Mélodies Graphiques

 I’ve been trying to get to melodies graphiques all week. I finally made it yesterday. 

It’s on 10, rue du Pont Louis-Phillippe, 75004

Falling for Frenchie Types

I bet you thought this was going to be about falling in love in Paris. Haha

I fall in love daily. I was walking along minding my own business yesterday on rue Saint-Augustin, when I happened to look up and fell instantly in love with the French typography all over this restaurant.

I even thought I might go in and have lunch I was feeling so in love but the menu at Drouant par Antoine Westermann was too steep for my pocketbook :) Still that's one of the things I LOVE about Paris is the gorgeous type everywhere.

Photo by Lindsay Tramata

Yesterday expat Paris writer Lindsey Tramata had a photo on her Lost In Cheeseland post I think...or maybe in her beautiful Flickr pictures of Susan Hutchinson's blog biz card. A coup de foudre(love at first sight) for this flowing Frenchie script.

Naturally I tried to copy it. Hmmm...more practice needed.

Look up in Paris. You will see wonderful type faces, some from the 30s and still very much appreciated by the French.

Boulangerie Poilane knows how to do a classy logo chosen from the most traditional of French type faces going back to the 17th century

Most French wines and jams also follow in the classic 17th century tradition. Is this why we love them so much?

The 2 most beautiful words in the world maybe. Break fast.

Food and French type are joined at the hip. Even the most primitive French scraw has style and class no?

The brand new la Maison Plisson uses classic French scrawl to let you know their berries cost more than anyone else's. Hmm...

I just love this weird word meaning 'licoricerie' at the Foire de Paris.

French scrawl done beautifully with a loaded paintbrush will get you from the Vernon train station to Monet's gardens in Giverny.

Here's a French scrawl decal you can plaster on your walls (at BHV).

Last week friends took me to another Antoine Westermann restaurant, Le Coco Rico. The design of absolutely spot on including their all-chicken menu. The interior is done up like inside a chicken coop and is darn elegant and witty.
89, rue Lepic 75018

Their daily lunch specials are terrific (note it's written clearly in New York Times type face.

I wish my photo of Wednesday's special, saucisse de volaille Maison aux champignons de Paris pommes de terres sautees de persil was more enticing, but it tasted YUM.

My dessert (BTW not included in the 15 euros special) of French Toast brioche was prettier and fab.

Classic café type is always a treat for the eyes.

I fall in love every time with chalk scrawl on café blackboards (ardoise). Do you?
A trip to the shoemaker can be just as elegant as Dior in Paris in my opinion. What's not to love about Frenchie type?

ParisBreakfasts at Les Editeurs

This is Paris at 7:15 am when I left for the pool. Seeing this is enough to get me out of the house even if it's pitch black out.
 

My 5th straight day hitting the water at Art Deco Piscine Pontoise (built 1934).
 

Still the time slots can be rough if you're not an early bird.

7 - 8:30 am

12:15 - 1:30

4:30 - 8 pm

Post-pool I was remembering my tourist days when I used to hit the cafes for a lovely petit dejeuner...

The Breakfast Diet

Boulangerie Petit Dejeuner

Petit Dejeuner at Patisserie des Reves

Les Deux Magots

Café Flore

Breakfast in Paris

Now I rarely go but it seems a better choice than hitting the boulangerie. And I've always wanted to stop in Les Editeurs. An early dip gave me courage.

And a coffee and croissant didn't look so steep.
 

I could pretend to draw or something.
 

Inside is glorious, tres chic.
 

I know zip about coffee even though I once visited Cafes Richard's coffee plant near La Defense and I've painted a mountain of coffee cups.
 

Ordering a cafe creme is not the done thing evidently but an espresso would have me spinning.
 

So I had to get the 'Petit' Petit Dejeuner. Sometimes you really miss being a carefree tourist in Paris, back when  you didn't have to think about electric bills etc. 

*By the way I forgot to mention I FELL MADLY IN LOVE IN VERSAILLES!
 

With this 17th century-style type face. It was on the awning of the worst possible tourist snack bar but so what. It's pretty fabulous no?
 

Even if I don't know how to order coffee in a Paris cafe.
 

I know how to get out my pen and start scribbling like a possessed calligraphie maniac.
 

The waiter was very forgiving when he saw my attempts at French script.
 

The typeface on the windows at Les Editors is tres elegant.
 

And even better when you flop it to get the full effect.
 

Outside I kept seeing French script. Just look at that S! It's classy.
 

At Monop I swooned over these cans of Cassoulet. That's what happens when you fall hard for a typeface in Versailles. And it helps you cope with Paris' irresistible pastries. There are worst things that can happen no?