More this and that from Paris

• This time last year we were having a bad  HEAT WAVE! This year the temperature is 71 degrees.

I'm not complaining.

Isn't this Parisian dad sweet with his kiddies? I snapped them from the bus.

Break out the Bolly. I read it in the Guardian. One month after France ended its strict 8-week lockdown, there has been no rise in coronavirus cases as life returns towards normality. Yay🍾

 The peonies are back 🍾

As are the fraises/strawberries in lush gateaux.

Ice cream of course.

The constant mushrooming of outdoor cafes is astonishing. Paris Cafe Culture is alive and well.

Why did I think everyone would continue baking bread at home when in fact they are lining up to sit down in any cafe with table and chairs. 

Extra pavement space has been given over to add more tables with great ingenuity.

Even Pierre Hermé has opened outdoor cafés throughout Paris. Maybe they should make a smaller cup for the single scoop😳🍦🐻Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast. Please share with a friend. Subscribe to my letters 💌 and maps and receive Paris in your mailbox 📮. 

Fetes Des Meres and the Marie-Antoinette Letter

Yesterday I made my weekly Saturday jaunt uptown for more stick-on overseas stamps. What a change! Tout Paris was out, happily shopping for MOTHERS DAY.

Today, June 7 is Fetes des Meres in Paris. Normally its the last Sunday in May but with Lockdown and the Pentecostal holiday they changed it.  

You can't enter Galeries Lafayette or any department store without a mask, unless you are 6 years old.

The store was loaded with stunning cakes.

Flower themes from patissier Pierre Hermé.

Perfumes galore.  

Oz Garden had a farm-style flower stand in front of perfume shop Diptyque on boulevard St. Germain. 

A few weeks ago I read in the Guardian, a travel bag belonging to Marie-Antoinette sold for more than 5Xs its estimate in an auction (nearly €45,000) of royal memorabilia near in Versailles.

Wheels started churning. Ta da. Perfect for May's Paris letter  

What was inside M-A's travel bag? After all in the end Marie-Antoinette was a very good bonne maman.

Bear 🐻wishes you a Parisian Bonne Fete des Mères! Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast. Share with a friend. Subscribe to my letters and maps and receive Paris in your mailbox . Bonne Dimanche PBers 

Paris Outside

Yesterday Paris opened. Yesterday all Parisians ate on a TERRASSE.

So many restaurants found space on the PAVEMENT for tables.

Eataly now has an active patio in back.

L'Orangerie on Ile Saint-Louis set up tables and a take-away bar.

Some small restaurants set up tables across the street on alleyways.

Shops moved their merch onto the street like Au Nom de la Rose.

Fancy fruit stands loaded with Spring produce spill onto the street

Even the flower MARCHE AUX FLEURS was open.

The bouquinistes opened.

The pigeons have never stopped eating on my tiny bit of roof. 

Le CHARIOT à Glace appeared everywhere in a flash.

On Sunday Berthillon was mobbed like old times. It was so hot coming home yesterday I dropped my mask and indulged in a coffee cone. I ended up going to PICARD for a bag of glacons (ice cubes) clutching it to my chest to cool down on the walk home. Yesterday in the US was not such a good day. My heartfelt thoughts are with  you ❤️

Yesterday

Yesterday I got an email, 'You've been pretty quiet. Are you ok?'

Marilyn xxxx Well I've been drawing like crazy to get the May PARIS letter/map done before May is actually over!! 3 guesses the subject matter?

Yesterday I took the 75 bus to newly reopened BHV to get burgundy-colored Faber Castellbrush pens for the Paris letters.

They have seriously widened the aisles in BHV.

For social distancing.

There is a newish branch of FOU DE PATISSERIE on BHV's 3rd floor. I succumbed to 1 marshmallow+ 2 small cream puffs. 

EATALY is like a block away in the Marais. Yes, I had a pistache/fraise gelato.

Going into Eataly is such an upper. Love the colors.

Love the products. Especially their Spanish hard-to-find anchovies from the Cantabrico, maybe the best in the world.

 What I bought yesterday: my fav Eataly salad (1 down, 2 to go), Italian ginger Kefir, tin of anchovies, Good grainy bread from Hune. 

Yesterday evening I heard a roar of clapping 👏👏👏coming from the window. The Prime minister announced the second phase of decontainment. Now we can take trips beyond 100 kilometers.👏Parks are open with restrictions. And outdoor cafes etc.👏

Are you bouncing off the walls like this fab NEW YORKER cartoon by C.TOM I saw on Instagram? I recently actually started running the 6 yards from my bed to the fridge. No kidding. Its how I caught the 75 bus yesterday. Why not try this Madrid dance routine for the hot new Lady Gaga/Ariana song RAIN ON ME. What's not to love❤️🐻 Please visit our ETSY SHOP.  Keep Bear in baguettes 🥖🥖🥖Back to drawing✏️💋

Uptown Paris Girl

After months of hibernation restricted to 1-hour walks in a 1-kilometer radius

I flew the coup a week ago and went uptown.

Rue de Rivoli is mainly bikes and taxis these days.

The weekend metro was nearly empty.  Masks provided along with hand sanitiser 👏👏👏

My uptown objective = self-stick stamps. The only place in tout Paris is CARRE D'ENCRE near Printemps.

Restaurants are closed but many offer take-away. On rue Cambon Pierre Hermé macarons was open. The sign said, "3 allowed inside" There was 1 customer and 1 server. I was told to wait. My math has never been good. I carried on.

FYI Uptown French girls will be wearing granny nightgowns with Doc Martins and Kaki jackets this summer. Do you follow BERNADETTE BANNER? AN Edwardian fashion historian who can help you DIY your own granny gown. Or simply charm the bloomers off you with her amusing banter.

Even more charm in TEXTILE TOURS OF PARIS's weekly newsletter. Do subscribe.

Downtown Parisians are mostly behaving themselves in un-lockdown with social distancing most of the time🤞🏼🤞🏼

The boats are back Hooray! on the Seine delivering jam and other essentials. And Bear has been delivering all the letters💌 to la Poste! Hip Hip Hooray

Bear 🐻 was sad cafes are not yet open. Me too. We have a new personalized subscriber bonus watercolor in our ETSY SHOP. Hooray🥂Stay well and stay sane dear PBers 🐻❤️💋