Lavender Blue

Lavender Bleu, original watercolor,5.5" x 7.5"

I bought this little macaron box.



Has Luca Turin taken a sniff yet?


Warhol style macaron boxes.
BONNE JOURNNE Class!

Chateau Vaux le Vicomte3

 French chaise, original watercolor. A third visit to the Chateau de Vaux le Vicomte

Janice C. Cartier said...Ooh la la, thanks for this encore. What would we do without VLV.

I couldn't very well keep the chateau's fabulous gift shop under my hat. It's the first thing you see while waiting to get your entry ticket and the last thing upon exiting the estate. Clever marketing.

Why not deck your chateau out in pink toile?

Or blue and white china?

With matching tapisseries coussins / cushions.

The chateau's emblem, the squirrel🐿 adorns multiple items.

Or you could for a glorious tapestry of the chateau itself?

Look! Miniature chairs for all my mini cakes to sit on

The gift shop is run by Countess Cristina de Vogüé, the daughter of an Italian diplomat and a Russian mother. She is married the heir to Vaux-le-Vicomte. She has applied her talents as a hostess not only to family receptions, but to the château’s restaurant and gift shop. And now she's coming out with a divine cookbook tomorrow,Decadent Desserts: Recipes from Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte.

It looks YUMMY!  BONNE JOURNEE!

Chateau Vaux le Vicomte2

 Cache pot at Vaux, original watercolor, 5.5" x 7.5"

Brought back by popular response and because I have lots of pictures.

This is the rear view but there are so many views to enjoy at Chateau Vaux le Vicomte

Inside is divine too.

I love this game room.

Chairs to die for.

And tables and cache pots.

The dinner table.

Macarons are here too!

A window view...luscious is it not?

Chateau Vaux le Vicomte is a short 25 minute train ride from Gare de Lyon and then a shuttle bus trip. I've yet to visit when they are having one of their candle light evenings of music and dinner. They will be open until November 8th this year, but if you can't make it, you could watch one of the many films made onsight at Vaux, like Marie-Antoinette, Ridicule, Moliere and a favorite of mine, Vatel.

BONNE WEEK-END!

Chateau Vaux le Vicomte

 Hydrangea bleu, original watercolor ,5.5" x 7.5"

While I'm busy painting garden-esque themes..hey flowers count..I remembered my visit to Chateau Vaux le Vicomte .

Andre Le Notre's fantastic gardens are unforgettable and were the blueprint for future Versailles gardens.

Not only the chateau is worth a visit.

But the gift shop is almost a big as the gardens and full of gardening gear for the passionate gardener.




Does the ceramic frog or grenouille replace our garden gnomes in French gardens?
BONNE JOURNEE!

Berthillon Glacier

Berthillon Caramel, original watercolor, 5.5" x 7.5"

Je regrette beaucoup...at Berthillon

I finally made it back to Berthillon for their famous Caramel ice cream on a day when they were open (never go on Monday or Tuesday) on 29 rue saint Louis en l'île.

I thought I'd do it up right and sit in their salon de the. Hmmm...this lavender menu is all but unreadable.

I certainly didn't notice there was caramel ice cream and then caramel ice cream with beurre sel :( Naturally I ordered the wrong one. I saw the words "caramel" and pounced. When I mentioned my disappointment to the waitperson...well this is France after all.

"You should have read the menu more carefully, bla bla bla.." What I should have done was gone for the straight up ice cream cone (the size of a small golf ball by the way) and read this menu before jumping in. Live and learn from my lessons.Every place in Paris has macarons bien sur...probably hair salons and taxis by now. Now this is what I should have ordered even if they would have had to call an ambulance when I went into a sugar coma...

BONNE JOURNEE!

La Rentrée

#178B La rentrée, original watercolor, 5.5" x 7.5"

It's that time of year when the French talk about "La Rentree", a new beginning and a return from their August month-long vacance...

For me Fall is the return of APPLES!

And I'm thrilled to see the return of Crispins at the Union Square Green Market!

I'm munching on one right this minute :) The colors at the farmers market are pretty smashing... YUM! And the fun of browsing...not to forget the fun of sampling the wares. Yesterday I paid a visit to the annual end of summer Washington Square outdoor art show. Since I'm planning to show watercolors at Wintertur's GardenFair end of September, I thought I'd get the lay of the land, to get a feel for it. Munch..munch...munch...lots of nervous apple munching here...
BONNEE RENTREE!