Le Chariot à Glaces

Yes it is HOT in Paris (90 degrees). But not as hot as July (104 degrees). The buses were free yesterday (so Parisians won't faint in the street)? What better antidote to the heat then ice cream/glace? 

On Saturday post-pool I went to the new Pierre Hermé cafe at Odeon, 125 bd Saint Germain. They have an chariot à glaces outside. All flavors are based on Hermé's macarons. I got the 'Montebello'; pistachio + strawberry (3€) 'Ispahan'; rose, raspberry, litchi is their most popular. Inquiring minds etc.

The smallest size goes down fast. Go bigger. Paris is 'Ice Cream City' second only to any town in Italy.

Paris is first when it comes to chariots, ice cream or other-wise. Tell me this isn't so. Daily I have been hunting ice cream. 

Sunday I bought small pots to paint from Picard,(no chariot) the frozen food specialist (2€ each). Their cerise/griotte studded with black cherries is divine. Blueberry/mure - a good runner-up. 

I saved my Hermé orange cup for painting still lives. 

Yesterday I made chariot de glaces rounds in the 6th arron.

Lots of chariot de glaces in sight.

I ended up with an all-pistache from Grom (who has no chariot de glaces). You're entitled to 2 flavors. I have not tried any other flavor in 12 years. Call me unadventurous. If Pozzetto was next door like they are on rue de roi de Sicile, their pistachio wins the day.  Suggestions for today's ice cream are welcome. Thanks for reading and sharing Parisbreakfast. Subscription Paris letters 💌, maps and ice cream chariot Paris Map are in my Etsy shop. With love💋from Paris🐻🍦

August Impressionistes map, Bouillon Chartier Montparnasse

After deep immersion in Van Gogh and tomatoes next up -Impressionists - Thanks to Li Chen for suggesting this month's map 💡 idea. Let me know it you have any burning map ideas 💡 

August Paris letter, Tarte à la Moutarde aux Tomates

There's no ignoring the August tomato 🍅 

*HOT TIP JUST IN* from Kate Hill Camont "After rolling out the pastry, brush it with a beaten egg mixed with mustard and set aside to dry. This is a little secret to avoid a soggy bottom". If only I'd known...next time. Put your irons away.

Immersion in Paris. 

They come at you in every color of the rainbow . Red, yellow, green, violet. No blue yet but I bet they're working on it. Its no surprise I've done many tomato Paris letters. 

I love painting them almost more than eating them. 

When David Lebovitz put up a tomato tarte recipe 

Action was be taken. 

I went with his older, simpler tarte with slices of chevre on top.

Warning: get your chèvre from a fromagerie.

Not the supermarché. The taste will be superior. Following recipes is not my forté.

I should have 'ironed' the slices. Or at least drained them in a colander as David suggests. Then place on paper towels. My tarte had a soggy bottom 😳 The crust was easy, peasy store-bought Herta pâté brisée. The cooked edges tasted as good as a cookie. Now go make a tarte à la moutarde aux tomato PBers! 

I’m Carol Gillott, an artist living in Paris. Every month I send out beautifully illustrated letters that capture the true Parisian experience. Sign up to receive these whimsical treasures in the mail.

Thanks for reading PB 🍅

☕️ If you’d like to support my work, you can buy me a KO-FI here  ☕️  🍅 

Imagine Van Gogh, Le Havre

Earlier in the week Lois Bender and I ran up to Le Havre for the day (a 2 hr train ride) to see the Imagine Van Gogh Immersive on till September 1 at Carée de Docks and just a short walk from the train station. We went to see the Dufy Retrospective at the Musee d'art moderne André Malraux later but that's another story. Le Havre is always a shock. Completely flattened in WWII. Industrial but with a wonderful harbor full of boats of all sizes. Of course I saw the l'Atelier  des Lumieres Van Gogh show in Paris, but something drew me to see the Le Havre version.

And I was right. It was a much more immersive experience showing 200 paintings large scale.

And I preferred the all-classical, mostly French background music .

Simply perfection.

It would have been nice to have seats like the Paris animation but then maybe people would stay all day instead of 30-40 minutes.

I sat on the floor like others and let the experience float over me. Deeply emotional.

It was good to see related images (like groupings of his sunflowers) instead of just one image repeated in varying sizes. More immersive that way.

Naturally I felt compelled to get out 'Vincent's bedroom' and paint it again and again.

Food-wise we hit it lucky. I had been dreaming of a seafood shack like Surf City, NJ etc. While traipsing over to the Dufy exhibit (everyone told us, "Oh its only a 5-10-15 minute walk"). It seemed more like 35. We stumbled on a small place sitting right next to the fish markelt, Bistrot du P'tit Port. Very unassuming to look at but when I saw the lunch formule (18,50€) included a starter of fruits de mer + moules (or fish)I was happy as a clam. Trip Advisor gives it a 47 out of 148 Le Havre restos. Top that! (Proper cherrystone clams are so damn hard to find in France. Its deeply frustrating, though they do have them in Amsterdam so all is not lost). Thanks for reading and sharing Parisbreakfast. Subscription Paris letters 💌, maps and watercolors are in my Etsy shop. With love💋from Paris🐻

Berthe Morisot, Orsay, Paris map

Berthe Morisot at the musee Orsay has absolutely nothing to do with the July Paris map. 

I got the July Map off finally on last Thursday (8 August)and the museum is open till 9:45 pm. And the 87 bus stops in front so I went (finally to see something!). The Morisot retrospective is a collaborative effort that originated with the Quebec museum, the Dallas museum and the Barnes Foundation. Frankly I did not expect to be surprised but I was immediately taken with how abstract her compositions were.

Her subjects are classic 19th century feminine subjects much like her contemporary, Mary Cassatt.

Mother and child, well-to-do women in fancy dress or relaxing in the countryside. But look how abstractly she composes this picture.

A series of triangles. Count how many? I had to make a doodle on the spot. Her training began early with the best, Jean-Babtiste Corot, since women were not yet allowed to attend the Academy de Beaux Arts.

Edouard Manet painted her at least a dozen time. Here in a detail from 'The Balcony'. His strong graphic black and white paintings must have had an influence on her. She married his brother, Eugene so he was around for consults no doubt. Degas too was her champion.

Yet she evolved her own Impressionistic style.

A master of painting white diaphanous fabrics, Morisot captures the multi-colors in those whites. She paints grasses, trees like the eye sees. Backgrounds fade in and out of soft focus.

Even her brushstrokes are distinctive and fluid. Sometimes the backgrounds are left empty in her portraits. Critics called them unfinished but she knew what she was doing.

I wish there had been more photos of her, and not the tiny ones placed above tall boards of text. I wish French museums would consult me on some of these things. Who wants to do squats to read a descriptive label (even if it is good for the hips) or use binoculars to see a photo? Coming home that night, Notre Dame, with or without her spire, is still glorious. If you enjoyed this post, share with a friend. Receive a Paris letter 💌or Paris map in your 📮mailbox + souvenirs at ETSY.

Cheers Carolg and Bear in Paris 🇫🇷

Long Live Rembrandt, Rijks Museum Amsterdam

The very cool Rijks Museum became my HQ during the heatwave in Amsterdam two weeks ago. 

Long Live Rembrandt, the Summer exhibition is on through 15 September, a world-wide homage of love for Netherland's greatest painter.

It may be 350 years since his death but as a source of inspiration to artists around the world he remains immortal. The call went out. 575 selected works from 8390 entries from 95 different countries. The youngest participant was three years old. The oldest 91.

A vast diversity of materials and approaches are explored, some meticulously rendered.

Others loose impressions.

A jaw-dropping exhibition of virtuosity and talent. There are 8 categories:

The Night Watch, People,

Master of light, My Rembrandt,

Landscape and Animals, (copies) After the Master, Self-portraits, Storyteller.

The Rijks encourages you to try your hand at a Rembrandt portrait or paint yourself on their RijksCreative Youtube channel. I tried a rough ink drawing above.

Along with the mint tea, I can also recommend their Green Gazpacho while you're chilling.

The heat made exploring difficult but Amsterdam's doorways have wonderful sculpted decor. Remember to look up. Thanks for reading Parisbreakfasts. Please share. If you'd like Paris watercolors or Paris letters look on Etsy🥂🍾🍒. Love❤️ from Carolg ☕️ in Paris