Parisian

Saks Inc. said it was considering selling its Parisian department store chain and announced the replacement of longtime Chief Executive R. Brad Martin with Chief Operating Officer Stephen I. Sadove. Martin, who has been Saks' CEO for the last 16 years, plans to end his executive and management roles at the end of fiscal 2006, but will remain chairman. Saks shares rose 85 cents to $18.71.

At the new Bernardaud Tea Salon in Paris, you can take tea and take the cup home, too. At the 9 Rue Royale salon in the Galerie Royale (near Place de la Madeleine), tea lovers can shop--selecting a cup from a range of Porcelaine Bernardaud styles, 19th century to contemporary, from the fifth-generation Limoges maker--and then sip. Or just partake of breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea--the work of young French chef Christophe Chabanel. The salon is open daily except Sunday.

Robert Doisneau, 81, whose intimate, often poignant pictures of Parisians became some of the world's best-known photographs. Doisneau was noted for his pictures of Paris night life, of lovers and children, workers and circus performers. Even when posed, his black-and-white photos seemed to freeze a natural instant of anonymous real life. One of his most famous pictures, "The Kiss at City Hall," was the subject of a legal dispute last year.

From a cracked facade that dropped granite slabs at the Opera Bastille to a sewage leak in the orchestra pit at the Cite de la Musique, some dream projects in Paris are turning into architectural nightmares. Defects plague many of the public buildings commissioned by President Francois Mitterrand during his 14 years in office.

With her second feature, "Portraits Chinois," Martine Dugowson takes a wry look at a group of Parisian thirtysomethings steeped in self-absorption, sporting slightly shaggy looks and searching for love wherever they can find it and with little regard to the consequences.

"I'm a dirty pornographer . . . a letch besides being the most despicable traitor of the century! . . . I'd make a urinal blush! . . . what we need is to cleanse France and the French language of this smut-writing, demoralizing, grammaclast who's sullying our sacred homeland and its literary heritage! . . . France won't be any more if we don't slit this swine's throat!"

My favorite cafe, when I lived in Paris, was La Tartine on rue de Rivoli. Sometimes I would go there in the late afternoon and the brusque, ponytailed waitress with the gravelly smoker's voice would serve me a glass of Bourgeuil or Chinon and a tartine. There, the open-faced sandwich was made with a slab of country bread from the famous Paris bakery Lionel Poilane, cut from a loaf with a thick, chewy crust.

"Tale of Springtime" (at the Hillcrest Cinemas), the latest film by France's 73-year-old master Eric Rohmer, and the start of his new four-film seasonal cycle, has a springlike clarity. But it also seethes with that slightly desperate, boiling unease that can come after the vernal equinox. There's nothing sluggish or sultry about Rohmer's springtime. Outside, the air of Paris or Fountainebleau is crisp and achingly clear.

The rush by record companies, in the post-Ken Burns documentary months, to make the most of their catalogs has produced some vital releases of historic material. Some have never been available on CD, and some are being reissued, occasionally with added bonus tracks. Here's a look at a variety of recent releases. I've left out ratings with the thought that--for fans of each artist--these albums represent invaluable additions to collections. Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series (TCB Music).