Saturday’s Song: Lou Doillon: I.C.U

Inspiration: Garance Dore

I am sure most people know Garance Dore by now. I love her blog and have followed it for years, since back in the day when she was based in Paris. Her illustrations are gorgeous as is she!

If you want to see more check out the series of videos that she made called ‘Pardon my French‘. I find her utterly charming.

Paris Love: Part Two

Today I wanted to write in more detail about my wonderful long weekend in Paris and post some more photos.

My photo’s seem to fall into categories.

Shops and cafes:

 

 

 

 

Apartment buildings and balconies:

 

 

 

 

 

The metro:

On my  first day in Paris I went to see the Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton Exhibition at les Arts decoratifs. I had gone to the museum see their collection of Art Deco furniture and jewellery so, when I happened upon this fashion exhibition it was a bonus. It was such an interesting exhibition and so beautifully presented.

The second day I spent the morning exploring the canal saint-martin area. It is a very picturesque area with trendy little shops and cafes.

 

 

I want to be the lady with the stylish hat. What a nice way to spend a day!

 

 

In the afternoon I went to the Musee Gustave Moreau. This is such a quirky and charming museum. It was the home and studio of the Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau.

 

 

On my last day I went to the Musee d’Orsay which was amazing, as you would expect, but a little overwhelming in size.

I also came across two amazing vegetarian cafes called Bob’s Kitchen and Voy Alimento. I thought they were worth mentioning as you don’t necessarily expect to find such wonderful vegi food in Paris!

Paris Love

I’ve just got back from a magical weekend in Paris.

I walked miles, sat in little Parks in the sunshine, went to a museum every day and ate some beautiful beautiful food.

I will post more about my trip after I have had some sleep!

The Little Paris Kitchen: Paris Inspiration

I love cook books and cooking programmes. I can watch hours and hours of cooking programmes. My husband says it’s like food porn. I tend to get seduced by beautiful cooking books. I buy them with good intentions, but more often than not I end up leafing through them more than I actually cook from them.

The Little Paris Kitchen on BBC Two my current favourite cooking programmes. I read an article about Rachel Khoo before the programme came out and liked the idea of an English girl making her own version of French classics in a tiny Parisian kitchen.

I will definitely be getting a copy of her cook book. I want to attempt those Croque Madame Muffins and Madeleines. I’m going to Paris in June, and I can’t wait to eat my way around the city!

Addition: 27/03/12

I’ve been meaning to add that I went to a Japanese restaurant last week (Koya in Soho) and ended up sitting next to Rachel. I kept thinking that girl looks very much like Rachel Khoo… but it can’t be. She lives in Paris so she can’t possibly be in a little noodle restaurant in London. Then she started to talk to the waiter. Her friend explained that they were out celebrating the first episode of her TV show. Being English I pretended not to listen in and got on with eating my noodles. Though I can report that she seemed very sweet and was hugely appreciative of about their food.

Polka Dots in Paris: Colette

I saw this shop front when I was in Paris last month and thought the gold polka dots were such a fun idea. So simple and joyful! I think the shop is Colette. Wish I’d had time to stop and go in!

Breathless : A Bout de Souffle

Earlier in the week my flat mate and I decided to have a girls night in. I chose Breathless promising a classic and stylish French film. I  had watched this film as a student and somehow remembered it as a charming French classic “a bit like Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.  Breathless was part of the French New Wave movement. It’s most definitely a stylish film and like Breakfast at Tiffany’s it has a beautiful, youthful and quirky leading lady. It also centres on a capital city and the relationship between a man and a woman, but this is where the similarities end. I’ll blame it on being a student – perhaps I was drunk?

I very much enjoyed watching it a second time, but as I expected an easy to watch film I was a little stunned by the end. It is half gangster movie and half romance yet not at all in the conventional sense. For one thing by the end I found neither of the main characters likeable, yet they are most definitely extremely watch-able. Well I’ll leave it to you to watch the film and make your own analogies as I am no film buff . One thing is for sure, the cinematography is exquisite.

I’ve spent the whole week craving a day in Paris and a cute pixie hair cut!

For an intelligent and thorough analysis of the film click here