Brocantes et meanderings…

  

Yesterday I painted an imaginary sailboat ⛵️  

Today at the Sunday BROCANTE I found it!

Pôle international du Cheval Longines – Deauville + Lobster 🦞

 

On ETSY

The French 🇫🇷 are mad about flags flying 

Including Monet, when he visited Trouville-sur-mer.

Eugène Boudin — Musée Marmottan Monet

 

Yesterday I was headed to the races 🐎 

And ended up at la plage 🏖️ beach.

I went to buy stamps, En Jeu! Musée Marmottan Monet

 

Samedi/Saturday was gorgeous. Guess - tourists or Parisiennes?

No way could you stay inside.

To Trouville-sur-mer

 I left the house at 6:02 Two of my 3 alarms ⏰ went off at 5:00 am 👏

I am on Metro ligne 7 at 6:14 am

Mount Fuji - pays de neige, Musee Guimet

If you live in the Northeast in the USA you woke up to 12-20 inches of snow this morning. Paris was a balmy 54 degrees. Coats and windows were open. 

A good time to show you an exhibit at Musee Guimet - Mont Fuji - land of snow. 

Japanese woodblock prints of the Edo period (1603 - 1868). They capture the infinite silence of snow gently falling. 

Here’s a very ‘Japanese’ snow scene from New York photographer, Noam Galai, taken yesterday of a Sabret hot dog stand.

Around 1830, 70-year-old Hokusai became obsessed with snow-covered Mount Fuji, as a symbol of monumentality. 

The titles of his prints are like haiku poems; 

‘Fine winds, Clear morning’ 

‘Rainstorm beneath the summit’ 

‘New paddies at Ono’

The introduction of Prussian blue pigment , a deep greeny-blue stain brought in by  Commadore Perry when he ‘opened’ Japan,

                  Added depth and  contrast to Edo prints. 

Check out Lise Martinot’s Youtube lecture(in French) on their influence.

In Musee Guimet’s terrific gift shop I bought an accordion book of bird prints now gracing my wall, most with Prussian blue backgrounds. By the way they have Hokusai ‘Great Wave’ socks and face masks. 

Claude Monet, like Impressionists Manet and Van Gogh, obsessively collected 250 Japanese prints for inspiration. They graced the walls of his famous yellow dining room at Giverny. 

Yesterday morning, the sky out my window was pale Prussian blue. Keep warm PBers🐻🎨❤️

Monet at Giverny and the May Paris letter

I hear it all the time, "Oh visiting GIVERNY is on my 'bucket list'". Well cross it off and JUST GO!

The May Paris Letter comes complete with train and shuttle schedules.

Only 42 minutes from Paris. What are you waiting for?

Don't forget - take the underpass and visit the Lilly ponds and famous Monet green bridges.

I admit my favorite is Monet's kitchen.

You can take his stunning blue and egg-yolk yellow porcelain home from the gift shop if you're so inclined.

I ran to Giverny on overcast Wednesday and it was still beautiful. Afternoons and mid-week are less crowded than mornings and weekends.

My Monet doodles and

1st sketch struggles.

*Do not forget to buy some Normand Camembert or Neufchatel right from the source at a Vernon fromagerie or even at the local Monoprix.

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Chanel Spring/Summer 2019, les Impressionnistes à Londres, Petit Palais

The Chanel Spring-Summer 2019 show at Grand Palais always comes as the final coup de grace to Paris Fashion Week. The great advantage is after you're done gawping at the fashion plates rushing to get inside by 10:30/showtime, you can cross the street and visit the PETIT PALACE and see the latest exhibit. This is the last week for LES IMPRESSIONNISTES À LONDRES.

Leather or tweed bikers hats were out in numbers this year.

Chanel l'invitées were told to wear low heels or flats.

A sandy beach was waiting for them inside the Grand Palais

Including real waves!

Many fashionistas show up sans show invitation just to pose for all the photographers onsite.

I loved the double sweater effect of this photographer (two identical wooly pullovers - one tied around the neck).

The crowd was definitely smaller outside PETIT PALAIS across the street and less chic.

Many French artists like Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Tissot and Daubigny sought refuge and exil in London during the wretched years of the Franco-Prussian war, 1870-1871. Monet's misty house of parliament.

The smog and smoke was thick back in the day.

Ladies by James Tissot were just as elegantly dressed as Chanelophiles across the street.

Could you wear a Chanel outfit at this picnic?

Another Monet in a London park.

Monet's houses of parliament series

And Derain's Fauve version.. The show is on through october 15 so hurry run see it. 

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Bonne Semaine!