Le Floraison de Cerisier du Paris, Cherry Blossom letter

 I was just finishing this month’s Paris Letter, when the BBC announced Prince Phillip’s passing, so this is my homage 🌸🌸🌸 As a ‘Spring Special’ you can buy it as a single letter.

 

As always It begins with a doodle. PBer Bonnie picked the one on the right. Voila 👏

But not an easy picture to draw. All those tangled, gnarly branches. 

All those @#$& fluffy cherry blossoms! 🌸🌸🌸

This Japanese wood block print saved the day - use a visual symbol rather than go realistic. And the falling petals were perfect. I found this image in a French video, 1000 ans d'histoire des cerisiers en fleurs au Japon en 8 minutes. 🌸Add the subtitles(still in French but easy to figure out).

The same video shows how over time cherry blossoms infiltrated all levels of Japanese culture. 

BBC radio 4 is celebrating Spring with daily readings from the intriguing book, ‘Cherry' Ingram: The Englishman who saved Japan's Blossoms. Would you believe an obsessed British naturalist decided to save rare varieties of the cherry trees? The Japanese were letting many species disappear. Fascinating and beautifully read. 

Yesterday I went looking for pink on Champs-Elysées. A delicate, fragrant cologne in the Pierre Hermé-l’Occitane store, but no pink pastries from M. Hermé. 

Do you know the Hot French designer, Tara Jarmon, much loved by chic young Parisians? A simple milkmaid’s pink gingham dress (245€).

Across the avenue Laduree’s windows have towers of pink macarons. I think they have a ‘cherry blossom’ flavor.

Their pink and green, witty Easter windows are still up. FYI: Easter lasts for 2+ weeks in Paris. Sadly there are no 50% off sales afterward.

In Guerlain’s windows at 66, Champs-Elysées, beautiful petal pink perfume bottles, but they’re not open. Isn’t perfume as ‘essential’ as macarons to daily French life? 

This week I passed by the tiny, but oh so beautiful Square Marie-Trintignant in the Marais. Once a year it is full of blossoms for a week. And the next week full of petals 🌸

Isn’t it time for an Eiffel tower Paris letter?

I picked up some fallen blossoms and put them in my pocket. When I got home I cut the stems, dropped them in a dish of water. Et voila they revived! I hope you have blossoming 🌸 trees nearby dear PBers. If not, live vicariously through  Parisbreakfasts ☺️🌸🌸