Sunday, February 16, 2020

Map of Paris, Women of Paris Tours

Picking a subject for February's map was easy this year - Parisian women of note .
The drawing was not so easy. Deciding who to put in and who to leave out. My choices are strictly personal.
Since I pass Sainte Genevieve daily on Pont de la Tournelle and adore her statue by sculptor  Paul Landowski (who created the far better known Christ the Redeemer in Rio) she is included. After all she is Paris' patron saint, plus she saved Paris by diverting  Atilla the hun's army. I loved Yvette Guilbert's yellow dress. One does need some color.
To help choose other Parisian women of note I took Heidi Evan's SUGAR AND SPICE tour of women writers on Wednesday (42€).
Writer George Sand was already a choice. She lived for a while at 31, rue de Seine.
I didn't know a license was required from les flics to crossdress. Nor that she is still France's second most-read writer.
We stopped outside writer Colette's apartment on rue Jacob. She was more or less kept prisoner here by her first husband, Henry Gauthier-Villars (1859 – 1931) to keep her writing the Claudine stories, so he could collect the fame and $$$.
Intermittently we stopped for pastry and candy delights to fortify us for the 3 hour tour. I abstained. But note that Popelini colored all their creampuffs lovely shades of pink for St. Valentines day.
At Henri Le Roux I could have easily taken over for Heidi and talked an hour about French caramels but it was not my tour.
Here we visited the original site of Sylvia Beach's Shakespeare and Company on rue de l'Odeon.
We stopped briefly at Restaurant Procope, Paris' oldest restaurant.
Daniele and I lagged behind admiring the windows/lechë vitrine at fabric designer Pierre Frey. Dubliner Rebecca Devaney leads textile tours of Paris and formerly embroidered in the haut couture (but not on Natalie Portland's coat of the famed 900 hours). I hope to go and report back on her tours too.As a reward for abstaining from all the sweets on the tour and going back to work on the Feb Paris map, I got a vanilla dixi cup 😳 I'm turning it into a piggybank and will deposit 2€ daily instead of at Picard frozen foods. I may get to Lisbon yet🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼 Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast. Please share with a friend. Get a taste of Paris letters 💌and watercolors in your mailbox 📮Xxx❤️Carolg🐻Bear  

28 comments:

  1. Bonelle10:01 AM

    That is superbe...you do caricatures of people so well...everything you do, you do well. Love it! Gee, there are so many famous women of Paris, you could do an entire year!

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  2. Lisbon is well worth a visit. Go out to the monastery at Belem, and prepare to be amazed!

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    1. Thanks Rachel,
      Its funny...I've only been in Belem, Brazil.
      Hopefully this year 🤞🏼

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  3. Dorrance12:05 AM

    Would love to take Heidi’s tour next time I’m in Paris. That looks very interesting! How on earth did you abstain from all of those marvelous treats?!

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    1. Oh it was a piece of cake :))
      I knew all the sweet stops too well.
      Living in Paris, its landmines everyday...
      You have to make choices.
      Carefully.
      It would help if Picard and Boulangere de la Tour would move away though.
      If I took up biking that would help.

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  4. Lars Hansen7:07 AM

    SO many interesting women in Paris...was unaware of Yvette Guilbert...had to Google her. You truly could do several more maps of fascinating Parisiennes!

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    1. Oh the possibilities are endless....

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  5. I don't see you in the famous women of Paris:) Add YOU.

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    Replies
    1. Hank you dear Monique!
      The best laugh I've had today 😄👍🏻

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  6. What a fun and interesting way to see Paris.

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  7. LuLuLuLo10:21 AM

    Love this map you designed!
    Women of Paris--a project dear to my heart--

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    1. A nice change from the usual February chocolate shops 🍫🍫🍫

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  8. I thought it was Sylvia beach of the famous Shakespeare and Company?
    FYI
    I believe her first bookstore/lending library was at rue de l'Odéon &
    first called La Maison des Amis des Livres.
    Hope this helps...I am a Shakespeare & Co fan...
    Thanks for your lovely drawings.
    I am enjoying them each week I read your blog.

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    1. Yes, yes thank you I will change it toute suite.
      I'm rotten with names and we were on rue de l'Odeon!
      I know it was the 1st English language bookstore in Paris.

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  9. I put all the Paris statues (that I could find)of real women on GoogleMaps as part of my @HerstoricalMonuments project. Follow along on Facebook,Twitter or Instagram. By the way there is a statue of George Sand in the Luxembourg Gardens.

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    1. Fabulous idea Phyllis! I will send you any I find in Australia :)

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    2. I couldn't find your map...link please👍🏻
      I did find this..
      https://gramho.com/profile/herstoricalmonuments/7509051332

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    3. Les statues du Luxembourg - La statue de George Sand
      http://www.paristoric.com/index.php/paris-d-hier/statues/statues-du-luxembourg/4438-les-statues-du-luxembourg-la-statue-de-george-sand
      Interestingly they (a male sculptor) put her in a big voluminous dress, sitting down with piles of hair, very femme. Nothing like the proactive cross-dresser you see in the cartoons of the day.

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  10. Sally V.11:55 AM

    That blue of George Sand door! I want to paint my kitchen cupboards that color and order new stainless steel appliances. You settled it. S.

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  11. Hmmm...I hate to tell you but it is the ever popular deep forest green you see on many doorways.

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  12. Delightful map - I look forward to it's arrival & do applaud your choices.

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    1. Thanks Suki,
      I just popped yours in la poste today 📬

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  13. You continue to be a revelation! What a beautiful map! When I'm in Paris this summer, you are on my list to come and thank. Let's have a meal. A small token of my appreciation for all the inspiration you have given to me!

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  14. Kathleen H.8:24 PM

    I did not know of the artist for Christ the Redeemer (I have been at his footsteps - Corcovado!).
    Love George Sand - more for her persona than her writings.
    Liberated Woman for sure!

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  15. I agree with you very much, and I also like your content. From now on, I will continue to follow your articles.
    By the way,I like custom pillow cases

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  16. Love this map you designed!
    Women of Paris--a project dear to my heart--

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  17. A musician of talent herself, George Sand played the harpsichord and guitar, collected folk songs of the Berry region, and attended nearly every concert and opera.

    Indeed, her passion for music and theater had dictated her masculine dress. Unable to afford expensive seats in the orchestra or loges and, as a woman, forbidden to sit in the balcony, Sand had adopted this disguise in order to see and hear all that Paris offered.

    In this painting by Eugène Delacroix she sits gracefully and demurely, listening to Frédéric Chopin.

    https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ChopinSandDelacroix.jpg

    Cheerios always,
    Maria Russell



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