Chocolat Chaud

I drink hot chocolate every day of the year without exception. I even take my own brew when visiting friends just to be safe. It's my coffee, my cup of tea, my hot lemon juice in the morning. When I stayed at M.'s pied-à-terre this May there was no stove. Just an electric teapot.
These African copper pots are in the window of L'Etoile d'Or Denise Acabo's shop in the 9th. I tried sneaking a packet of drinking chocolate into the local Café Vavin, and ordering lait chaud (hot milk). What a mess and embarrassing too :( It's hard enough not to make a complete fool of yourself in France without asking for more trouble. Here's my secret -- in desperation I heated up my milk every morning in the electric tea pot

When you're obsessed with hot chocolate, you constantly test new brands and concoctions. All accessories are of interest. In my search I'd spot a real chocolate pot (une chocolatière) but always the price was très cher.

I began to toy with the idea, but 160 euros+ was too steep even for the obsessed. Drinking chocolate in France started in 1615 when Anne of Austria, Louis XIII's queen, introduced la "boisson des Aztèques" to the French elite.

Early one morning after my swim, the chocolate pot of my dreams called me. La Vaissellerie was closed but I rushed back at opening time. Yup, it was a chocolatière, minus some working parts. And le prix was 1/4 of the others. Early pots were made out of coin silver and later porcelain became more practical. Madam de Pompadour ordered the 1st porcelain chocolate service from the Sevres factory.Traditionally la chocolatière has a rounded paunchy base with a horizontal wooden handle. The lid should have a hole where the wooden beater (le moulinet ou moussoir) fits snuggly so you can rotate it quickly between the palms of your hands. Mine is missing this bit. It's a faux choco pot...still it's mine to have and to paint.

My California friends Ann and Larry Walker, found this wonderful pot with all it's parts it a small town, Maury, near Les Pyrénées, where they have a summer house. Try making your hot chocolate the night before. Let it brew in the fridge for 6 hours, then reheat it. I tried it once or twice but you have to be a plan-ahead sort of person which I'm not...

Le Couleur Noir

Jérôme Dumoulin, said I mustn't miss Hediard and Pierre Marcolini (a Belgian chocolatier) in Paris. Hediard knows to add a touch of BLACK to their orangie RED. When you put Black next to a bright color it will enhance it

I'm not writing about LE NOIR because LES BLEUS lost yesterday but...while BLACK has many dark connotations, it can also be the epitome of sophistication, refinement, urbanity. Designer "Coco" Chanel gave us the elegant little BLACK dress (la petite robe noire) in 1926, an essential to most wardrobes.Marcolini on the other hand uses BLACK in a big way for a very sophisticated look.His jewel-like chocolates are pristine in design and rich in flavor and aroma.My favorite is the red heart - a ganache filled with raspberry purée and coated with white chocolate.I was surprised to find a children's book with a BLACK cover. The title, Du coq à l'âne literally means jumping between rooster and donkey. Figuratively, jumping from subject to subject without obvious connection -- i.e. a racing, intelligent mind. Over here we say "scatter brain". I've heard that one more times than I can count...Most watercolorist will tell you they mix their own BLACKS.You'll rarely find Lamp, Vine, Ivory, or Mars Black in their paintbox because they tend to go DEAD on the white paper :(You can make your own black by mixing the 3 primary colors

RED + YELLOW + BLUE

Or BROWN + BLUE

Though BLACK is said to be without color it makes other colors look brighter and lighter. Just look at how precious jewels are set out on BLACK velvet. This effect is called irradiation in the color world. The Impressionists avoided BLACK like the plague, while Manet, Braque, Redon, Goya, Picasso, Dubuffet, Pierre Soulages made it their best friend. Matisse said, "Le noir est une couleur" and if you're near Vence stop at La Foundation Maeght. There's a show on that subject until 5 November.

The "Look" in May was a simple BLACK T-shirt worn with jeans. But as M. reminds me, the jeans must be accompanied by excellent shoes, bag, and haircut. I noticed an anti-earring movement going on, though shop windows were filled with des boucles d'oreilles. Like any good New Yorker I was dressed in BLACK and as soon as I removed my earrings I got asked directions in French right and left. Luckily I'm good with maps even if my grammaire stinks is just OK :) Je suis désolé de LES BLEUS

La Vie en Rosé 3

I never cared much for PINK (rose). This Paris trip I'm seeing PINK like crazy.

Veuve has a new pinkie Rosé out this spring, made by adding a little Pinot Noir wine to "white" Champagne with fruity aromas of wild strawberries and cherries.
PINK cakes and desserts are everywhere in Paris. They like to make a fuss over their red fruits in France - framboise, fraise, cerises, groseilles etc. To such a degree that they even throw them altogether and come up with quatre fruits rouges (4 red fruits) in confiture and gateaux. Still any excuse for PINK is the issue here...
Not just French cakes are decked out in PINK. I met Barbara Marcinkowska by chance when we shared a couchette from Venice to Paris 2 years ago.

Barbara is not only an accomplished cellist and festival organiser but she does wonderful watercolors when in Venice.
These lush bouquets come from AU NOM DE LA ROSE on 50, rue du Cherche Midi in the 6th ème. Rose petals were scattered at the base...
I decided to visit the Paris Fauchon for Afternoon tea and take the stairway to PINK heaven. My rose exposure was limited to Fauchon NYC, but their affair with Pink has sadly switched to Fuchsia! Why? They're in a transition stage, so you can still get the old pale pink if you hurry.
Why do brands change their colors and think they can get away with it? BIG mistake IMO. After you've formed an allegiance, even an addiction to their colors, they go and change it. Have you noticed how the best brand T-shirts are on the backs of the sales staff? I fall for the ones that say SOLDÉ (sale) or STAFF on the back. Not for sale either :(

At the Paris Fauchon you get a tiny minute glass full of pink sand so you know when your tea is ready! The china is covered in a macaron pattern too.

Pierre Hermé is a big time lover of Rose. He knows how to toss in a touch of green to make his pinks pop! I'd love to know how that little droplet stays on the rose petal for the voyage back to your hotel room.

I admit my rose-colored glasses are stuck on with Crazy Glue when it comes to Paris. What can I do :)

Le Temps des Cerises

Cherries and spring come together in Paris. I found this pile of cherries on rue du Cherche-Midi. The green leaves add just the right touch. Greengrocers intuitively know complementary colors (a Red/Green combo) bring out the best in each other. Dreaming of ripe cherries is considered a dream of wish-fulfilment.
These Burlat cherries are in the Marché d'Aligre , open every day until 1pm except Monday. La Burlat is France's most common cherry and represents half the nation's consumption. Some other variétés de cerises: la Belge, Beltza, Griottes, Rainier, Napoleon, Reverchon, and Montmorency. Provence provides 60% of the production, then the Languedoc-Roussillon and the Eastern Pyrenees. Put fresh cherries in a plastic bag. eat within 3 days.

Candy cherries are made from almond paste or marzipan but the fruit is used in France in les crêpes, tartes, and the classic clafoutis aux cerise. Here are two recipes for cherry clafoutis from La Petite Chinoise (pitted) and Ms. Glaze (not pitted). Both have luscious photos. Meanwhile I sprinkled cherries in all my Paris still lifes.

"La Cerise sur le Gâteau" is the title Pierre Hermé gives this huge choco cake filled with: bisquit dacquoise aux noisettes croquantes, praliné feullieté, fines feuilles de chocolat au lait, ganache et chantilly au chocolat au lait...Does this title mean the same as the English expression, "the cherry on top" as in over the top? Oui.

The queen of cherries from the annual June Fete des Cerises in Westhoffen, Alsace is not far from Strasbourg. Lots of crèpes à la cerise are eaten and cerises à l'eau de vie is drunk.
I grew up with a Queen Anne cherry tree. They were sour pie cherries, but the birds didn't mind. Back then I was a slow eater. I spent hours checking to see if the inside color matched the outside. I never guessed I'd be matching cherries with watercolor paint years later.
Cherry Tea Pot, watercolor, 12 x 10"
Cherry red is not easy to capture or match. Cherries look shiny, almost translucent and reflect light. But the brightest, warmest reds in your watercolor box, the Cadmium Reds, are opaque and look dead on the paper. The cool reds like Alizarin and Permanent Rose are transparent but don't best capture the cherries' warmth. I've been working on these watercolors over the long holiday weekend. I'm not happy yet. Painting cherries is not piece of cake.     

Cherry Tin, watercolor, 12 x 10"

Gérard Mulot

If you arrive in Paris on a Monday you're almost out of luck.

Most chocolatiers and patisseries take off Sunday/Monday.

I was adrift after my long flight and even longer AF bus ride into town

(take the RER train next time !)
To find both J-P Hévin AND Pierre Hermé closed...
But Gérard Mulot is the wonderful exception :)

Wandering aimlessly after my initial disappointment I stumbled on Mulot on 76, rue de Seine: no shuttered gates, open and full of goodies.

To buy something, you pick out your items, get a numbered ticket, go wait on line at the cashier and then return to get your pink box.

Often at 8am after swimming at the pool just down the street, I'd pop in to buy something to paint and something to eat. They have delicious take-away meals also - complete plates and weighed out by the gram.

My pink Mulot box.

Gerard Mulot petit four, original watercolor, 9" x 12"

If you arrive in Paris on a Wednesday

DO NOT make a B-line to Gerard Mulot's.

Wednesday is Children's Day in France -> a no-school day and Mulot is closed, possibly staying home with les gosses (the kids).

Orange Paris

Is the Metro pass Carte d'Orange's color influenced by Paris' famous orange brand, I had an orange encounter with Hermés, 2 years ago in Bordeaux. I went in to see the calligraphy exhibit upstairs and then bought a sparkly eye pencil. They gave me a GIP (gift with purchase!) - a wonderful pendent promoting their new cologne, Eau des Merveilles. I thought it was filled with water. Two months ago a french parfumeur came in the store and noticed it. I said it was water. She was shocked. Hermés would NEVER put water in their products! She miraculously opened the stopper I'd couldn't open for 2 years and I got my 1st sniff of this delicate fragrance. Notes of Bitter Orange.

Orange is a "secondary" color on the color wheel as is green and purple. The Primaries are Red/ Yellow/ Blue. Orange, which is made from Red + Yellow, is therefore in the 2nd ring on the wheel, yet Orange can be more assertive then red at times. Look at the oranges.Put Orange next to Blue and you've got a powerful pair of complimentary colors that enhance each other. Cacao et Chocolat has cleverly done this.Champagne Veuve Clicquot wants it known that their brand color is Yellow NOT Orange.They used to have a huge 1961 Bentley Continental Flying Spur in that color for VIPs. No more. Just YELLOW delivery vans now.I went almost daily to one of 2 cyber cafes on rue d'Odessa near Gare Montparnasse. Both had orange cards and orange decor in the American cafe - see above. For the record, as a kid my favorite foods were orange-colored, carrots and orange slices (the candies + the fruit). Bacon was included in that food group. I've outgrown that obsession but there's still a lot of orange in Paris.Here is my friend, Michèle dressed in Paris neutrals with a splash of ORANGE. Her favorite traiteur, Gérard Mulot makes orange cakes...

Hediard tout en Rouge

The Metro lines 1, 12, 14 all stop at Madeleine. When you reach ground level you can go to Fauchon, Ladurée or Hediard. The design director of Elle Décoration and Elle à Table, Jérôme Dumoulin, said I must not miss Hediard in Paris. He mentioned Ladurée's exceptional green and planted a seed in my head.

I visited Fauchon at the Madeleine twice. I'd looked across at Hediard and procrastinated. Fauchon's pink had worn me down. This time I made a B-line for the RED at 21, Place de la Madeleine. Ferdinand Hediard first opened the "Comptoir des Epices et des Colonies" in 1880 selling exotic fruit and vegetables. Now they have a range of 6,000 products and shops on four continents.

Their brand colors engulf you the moment you enter this stylish épicerie. Rouge et noir.

 

Hediard's classic combination of red and black (Le Rouge et Le Noir) are the colors of Stendhal, of the clergy, of the chessboard, and of the Japanese.

Again Amandine Guisez-Gallienne's book, COLORFUL WORLD is useful when I'm looking for the range of a color - cool/warm, pale/intense, dark/ light. It reminds me of the vast variety within 1 color. And how the rest of the world uses color in meaningful ways.

The Hediard red is almost a true RED, but it leans towards it's warm neighbor orange on the color wheel.
Not everything at Hediard comes in red and black packages...

Greens anyone?