Dessert Alert!

Are you bringing dessert to your Thanksgiving dinner destination? Bad things happen to good desserts when they are in transit.
I took these 3 desserts to Barbara Bleu. The trip was too much for these fragile beauties.Here's a lovely example of red and green harmony from Pierre Herme.

Not so lovely result after a trip on the Paris Metro. It went slip sliding away, because I did not treat it with kid gloves.
c'est la vie

My 1st day in Paris I made a B-line for Pierre Herme and bought this lovely creation plus 2 others, thinking I'd have painting material for a while.

I made the fatal error of entering the Metro at rush hour.
Quelle idiot moi!
I know why French women snack on Pierre Herme's fabulous desserts in the street.

Tragedie struck!

Plus I did not request these three to be packed seperately.
Live and learn.
It would be wise to reserve a hotel close to your favorite patisserie. Hotel Bonaparte is exactly across from Pierre Herme.

Sometimes you will be sold les macarons sans /without a box top! Quelle sacriledge et tragedie!

Listen when the sales person asks if your dessert is "pour emporte?" Take-away and eat immediately?
Tell her it's un cadeau/gift. You need une boite /box.
Or there may be an unhappy surprise when you get back to your room to feast.

Barbara Bleu 2

Barbara's Blue Cup with a Caramel Macaron, watercolor, 9" x 11 1/2"

I borrowed this cobalt blue and white Russian Lomonosov teacup from Barbara "Bleu" to paint.

I've written about Barbara before... She plays the cello and loves all things bleu!

I used her bleu kimono as a background to take some photos of her...

Barbara looks like I imagine Colette looked...

Everything in Barbara's studio on the Ile St. Louis is blue, bleu, blau!
When Barbara plays Bach.
She sits in her Bleu chaise/ chair.
She takes music notes in a blue notebook witha blue pen.
The flowers in the blue vase were not blue...
Barbara paints occasionally, always in blue.
Note the blue matt and blue frame.

I first met Barbara par hasard / by chance.
We shared an overnight couchette from Venice to Paris more than 2 years ago.
Barbara Marcinkowska is an accomplished cellist and music festival organiser.
BONJOUR Barbara Bleu!

Bleu dans l'Ile..

Over tea with M. at Le Saut du Loup, the conversation turned to the penny candy M. ate as a kid. "CARUMBAR" were a favorite of hers, or so it seemed to me.
 

While waiting to visit Barbara Bleu, I spotted this cobalt blue bonbon shop, BLEU DANS L'ILE. The vitrine said,

'DELICES ET SUCRERIES DES REGIONS DE FRANCE... ET D'AILLEURS'. Translated, delights and sugary sweets of regional France and elsewhere.
 

I asked the owner if she had CARUMBA caramels?

She corrected me, You mean CARAMBAR caramels?

Oui, bien sur! a sort of caramel Tootsie Roll.
 

This shop was packed with all kinds of other caramels.

Vanille, Fleur de Sel, Beurre Sel, Chocolat, Cafe, even in pop form. Oh my.

Blurry picture? Your knees would be shaking too with all this caramel.MAJOR Miam! Years ago I used to attend Lotte Berke Excercise class on 67th street. The entire hour class I fantasized about buying Dalloyau caramels at Bloomingdales and I did too.
 
Regarde/look! Caramel mice. I buy a pack of CARAMBAR and entrust them to Barbara to give to M. She immediately starts munching. Hmph. I have a feeling M. never saw a single Carambar. Please visit the CARAMBAR site for giggles. Or buy CARAMBAR on Amazon! No kidding!

Barbara Bleu.

Jean-Paul Hévin Cadeau, watercolor on paper, 9" x 11 1/2"

I bought this cobalt blue pitcher after I had lunch with Barbara.

I first met Barbara Marcinkowska by chance. We shared a couchette from Venice to Paris in 2005. She not only paints (always in blue) but is an accomplished cellist and music festival organiser.

I thought Barbara's favorite color was rose till I had lunch at her Ile Saint-Louis studio last trip. Everything was blue, blue, blue!

Rugs, tapestries, necklaces, dishes, towels..you name it, all was BLEU!

Barbara, first came to Paris to study the cello. Now svphe judges competitions, writes, teaches master classes and performs. AND she paints too!
As I left Barbara's studio I spotted this cobalt glass in an antique shop next door. Did they know that Barbara loves blue too?

You can see more blue at the FIT show, Color in Fashion.

Blue has become the most popular color. "Blue bloods", "blue collar" workers, the "Blues"... Certainly blue is favored by Americans - blue jeans, blue blazers.
Michel Pastoureau, in this book covers the iconography, symbolism, sociology, the economic aspects of weaving, dyeing, and other aspects of the color bleu.