I went to buy stamps on Saturday

 

JOYEUX NOËL EVERYONE !! I went uptown to buy more stamps late Saturday 

Completely forgetting it was a big day for last-minute shoppers & window gazers. This is Printemps!

Bag-a-holic?

artwork after Germaine Bouret

 Are you a bag-a-holic?
 

 Would it be sac-a-holic in French?

 This is my all time favorite quelle ordinaire boulangerie sac/bag. I will leave this to the Smithsonian Institute if they're lucky.

 I bet you've seen this tres common baguette bag. But did you save it? For a few years?

 If you did, welcome to the club.

 The French are mad for silhouettes along with lolly pops/Sucré . I've said it many times.

Here's another charming example, if not a boulangerie sac. I picked up this scrap in Montmorillon. It looks related to the baguette bag does it not?

A small digression to wrapping paper svp/please. But isn't this darling?

I may have picked this up in Nancy and a meat pie/tourte Lorrain may have been wrapped up in it. I forget. But isn't this auspicious and impressive? No idea what it says...
Mystery solved.
This is from a boulangerie after all, referring to the 6 laws of Antoine Augustin (born in 1737) for making bread:
Les bles/wheat, le sel/salt, la levure/the yeast, l'hydration/water, la fermentation/fermentation, and le petrissage/kneading.

I know this wrapping paper held a bit of fromage from the Paris by Mouth tour of Montmartre. So many souvenirs...

Back to boulangerie bags. What an interesting nature morte/still life. Croissants and brioche plus your mandolin. But of course!

Guess what lurks within this little sac? More tomorrow.

So spill the beans.

Do you have a collection of boulangerie paper bags hanging about?

Facebook Contest!

Looking for le FB Bonheur, watercolor, 9" x 11"

We're having a contest at PB today!
We're on FACEBOOK at last but...
We're there (really a miracle since we understand ZIP)
And it took us ages (BEAR & moi)
For one PB's FB is NOT connected to PB.
Go figure
There are no annoying widgets (Fs) all over so you can
"Really, really LIKE me"
How do I do that?
Another thing is my FB PHOTO STRIP is bummed - the photos disappeared
WHY did U do that to me FB?
PBers can U help?
SOS!
See how unconnected I am?
So here is the contest.
You know we rarely have contests at PB so we must be desperate!
PLEASE Leave helpful tips to fix my FB in the COMMENTS!
If your tips is TERRIFIC it will merit a prize!
The prizes are PARIS TRASH! YAY
Who does not love REAL Paris Trash?
This is good stuff from Pierre Herme-Jean-Paul Hevin etc.


Prize #1 - a Jean-Paul Hevin macaron guide + signature ribbon
Yahoo
Prize #2 - an 8" x 8" foldout macaron guide + signature ribbon + biz card
Prize #3 - a Pierre Herme ORIGINAL Jour du Macaron guide from 2010 It's Vintage!!
Prize #4 - A very vintage Pierre Herme macaron illustrated guide to flavors!
Last but not least, Prize #5 - if you can give me major help with Facebook = an original Paris breakfast watercolor sketch, 6" x 9 1/2"

So dear PBers,

Put on your Facebook thinking caps

Come up with some GREAT tips

IN THE COMMENTS PLS.

Help Parisbreakfast come up to speed like everyone else out there networking socially.

And may the BEST tips win some Paris Trash where ever you live!

BON CHANCE et WEEK-END!!

ps

I'm trying to be professional...ahem

WINNERS ANNOUNCED on MONDAY!

Relais Desserts

Here is my Saint Valentin's Day present to you dear PBers. You've been so kind sending so many thoughtful messages that have touched my heart 

Did you know there are gorgeous FREE pastry magazines just waiting for you in Paris? It's true! If you happen to wander into a patisserie that belongs to the prestigious 'Relais Desserts' these are gratuit by the till, like this sumptious free calendar. Oh why did 2010 have to come along? My favorite picture was August's guimauve miam miamBlue Bird Tea time,  9" x 11"

For a mere blue bird's song (like buying one macaron or anything else that will take you to the cash register, you'll find all manner of pastry freebies (none edible though).

Rose Bud Tea Time, watercolor, 9" x 11"

I found these journals from the Relais Desserts. The text is in both French and English with recipes included from France's finest pastry chefs.

The photographs are to-die-for

Dalloyau has a tradition of lush and free pastry booklets

More Miam-Miam

Les Entres too are included and calorie-free 

Naturalement I flipped for Lenotre's gratuit pastry booklets...

All those yummy brush strokes - right up my allee

How I would love to paint this dessert.

Not 'Free' but at least MAD ABOUT MACARONS is now in stock on Amazon. The Scottish publisher thanked me for the PB post, but said the shipment never arrived. Someone somewhere is having a BIG macaron book party...ahem

Not exactly 'Free' but almost. I got back my pictures from the Philadelphia Alliance Francaise exhibit and started putting the still life watercolors into these simple See-Thru Box Frames (for all of $6.50 each) and they look pretty terrific in my humble opinion. So if you recently bought a PB watercolor and are wondering how to frame it, these do the trick rather nicely!

*BTW you will need an 11" x 14" white mat + (4) Photo corners to hold the watercolor. The mat will require some minor trimming on the top and one side to fit inside the plastic box - easy as pie. 
Again THANKS SO MUCH for all your kind messages while I'm house-bound. And THANKS for supporting PB with your watercolor purchases. PBer Jeanne Long sent me this lovely photo collage she made of her new painting plus included Parisien goodies. If you should be so inspired to follow her example, please email me a photo and I'll put it up on PB. What goes out comes back to you does it not?

BONJOUR SAINT VALENTIN'S DAY!

Parisian Gift-With-Purchase

When you're lying on the floor for a week.

(Because your mattress is on the floor and you've got sciatica)

Your perspective changes.

You notice you're surrounded by 'Paris Trash'!

You get a tremendous urge to do something about it.

A massive clean sweep seems very appealing.

But then it occurs that perhaps others would enjoy...

These French ribbons, biz cards, napkins, shopping bags, Gerard Mulot postcards and Gawd knows what else.

Lurking within boxes and files of saved Parisien bits and pieces.

So henceforth, any PBers buying a watercolor at Etsy or from me directly, will receive a surprise Gift-with-Purchase of some of the above. I can't guarantee exactly what you'll get and supplies are limited, but I promise it will be pretty and fun.

If like me, you can't bare being engulfed by Parisien Souvenirs, you can always enjoy them vicariously in a book - Shop Image Graphics in Paris. I wrote about it here.

BONJOUR PARIS TRASH!

Photo courtesy of Jeanne Long