Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées

Did you fall in love with Villanelle's crazy, pink tulle dress from KILLING EVE too?

Well you can pick up MOLLY GODARD's hot number at the new GALERIES LAFAYETTE CHAMPS-ELYSEES . Turns out its a fun place to take out-of-towners. Carolyn (a PB letter subscriber) was here for her yearly Fall visit.

I suggested we lunch at CAFE CITRON on the second floor (named after world famous patissier, CEDRIC GROLET's faux lemon dessert. They don't take reservations but the wait was short. The menu is mediterranean (Provençal, Corsican, Greek) and reasonable.

I got the Cretan salad and Carolyn had avocado toast. A lemon is placed on all the tables for atmosphere/decoration but I noticed a woman on my left cutting the lemon in half and squeezing it into her water glass. What?

On my right the little pup was happily snoozing on and off.

You could say Cafe Citron has a relaxed atmosphere. Its very casual throughout the concept store.

You can wear anything here. Just about.

After a stroll around the second floor.

We went downstairs to the Food Hall for desserts from STOHER. Thank you for reading and sharing Paris breakfasts. Subscription letters 💌maps and watercolors 🎨are in my Etsy shop. 

From Paris with love ❤️ Xxx🥂🐻

Map of Paris - Kouign-amann

The Cambridge dictionary says "a piece of cake" means something that is very easy to do. Ex : The exam was a piece of cake. I can say painting the famous butter cake from Brittany, KOUIGN-AMANN (pronounce that 'Queen-A-mon') for OCTOBER PARIS MAP, was not 'a piece of cake'.

Though eating all the samples I bought for research was far too easy.

 

The impossible to pronounce and spell Kouign-Amann is from the small seaside town of DOUARNEZ in Finistere. I briefly thought of running there but then decided I've done enough damage in Paris alone.

Created by accident in 1860 by boulanger Yves-Renes Scordia when his bread recipe did not work, so he added a ton of sugar et voila.

I missed out on several top kouign-amanns (according to FIGARO) (but not Arnaud Larher's) because I arrived after 2pm. How this is a breakfast pastry is beyond me. Loaded with a 2 bars of salted butter + sugar + flour (that is it period) this could kill your morning easily. But it must be tasted or you haven't lived. A bucket list idem. Try it one time only if you care about your figure. 

Reheat it 10-15 minutes in a pan or oven for the best experience. 

If you visit Paris end of January get it hot out of the fore at the fabulous FETE DU COQUILLE ST. JACQUES, an annual fair from Brittany in Montmartre at Abbesses. Plus there are oysters, scallops, cider, crepes to be eaten. And singing. Don't get me started. If you feel ambitious DAVID LEBOVITZ has a recipe in his book, L'APPART: the delights and disasters of making my Paris home. 

You may want to try a miniature version in many flavors besides caramelized salted butter at GEORGES LORNICOL's 3 shops for his creation 'les kouignettes'. He now has savory flavors like parmesan and Roquefort. Very yummy. I tasted them. I will be going cold turkey for the next few days at least 🤞🏼🤞🏼🙏🏻 Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast. Please share with a friend. You can receive Paris letters in your mailbox 📮. Take a look on ETSY . Xxx Carolg and 🐻 in Paris

Musee Guimet and First Best Friends

My oldest friend is in town. We've been FIRST BEST FRIENDS since we were 5. After grade school I would walk BARBARA ZUCKER home. Then she would walk me home. Then I...etc. We had a lot to chatter about back then.

She wanted to go to MUSEE GUIMET. I saw the KIMONO and KOREAN shows at the Guimet. Of course I said yes.

The Guimet has a lovely restaurant I can happily recommend for lunch, Salon des Porcelaines.

After lunch we began the search. Barbara is a sculptor and wanted to find the Chinese Tang 8th dynasty tomb figures she'd seen back in 2006. The GUIMET collection contains Southeast Asian artworks including India, China, Japan, Cambodia. We found them on the second floor.

Whimsical, lively and surprisingly realistic, the figures were made of molded earthenware.

We thought they had hints of Minnie perhaps...

Called mingui, they were usually servants, soldiers, dancers, musicians placed in tombs of people of high rank to be available to the deceased in the afterlife.

A single tomb of a member the imperial family could contain 100s of these figures.

Fascinated by the figure's hairdos, Barbara made sketches in 2006.

These drawings later transformed into a recent sculpture show called 'ADORNED' at BCA Center in Burlington this year. We left the Guimet and outside I shared with Barbara recent research I've been doing for the OCTOBER PARIS MAP (I'm still researching on Paris' best Kouign-Amann). It was her first taste. She liked it. A lot. XXX from Paris ❤️🐻

Chanel Spring Summer 2020

Its a bi-annual event. The last day of Paris Fashion Week/PFW falls on a Tuesday with CHANEL closing out a week of catwalk extravaganzas.  

Elsa, a fashion show dresser, told us the invitation is a key. This year's theme was Paris rooftops.

Something I know pretty well by glancing out my window.

An interior shot of the set from The Guardian. La Mode used to tell where designers held their shows.

No more sadly. You have to know someone (or be someone).

CHANEL SS20 is always reliably at Grand Palais 10:30am putting 'the cherry on the top' of the week.

Great for gawkers who wanna show up and shoot. Thank you PBer CM for reminding me to show up.

I slacked off for a bit, but its such an upper to see everyone (men too) in their obsessive Chanel outfits.

Do they start planning their outfits a year in advance like department store Christmas windows? I used to think if you had the classic quilted Chanel bag (rented) you were good to go. No way.

A beetle bag, an owl, a perfume bottle is great. Unless your quilty is patinated gold forgetaboutit. Uninteresting. Notice no French scarves. The better to show off your Chanel pearls or gold chains.

Occasional spots of solid primary color livened up the endless classic checked tweed jackets. This was designer Victoria Viard's first collection on her own, though she worked side-by-side with Lagerfeld for years. It will be interesting to see what attendees wear next show. Will it be as outrageous?

Word out LOUIS VUITTON was showing at the Louvre Tuesday night at 7:30. The Louvre's a big place so where? There's a lotta stress being a gawker. More to come PBers 👍🏻 Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast. Please share with a friend. You can get Paris letters 💌 in your mailbox 📮. Take look on ETSY . XXX Carolg and 🐻 in Paris. And yes that woman with her 2 pups was inside the show. She said she loved the pink Chanels. Oh really?

Degas À l'Opera, musee d'Orsay

Can you ever see too many Degas dancers? The new exhibition, DEGAS À L'OPERA opened on Tuesday. I ran and arrived just in time to sneak in the back end at The ORSAY before closing.

The colors! And extra long compositions with a diagonal slant to them.

Astonishing combinationsof Vermillion red, viridian blue-green, yellow ochre combine to create magic.

Degas would put down a layer of pastel color. Then spray it with fixative before laying another color on top. We used those same little bent metal pipes in art school  to fix our charcoal drawing. The smell was horrendous. I stopped immediately and switched to watercolor merci deux.

In 1899 he invited Julie Manet (daughter of Berthe Morisot) to visit his studio to see "some orgies of color I'm doing right now".  She was surprised and wrote in her diary (I saw a copy at my bouquiniste) "he never shows what he is doing". He was always a private insular man.

Degas planted himself at the Opera Garnier, backstage, front and center, sketching during rehearsals (every artist's dream).

He was around to sketch the gentleman admirers, top-hatted in tails, waiting for the teenage ballerinas to accompany them to dinner etc. after the performance. Epstein's keen interest in young schoolgirls isn't something new. Rodin too surrounded himself with young Indonesian dancers.

A box at the opera painted by Degas in orange reds and olive greens. The Orsay exhibit is a collaborative effort to celebrate the 350th anniversary of Opera Garnier, where the dancers performed.

Try the tour at the opera when you're in Paris. Always thrilling. The Degas/Orsay exhibit is on through January. Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast and pleas share with a friend. You can receive Paris letters in your mailbox 📮. Take look on ETSY . Cheers Carolg and 🐻 in Paris