Vanilla Diorama, Paris Vanille map

 

This past week has been a daily contest of immersion in news of Ukraine vs. the world of French vanille (pronounce that Van-knee). 

Vanilla is queen in Paris. It’s available in teas, marshmallows, ice cream, pastries, creamy desserts, cosmetics and perfumes. There’s a wonderful back story to the new 2021 Dior perfume, Vanilla Diorama. 

Evidently designer Christian Dior had a secret favorite dessert created for him by the chef at Maxim’s. But no one knows what it looked like or it’s ingredients. 

Long-time Dior perfumer François Demachy, chose top Michelin pastry chef Julian Dugourd to imagine and create this sublime, velvety dessert using Vanilla from Norohy, white Valrhona chocolate, and orange marmelade. Et voila. 

I found this top grade vanilla bean on BHV’s 4th gourmet floor today. (€18 for 3 beans) Their site will tell you A to Z about vanilla in English and more. 

Along with vanilla orchids lasting just one morning per season, the process of picking the green beans, sun-drying, sweating (at night) can take 6 to 8 months. Very labor intensive. 

My ‘lunch’ after a dip in the pool 🏊 

Aux Deux Caneles sells only Canelés. 

Vanilla is the top note in these crunchy little bronzed pastries. 

Such a cute little shop in the Marais with a mini cafe.

Saturday I paid a visit to Paris’ secret shop for rare blends of spices and condiments. 

Have you been to Épices Roellinger on rue Sainte-Anne? Their collection of vanilla beans on offer covers every source possible. 

They have a treasure chest full of spices and a model pirate 🏴‍☠️ ship. 

I don’t think I ever ate or even liked flan until I moved to Paris.

Or other rich, creamy foods for that matter. Boy did that change living surrounded by la créme de la créme all the time. I was excited to find last year’s best flan in Ile de France was close to my house. 

Boulangerie Paris & Co is very proud of their winning 🏆 flan. But the individual portion was too big for one person and too pricey(5.90€). Prices rise when you win🏅 top prizes. Their eclair vanille was very nice. 

So many adventures when chasing after vanille in Paris.

The choices for vanilla yogurt are endless. This is a much loved product by the French. The best yogurt for me was La Fermiere They infuse their milk with whole vanilla beans. La Fermiere doesn’t mess around. No vanillin for them/‘arôme natural de vanille’. *Look for tiny black dots of vanilla bean. It pays to read the label.

The Paris vanilla map 🗺 will go to la poste 📮 on Monday. It is waiting for you in my Etsy shop. 

 ❤️ I saw today Hotel de Ville has Ukraine’s flags flying ❤️

                      🇺🇦🌻❤️🇺🇦🌻❤️🌻🇺🇦❤️🌻🇺🇦❤️

Mille et Une Orchidées, Jardin des Plants et Vanille

We went to see the orchids yesterday at Mille et Une Orchidées show at Jardins des Plants, 47 rue de Cuvier 75005

Bear had big dreams of climbing tropical trees. We browsed instead. 

There was plenty to browse. 1001 varieties of worldwide Orchids. The greenhouse known as Les Grandes Serres was build in the 1830s, redesigned in Art Deco style in 1930s and recently renovated in 2010.

The 9th annual orchid show is on till March 21. It’s easiest to buy your ticket online. This year’s poster was produced by photographer/plant lover Thibault Charpentier. You can discover 20 unmissable orchids by orchidist Romain Maire. Maire is collaborated with Corentin Pfeiffer to create a floral scene in the pool at the foot of the large rock.

The orchid idea was planted in my head at the Salon de l’Agriculture last week 

After inhaling the subtle fragrance of vanilla beans from Tahiti and Réunion, Madagascar at the Salon. Vanilla is produced from the orchid species, Vanilla planifolio. 

Its such an integral part of French culture and cuisine, perfumes and cosmetics because of the availability of top quality beans from Réunion (formerly named Bourbon), which provides 75% of the world’s supply. I bought vanilla beans, powder + extract from La Domaine de Bellevue, prize winners at the Salon.

In the end I did not see any Vanilla orchids at the show. 

The Vanilla orchid flowers for 24 hours once a year. Then wilts and dies. Not exactly the ideal example for a flower show. 

Still there were many tropical wonders to experience like reflection pools and walking on flat stones inside a cave over water.

And such a variety of colors, textures and fragrances.

Or so they told us, though you couldn’t get very close to the blooms to smell their perfume.

Its quite hot in there as well and in the 30s outside so one mustn’t grumble.

Thank goodness for the closeup power of camera/ iPad lenses. 

Everyone was taking pictures like mad. 

And I’ve been trying to paint orchids like mad for the last 2 days. I may need to go back for a refresher. Later on I saw the first cherry blossoms at Les Halls! Its hard to believe Spring is coming soon 🌸🌸🌸❤️❤️❤️

Love Brings Love, Homage à Alber Elbaz, Palais Galliera

SortiraParis

Its been really hard to post post this week, but this invasion is not going away. On Friday I saw a preview at Palais Galliera ,an homage to brilliant designer, Alber Elbaz that had me in tears. We lost Alber Elbaz last year in April to Covid.

Last October, Paris Fashion Week closed with a tribute to the late Alber Elbaz,

Organized by AZ Factory, his last company. The show invited 44 of the greatest designers to create a silhouette inspired by his work. 

Palais Galleria transformed this show into an exhibition.

A one-of-a-kind exhibit of extravagant dresses with long trains, ruffles, big bows and dresses printed with Alber’s inimitable image.

“I had a dream to to make a dress, just a simple dress, that can hug a woman. A dress that will hold a woman when you need it.” Alber Elbaz

Some background notes: Albaz was born in Casablanca, Morocco and grew up and studied art and engineering in Israel. 

In 1987 (age 27) he moved to New York with $800 in his pocket. He began his career designing wedding dresses. 

After months of trying to get an interview with Geoffrey Beene, they met and he was hired in 10 minutes. They worked together for 7 years, Till Elbaz moved to Paris in 1996 to design the Guy Laroche collection. 

In 2001 he became creative director at Lanvin, where he worked for 14 years. In January of 2021 he formed a new company, AZ Factory, which is still producing today. 

You can watch the actual runway show here. Those are falling red hearts ❤️

I was inspired to sketch those gorgeous pieces. 

The Palais Galliera exhibit is on till July 10, 2022 so you can still catch it. 

❤️Bon Dimanche PBers❤️

#StandWithUkraine Doctors Without Borders🙏🙏🙏