Lise de La Brosse: Insider’s Guide To Paris
– I was born in Nantes but moved to Paris when I was 5 years old. I grew up here and discovered the city in total freedom… Parents were much less stressed at that time! Paris is built around small districts (arrondissements)– each like a little village. Lise de La Brosse, yoga teacher at Mysore Yoga Paris and mother of 3 lets us in on her special places in Paris 11th arrondissement.
“Paris is the city of love! – a mixture of nostalgia and intense «joie de vivre», of gratitude.”
Lis and her little girl Mado prefers to bike around Paris..!
Name: Lise de La Brosse
Occupation: Yoga teacher and mother of 3 children
Your connection to Paris: I was born in Nantes but moved to Paris when I was 5 years old. My parents came here for professional reasons. I grew up here and discovered the city in total freedom. Parents were much less stressed at that time! Paris is built up by districts (arrondissements) – each like a little village, everyone says Bonjour, stops for a chat or meet at the local café! Paris is both a big and a small city at the same time; it is easy to get lost and to feel at home. I like its contrasts: a mixture of people, cultures and architecture.
“Paris is both a big and a small city at the same time; it is easy to get lost and to feel at home.”
Why go to Paris? It's the city of love! Stopping on a bridge watching the Seine flow under grey clouds, the roof tops that blend into the sky, magnificent buildings like the Grand Palais or the Conciergerie… It´s breathtaking. I feel so alive when I see that; a mixture of nostalgia and intense « joie de vivre », gratitude.
But also for the street life in the working class neighbourhoods, the croissants, sipping a café noisette at the bar counter – and despite everything they say..... for Parisians!
Lise’s favorite places around the Charonne neighbourhood, Paris 11éme.
YOGA: Without hesitation Mysore Yoga Paris at Studio Marga, 12 rue Godefroy Cavaignac. A magnificent space for Mysore practice every morning of the week. Kia teaches with gentleness, precision, a superb approach to Ashtanga. Here the teaching is tailor-made and adjustments adapted to each person. Mysore Yoga Paris community has become a second family.
COFFEE: Le Pause Café, 41 rue de Charonne, for its large terrace in the sun in summer, its decoration and the people who frequent the place.
Passenger, 107 av Ledru Rollin, for its flat whites, homemade lemonade, and avocado toast breakfast... a healthy change from croissants!
Grounded, 101 rue de Charonne. Fantastic vegan breakfast, great coffee. A favourite post-practice breakfast place for our practitioners!
FOOD: Les Demoiselles, 76 rue de Charonne, Healthy food. Only for lunch.
Le Pain Quotidien, 24 rue de Charonne. Bakery and restaurant serving simple, wholesome and seasonal food. Handmade, organic bread, organic coffee, eggs, soups, salads and desserts. Vegetarian or vegan options.
Les petites Pâtisseries, 44, Rue du Chemin Vert. The best raw & vegan pastries by our friend and Mysore student Violaine Bergion!
Marché d’Aligre, Place d’Aligre. In this famous Parisian market with fruits, vegetables, flowers and cheese, you will also find a small flea market area and many cafés. This is Paris!
FLOWERS: Racine, 198 bd Voltaire. If you are organizing an event, Alix and her team will illuminate it with their magnificent floral compositions.
CULTURE: L'atelier des Lumières, 38 rue st Maur in the 10th arrondissement. Luminous projection from floor to ceiling of the works of great painters such as Van Gogh, Klimt... and with a bewitching soundtrack. You sit down and forget everything, absorbed and out of time.
INSPIRATION: As a yoga teacher, Mysore Yoga Paris is the place that feeds me. I practice there and I draw the necessary energy from in order to teach and pass it on to others as best I can. I remain convinced that experience and assiduous practice are the best teachers (after Kia!:).
PEACE: The Père Lachaise Cemetary, up to rue de la Roquette. Yes it's a cemetery, but it's not sad. It´s a real park, there are big trees, paved paths, it goes up and down. Every time I go there I discover new places. Many tourists come here to have a picnic, to see the tomb of Jim Morrison or Edith Piaf..... It's a soothing place.