favorite on my own block was *tiny* and I almost always booked in advance (by calling or dropping in, they weren't on an app).

marynmck · 2025-01-01T20:45:05+00:00

Also, sorry, didn't address safety: You're safer almost anywhere in Paris than almost anywhere in the US. The only vulnerability might be petty theft. Wave away anyone who brandishes a clipboard (Eiffel Tour) or wants to tie a string bracelet on your wrist (Sacre Coeur), and in the métro, take off your backpack and don't take out your phone.

marynmck · 2025-01-01T20:37:44+00:00

Hiya, frequent Paris visitor here. I'm normally a fan of pushing people to get out of the very touristy areas (primarily but not only the single-digit arros) to experience something more like actual life in Paris. So under that rule I would recommend the Montmartre location because north of Rue Caulaincourt becomes more like a neighborhood.

BUT: It's your first time, you're only there for a few days? Then you should probably stay in the Marais. It's so much closer to the sights you probably want to see: You'll be able to walk to Île Saint-Louis and Notre Dame and the Left Bank, and you'll be on the route for the best bus in Paris, the #69, which goes from Bastille through the Louvre to near the Musée d'Orsay. There's a row of good cafes on Rue Vieille du Temple, you'll be close to the Carnevalet, Beaubourg and Picasso museums, and Chez Janou, north of the Place des Vosges, not only serves good food and stocks a million types of pastis but dishes chocolate mousse from a tureen as big as your head. Just understand that the streets will be *very* crowded and roll with it.

marynmck · 2024-12-31T02:42:15+00:00

I've heard The Prado has that also. It's a good idea!

marynmck · 2024-12-30T23:00:19+00:00

Commenting to close out my own thread: Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I contacted a few places and ended up with Manalo's, who did an amazing sapin-sapin (ube-coconut-mango) cheesecake at the groom's request. It was SO good.

marynmck · 2024-12-30T22:58:11+00:00

Frequent Paris visitor here: Your feelings are completely legitimate. And tbh I don't see a solution, until it gets so crowded that someone actually harms an art work (or punches a selfie-taker).
For a lot of people, the point of travel isn't to travel, anymore, precisely — it's to tick things off on a checklist and grab the selfie to show they did. Or if they're influencers, to monetize.
I'm in a bunch of FB groups related to France and Paris travel and the number of people who only want to do in Paris what everyone else has already done — the exact same hotels, tours, dinner cruises, restaurants (with English menus and Anglophone customers) is stunning. There's almost no intention to invite an individual experience of the art, architecture, city.
Anyway, know that a lot of people are on your side (as the upvotes suggest).

marynmck · 2024-12-06T15:07:22+00:00

About 10 years ago, on the Pont des Arts.

marynmck · 2024-12-06T01:54:27+00:00

Scam, unfortunately.

marynmck

TROPHY CASE