Christmas in 2 steps at Hotel L'Intercontinental: an ode to dance 🩰

 

NUT CRACKER BALLET

For the Christmas season, 

L’Intercontinental Hotel, 2 rue Scribe across from Opera Garnier.

Mon Ours en Pelouche, musée des Arts Decoratifs

 

A certain someone 🧸 insisted we go to Opening day

Of the Teddy Bear 🧸 exhibit at Musee des Arts Decoratifs/MAD.

Salon du Chocolat - Paris

 

Well, the Salon du Chocolat was fun 🍫

Of course I didn’t resist any chocolate 🍫 offerings until at least an hour in.

Bourse de commerce, Baguett, Bibliotèque Forney, Stéphane Humbert-Basset

 

It’s been a bearish 🐻 week

First stop, Bourse du Commerce. 

Mamie Gateaux Brocante

 

Have you had tea at adorable Mamie Gateaux on 66 rue du Cherche-Midi?

It’s been around 20 years.

Paris Opera Letter

 

While some of you will be stuffing your turkeys 🦃  for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner, I’ll be stuffing envelopes 💌 with the New November Advent Letter💌

I’ve been thinking about the November Advent letter all month and going round Paris doing research.

What I ate, did during the Holiday, January Bear Paris Letter

Adventures at Picard produced little lobsters from Canada (7,95)! Nice try Picard. Give me a Maine lobster onsite anyday.

Picard's escargot (2,95€) on the other hand are excellent. Nice butter sauce with plenty of garlic. I can highly  recommend if you're a 🐌 fan.

The French Love exotic fruits for the holidays. Every year I attack the litchis. They are 4€ a kilo bought off the branch.

Foie gras tastings even at Monoprix and darn good.

Why ever did I buy just this tiny jar of abricot/pain d'epice chutney (2,95) to go on top the foie gras? Gone in an instant.

A terrific, easy recipe for duck breast (magret de canard)..the perfect Christmas dinner in my opinion if you're in France where magret is abundant.

Fancy grey shallots from the Coqs d'or salon were on hand. But balsamic vinegar was not, so I used vinaigrette packets saved from salads in the fridge. I also blotted off some of the excess duck fat.

Otherwise I followed the recipe to the letter. The minced shallots came out perfectly caramelized and crunchy. Tout va bien.

I've been dying to try La Grande Epicerie's gateaux de Noel of passion fruit and caramel (7€). The caramel was too sweet and overpowered the passion fruit. Verdict: save your € and get 3 Pierre Herme Mogador passion fruit macarons instead.

Christmas eve anyone could walk into the new Star Wars movie and not wait in line. So much waving around of that light saber I thought I was back in front of Notre Dame. I didn't make it to the end...ahem

Bears of Paris and Strasbourg have taken over Parisbreakfast HQ.

My print shop announced they were closing for the holidays until January 4th. I had to work like this wind-up painting monkey from the Tomi Ungerer museum through Christmas with breaks for luxury food. See above. Pas mal.

Did you see this viral drawing by Dudolf?
'Find the Panda'.
Bears are everywhere.

Bears stepping out in Paris.

I found a postcard in August and decided it would be perfect for the January Sketch letter. Just turn the cupids into snowmen.

But bears won the day. Especially when a ladder-climbing bear showed up on Google.

Doodle-di-do = celebrating bears.

No attack bears from The Revenant were invited to my New Years bear party.

Party hats? Yes for girl bears. Thank you Elle Magazine.

More bear doodles

And plenty of bonus bear watercolors for any new subscribers and those owed their renewal watercolor.
You can see the full Sketch Letter on Etsy.
January Sketch letters are all mailed out.

And yes I found gingersnaps in Paris at Marks and Spencer's.
Eureka all around.

Put a bear in Strasbourg

Was this The Year of the Bear in Strasbourg?

The blue bear at night was asparkle plenty

But the pure white polar bear was the bear of choice in my view.

There's a fondness here for the fuzzy wuzzy bear

Although this bear was quite realistic. Perhaps a little too realistic. And what's with the wings? A tad worrying.

A positively life-like Polar bear in a woman's wear window. Hmmm

Simply adorable with a charming expression.

By the way my bear was back in the room while I was out browsing bears in case you were wondering.

A number of penguins were on display

Five animated, singing penguins in a luggage shop window

Of course Polar bears are in charge, making sure no one sings an off key.

Some brown bears were in attendance.

A full size brown bear in a Santa suit

At the Tomi Ungerer museum another brown bear in a monk's cassock

At the print shop my resident guru suggested my Paris map bear looked like a pig! Honestly, sometimes he is way off and this was one of them. Wasn't he?

Of course the stork is iconic for Alsace.

I was very tempted by the sitting duck going for a mere 2,50€. Shoulda, coulda, woulda.

I didn't taste a stork's egg either. They're chocolate in case you're concerned.

Not so surprising that darling snowy Miffy showed up in Strasbourg.