ParisBreakfast May letter..a work in progress

When Spring rolls around Parisiens get delirious about plants for their petit balcons.

Not sure why this surprises me. Maybe in New York only the 1% have a balcon to fuss over.

Look at this! Scented grass (rosemary, verbena etc.) for your petite terrasse.

Every Parisien's dream, La Compagne à Paris (the country in the city) There does seem to be a Green revolution going on in Paris.

At my local whatever shop Bü, all kinds of DIYs

I have yet to try any. My thumb is every color but green.

I went back to Grand Palais' Jardins exhibit for more plant immersion.

Mainly the gift shop, now a plant store plus all too many gorgeous books.

Spring green tea tins to die for. Who cares what's inside. So many beauitful things. You Must go!

Time 'to tend my own garden/jardin' as Voltaire said. Get back to the drawingboard for the May letter art.

My ongoing obsession with hot air balloons (and sheer terror of extreme heights), why not paint flying flowerpots viewed from a Paris balcon?

Taking things a step further...

'Paperdoll' time. Let's cut and paste and move bits around!

1st version, Bear approved his likeness. Whew. I heard noises outside my door. Must be the concierge. It was my proprietor (landlord). I invited/shoved him in for an opinion.

"No good" he said. "The revised Eiffel Tower is wrong, wrong, wrong". 

Oh. OK. Time for a do-over. Must stick with original Eiffel Tower!! You can see the final letter on Etsy. 

By the way the green bug thing is from Grand Palais' gift shop.

Thank you for reading Parisbreakfast.  You can now receive TWO letters from Paris per month - the ParisBreakfast letter + the Paris map if you choose, when you renew or subscribe. 

Happy Mother's day PBers.

Floral Boutiques map, Nina's Paris

Thanks to discovering PARIS IN BLOOM, this Spring has been the Springiest ever...chasing after wisteria, lilac and blooming cherry trees.

When we met up I gave her last year's May floral boutique map. Cross-referencing her list of favorite shops we were on the same wave length.

When I suggested collaborating on a map she was delighted. I've been tearing around

Tracking down her favorites. Here's outside Flower.fr on 14, rue des Saint Peres 75007

Inside utterly serenity.

Paris' floral boutiques don't seem to mind browsers and you can take pictures, unlike Paris' patisseries, though I'd ask first.

I was at Au Nom de la Rose today buying a bag of rose petals. WikiHow says you can iron them between 2 pieces of absorbant paper at a low temperature - a speedy way to dehydrate them. I thought they'd make nice envelope stuffers for the floral map. Except it didn't work! Humph

Clever Nom de la Rose displays most of their flowers on the street. Luscious, silky roses sitting in old tin cans on rusted garden chairs. As tempting as strawberry tarts.

Inside they were trimming rose stems. There are 17 shops all over Paris, many closet-sized.

Have you been to Nina's Paris at 29, rue Danielle Casanova, 75001 near Place Vendome? One of the nicest tea salons in Paris. Georgianna had her book party here. Some kind PBers took me for afternoon tea.

Simple and elegant.

Nina's teas are a collaboration with the King's vegetable garden (le potager de roi) at Versailles. They have exclusive rights to use the Marie Antoinette roses for their signature teas and for the apples too.

Their chocolate bars and soaps! Too pretty.

Its a darling intimate space. I much prefer it to the grand overly-fussy fancy hotel teas.

How do they get those fresh rose petals to stay on the wall?

When you're flower-focused you see flowers everywhere. 

Nina's gave me their adorable tea tin flyer for this month's envelopes. Plus perfume card and ribbon. No dried rose petals though. 

Thank you for reading Parisbreakfast.  Here's the envelope stuffers for May's 'Paris in Bloom' floral map and the new bonus watercolor if you renew/subscribe. Perfect for Mother's day.

Enjoy Spring PBers!

Fete du Bonheur, le 1er MAI

Happy 1st of Mai! A national holiday in France, their 'labor day'.

I spotted the 1st lilly of the valley (muguet) on Friday while researching Paris fleurists for the May map.

And the 1st fraise de bois of the season..the tiniest, sweetest strawberries. PS Marjorie Williams will be signing books at WHSmith from 6-7 pm 248, rue de Rivoli Metro:Concorde on her terrific guides, MARKETS OF PARIS and MARKETS OF PROVENCE. I'll see you there (red glasses).

Today I headed out to visit Place Dauphine for the first time. Lilly of the valley everywhere.

Tables set up on every street corner.

Au nom de la Rose had sprigs (brin) mingled with their famous roses.

A perfect day for flaneuring (aimless wandering) in Paris

I love the small park behind Notre Dame

This shady grove is one of my favorite quiet spots in Paris.

At last Place Dauphine on Ile de la Cité. Google says its a 19 minute walk from my house.

What have I been waiting for? Have you been?

A classic bistro at Place Dauphine, Ma Salle à Manger.

I passed the perfect May shoes.

In Diptyque's window the perfect Françoise Sagan quotation for a day off...

"My favorite pastime is letting time pass, 

having time, 

Taking my time, 

wasting my time, 

living out of time."

An Ile Saint Louis neighbor wastes time on his balcon, while Bear dreamily studies the clouds. Are they nimbus, cumulus, stratocumulus? Thank you for reading Parisbreakfast.  If you'd like to receive Paris letters and maps in your mailbox, stop by my shop. 

Happy 1st of Mai!

Musée de la vie Romantique, Pierre-Joseph Redoute

You can take Bus 67 all the way from Central Paris to Pigalle, 18eme. Then walk 5 minutes to the musée de la vie Romantique. Or Metro ligne 12. For some unknown reason the bus dumped us out at Hotel de Ville. I could not resist buying a few peonies/pivoines 🌸 on sale as I waited for the next 67...

Musée de la Vie Romantique is one of Paris' prettiest small museums. 16, rue Chaptal 75018

Take a tea ☕️ outside and relax

And smell the roses.

Inside more roses at the first Joseph-Pierre Redouté exhibiton in Paris just opened on till October 1.

A major botanical artist (1759-1840) and Belgian, Redouté recorded the floral varieties in Empress Josephine Bonaparte's garden at Malmaison.

His technique of fine stipple engraving, using tiny dots rather than fine lines allowed for more subtle color gradations.

A number of his oils are on view.

Redouté, the 'Raphael of flowers' is still revered for his exquisite floral renderings, especially his roses. 'He lead the way in an era of natural sciences, classifying and identifying plants collected over five continents - then reproducing them in watercolor on precious vellums of unequaled scientific accuracy and artistic talent'.

More than 250 paintings, watercolors, objets d'art are presented in 3 rotating 'saisons' so you can return several times to see different artworks.

Floral Sevres porcelain inspired by Redouté’s botanical engravings.

I was smitten with these fragile gold bouquet holders. 19th century fans, jewelry, embroidaries, wall hangings in the exhibit reflect the craze for botany.

Be painted with a rose wreath in your hair! You'll find wreaths like this at 14, rue des St-Peres at Flower.com

Examples of wallpaper designs based on Redouté's engravings

Close-up of endpapers from the museum's Redouté catalog, 'Le Pouvoir des Fleurs'

Contemporary works by 26 artists are included in the exhibit.

They gave us brown paper wrapped bouquets as we left the preview. I had my 3 peonie buds tucked in my bag waiting to be painted. Thank you for reading Parisbreakfast.  

If you'd like to receive Paris letters and maps in your mailbox, do visit my Etsy shop. 

Don't miss muée de la vie Romantique if you're a flower-lover!