To Paris With Love

YSL Paris, original watercolor, 9" x 11"

When Audrey goes to Paris she takes along her Leopard... When John Travolta goes to Paris, in the new movie out today, he takes along "his precious energy drinks whose containers hide firearms. Corn syrup, caffeine and water it's not" the New York Times reports... French Girl in Paris, likes me to bring her some Essie Alure nail polish. Like all the best nail polishes don't already exist and originate in Paris? Who knew? Of course I take my watercolor paintbox. Not really that weird to bring along to Paris. BUT with all the art stores in Paris (homeland to artistes from the get-go), would you not think you could find a decent pad of tracing paper?

You can NOT find any tracing pads in all of Paris. Well I have not, so I bring my own nice, cheesy thin tracing paper pads from Utrecht art supply. C'est comme ca.

Here's a weird thing I like to bring to Paris - Japanese travel books on Paris! They are the BEST in my opinion.

There is not one word of English in these books, though they throw the occasional French word or two around. I like them for the illustrations and maps - they give me ideas. Go figure... Sue of Cottage Way of Life used to take "Bessie" with her to Paris(the size of a cat). "Why? So I could photograph her travels (I was thinking of writing a book). Bessie got lots of attention in Paris, I constantly heard, "La vache!" And everyone wanted to take a picture of her. I got to talk to a lot of people because of that cow...

So what do YOU bring to Paris? Do tell all s.v.p.

NPR liked From Paris With Love!!?

Whoops-this is not the trailer I watched at The NYTimes...ahem

The language is NSFW

Bonjour Week-end!

Sticker Up!

Have you ever wanted to walk into Fauchon and say, "Please put 50,000 Fauchon stickers into this bag and act natural".

"I'm pointing a watergun at you".

OK, so maybe you are not a sticker-aholic.

Maybe you don't suffer from auto-collantismo like some people.

Count yourself lucky.
Do you think Fauchon has a private jail for minor misdemeanor offenders obsessed with collecting their stickers and do they serve tarte citron?

I wonder.

I wonder if Julianna Margulies would be willing to represent me in court now that she's won a Golden Globe? Hmmm...I am a devoted fan of The Good Wife so pourquoi pas?

Maybe she has a doggie that wants to go to Paris..?

Julianna, do you like macarons?
It's always good to cover your back if you're going to indulge in sticker-lifting. You never know when you may need some serious help.

While scavenging through my illegible Paris notebooks for stickers I found this expense list for pastries bought in Paris one trip.

HELLO?

$254.42 in 2 weeks !!!!!

That's like 1/4 of a Chloe bag! The sacrifices I make.

I am a martyr to the macaron cause...

You can get some awfully good macarons on rue des Martyrs by the way.
BONJOUR Paris STICKERS!

Paris Trash

Most people bring back chic stuff from Paris - designer bags, shoes, gloves, perfume, couture socks blah blah blah. I bring back trashy souvenirs from pastry shops, tea salons, candy stores. Like those plastic gelato spoons - these are all my Paris treasures.

I bring home paper sacs. Hey, they're free. Well almost. You do usually have to buy something. Sometimes there's a momento crumb still left inside...sniff

Souvenir napkins. Tell me you NEVER brought back a souvenir napkin from Paris. They are light weight. The red napkin is from tea at Hediard.

Shhhhh, I did once dumpster dive on Place Madeleine for a perfectly excellent macaron box - it called my name.

Stickers-I LOVE French stickers / Les autocollants. I never forget to snag some. Many places have more than one design - candy / confisier stores are terrific for these.

Carte de visit/ de magazine - you can pick up them on the way out the door. French biz cards are the best.

Don't forget you have to ask for the l'addition / bill in a French restaurant. Don't sit there and expect it to show up. And don't dare get up and walk out impatiently. You can land in jail for not paying. Doing dishes is NOT an option in France unless it's behind bars. The exception is in a cafe. They will bring the bill with your order in a special designated dish like instantly.

My l'addition from Hotel Meurice - only thing you can take away that isn't nailed down is this tiny Canderel sugar packet. No sugar cubes, nuttin! You've already seen enough of my sugar cube collection.

Another trash collection gem - a paper bag from a no-boulangerie.I tried to smooth out the wrinkles for you :)

This little bag says it all - the care, the attention, the wit that goes into the small, quotidien things of French life..?

What did you bring back? Tell all.

BONJOUR PARIS TRASH!

Julia at Poilâne

If you're looking for Julia of WI, she's hanging out at Poilâne on

8 rue du Cherche-Midi, 75006
She's obsessed with their sourdough boul miche. Half of Paris and London is biting into a boule miche at this very second. C'est la vie.
Me, I'm obsessed with Poilâne's paper bags. OK, so I love all the bread paper bags in Paris.

If I see a bread bag, I have to have it. Some people feel the same way about Chloe bags, so what's the diff? They're both French right?

Admittedly Poilâne's paper bag is one of the best bread bags IN THE WORLD.

Their typography makes me have sweet dreams...

Their boule miche...OK I usually pick one up sliced at the super marche. It's the bag I'm after. HA!

Asuncion said I had to try Poilâne's apple tart.
The bag was a mess after - I'll never do that again. Each to her own obsession...

The shop is very pretty and you can get an expensive Poilâne lunch next door. I remember when it was just a little room upstairs with just simple sandwiches...oh la-de-da

Poilâne has a sort of playhouse on their site and you can move around the boule miche putting stuff in the basket etc. if that takes your fancy. No paper bags though...

Don't get lost looking for the boule miche...

BONJOUR Poilâne!

Hector Guimard

I was browsing over at Peter'sParis, while tearing my hair out looking for something to post on this morning.

Peter is the master blogger on Paris architecture. He took me up to Montmartre (enfin) and showed me the highpoints - I have a tiny fear of heights (why I've never been...hmmm)

An expat resident formerly from Sweden, Peter knows Paris better than most Parisiens. Do visit. You'll be enthralled too

Today he was chatting about architect Hector Guimard, art nouveau creator of many Metro stations

Not by Guimard but certainly art nouveauesque non?
Do you know who designed Paris' kiosks?

Or this art nouveau cafe table leg?

Last time in Paris, I had lunch with Peter at Brasserie Flo..

7, cour des Petites Ecuries

(entrée par le 63, rue du Fg Saint Denis)
75010

You can't get more art nouveau than Flo

Even our huitres were art nouveauesque - just look at the organic flowing lines, harmony and continuity

Peter's steak tatare is not so art nouveau in my opinion, but then I don't eat red meat

However my macaron framboise dessert with twirly dollops of whipped cream = the ultimate of art nouveau desserts in my biased opinion

No one has yet requested to be painted in Paris at the Metro?Everyone wants to be painted at Cartiers it seems.

BONJOUR Paris Art Nouveau!