Bonjour Baron Haussmann & Daisy

 Have you wondered what goes on behind the grand doorways of Paris?

 Yesterday I entered

 And found out

 I was meeting a friend of a friend, Daisy

 The moment I entered I felt like a Second Empire grande dame.

 I lift my petticoats or I'll trip on the stairway, ahem

 

 Daisy's background is in Art History, so she filled me in on the architecture. The building is of course classic Baron Haussmann. Once all private apartments it's now a corporate headquarters. Still the remaining original details are exquisite

 Lovely curved shapes repeated over and over on windows, mirror frames, doorways creating a sense of classic balance

 The white-washed ceiling reliefs were formerly painted full-color.

Off to lunch, we lift our petticoats as we go.

What a stairway!

 Through the inner doors

 And out the front door. If you don't know where to look for the door buzzer, you could be a prisoner here for life. I can think of worse things...

Off to another grand building for an Italian buffet

 La vie est belle non?

 Bonjour Baron Haussmann!

Paris Grey Skies

Paris is a grey city - overcast skies, grey cobbled streets with grey Baron Haussmann buildings. Citizens dressed in grey neutrals with just a dash of color at the neck. Why is this a good thing? Because grey acts as the perfect foil for brilliant colors. Grey makes colors sing. We adore Ladurée's pale green, Hermés' Orange, Hediard's red, Fauchon's hot pink. Strong colors radiate against this serene grey backdrop.

It's color basic theory. 

And why do we wander aimlessly down Paris' streets? 

Lois Swirnoff explains in THE COLOR OF CITIES;

Elegant, gracious and stylish, the great lady reveals her distinction facially. The aesthetic is one of dignified composure. Close range colors in these facades impart a sense of unity, rather than commercial competition (like New York). Restraint and refinement is the urban message.

Par hasard /by chance I passed this art student sketching in the Jardins du Luxembourg. Tout en gris. Note how GREEN the greens look surrounded by all that gris (grey). 

 Picasso of pastry, Pierre Hermé uses pearl grey for his pretty boxes. THE COLOR OF CITIES is a fav book because it explains why we love Paris, Rome, Venice, or any extraordinary city. For reasons usually never considered like longitude, angles of light, shadow shapes. Paris' low-contrast light is softer, more atmospheric, more moody and best for still life painting. Thanks to overcast grey skies. a tout à l'heure

These grey cheeses are aged in charcoal. They look like corrugated cardboard left in a cellar (they rested on rope and were turned periodically). But on a tartine (slice) of fresh baguette..YUM

Look in any Parisien shop window. Close range colors make for harmony, balance, calm. My friend, Christiane, is outfitted in her crazy, grey LILITH jacket. Note the red lips 💋 at the neck.