Les Incontournables

Paris Incontournables, original watercolor, 9" x 11 1/2"

Les Incontournables of Paris are the "must sees" or not-to-be-missed monuments that hit you in face in almost any arrondissement in Paris.
L'Arc de Triomph is waiting for you in the 16th arrondissement. Rain or shine it still knocks your socks off.
The Madeleine in the 8th, another buliding of grand scale. Perhaps that's it. The scale of so much of Paris is human-sized so these big guys make such an impression by comparison...
Place Vendome is not really an incontournable, but the grandeur of it's open spaces let you experience the scale that makes Paris so special.
Notre Dame can not be missed. I find myself walking by it most days...
There are so many others and Paris kindly accomodates you with these history posts - a good way to work on your French while promenading around...

The Eiffel Tower seen from Place de Concord speaks for itself. Is any other city in the world so loaded with monuments or have quite this effect on us?

Of course can we ever forget the ALMIGHTY Macaron!
I saw this huge poster hanging in a marche...

SIA

Marie-Antoinette Rose, watercolor, 9" x 11 1/2"

Sometimes you take a step in one direction and it leads you to all sorts of unexpected places you never dreamed of...

I went to see the Marie-Antoinette exhibit at the Grand Palais last week. I'd learned to love the movie after watching it in French, so visiting the exhibit was a must...

The museum gift shop was full of roses...pink roses...

pink...pink...pink

And Laduree contributed more pinkerie with a touch of raspberry.

Inside the exhibit there was a wall of hairstyle prints - more roses here too.

And Marie-Antoinette's exquisite china - with roses bien sur.

On Easter Monday I visited the Louvre, and was more excited by Bernardaud's window display of special edition "Marie-Antoinette" china...

And the silk roses were to die for. Perfect for painting still lifes. But where to find them!!! A friend sent me to the wholesale hat district in the Marais = zero, nada, no silk roses.

Finally I just walked into Bernardaud and asked them.

So simple and they could not have been more kind. They got on the phone et voila! Their silk roses were from SIA and quite close by.

Off I went to 3/5 boulevard Malesherbes, 75008 near the Madeleine. LOOK

Right in the window = my roses!

Mission accomplished.

SIA is a chain of home shops founded by Sonja Ingegerd Andersson in 1963 in Sweden. Now their main offices are in France.
YUM and not just roses, but stunning vases and china and furniture...
But the silk flowers are sensational - almost more beautiful than real flowers...
And they have scented versions if you are so inclined..
Thank you SIA
Thank you Bernardaud

And most of all Merci, Marie-Antoinette! :)

Dans La Rue

Kathleen wrote to me...I sneak onto your site and dream of being on the streets of Paris. I try to imagine how delicious the sweets must taste and what it would be like to spend the afternoon writing letters or in my journal at an outdoor cafe. (Sigh)

This is the Paris en Colours poster in the street for the Hotel de Ville exhibit.
Is there anything more fun in Paris than watching people in the street?
And it's freeeeeeeeeeeeee !
The French do it all the time. They even have their seats set up in the windows, like here at Fauchon, so they don't miss a trick.
I followed their example while having my chocolat chaud at PAUL'S Boulangerie on rue de Buci.
I love this dog walker's leopard shoes...
The pompiers (fireman) are just practicing here on rue Madame so M. told me, when I excitedly showed her this shot...
I still can't get over how French people blatently walk around eating their lunch in the street. Has the sandwich replaced the cigarette?


La Maison du Chocolat was selling their very pricy Easter eggs in the street on Saturday, since the shop was jammed... What?!

Scooters are EVERYWHERE in Paris.

Nice socks!

The "layered" look - several shirts hanging out under the jacket...

The scarf as cape?

The French for some unknown reason refuse to wear hats, no matter how cold it is.

Now this Laduree macaron cart should be out in the street, instead of at the Marie-Antoinette exhibit at the Grand Palais...

How nice to have a macaron to munch on discretely, while people watching in the street...sigh

Ooops! These people caught me watching

Animal Farm

Like Radio City's Rockettes, Laduree's pastel chocolate bunnies do their kick and lineup act.
These yellow duckies will not float in your bathtub! White chocolate not rubber. Get out the knife and go to town.
Patrick Roger's sophisticated chocolate hedgehog sits in the window...
This giant chocolate rabbit is guarding an old fashioned boulangerie in the 18th...
Jean-Paul Hevin puts everything including the kitchen sink into this Easter sculpture! All edible too.
Not edible - this tiny Limoge bunnie..
Edible!
Unlike George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM, all these animals play well together.
Could only the French dream up this chocolate version of a mouse/sourci?
There has to be a bear in this Noah's Ark of Easter animals.
How 'bout having a ribbon tied completely around yourself?
Dalloyau's big rabbit. What's inside? Little eggs?
Rabbits inhabit the Metro too..
At first I couldn't find any chocolate frogs...
But low and behold! Frog and rabbit went ahunting and rabbit got the carrot!
PS
They told me at Laduree the Holiday chocolates are available for a full week after Easter. Hmmm...When are they 50% off ?

Il Fait Froid!

Pieplate said yesterday...We'll be in Paris in quinze jours, and we're hoping that the temperatures will be up a bit.

What's the weather report on the ground?

When you start learning French,

one of the first sentences you learn is,

"La plume de ma tante est sur la table..."

Well long ago it used to be so.

Then you learned how to say,

"Il fait beau"
The weather is fine.
This trip in Paris, il fait FROID!!!!
Il pluie! ! !
B E A U C O U P !
It also used to be that starving artists in Paris...
(something I can't claim to be for sure)
Would now and then throw themselves out the windows of their unheated garrets...
(something I'm not about to do for sure!)
But I surely wish I'd brought my long johns (if I had any...)
The Louvre is nicely heated by the way..
Inside anyway...
Mustn't grumble about Paris grey skies...
After all I AM in Paris.
Now repeat after me:
"La plume de ma tante est sur la table."

Chicken Little?

There are no little chickens in Paris! M. says her father would take her to see the giant chocolate chickens at Hediard and they are still there.
Inside they are filled with little chocolate eggs of course.
There are lines everywhere in Paris for Easter chocolate.

Some of these hens look like they have a coat of shellac or wax, they are that shiny!

Again Gerard Mulot's masterful hens. They rule the roost in Paris and will not be ignored.

Same goes for his speckled hens. Dozens of hens a laying...

This hen is sitting on a bed of daisies and Eiffel towers. Conveniently placed nearby - French eggcups.

Surounded by hay as any respectable hen should be and found sitting on an egg bigger that herself at Lafayette Gourmet.

Also at Lafayette Gourmet multi-colored multi-hens. They have eggs to match. You can never be too well coordinated in Paris bien sur.

Sadaharu AOKI has big green Matcha tea chocolate hens...

Alaying big Matcha green eggs.

This hen seems to have produced marron glace "egges". A French hen will always surprise you with her creativity...

And don't forget all the chocolate bells or cloche. I asked M. why bells? Because the bells go ding..ding..ding at Easter. OK...

Do you want to see Paris' bunnies?

Easter is almost over and there are turtles, fish, ducks and bunnies waiting in the wings!

Oui or non?
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Egg of My Heart

I would love to know how many miles of ribbon was used up on French chocolate eggs this Easter...
Is this the biggest chocolate egg in the world?
At Marquise de Sevigne on rue de Seine 2,800 kilos of chocolate (6,160 pounds) and only costing 180,000 euros.
Laduree's chocolate eggs were decked out in pale green ribbons for the holiday.
A giant egg within an egg at La Maison du Chocolat on rue de Sevres. The tiny boutique was so jamed packed with shoppers they were selling chocolate eggs in the street as well! Never happen in New York :)
My favorite old fashioned candy shop, Les Bon Bons on rue Brea had eggs up the whazoo and the shop was packed. Well every chocolate shop was packed on Saturday in Paris.

Patrick Roger had giant a "Stone Henge" of chocolate eggs in his window.

Plus he used the molds for them as containers for even more chocolate eggs...

A miniature tableau of a mini chocolate shop on Ile St. Louis.

Fauchon, always the innovator, showed faux egg yolks in a verrine looking very much like prairie oysters.

Here they are.

Your everyday egg crate but filled with some of the best chocolate in Paris at Patrick Roger and costing a tad more than the average dozen...

Jean Rachoux had these little Piu-pius hatching in his window.

More hatchery going on in a children's boutique - non edible this time.

A very sweet egg on rue de Rivoli - a Faberge enamel egg..

But perhaps the sweetest eggs of all...

Were the eggs these children found in the grass at the egg hunt at Chateau Vaux le Vicomte today!

JOUR DU MACARON2

Vienna for Beginners said...Free food for our starving artist!What more can you wish for? Did you manage to get a second helping?

Well...ahem...a girl has to do her research doesn't she?

Yes, I admit it. I went to Pierre Herme's other boutique on 185, rue Vaugiraud to report on the JOUR DU MACARON goings ons... Here I am checking my watch. How long will the wait be? Not long but the tension was palpable!
We even had a traffic director at the door.
Inside, it looked like pandimonium.
It wasn't.
Perfectly orderly.
You even got a list of all the flavors to help you make your choice. Young people, old people, chic people..everyone was there to taste the free cookies.
The prize, plus a ribbon to wear for La federation des Maladies Orphelines.
Admiring glances from the street...

Back outside the kids, tons of students wait excitedly.
The faces tell the story...

ARNAUD LARHER's patisserie was also participating JOUR DU MACARON, on 53, rue Caulaincourt in the 18th.
Beautiful bins of macs filled the windows.
A rainbow of colors...
A rainbow of prices too. Starting at 8.20 euros...

The tasting or degustation at ARNAUD LARHER...

Just me and two students, gobbling up the samples.

No line, no excited crowd...

There is something genuinely heartfelt about Pierre Herme sharing his incredible goodies with all the world who come to his door on one day a year. True, it's for a very good cause, but the generosity of heart and thought is touching - a giving back to the people..

BIG MERCI PIERRE HERME for JOUR DU MACARON! ! !

JOUR DU MACARON

Today is JOUR DU MACARON day.

Created by Pierre Herme.

The one day a year you can get THREE FREE macarons from Pierre Herme + one red macaron more with a charity donation to FMO (La Federation des Maladies Orphelines)

At 9:00 AM no one is waiting yet so I go off to shoot various and sundry...
Explanation in the Pierre Herme's window...
JOUR DU MACARON is perfect if you're on THE EURO DIET...at least for your pocketbook if not for your waistline.

Around 9:55 AM - a short line. I join it. Someone asks me are you an amateur of the macaron? I certainly am...whatever that is.
The first FREEEEE macarons come out the door!

YAY!

Which one do you choose?
Well which 3 + the red charity macaron filled with chocolate-raspberry.
Faster, faster!
33 flavors to choose from! ! !
The charity mac.
OH HELL I missed these two-toned macarons...
The prize waiting to be eaten.

The donation box - you toss in whatever you want.

Waiting, waiting to get in.
The line is now around the corner.

Over at Jean-Paul Hevin they are celebrating JOUR DU MACARON too. No one is waiting. Here you must buy a box a box of 5 for 6.90 euros and then they give you a free raspberry mac.

They donate 1 euro for you. Hmmm...
There are 2 other pastry chefs celebrating today. I'm off to check them out and report back.

Anyway it's a race here against time - MSN keeps shutting down my internet for no good reason. As I raced to post I wolfed down my free macarons :(

MUST replenish supplies at once. I forgot to even taste them!

A bientot :)

"THE EURO DIET"

Come to Paris and go on "THE EURO DIET".

It's good for both your waistline and your pocketbook.

One gets smaller (we hope) and the other gets bigger or at least stays the same..ahem...well as much as possible. You are allowed 1 hot chocolate at Angelina's for only 7 Euros.

Some goodies are allowed after all and here you get bang for the buck.
You say you have no discipline?

You will GET discipline quickly!

A $5 impulse ice cream is not longer on the menu. In fact many things have removed themselves from the menu. All patisseries become instant museums. All instant gratification is on vacation. Truly this is the best way to gain WILL POWER while still losing weight. So many character enhancements on "THE EURO DIET" and it's all effortless.

AND this diet costs you NOTHING!

PRICELESS !

On "THE EURO DIET" you never check the scale.

You only check the daily dollar to euro report!

Required reading on "THE EURO DIET" = all menus.

Particularly the right hand side...

One big plus on "THE EURO DIET" is you get to skip long lines = the anticipation, the nervous anxiety of what to choose.

Your mind is completely free and clear = Nirvana.
Inside the musee Laduree, bountiful art works await you...

Look but don't touch.

Another wall of art at Monoprix...
Even the miniature version of a chocolate bar = a no no
Not at 12 Euros a pop for this iddy biddy toy choco bar.
Sardines ARE allowed.
Only 1.03 Euros with lemon included and you get your Omega-3s to boot!
Window gazing = TOTALLY ALLOWED.
Fauchon, Laduree, Hediard...
Pierre Herme - the choices are endless in Paris.
Here at KENZO, 2 shoes are 245 Euros.

Even buying just 1 shoe is 122.50.
Forgeddaboutit!
Diana Vreeland had it exactly right, as always:
"Elegance is refusal"
Just say no to all goodies...

And the end result = you leave Paris looking like this...or at least fitting into it. Pourquoi pas?

Day 1 PARIS

BONNE JOUR!

This was supposed to have been posted yesterday...ahem

But computer problems..bla bla bla

So you'll get TWO! posts today

Just some first impressions running around on Monday and shooting shooting shooting with my NEW wonderful Canon A720!
This town is full of eggs everwhere...
And rabbits rabbits rabbits up the whazoo
This one just hatched from an egg!
Don't you love the way seafood is displayed in the streets in front of Parisien restaurants?

An irresistable gateaux near my place (chez moi)...

Must not forget all the chickanerie that have invaded this town either...mostly nesting and hatching like crazy at Gerard Mulot, the king of Easter in my opinion, found at 76, rue de Seine 75006.
More Mulot.
Even more Mulot...just desserts :)
A pretty Frenchie window...
So many doggies for me to tail...
nite..nite
a bientot

Dalloyau Opera cake

Dalloyau Opera cake, original watercolor, 9" x 12"

It's "Chocolate Friday" and we shall discuss the classic Opera Cake or gateau..

Dalloyau has happily taken on the mantle of ownership of the multi-layered CHOCOLATE Opera Gateau.

I just happened to by passing the Bastille Dalloyau. And in the name of research bla bla bla, all for your benefit bien sur, I felt I must taste Dalloyau's, considered by pastry chefs in the know to be the best. Dalloyau is pronounced doll-why-oh by the way.

They do have lovely tea salons at each of their shops, so why not?
Firstly you must see the Opera Garnier, namesake of the famous Opera Cake.
And it just so happens that Dalloyau was celebrating the 100th anniversary of this cake and making a great to-do over it...
Et Voila!
The new special version of the cake with their sketch imposed on the top layer!
They've also got a pink or raspberry version called,
"OPERA ROCK"
For those of us with smaller appetites, an entrement or side dish in 3 versions.
A look inside...
A closeup of THE OPERA CAKE!
4 layers of kahlua-soaked joconde
3 layers of coffee buttercream
with chocolate ganache in between
and glaze on top
which makes up all of 8 layers!
As described by Bozzacafe on Flickr, who was brave enough to make this.
I aim to please you all but I have to please myself too and this beehive of caramel was calling out to me - the Torbillon Caramel.

So I indulged and ordered the two of them. Pas de choise...

Not being fond of creamy things I demolished the outer coating of caramel and dissected the rest. If only you'd come along and help me out here :)

And an entrement of my own -

I was pleasently surprised by your responses yesterday at mentioning my last minute fears of leaving home. I feel much better now. BIG MERCI!

In this morning's NYTimes I found this salient quote that should inspire us all to get out there and see the world. This said by Barack Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng on their mother:

“She felt that somehow, wandering through uncharted territory, we might stumble upon something that will, in an instant, seem to represent who we are at the core...That was very much her philosophy of life — to not be limited by fear or narrow definitions, to not build walls around ourselves and to do our best to find kinship and beauty in unexpected places.”

Paris Cafes

A Paris cafe story today because I have a gazillion things to do before I go off, none of which I feel like doing..

And as usual, I have cold feet and I don't feel like going at all to Paris...
Call me crazy, but it always comes 2 - 3 days before a trip, like clockwork.
I decide I do not want to go.
That's all.
Not going.
Go in my place please. I'll pay ya!
No matter how much I've traveled and I've traveled a ton, it's always the same story.
I don't wanna go the last minute.
But I've yet to miss a single plane...
Or a single macaron for that matter...
It's the awful tearing around the last minute to get blister pads or memory cards or Gawd knows what?
That must be the cause of last minute cold feet don't you think?
Of course these cafes do look awfully tempting...Hmmm
I rarely sit down in a cafe unless I'm meeting someone...
Like here at Cafe Le Select with Corinne or was it M.?
There's a terrific new book out on Le Select - Paris Cafe: The Select Crowd.

I do love to catch the quiet moment at a cafe as I'm breezing by onto somewhere else...

You do know that your coffee will be much cheaper if you stand up at the bar or le zinc... You're paying rent when you sit down at a table don't forget.

At least they don't charge you more if you sit by the window...

Yadda-yadda-yadda - a cafe is like an after hours party.

Yackity-yack. Doesn't matter if a trillion people are passing by.

No one is distracted from their intense conversations...

Oooops this cafe sitter noticed me...

Hmmm...I guess I am warming up to the idea of going off to Paris after all.
Lordie! If I didn't have to post I'd be moping around instead of tearing off to the pool, and then the bank, and then the camera store bla bla bla

BONNE JOURNEE!

Magnolia Bakery

New York Memories, original watercolor, 9" x 12"

I'm back on the streets of New York, PB readers...

I'm on assignment!

I'm researching cupcakes at MAGNOLIA BAKERY for a painting commission from PARIS!

I looked in the Magnolia Bakery window at 401 Bleecker Street, on the corner of West 11th Street. It was Bedlam. Hands grabbing at multi trays of cupcakes.

Was a bake sale going on ?

Do they mark down their cuppies after 4PM like at Eleni's NY?

YIKES! I better get in there and get mine.

First you grab your box.
Then you have to choose.
Decisions...decisions...
They brought out a fresh tray of cupcakes. YAY
I asked someone...are they on sale?
They looked at me like if I was crazy :)
Magnolia Bakery is full of signs -
CAKE RULES!
It's a little bit like going off to summer camp once you enter the bakery.
ONLY 12 CUPCAKES PER PERSON!
(Or off with your head)
ORDER WELL IN ADVANCE FOR HOLIDAYS!

BE MINDFUL.

DO NOT REST YOUR PURSE OR CUPCAKE BOX IN THE CAKE DISPLAY WINDOW!

Of course that is my cupcake box with my one little cuppie sitting in the lower left of the CAKE DISPLAY WINDOW.

OUCH! Hey wait, these cakes are mighty pretty...

And Magnolia has very pretty Key lime cheesecakes...

AND chocolate pudding mini pies...

Not to forget this FAB peppermint icebox cake. WOW
Very traditional American old fashioned cakery going on here.
And you can make all of these if you get The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook.

Back on the street I noticed the cupcake icer applying her pastry arts skillfully to each cuppie.When she saw me taking a picture, she shook her finger at me...just like in France. Hey, I'm out on the street? It's true that there are BIG cupcake wars in New York City. And everyone guards their secrets like diamonds.

My one beautiful cupcake... I don't even like cupcakes, cake or icing, but I must admit I gobbled it down later on after the sketches were done. J'adore Les Cupcakes! Temptation is rampant at Paris Breakfast.

What's a girl to do? ? ?

Li-Lac Chocolates

Yellow Bird checks out a Li-Lac Fudge Easter Egg, original watercolor, 9" x 12"

Yesterday while doing some research...ahem...I stopped in Li-Lac Chocolates in the Village.
Li-Lac was located on Christopher Street for 81 years and had all the earmarks of an old fashioned candy store. Inside you could peek in the back and even see them processing the chocolate. And they had the most wonderful old black and white postcard of two dog, their paws leaning on the shop window browsing all the goodies.
Now you can find Li-Lac at 40 Eighth Avenue (Where Eighth Ave. meets Jane Street)
Li-Lac's fare is quite traditional - old-fashioned foil-wrapped eggs line the walls...
None of your fancy-shmancy single origin percentage chocolates here! And the walls are covered with old-fashioned pink lilac wallpaper...
You enter their door and become a 5-year old again...
But now, you get to pick out exactly what you want and make a complete piggie of yourself!
:)
Their bunnies and Easter baskets are exactly what you dreamt of finding at the foot of your bed Easter morning, be-ribboned and filled to the brim with chockies.

My knees were knocking before this glorious bounty = blurry pictures :(

And don't forget to buy a bunnie for your basket, even if outfitted in a pink slicker decorated with chic black (black is in in Paris ya know!) paw prints.

I used to visit the old Li-Lac Chocolates every Easter and Valentines Day as well at any other opportunity I could think of. For important holidays the lines were always out the door.

Two of my absolute favorites were their Walnut Maple fudge...

And the dark covered caramel bars...sigh

Did I mention that their chocolate is to die for? It's not horridly sugary sweet either.

Yesterday I fell victim again to my 2 favorites...

Must stay away...must stay away...

Li-Lac has a second shop in the Grand Central Marketplace just to make life even more difficult than it already is!

Tea with Terttu

Tea with Terttu, original watercolor, 9"x 11"

Yesterday I had tea with Terttu, my swimming buddy from Finland.
Everywhere in her house the walls are covered with crafts made by her relatives.
Terttu made this embroidary of running Elk when she was just eleven years old!
Here is her brother in Lapland after a hike..contemplating the landscape.
Europeans always seem to be hiking or biking or some such thing...
A cousin, I think made this geometric rug...
We had Matjes Herring (from Finland of course) as a snack.
And doesn't it look alot like the rug patterns?
After a bit, Terttu brought out the costume she wore as a girl for folk dancing..
Admittedly I begged her to show me :)
Beautiful embroidery again! Beautiful patterns and more geometry!

...from a book showing the regional costumes all over Finland.Black and white with stunning designs and patterns..like the rug...like the Matjes herring...like the blue and white Arabia cups we drank tea out of...

Some Finnish wooden flowers a friend brought Terttu...

A special birthday present Terttu bought herself in Finland by designer Oiva Toikka for glassmakers Toikka.

This is Terttu's church from her hometown of Kirvu.

After the war the Russians took over that part of Finland, so the church and the town are gone... But look at the geometry and the patterns!

And here is my friend Terttu!

She just got back from a trip to Argentina and Punta Arenas, Chile and is thinking about the penguins she fell in love with there... I have fallen in love with Finland since I met Terttu and I hope I go to visit someday. Next Monday this time I will be in Paris and reporting back all the details I promise!

Right now I'm late (as usual) to meet Terttu at the pool...Bye....

Chocolate Friday

It's that time again - CHOCOLATE FRIDAY!

I think it's time Paris gave up the Eiffel Tower as it's iconic symbol and gave the French chocolate bar (or tablette) it's due.

Plus France is famous for it's "naked" bars of quality like these by Gerard Mulot.
The plethora of choices in any candy shop is jaw-dropping, like here at Denise Acabo's on rue Fountain.
This wall of beautiful bars is in Galerie Lafayette Gourmet and it IS an art gallery of different brands and flavors and grades of cocoa...
What you do not expect, is to see the same wall of chocolate bars...
At your local supermarche!?
Endless choices..endless flavors...fruity to spicy...endless percentages...endless origins...bla bla bla

The French have as vast a varieties of chocolate bars...

As we have row upon row of breakfast cereals.

Maybe this IS breakfast for the French?

Chocolate for breakfast?

It is medicinal isn't it?

Like a daily vitamin?

Sounds good to me :)

But however do you make a choice?

It must be a lifelong committment of constant trial and error and tasting.

And then finally finding the bar you can commit to for the rest of your days.

Choosing a mate has to be easier than finding your chocolate bar of choice in France.

I'd rather choose a chocolate bar thank you very much.

If you have any personal favorites PLEASE SHARE THEM!

Now let's choose a French chocolate ice cream we can stick with...

LORDIE!

Salade Composee

When PB readers ask me where to eat in Paris I immediately think of Restaurant yaourt and Restaurant Salade Composee...
You can pretty much depend on getting an excellent salad at most cafes...
Jette had this salmon salad at Cafe Journaux on on rue Rambuteau , 75003 in the Marais.
And M. had this salade composee. But what is it?
Julia Child says, "A handsomely arranged combination salad can be the solution for what to serve at an informal spur-of-the-moment meal. The trick is to toss all of the elements separately in vinaigrette, letting some marinate for 10-20 minutes if they need to take on flavor.

Then ... arrange your work of art, each part of it is perfectly seasoned."
Salad composee at most museum cafes is a work of art and tasty to boot. My salade at Musee Jacquemart-Andre. Just be sure to get a seat early! Like by 11:30. The line is horrendous :(

And a Thai prawn salad at the Musee Guimet cafe.

A salade Nicoise at the Salon du Chocolat, because a girl needs to cleanse her palate after multi lashings of 70% chocolate.

A fast salad composee at CO-JEAN'S chain of eateries.

My favorite salad in Paris is at Au Vieux Colombier Brasserie with a giant marinated artichoke tossed on top at 65, rue de Renne 75006.

This sounded interesting on the Delicabar menu at Bon Marche -

Salade toute orange...

And turned out to be dreadful :(

Carrot scrapings on top of mushed orange lentils in an orange bowl!?

Gimme a break! Oh yeah and for ELEVEN EUROS too!

I thought this salad "shake" in Switzerland looked intriguing...
My sister just got back from Paris on Sunday.
"How was the dollar?" I asked, since I'm leaving in a week and a half.
A low moan came through the phone...
"Horriblemente!"
"TAKE PROVISIONS!", she said
"Provisions? What?" says moi.
"Yes. Take smoked salmon, sardines...
TAKE APPLES!"
"Wa'? OK" says moi :(

Wouldn't you just know I got this email from Fauchon today...
This is NOT what I will be eating in Paris -

Fauchon diamond Easter eggs, but I'll be doing plenty of looking and shooting, unless they arrest me - then I get to eat free French prison food.
Eats, Shoots and Runs

Just forget the "Eats" part of the equation...

I think I'll be able to afford a l'eau mineral at Cafe Le Select..well I hope so.
If you care about PB, SEND APPLES! VITE!

And if you want to make your own salade composee check out ehow.com

Un Chien Dans Le Marais

Max checks out the Remelt Chocolates, original watercolor, 10" x 12"

Chocolates for dogs you ask? No no no!
Chic outfits for dogs you ask?
Oui! if you happen to be on 35 bis, rue du roi de Sicile 75004

Un Chien Dans Le Marais specializes in outfiting your hound in the latest trendy acoutrament.
Mais oui!
Ahem...

OK, so it was Halloween in Paris when I was there. Why should Brangelina baby Shiloh be the only little one to wear skull and bones?

A devil suit for your pup?

Fur-belows as well...

Of course a snazzy neckwear is de rigueur.

His/her portrait anyone?

Or a multi-portrait in another shop in the Marais?

There are plenty of hounds window browsing in Paris shop windows...

Plus cafe guards hold their own on many a rue...

Here a night guard in an antique shop keeping watch.

It's not all frills and fur-belows for Paris hounds.

Some are hard working blue collar dogs! If you'd like to visit the interior of
Un Chien Dans Le Marais take a look at the video...

Un chien dans le marais
by televoisins

Historic Photos of Paris

I should be doing my taxes, but instead I made these doodles from a book that arrived in the mail...
Historic Photos of Paris is full of evocative images of old Paris you can dream about...
These figures look to have stepped out of Balzac or Guy de Maupassant's novels.


I'd rather be strolling under the Eiffel Tower on a Sunday than doing...taxes

Or fishing along the Seine...

A human Eiffel Tower in the Tuillerie gardens...

Audrey and Fred...

Back to reality :(

A Decent Spoon

#175 Confiture and Breakfast Tea, original watercolor, 9" x 12"

When a girl goes off to Paris, she's got to have a decent spoon to take along...
A decent knife and fork is fine to bring.
But if she plans to paint Parisien still lifes she also needs a decent spoon.

#174 French Breakfast Tea and Toast, original watercolor, 9" x 12"

And it has to be the right size to go with the rest of her china..
I was hoping this spoon would be the ONE!
NOT!
Too fussy and not your everyday kind of spoon at all...
Look at any good painter's work and you'll see plenty of spoons.
Here Wayne Thiebaud tosses some nice spoons around...
Master still life artist, Fantin-Latour knew a good spoon when he saw it and he knew what to do with it.
The all-time master spoon artist is of course Chardin..
A PB reader suggested that perhaps here is evidence of an early macaron next to this perfectly painted cup...?
I did a little spoon research yesterday. There are all manner of spoons.
It's just that Rement miniatures is not very strong on spoons...
There are souvenir spoons, Sipping spoons, Serving spoon, Absinthe spoons, Caviar spoons, egg spoons, cocaine spoons, grapefruit spoons, marrow spoon, ladles, sipping spoon, salt spoon, runcible spoons to name just a few. A silver spoon is given to a newborn child to ensure good fortune; used as a metaphor for someone born to riches. A Love spoon is a carved wooden spoon given as a token of betrothal. By the way Eric Piatkowski is the master of playing the spoons.
I remembered noticing this toy shop window on 1, rue Cassette at Il Etait Une Fois (Once Upon A Time)
And you can find a similar Lady Bug set of silverware with matching teaset on Amazon...
I was supposed to be doing my taxes yesterday. But a small diversion from taxes never hurt anyone and enfin I found the perfect spoon on Ebay.
Little Bear will just have to wait till they arrive...

Ice cream scoop...mini shovel...honey swizzle stick...soup spoon...ladle...Hmmm...

I do not see a decent spoon to eat this %$#@! tartelette with!