Salon de l'Agriculture 2018

There are a lot of food fairs this weekend in Paris. Yesterday I visited SALON INTERNATIONAL DE L'AGRICULTURE at Porte de Versailles (ligne 12). Today is the last day so get over there vite.

Meet the star of the show, Haute, an Aubrac cow, on most Paris buses and in the Metro this week. She is 6 years old and grew up in Laguiole, Aveyron. Inquiring minds etc.

She's on the Salon's shopping bag of course.

I don't know the numbers of visitors but there are tons of people of all ages visiting SIA. Very well-behaved too.

I only made it to Halle 3 where 13 regions of France have their products on offer. Plus tourist info for each region.

A huge array of honey.

Maybe they should change the name to Salon de Confiture - so many jam makers. And the variety of flavors: Figue orange, blueberry citron, saffron apricot, apricot lime, strawberry mint..you get the idea.

A giant basket of products from Normandy i would have been happy to take home.

Endless cheeses

The French like their organic vegetables with the dirt left on svp. Proof of terroir?

No dirt on these veggies

Halle 3 has possibly 20-25 regional restaurants inside or just sit down on the floor and munch.

Lavandre from the Provence section.

Violet garlic from Cadours. I picked one up to inhale and was offered free samples to take home. No problem. Corsican stands were selling a kilo of almonds in the shell for 6€. I couldn't pass up their fabulous Clementine jam. Today I'm off to Omnivore Paris food fair, a rather more upscale event with top chef demos and lectures at Maubert-Mutualite. Mer et Vin is on at Champerret.

Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast. If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward to a friend.

You can receive a Paris letter or map in your mailbox and souvenirs at ETSY.

Xxx Carolg et Yellow Bird

Brocantes, Vide Greniers, Vanves, etc.

Some of you reading David Lebovitz' book L'APART said you'd love see his renovations. You'll see plenty at David's INSTAGRAM STORIES + recipe videos. By the way you will NOT see any Stories unless you sign in. Look for a red ring around the person's avatar. Stories stay up only 24 hrs and disappear. My Stories are usually Paris weather reports or pastry...

I found out about this brocante on David's instagram (David's photo) and ran there last Sunday. More flea info on EVOUS.

No matter how cold out, Parisians will come out to hunt through a flea market.

I could have used this old fur as a blanket last week. Paris reached single digits (18 degrees but feels like 8). Ouch. Ah the joys of living in a chambre de bonne.

Ready-to-wear hats for the cold on sale.

Warm up at the crepe stand in the flea

Or cross the street to Cafe Gaston jam-packed with coffee drinkers.

Blue workman jackets were 55€. I bot mine in the Deauville marché for 40€.

Valentino was way too high for me.

Just the ticket. What's more fun than a box of dollar stuff?

Tons of beautiful silverware. I'm always looking for still life material.

Wish I'd taken a closer look at this pile of glassware

Bright art deco tableware from a more high-end dealer.

A couple of Sundays ago there was a street brocante on boulevard Saint Germain.

I jumped off the 86 bus for a look. I really prefer the more casual fleas with simple card tables like this one and no glass cases. You can easily touch and pick up stuff for a closer look.

I found a child's lustre ware tea set for 7.20€ (all that was left in my purse). Now to find the little cups ☕️

This child's 2" cafe au lait bowl (4€) was at La porte de Vanves flea, held every Saturday/Sunday. Take Bus 58 from Odeon and you're there.

The demi tasse cup and saucer I got there for a fiver. Going late around noon at closing time makes bargaining easy. I don't remember which flea had Bear's brother. Too late now. For more tips see David's post on Paris brocantes and flea markets. 

Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast. If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward to a friend. I wish I could send you a mini coffee bowl. Instead receive a Paris letter or map in your mailbox and souvenirs too.

Xxx Carolg and Bear

Second acts, Tron, Pharmaceutical art

More ancient PB history today. It's "Career Wednesday" again I was listening to Tina Brown talk of 

"second acts, third acts, fourth acts," etc. on Charlie Rose . I was reminded of my past acts.

I used to use an airbrush. My illustrations were influenced by Japanese woodblocks.

After a serious injury (I was shot pointblank by a mugger) landed me in Saint Vincent’s hospital, I got interested in medical art. 

Always lemons 🍋 into lemonade. It pharmaceutical advertising art you see in medical journals.

The movie TRON had just opened - first film to use computer graphics extensively.

I combined TRON with old master drawings.

Still using the airbrush (no PhotoShop in 1982).  A transparent, futuristic style perfectly suited to medical art.

My first illlustration flyer brought in a ton of work.

Advil ads, Prozac ads, high-tech anything ads became my caviar and champagne 🍾 Medical advertising paid nicely.

Covers for Time, Newsweek, Business Week, Omni etc. Are you asking WHO IS THIS PERSON? I have no idea.  If I had to pickup an airbrush today I'd be a goner. I did this for almost 10 years. Hillary Clinton came along with her cutbacks on pharmaceutical wastage-
among them, ads that ended up in the circular file i.e. the wastepaper basket. And my lucrative medical illustration business went down the drain. 

Then I volunteered in the kitchen for the James Beard House. And a new career evolved that still kept me in champagne and caviar. Then I went on to wine 🍷 art, but that's another story. 

Ile Saint Louis Map

With endless drizzle and the Seine rising, one might need a tiny break non? A bit of 'luxe, calm et volupté' perhaps? A couple of Sundays ago Bear took me for petit dejeuner to the newest salon de thé, CAFE POUCHKINE at 18 Place de la Madeleine 75008.

And very luxe it is too.

Divinely Empire

Enough to take your breath away.

Their desserts are extraordinaire.

As is the tea salon staircase.

The basic breakfast formule will not break the bank Bear was pleased to notice.

Ta da.

Naturally I got the chocolat chaud, my poison of choice. But they had forgotten to bring ses confitures!

Never mind.  Enough mini jams arrived quickly to calm frazzled Bear.

I thought I'd paint onsite but lost my courage with all the grand Empire decor. I made just a few scribbles. When no one was looking, dear Bear snatched a jam jar (confiture de mangues, citrons verts, fruits de la passion) and tucked it into my purse for painting later.

So much better to make a mess at home.

That little jam jar became quite the instigator.

Normally I don't keep jam at home. There are bears on the premises. Suddenly there were two large jars of jam in residence. I told myself I was going to paint them. Ha. They were empty in one week. I was wondering why I was not feeling so peppy of late and started imagining flu coming on and other dire illnesses. It was eating all that jam of course. We're now safely back on jam quarentine. By the way if you've never tasted Corsican clementine marmalade (on the right from Carrefour) you haven't lived.

If you're wondering where to go for a classy petit dejeuner or afternoon tea try cafe Pouchkine. I know you'll enjoy it too. Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast. If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward to a friend. 

I'd love ❤️ to send you a mini jam jar. Instead get Paris letters or 

Ile Saint Louis map in your mailbox with Parisian souvenirs. 

Cheers, Carolg et Bear