The Paris Walk

Drawing by Rick Tulka

I mentioned Rick Tulka's Walking Man previouslyI've been seeing "walking Parisiens".

Ballet Core Map

 

Ballet 🩰 fashion has always been IN

But now anyone can deck themselves out in bits of balletomania 🩰 Pinterest says.

Berthe Morisot, Orsay, Paris map

Berthe Morisot at the musee Orsay has absolutely nothing to do with the July Paris map. 

I got the July Map off finally on last Thursday (8 August)and the museum is open till 9:45 pm. And the 87 bus stops in front so I went (finally to see something!). The Morisot retrospective is a collaborative effort that originated with the Quebec museum, the Dallas museum and the Barnes Foundation. Frankly I did not expect to be surprised but I was immediately taken with how abstract her compositions were.

Her subjects are classic 19th century feminine subjects much like her contemporary, Mary Cassatt.

Mother and child, well-to-do women in fancy dress or relaxing in the countryside. But look how abstractly she composes this picture.

A series of triangles. Count how many? I had to make a doodle on the spot. Her training began early with the best, Jean-Babtiste Corot, since women were not yet allowed to attend the Academy de Beaux Arts.

Edouard Manet painted her at least a dozen time. Here in a detail from 'The Balcony'. His strong graphic black and white paintings must have had an influence on her. She married his brother, Eugene so he was around for consults no doubt. Degas too was her champion.

Yet she evolved her own Impressionistic style.

A master of painting white diaphanous fabrics, Morisot captures the multi-colors in those whites. She paints grasses, trees like the eye sees. Backgrounds fade in and out of soft focus.

Even her brushstrokes are distinctive and fluid. Sometimes the backgrounds are left empty in her portraits. Critics called them unfinished but she knew what she was doing.

I wish there had been more photos of her, and not the tiny ones placed above tall boards of text. I wish French museums would consult me on some of these things. Who wants to do squats to read a descriptive label (even if it is good for the hips) or use binoculars to see a photo? Coming home that night, Notre Dame, with or without her spire, is still glorious. If you enjoyed this post, share with a friend. Receive a Paris letter 💌or Paris map in your 📮mailbox + souvenirs at ETSY.

Cheers Carolg and Bear in Paris 🇫🇷

Melun Fete son Brie

In the US I was never a Brie cheese fan.

But eating Brie where it's made is a delicious shock to the taste buds.

The 1rst Saturday of October, Melun, just 20 minutes east of Paris, celebrates it's Brie. The festival takes over the town. Melun's shield design dates from the 15th century.

Last year I left empty handed. Not this time. The first Brie seller I came across, conveniently placed in front of a local fromager, immediately got my €€.

Soon as I turned a corner the whole fete going on.

Tent after tent offering Brie tastings, local honeys, rose 🌹 nectars, Champagne 🍾 Plus a lunch menu at restaurant 'Maryland'  - every course soup-to-nuts embellished with Brie. 

No less then the head of the brotherhood (le Confrerie des Chevaliers du Brie de Melun) was cutting 🔪 slices himself, wearing a Brie-like wheel of a hat.

Back in the cheese shop, less auspicious hands cut up my quarter slice.

Bries from all the surrounding towns, Coulommiers, Meaux are on offer with subtle aromas of cream, butter, hazelnuts and made from raw cow's milk.

Cows 🐄 always participate at the fete. Glasses of fresh milk 🥛 are handed out on the spot.

Cows 🐄 are everywhere in Melun. Hard to miss.

Rose syrups from nearby Provins.

I was tempted by the ready-cooked chestnuts, but 2 1/2 pounds is a lot of chestnuts for one person unless I have a chestnut 🌰 party.

I loved ❤️ the Champagne 🍾 jeroboams including a set of glass flutes 🥂

The Normans sacked Melun in 845. There's plenty of history here.

A different view of the Seine from a different bridge. Melun is in district Seine-et-Marne.

Back in Paris I ran out to catch my first 'Nuits Blanches' at yet to open musée Picasso.

When I got home my Brie was left out on the counter. Runny, almost soupy. Perfection on a slice of baguette 🥖 

There is nothing like eating French food bought at it's site of origin. Nothing compares.

Check out my Fromage 🧀 Map of Paris. 

         🥖 🧀🥖 🧀 🥖 In my Etsy shop.🧀 🥖 🧀 🥖 

l’Escargot Paris

Restaurant L'Escargot Paris, 5" x 7"

Have you had snails 🐌 at restaurant L'Escargot?

I've passed by many times at 38, rue Montorgueil 75001, 

And perused the menu.

No guts, no glory

While I was busy prepping for the March trip, I noticed something - how Paris arrondissements are laid out.

Paris is laid out like a snail 🐌 with the lower numbers in the middle. 

French Girl says, "Paris was built like a snail. You can see it perfectly when you look at the map with the quartiers. 

Take your finger ☝️ Imagine #1 is at the center. Then draw a snail 🐌 with the other numbers and you'll be able to place the "arrondissements. “Yes we Parisians are snails 🐌 "

 I saw a million chocolate snails in Paris for Easter.

  Not a snail, but a close relative.  

Is this a French snail?

This gorgeous snail was in New York Bergdorf Goodman's Xmas windows. I once had snails at now long-gone classic Bistro de Saint-Peres. Eating l'escargot is similar to eating 🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐 croissants at one sitting, the butter 🧈 is that rich.
Paris provides the antidote - ODDIBIL 250. Available over the counter at pharmacies - just plain old charcoal tablets.  They filter out the gras/fat so you can live to eat another day.

The rue Montorgueil Map is in my Etsy shop now.

Please share all l'escargot 🐌 stories.

BONJOUR JEUDI!