Paris Letters - Montmartre or Jardin du Luxembourg
Wrestling with the monthly bear 🐻 again creating the latest Paris Letter.
Last Saturday I went to meetup with the ‘Cinema in Montmartre’ tour at Metro Caulaincourt Lamarck but…“The best laid plans oft go awry.” The tour was in fast French. Why had I assumed I’d grasp some of it 🤔 HAHA
I’d even started sketching ✏️ Catherine Deneuve from Truffaut’s ‘The Last Metro’. I’d seen a brief flash of the Theatre Montmartre in a trailer. Our knowledgeable tour leader informed me that theater was made up & actually on rue Saint Georges in the 9th. Oh 😟 i.e. it didn’t exist. Avoir Catherine 👋
After we climbed the steep steps above Metro Caulaincourt 🙀 our first stop was the hilly Montmartre cemetery 🫣 Bonjour Tristesse
Evidently one of the famous Meliés brothers 🌝 was buried here.
(Gaston not Georges, who made it to Père-Lachaise) along with other luminaries like Marcel Carné.
Next stop Lapin Agile. I missed what famous film was associated with this meeting place of many painters, writers, drunks etc.
I knew if I went around the corner…
Musee Montmartre has a nice book📕 shop with maybe something on film in Montmartre. (They did not). As the group was about to ascend another hill, I bowed out. Ça suffit! It was hot 🥵 too. I needed a break to rethink….
The cafe at the museum was perfect. I can’t remember if I had an ice cream 🍦 …and they had AC 👏👏
One of the loveliest things about the Musee Montmartre is the #40 bus 🚌 stops right on the corner and takes you on a nice tour of Montmartre without having to take a single step. Yay I shot this out the bus window. I took it to the last stop, Le Peletier and hopped on Metro ligne 7 home 🏡
Sunday rolled around…I decided maybe a letter on le Jardin du Luxembourg was a better Paris letter idea. La la la la la 🎵
Did you know the Catherine’s pastry chefs created the first macaron?
A new Ladurée cafe across from Jardin du Luxembourg with pale green checks on rue de Vaugirard.
I made the fatal error of getting the last well-done Palmier 😟 (not the one in the picture) There was a reason no one else wanted it. Over- cooked! I tossed most of it.
This has turned into a long shaggy bear story. The new Paris letter is almost done 🙏🤞⛵️
Montmartre = STEPS! Many steps…not my favorite thing…but supposedly so good for you 💪 Youtube said I should climb 2 flights every few hours when I am sitting for long periods of time. I am thinking 🤔 about it seriously 😂
I sympathize with your tour en francais experience! Happened to me on a tour at the bell foundry in Villedieu des Poelles where the replacement bells for Notre Dame were being made back in 2011… tres vite! One of the few words I understood was “merde”. It is used in the cooling curing process of making the bells…!
What a weekend Carol! I love those huge stone vases in Jardin du Luxembourg filled with flowers. Geraniums? The palmier was a perfect way to end Sunday. Shame on Laduree for selling the overcooked one which you had to toss.
Jardin du Luxembourg would have been my choice on a hot summer day! Lovely place to sit in the shade and watch the wild parrots. Perhaps with an ice cream? My fav palmiers are from Carette…they’re huge!! 😋
Luxembourg Garden is my favorite place in Paris because it’s always beautiful and serene. So many little private corners to read and snooze, if you like. There are children riding ponies, a carousel where kids can still “catch the rings,” a puppet theater, and La Terrasse de Madame has the best Saint-Germain spritz!
C, THANKS, MERCI....FOR THE LAST PART...WHEN IT AIN'T WORKING , SO MANY TIMES, ....TIME TO GO HOME ? AS A TAURUS TOO, I KNOW THE FEELING WELL. I GOT TO LAUGH, SEEING MYSELF IN THIS... JACQUELYN IN BAY AREA
Your sketches of Catherine Deneuve are spectacular!! Wish I could draw people like that! Can’t wait to read more! ❤️😘🇨🇦
ReplyDeleteThanks, I thought she would be fun to draw ✍️ Unfortunately Last Metro was NOT filmed in Montmartre ☹️
DeleteI have climbed those steps before and they were a killer.....many stops to take a rest. I felt your story as always.
ReplyDeleteMontmartre = STEPS!
DeleteMany steps…not my favorite thing…but supposedly so good for you 💪
Youtube said I should climb 2 flights every few hours when I am sitting for long periods of time. I am thinking 🤔 about it seriously 😂
Delightful, Carol! Thanks so much for your efforts, and sharing with us!
ReplyDeleteYour welcome ❤️
DeleteI love Luxembourg Gardens and my favorite palmier comes from Smith Bakery on rue de Buci, they're almost like candy.
ReplyDeleteOhhhh…Smith Bakery. Thank you 🙏 I will visit and test them out 👍
DeleteMaybe Today is a good day to test Palmiers..😃
DeleteOMG The Smith Bakery PALMIER are so thin you can see thru them. Definitely like candy 🍭
DeleteI sympathize with your tour en francais experience! Happened to me on a tour at the bell foundry in Villedieu des Poelles where the replacement bells for Notre Dame were being made
ReplyDeleteback in 2011… tres vite! One of the few words I understood was “merde”. It is used in the cooling curing process of making the bells…!
And such an important word in the French language! Basically you got yr money’s worth, since you still remember it 13 years later! Bravo 🎉
DeleteWhat a weekend Carol! I love those huge stone vases in Jardin du Luxembourg filled with flowers. Geraniums? The palmier was a perfect way to end Sunday. Shame on Laduree for selling the overcooked one which you had to toss.
ReplyDeleteYes they are geraniums 👏 why was I surprised 😮
DeleteJardin du Luxembourg would have been my choice on a hot summer day! Lovely place to sit in the shade and watch the wild parrots. Perhaps with an ice cream? My fav palmiers are from Carette…they’re huge!! 😋
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Carette advice 👍I will try them ❤️
DeleteLuxembourg Garden is my favorite place in Paris because it’s always beautiful and serene. So many little private corners to read and snooze, if you like. There are children riding ponies, a carousel where kids can still “catch the rings,” a puppet theater, and La Terrasse de Madame has the best Saint-Germain spritz!
ReplyDeleteThaank you for the Spritz tip 🍹
DeleteC, THANKS, MERCI....FOR THE LAST PART...WHEN IT AIN'T WORKING , SO MANY TIMES, ....TIME TO GO HOME ? AS A TAURUS TOO, I KNOW THE FEELING WELL. I GOT TO LAUGH, SEEING MYSELF IN THIS...
ReplyDeleteJACQUELYN IN BAY AREA
No, I had no idea that Catherine de Medici was responsible for the garden or for the chef who created the macaron! Mercie beaucoup! Jeanette Sclar
ReplyDeleteFar too much fuss made over Marie-Antoinette and not enough over very clever Marie de Medici IMO! 👑
Delete