Imperial Chocolat Fontainebleau

Hurry up! Get out of bed. Its the last day for the annual SALON IMPERIAL CHOCOLAT in Fontainebleau just 20+ minutes by train outside Paris. Bear did it. So can you. 

The chocolate salon, like last year, is held inside the chateau and is included in the entre fee(12€). 

Bonaparte slept here, among others. The historic rooms are divine. 

I never noticed before this portrait of a dog fancier. Intriguing. Normally you cross an empty courtyard to get to the chocolate salon.

This year they added tents offering foie gras from the sud-ouest, drinks including warming coffee and rum and other goodies like flaky apple tarts just out of the oven.

Inside a chocolate feast awaits. Many of the chocolatiers are from the Ile-de-France area.

Lots and lots of degustations going on.

We tried the Champagne with a hint of dark chocolate.

Chocolate cake competitions and ateliers for kids.

Bear said bonjour to the head honcho and salon director, top pastry chef FREDERIC CASSEL.

We stopped in his patisserie in town on 71 rue Grande for lunch (quiche Lorraine and citron tarte eaten in the street on the way to the chateau). Instant love❤️ for the chocolate bear celebrating Frederic Cassel's 25 years in business. Enjoy reading PB with your morning coffee☕️ 🥐 and keep Bear in Paris with a letter subscription from my Etsy shop. Bear 🐻 waves Bonjour ❤️from Paris☕️🥐

Jacquemart-Andre Advent Calendar

I'm keeping up with the new PB tradition creating an annual ADVENT letter for November.

A true love story lies behind this wonderful house museum. Artist Nelie Jacquemart painted wealthy banker, Edouard Andre's portrait in 1872. They married in 1881.

Both passionate about travel and Italy, they visited every year. Together they amassed one of the great collections of Italian Renaissance art in their home on 152, bd Haussmann.

The Jacquemart-Andre is less crowded than most Paris museums and offers an intimacy and calm few others can claim.

When you enter the music room, immediately Vivaldi starts playing.

In its heyday for grand soirées, the walls lowered and it became one huge ballroom.

Right now 75 works of Italian painting of exceptional beauty from the ALANA COLLECTION is on till 20 January. They perfectly complement the rest of the collection on the 2nd floor.

Do not miss having an 19th century tea in the museum's period salon.

Why I decided to visit the museum after finishing the letter art is one of the great unsolved mysteries.

I was searching madly online for pictures while at the museum they give-away big Galeries Lafayette Paris maps with perfect reference photos. Just what I was searching for. Fontainebleau seemed a good choice but their brochure offered few artwork pictures. MUSEE JACQUEMART-ANDRE offered loads. The brochure comes along with the letter by the way.  More fun cutting up bits of paper and pasting bits of paper. You will have to cut open the windows yourselves. Does it matter? You tell me.

Can you find the museum's Paulo Uchello St. George and the dragon in the Advent letter? More Paris Advent posts coming. Christmas has begun fullspeed in Paris. Tomorrow is the 1st day of the SALON DU IMPERIAL CHOCOLAT AU CHATEAU FONTAINEBLEAU. The MADE-IN-FRANCE show is on as is the stamp show and...I feel like RUN LOLA RUN. What can I say? Enjoy reading PB with your morning coffee☕️? Keep Bear in Paris with a letter subscription from my Etsy shop. Bear 🐻 waves HELLO ❤️from Paris☕️🥐.

Marche au Puces shopping with V.

Yesterday Bear wanted to tag along when I gave V. an interior designer a private tour of the Marché au Puces. The last tour I gave there was eons ago to cookbook author Dorie Greenspan.

In 1920 Romaine Vernaison, a landowner, put up wooden sheds to rent to junkmen. Now the Puce covers 125 acres with 5 separate market and is the largest in Europe. You can get there with bus 85 or Metro line 4 to Clignancourt or of course Uber. We started with Vernaison, the biggest and most mixed Marché price and object-wise.

At the entrance, shop No.6 on the right is full of beads and ribbons. V. bought a meter of beautiful tapestry ribbon to match her bedroom while I flirted with a horseshoe buckle. Ines de la Fressange puts a stunning bead necklace together in the same shop on YOUTUBE.  

A terrific shop of just bakelite jewelry in Vernaison allée 7.

Pace yourself with a coffee midway at Italian Cafe A. Picolo at Dauphine on rue des Rosiers.

We booked lunch ahead at the famous old bistro, Chez Louisette. Great fun with singing and music and a hearty traditional boeuf bourgonion.

Very long ago I did an illustrated guide to STREET MARKETS still available on Amazon. Not so much has changed since then at the Puce. You want to plan ahead. Go early on Saturday mornings.

Afternoon the Parisian crowds arrive in droves. Dress warmly in layers you can remove if the sun comes out. V. a Canadian used to below zero temps didn't mind the chill but I did. More layers next time.

V. was looking for a specific type sculpture to match a piece back in Canada. It certainly helps if you're on a hunt rather than looking at everything in sight - exhausting. By the way most dealers spoke English and were consistently helpful.

In Marché Biron the shops are more upscale and set up as furnished rooms. Dauphine is 2 floors and a mixup.

I hope you don't mind I'm posting more often of late - so many things going on in Paris this Fall. Its hard to keep up. Next week is the MADE IN FRANCEexpo, the annual MAP FAIR, IMPERIAL CHOCOLAT AU FONTAINEBLEAU to name a few. Do you enjoy reading PB with your morning coffee☕️? Keep Bear in Paris with a letter or map subscription or a watercolor from my Etsy shop. Bear 🐻says Big Merci ❤️from Paris🇫🇷.

Bacon at the Pompidou

What Fall looks like in Paris right now-wet with leaves on the ground. PS the POMPIDOU links below are wrong. Please use this one! Friday Nov1 was All-Saints day. Banks, la poste were closed but the streets were full of people no matter the grey skies. I wandered rue Rambuteau researching ADVENT CALENDARS. for the Nov PARIS LETTER .

This year I'm catching them as soon as they hit for the November

A cute new papeterie on rue Rambuteau?

I grabbed a quick, healthy bite at OBAO at #18 across the street.

The pool left me starving but a take-out box of veggies/tofu did the job.

Ready to face the new Francis Bacon show at the POMPIDOU, Bacon en toutes lettres. Bacon was a voracious reader of Conrad, TS Elliot, Nietzsche,  Aeschylus and his paintings are influenced by them. For a change instead of big information placards in the exhibit with people jammed around reading them, the were none except at the beginning. Instead you went into darkened rooms, sat down and listened to readings in both French and English of Bacon's favorites. What a relief. He said he read rubbish too. Basically anything in print. At the very end is a brilliant don't-miss filmed interview with Bacon.

I was feeling nervous about attending this exhibit, but as sometimes happens when seeing the actual paintings, your perspective is changed completely. Instead of the brutality and violence I was expecting, I was knocked over by Bacon's amazing color and incredible paint application.

As a major slob I  couldn't resist buying the picture book, 7 Reece Mews Francis Bacon's Studio. What absolute chaos. He tested paint colors on the doors and walls. It made me feel much better about my chaotic workspace❤️ I'll go back again. If you're in Paris you should def visit the Pompidou. Full of surprises. Today I'm girl-guide for some PBers visiting le Marché au Puces in Clignoncourt. On verra bien ❤️ Thanks for reading Parisbreakfast. If you'd like to receive Parisbreakfast watercolors, letters 💌 and maps in your mailbox📮 look in my Etsy shop. BEAR 🐻❤️says Hi from Paris.

Salon du Chocolat 2019

I'm still in recovery from so-called 'browsing'. 

The chocolate jewels at LA SALON DU CHOCOLAT 🍫opening tonight.

As an extreme early bird (up at 4) who keels over at 8:30 pm, I was worried I would keel over mid-way salon. I arrived at 8 and left near 11 pm. No problem staying awake.

The SALON at Porte de Versailles (ligne 12 stops exactly there in about 20 minutes from Le Bon Marché) is on through Sunday. Entry is 15€ It seemed better even this year. Were there more new companies? Plenty of international chocolate companies too.

LAST YEAR there was a definite trend for 'ruby' chocolate. This year I wasn't aware of one particular trending 'tendance'. But there is still plenty to interest any visiter of an age. And its not just chocolate. Wines and other seasoned drinks were on offer. 

There are foie gras sandwiches and related duck goodies to stock up for Christmas. What I bought was mostly serendipitous. I did get my bank lady the small HUGO AND VICTOR chocolate box.

And while so-called departing I stopped for a look at TEO&BIA from Piedmont, Italy where the best hazelnuts are grown.

I ended up with a jar of Sicilian almond spread (1/2 gone) and a bag of nuts(gone). I'm going back for their tartiner de noisette (hazelnut spread) me thinks. They grow their own hazelnuts! 

There is so much fabulous competition for Nutella you could go nuts tasting all the samples. 

Winter in Europe = is time to stuff yourself full of hazelnut spread. Summer not so much. Maybe it goes better with your morning hot chocolate on cold winter mornings? I saw adorable mugs at CHOCOLAT BONNAT, at the traditional French chocolate bar company. 

I always buy a small box of little matcha ganache squares (gone now) from TOKYO CHOCOLATES. Delicious! I saved many tasting samples in my pocket(now all gone- another reason to return to the salon). Not shown is the knockout croissant with strips of dark chocolate (gone 1st thing the next morning). 

The famous 'Le President' gateau from BERNACHON, la creme de la creme of French chocolate is always at the salon. They finally opened a shop in Paris recently on 127, rue de Sevres. For the top you must visit.I could go on and on. Do you want more SALON chocolate news? If you're here just go!

More chocolate reports going way back-Paris Salon du Chocolat

Comme des sardines Beautiful cacao beans

Salon du Chocolat

Salon du Chocolat

crazy for chocolate in the U.S.!

Paris Chocolat Couture

Chocolate Dips

Weird Chocolate

Salon du Chocolat 2010

Salon du Chocolat 2011

BONNE CHOCOLAT!

Thanks for reading and sharing Parisbreakfast. Subscribe and get letters 💌 sent from Paris every month 📮in my Etsy shop. 

With love ❤️Paris Xxx🍫🐻🍫