Cafe Pavane with Jill Colonna

 

Have you been looking for a cosy, friendly tea salon in Paris?

Not one of those wildly extravagant afternoon hotel affairs

Weekend in Honfleur, musee Eugene Boudin

The Normandy Invasion continues. Last Saturday PBer Carolyn from Seattle joined me on the 8:09 am train from Gare St. Lazare to Trouville (2 hours). Then a 30 minute scenic bus ride. Et voila Honfleur.

Last week it was parasols. This week its boats. No wonder. Honfleur is noted for its beautiful boat basin lined with old houses, the vieux basin.

Its the birthplace of French Impressionism along the Seine. Turner, Corot, Jongking and especially Eugene Boudin who befriended Monet and took him 'en plein air' painting for the first time, draging him out of the studio into the luminous Norman light.

We stayed at chain hotel Ibis Styles Centre(119€). The walls had silhouettes of artists painting. Even the table was palette-shaped. My kind of place.

There are oodles of pretty shops selling everything caramel au beurre salé: candies, cookies, sauce. Plus Calvados, Cidre, Norman cheeses like Neufchatel and Camembert, the local apple juice is divine and, endless butter cookies. Basically you can eat yourself silly very easily in Honfleur.

Eating lunch and dinner out is remarkable cheap. An ample 3-course meal starts around 14€ with plenty of fresh seafood. I was happy as a clam. 

Reservations are not necessary and many are simple no-fuss mom-and-pop run establishments. Jill Colonna just wrote about visiting the higher end restaurants plus other sites in 10 Reasons to Visit Honfleur, Normandy appeared on Mad about Macarons exactly while I was there.

In no time at all you can escape to old, quiet cobble-stoned streets lined with split-timbered houses. *FYI take sturdy shoes for those cobblestones. 

I highly recommend visiting the Eugene Boudin museum, including a broad collection of local artists of Boudin's time as well as his sketches and paintings. Instant immersion into 19th century Honfleur. Nice scenic views over the town as well.

This week I fell overboard for ❤️ Honfleur. Have you been? 

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xxx💋Carolg et Bear 🐻 back in Paris

Leslie Caron at Metro Etoile & Mad About Macarons

Yesterday I had a brief encounter with actress Leslie Caron in the Metro Etoile station.

I saw an elegant French woman checking the metro map. Then I saw her little dog - out came the camera immediatement. 

Remember Leslie Caron of Gi-Gi, Lily, American in Paris, Damages, Le Divorce, more recently Law and Order.
 

I saw the woman go off in one direction, turnaround and come back. Metro Etoile is a confusing station. I sensed she was lost.

I went up and said,

'Peux je vous aidez?'/ Can I help you?
Mm. C. said, 'bla bla bla' in French

Me, 'but I'm American'

Mme. Caron responded in her inimitable lilting voice,

'Isn't it funny an American helping a French person in the Metro?' & smiled graciously.

I helped her find ligne 8 and then asked if I could take a picture of her Shitzu.

'His name is Tea-Tea' (sp)

All I could think was her movie 'Gi-Gi'

Leslie Caron's book, Thank Heaven A Memoir came out two years ago. It's a classy tell-all of her life and loves in Hollywood and everywhere else. I'll be reading it as soon as I get home. Lovely interview here. 

A new Arte doc on Caron here. She is 90.

Everyone in London and Paris is talking about the new Spielberg Tintin movie coming out exactly the day I head home. AirFrance could you please show it in economy? 

Yesterday I picked up Le Point to browse while enroute to my private macaron lesson with.Jill Colonna of Mad About Macaron fame. Jill is quite determined I will conquer the elusive macaron secrets. 

 Bear inspects egg whites put out that morning. It was a misty, rainy day so everything should have gone wrong. 

Jill is a maitress de macaron. She whipped up these madly lemony macs for me.

After class, Jill took me on a grand tour of Saint Germain-en-Laye's finest patisseries. M.O.F. Patisserie Osmont was irresistable. 

The tarte citron meringuee beckoned.

Perfect for breakfast today! Little crunchy orbs of meringue sit atop a light lemon curd. Inside a touch of framboise/raspberry surprise lurked. Today I ate my crust. Chef Osmont won me over and I was very hungry. 

Leslie Caron said in this Guardian interview,'I seldom eat pastry–maybe once a year. I never eat desserts and I don't drink'.

👏👏👏

Bonjour Leslie Caron, Jill Colonna, Tintin!