Bonjour Blanche

More Summer whites for the weekend, even if they predict stormy weather...Painting white objects is no piece of cake it turns out...Hmmmm I am up the whazoo with gateaux blanche here thanks to my greediness for mini this and that.. A Mozartian white wedding gateau.*Note the 2 shades of white - cream plus a little touch of pink - the heart. When there's a transportation strikes in Paris you discover new things! Like these fabulous and gorgeous ceramic pear sculptures...The pears sit in Restaurant Benoit's windows on 20, rue St. Martin, noted for it's turn-of-the-century Belle Epoque bistrot decor.And artichokes...This handsome huge snail resides in L'Escargot's window on rue Montorgueil.Another Benoit window display..
So what's the point of all this white?
Well that's just it! There is a lot of color in white. Warm and cool colors depending... White is the combination of all colors of the visible light spectrum.
Like these tarts from PAUL Boulangerie are warm in tone.And there is a bit of blue and warm tones in this gelato.
Gelato for breakfast anyone? I hope it's lemon.

White roses are the perfect color subject.

As Henri Fantin-Latour
demonstrates in this lush still life painting.
Talk about lush whites.

This Illy poster was outside my front door in Paris and I was ever amazed by all the colors!

Now it's your turn. Name some colors you see in all these whites.

BONJOUR BLANCHE

Fantin-Latour, Lausanne

I saw this Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) painting in Pratique des arts, a French art journal.  A retrospective was on in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is one of my favorite still life painters. Too tempting to resist.

I hopped on an early TGV Lyria train from Gare de Lyon yesterday.

Four hours later I was ready to devour Fantin-Latour at the Fondation L'Hermitage.

Can you guess why?

Instant love.

 One of Fantin-Latour's still lives painted as a gift to his future fiance, Victoria Dubourg. 

They met while copying paintings at the Louvre in the 1860s. This still life is so delicate, so balanced. Perfection. Well worth the trip to Lausanne. I did not attempt to take a photo anywhere in this museum. The Swiss police would have been after me with Swiss Army knives and Military watches.

The museum is set on a hill above Lausanne. I took the scenic walk down through a wooded park. The weather was perfect.

The footpath gets rather steep at times.

I stopped at a little vegan cafe, La Cafetiere Verte,

for a dish of curry to keep me going.

The footpath ends in the "old" town/veille Ville.

I took a wrong turn and discovered

Old traditional tin signs grouped together.

This sign reminded me of Jeanette, Mistress of Long Ears Manor - a renowned rabbit fancier..

Swiss paper silhouettes of chalets and farm scenes en route back to the train station.

And of course the classic Swiss Military watch. One Swiss souvenir I forgot to try before taking the train back to Paris - Swiss bière.