So there is this exhibit that I have been wanting to see - "Désirs et Volupté à L'Époque Victorienne" - which is about the sensual and poetic esthetic of painters during the Victorian era. I finally was able to drag Manu and Sophia to the museum presenting the exhibit. It is in a lovely mansion on Boulevard Haussmann that was bequeathed to the city and a nice surprise - I didn't know about it til now!
Here is Sophia and I in the jardin - the building was covered with a drop cloth that had the museum printed on it - they are renovating or cleaning the facade.
but here is one of the lovely staircases leading to the exhibit!
And here are some of the wonderful paintings in the exhibit - some I have seen before in books and others were delightful to discover.
I love this one - so romantic.
to me she almost looks like a photograph instead of a painting.
what a lovely painting of a mother and child
Then we got to tour the rest of the house - they had all sorts of lovely rooms ...
the music room
the music room with a view of the musicians' gallery
the Smoking Salon - for the gentlemen of course
fireplace in the Smoking Salon
Statue in the Winter garden
Sophia in the Winter garden
a rare mural in the stairwell
the gorgeous ceiling of the Medieval room
a beautiful Medieval church bench with wood inlay - the design is made up of wood, almost like a mosaic
the Martyr of St Sebastian - I had only seen this painting in books!
Turns out this is one of the hidden gems of Paris - they change out their exhibitions every six months with new collections. I think I will be a regular here! I hope you enjoyed this little taste of the Musee Jacquemart- Andre.
So Sophia and I went to pick Olivia up from her friend's house (yes, another sleepover - she has an active social life!) who lives near Montmartre and since I had been reading about the area, we decided to check out the famous cemetery.
A corner of peace and solitude.
The crypts were a bit spooky - some of them were so old that you could no longer read the engravings and some were covered with moss.
I peeked through the bars of an ancient crypt and found this lovely little stained glass - it's Saint Elizabeth!
This crypt had an air of abandon about it - see the ruined prayer bench and dirt covered altar.
Didn't know quite what to make of this effigy - couldn't really make out what the carvings said.
We found Alexander Dumas! He wrote the "Three Musketeers" and "The Man in the Iron Mask" - a famous French author.
It almost looks like a park - with strange and beautiful statues
We thought that this one looks like Neptune or Zeus
This one was just plain spooky - we really want to know the story behind this statue!
This one also intrigued us.
The cemetary was too much to see all at once - beautiful and terrifying and sad all at the same time. I do plan on going back and using the map to see who all is buried there. However it will be during the day! I bet that place is SCARY at night!
So Manu's cousin and wife were in Paris for the weekend and we had them over - such a nice time!
Of course we had to serve delicious pastries!
And then some nice wine ...
Then the next day, on our way to the big Sunday market we found this gentleman playing traditional French music on the Metro.
I love the markets - so many lovely things to see!
Look at the lovely jams ... So pretty
And the wonderfully fragrant herbs and spices
Fresh oranges with the leaves still on them
Look at the size of these steaks!
And I love the beautiful flowers
Look at the delicious grapes
And the pastries - who can pick just one?
Tarte tartin - my absolute favorite!
It is impossible to choose - I want one of everything!
And the berry pies - I would be as big as a house!
We had a lovely visit - but we should never go to the market hungry - we bought way too much! It was a fun trip to the market on an October Sunday afternoon.
So today I attended a wine tasting lunch, put together by the Parents' Association. I went with low expectations but mainly hoped to make new friends and have some fun. It exceeded my expectations - I actually learned some things about wine that I didn't know! And I had a delicious lunch, overcoming (at least for a while) my distaste for duck. : ) The lady who held the tasting actually judges wine competitions and
The "bible" for training your nose to taste wine
We learned that old wines need to be opened right before you serve them and young wines often need a couple of hours to "loosen up" - that young red wines have the berry taste and white wines are better with cheese because the acidity in the white helps the taste of the cheese to "develop." And some trivia - there are 1500 cheeses in France and 116 areas where wine is produced!
Delicious dessert wine - not too sweet or syrupy - and I usually do not like dessert wines!
There are days, like today, when I am out and about, running errands and I still have to pinch myself - "I live in Paris." It seems surreal - I keep expecting someone to tell me that it is time to go home. But this IS my home. I was exchanging the girls' riding boots today, at Decathlon at Place Madeleine - I had read an article the other day about how Saint Laurent was upset with this store here in Paris that was selling satirical tshirts - they are on Pinterest, say something to the effect "Ain't Laurent without Yves" - that finally pissed Hedi Slimane off (he took over - long story) so he sued them - issued a "cease and desist". Well of course I must go and support them! And since they are on rue St. Honore, just around the corner from Place Madeleine - on my way!
uh oh, place is packed and no cool shirts. Oh well. Make my way back to Metro - pass a corridor just off Place Vendome where there is house music pulsating out onto the street and a few fashionista want-to-bes are milling about. What is going on here? Turns out it is a small show - I start chatting with some older gentleman who tells me that it is almost over and I really need to stop and check out the exit - ok. You know what it reminded me of? Church - the way folks leave a fashion show reminds me of the way people leave church. Except for most of these people were in black - so it also reminded me of a funeral with crazy people who wanted to be photographed.
So I head home - oh, wait, there is a really nice Zara - I am browsing and bump into one of the "important" people of the show. She sheepishly smiled at me and told me that I inspired her to pop into Zara too - she loves that store!
And so, I live in Paris. OMG. Where craziness and fashion and laundry co-exist. Sometimes I feel like Alice in Wonderland, sometimes it feels normal and sometimes I feel so incredibly lucky. One thing, life is NEVER boring here - good thing because I do get bored easily and then I go shopping! LOL
So today I had planned on gatecrashing the Chanel and Valentino fashion shows. Ha! I guess the fates had decided that wasn't a good idea. The day started off wrong and went downhill from there. 8:00 am, girls are in foyer of building, arguing as usual. I am trying to get Bentley in his crate and get downstairs before they raise the roof so I take the stairs. Mistake number one - I slip and fall and bang the hell out of my butt (no biggie really because my butt is so padded! LOL) and my left forearm. Thank God I was holding on to the railing. Shake it off and hustle for the Metro. But the hurting and aching gets worse and it hurts to move my arm. Shit - so at school I ask the primary school principal if I could go get some ice from the nurse - guess something was lost in the translation because she insists that the nurse isn't there to help the parents. OKAAAAAY - but what do I do? I am hurting and I have no idea where to go to get it checked out! She disappears and comes back with an address for a radiologie clinic -it's where they send the kids from school when they get hurt. So I make my way over, no idea what to expect or how to make myself understood and I am in tears.
"Je tombe a la maison" - somehow that comes across and they xray my arm - no break, thank God! But it hurts like a mutha and is swelling and black and blue and purple. Whole process took an hour and cost me 70 euros - considering that I would have been at the doctor all day back home and paid that AFTER my deductible, I am a happy camper. I still have time to meet my friend and make the Fashion Show! Maybe I can find some coffee and spike it - for the pain of course.
So I meet up with my friend and her new friend and have a cup of coffee and talk about what brought us to Paris and all that. Have them in stitches with stories of how I hurt myself in the past (why folks find that amusing, I will never know - it's all perfectly normal if under strange or crazy circumstances). Finally we decide to grab a bottle of water and head over to the Grand Palais where the Chanel Fashion show is located.
Oh my freakin' God - I have never seen so many photographers, want to be photographers, fashionistas and want to be fashionistas! People decked out in outlandish costumes, for lack of a better term. Women (wouldn't exactly call 'em ladies) in entirely inappropriate clothing for the season or the weather. And half of the outfits were just UGLY! Mismatched brocades in Spring Colors - I know this was the Spring Collection but hello, it's Fall here and the temperature was a damp and chilly 56 degrees! Some poor folks needed a shower and a hairbrush! Others definitely needed a sandwich! And the posturing - everyone wanted someone to take their picture! And then when the show let out - the chaos was, well chaotic! Shoving and shutter clicking - I have no idea who was taking pictures of whom! And the people coming out of Chanel? well I expected sleek and sophisticated but they weren't exactly - and they were mostly wearing black and white! I guess in homage to the colors of Chanel but one usually associates the wearing of all black with New Yorkers! There were some fantastic shoes but I didn't take any pictures - didn't want to feed that beast, if you know what I mean.
So then we decide to go to this second-hand store in the 1st Arrondisement - my friend had gotten the name from a trusted source that this was a place to get some good stuff. So off we went - walking through the Tuileries to Rue Rivoli. I love walking through the Tuileries - I feel like I am walking back in time. But not this time - there was scaffolding everywhere and tents and workers dismantling tents - not so picturesque. Of course the tourists and the fashion people are everywhere - we get swept up and cross over to rue St Honore Fauberg - the hoity toity shopping street, where the rich and civilized shop. HA! I got hit by a delivery van who ran a red light! Thank God that there was a crush of people so the driver only tapped me - too many people so the van couldn't go fast but had to creep. Damn! But at least the van missed my smoking slippers and only clipped my thighs! (wish it had shaved a few inches off!) LOL That's it - we head straight for the shop - no more detours - they are not good for my health!
Turns out the store is in the Galleries Vivienne - a lovely covered shopping alley in one of the oldest parts of Paris. Really lovely and quiet - a pedestrian mall so no danger of being run over! I found a lovely cranberry colored velvet jacket. And then I needed lunch and a glass of champagne - I survived! But just to make sure, I took a taxi back home. No reason to tempt fate or try my luck!
I look a little rough - but after the day I had, I am surprised I still had some lipstick left!
So I started describing my adventure last week and left you hanging - well I finished it today!
I opened the door and this is what I found! SHOES!!!!
Boxes and boxes of lovely smoking slippers - all colors and textures and materials! and the best part - you can personalize them! You can select the color of tassels that you want or you can even add your initials!
and here are the ones I chose! The orange is a suede scale pattern with tan trim and tassels. The bottom pair is a burnished gold ostrich with chocolate brown trim and tassels. The pair on the top right is a grey/black with black trim and tassels. I love them and they are so comfortable! It was hard to decide or chose - I wanted them all!
So with apologies to the Indigo Girls, but I went seeking solace or possibly a friend this afternoon. I wanted to have a drink at the Buddha Bar or Hemingway's Bar at the Ritz. Needed some time for my self. So off I go to the Buddha Bar and I am in that no man's time - Brunch is just ending and yet it is too early for the bar or restaurant to open (didn't know there was such a thing for a bar, but ok) - they let me in any way but nothing on the brunch table appealed to me so off I went - Hemingway's Bar sounds like a perfect place to have a drink on a gray, Parisian afternoon. Nope, the Ritz is still undergoing renovation. Well, damn. Now what? So I start walking down rue Saint Honore, I now really want to have a nice glass of champagne in a nice French bar. As I approach the Louvre, I remember the hotel I stayed at with Nina, so many years ago - The Regina! That will have one of those lovely, elegant hotel bars. And so there it is, across from the Louvre and covered in scaffolding! ACK! but it is open so in I go - the bar is a wood-paneled, velvet sofa retreat, just what I needed.
I strike up a conversation with the waiter - about how I ended up there and that I had stayed with my dearest and best friend in the hotel so many years ago and how elegant and lovely I thought the hotel was and that I had tried the Buddha Bar and the Ritz and was so very disappointed. He informs me that the Regina too will be renovated in six months. I beg him to tell me that it won't be turned into some monstrous, new, modern thing - ah, well, you see the tourists that are coming now want sleek, modern - they come from Asia and Russia and don't like the old classic look. This is ridiculous - then why are they coming to Paris?! His answer, they want to honeymoon here but don't want the old stuff but rather the clean modern look. My answer, then go to Hong Kong or Shanghai! Leave Paris alone! Nope - the lovely classic hotels are all being remodeled and updated and that lovely Parisian charm will be lost - I even found out when the contents of Plaza Athenee will be auctioned off! So here is a picture of old Parisian hotel elegance - enjoy because soon all of the high end hotels will look the same with their glass and chrome and leather and clean lines - say goodbye to the wood paneling, the velvet sofas and the Aubusson carpets - all gone, in the name of progress.
So on Wednesdays children get out of school at 12:30 so they can participate in afterschool sports or other activities. Luckily the girls' school offers those too - so no schlepping kids from one place to another! Downside? There is needed equipment. My girls chose (I really did for them because I thought it was something that would help their posture and something they needed to know - coming from Texas!) horseback riding. Except this style is English. So I had to go purchase riding breeches, riding boots, a helmet and, according to Sophia, crops! I just hope they don't use them on each other! Thank God there is this really cool sports store called "Decathalon" that has every sports equipment under the sun - from acquatics to yoga and everything in between. And they have reasonable prices! So for about 175 euros I was able to purchase 3 riding outfits! Yay for me! and Yay for Decathalon!
So on Wednesday I went on a little adventure - I was hoping to have the conclusion today but now it looks like it will be next week - so here is a teaser .....
So I get this invitation to this event involving champagne, pastries and meet the designer - sounds good! After a bit of wandering up and down the street, with the police looking at me strangely (the address is next to some government buildings) I find this note ....
Next to this door - me being me and not about to miss out on champagne and pain chocolats, even if it's 9:00 am, I ring the bell and the door swings open ...
into this courtyard, where there is another doorway ....
so I walk up the steps into the foyer, where I find this note with an arrow ....
and yet another directional note ....
at this point, I am not sure where I am going or what I am going to find, but now I have to find out!
So up the stairs I go - it's strangely quiet. I don't hear anyone talking or any other people. I do hear some faint music but that's it. I am really curious and a little freaked out - you could almost cue the horror movie music. How would I explain this one? - "oh, I got killed because I couldn't resist champagne and pastries in an 18th century decrepit building" - somehow I don't think that would fly!
notice the beautiful statue and the peeling plaster - this place has atmosphere. I reach the floor that has another note and an open door. Music is wafting out and I hear quiet murmurings of conversation and glasses clinking - I think I have reached the right place. So I ring the bell and .......
This is what sucks - I have to wait until Monday or Tuesday to finish my story! But I will add more pictures - it turned out to be really awesome. And I'm not dead, yet!