A Paris le ciel était bleu......


In Paris, the sky was blue when I arrived last Wednesday.

What a lovely surprise

and it was so warm


I took the bus from Roissy airport which stops next to the Opéra Garnier
the bus driver brought a big smile on my face as he greeted me with a loud:
"Bonjour mademoiselle!"
which I took as a great compliment
considering the lack of sleep of the night preceding my trip
and......well, yes...my age


I had a little sigh whenI passed by the Opéra

When was the last time I attended a performance there?

too long....

My cousin Tovo...lucky boy
works there as a pianiste répétiteur for the corps de ballet
which means that when the ballet dancers go on a tour,
he also travels with them

Seriously, isn't that a cool job ?



By the time I arrived, I was literally starving and I didn't have
my cousin's mobile phone to invite myself for lunch

so I thought Lafayette Gourmet at the back of the Opéra
would be a sound strategic choice

You can find all types of food there

and I was pleased to discover the pastries of Japanese pastry maker Sadaharu Aoki
who creates traditional French traditional pastries with Japanese ingredients.
He is now a member of the prestigious international pastry makers association Relais et Desserts presided by the magnificent
Pierre Hermé


(can you tell I easily get carried away when I talk about French pastry?)

After stuffing myself with nems, prawn salad and a matcha éclair

I went to have a look at the shop windows of the Printemps next door

Oh..I loved them

Someone had the brilliant idea of setting up scenes
of a colorful nomadic journey with loads of bundles
made with beautiful silk and cotton fabrics




then it was time to head to Le Bon Marché
for my rendez-vous with the stationary buyer

Gosh.....I was all sweaty when I got there
due to heat, anxiety and tutti quanti

eh oui....I pretend to be the cool girl who designs her little cards, albums and handbags
in her sunny Andalusian spot

and whenever I'm about to show my work,
my brain starts to operate in panic mode



I tried to calm down in the little park next to Le Bon Marché

Happy people were having a picnic on the grass


or sitting on benches next to the merry-go-round

one hour later...

I'm still perspiring but
BINGO MY LOVELIES !!

I'm so happy to announce you that the buyer ordered 96 cards
of the summer collection to be delivered by early june

Feeling light, relieved and happy I can now go and see
the Marie-Antoinette exhibition at the Grand Palais




you can tell how hot it was that day

see the woman below ?

The exhibition gathers some 300 objects
(furniture, paintings, textiles, garments, manuscripts, decorative items) used by or related to Marie-Antoinette




She wrote a great deal to her mother Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche

here are a few lines where she describes her morning routine:

"Je me lève à 9h ou à 9h30 et m'ayant habillée, je dis les prières du matin, ensuite je déjeune et de là je vais chez mes tantes où je trouve ordinairement le roi. Cela dure jusqu'à 10h30. Ensuite à 11h, je vais me coiffer. A midi on appelle la chambre et là tout le monde peut entrer, ce qui n'est point des communes gens. Je mets mon rouge et lave mes mains devant le monde, ensuite les hommes sortent et les dames restent et je m'habille devant elles" (12 juillet 1770)

"I get up at 9am or 9.30am and after dressing myself, I say the morning prayers, then have breakfast and go and visit my aunts where I usually encounter the king. This is until 10.30 am. Afterwards, at 11 am, I have my hair done. At noon, the chamber is called and every person can enter in there, which is not the case for common people. I apply my rouge* and wash my hands in front of everyone, after this men leave the room and only the women stay and I get dressed in front of them" (july 12nd 1770)

*make up - a red tinted paste applied on the cheeks




Marie-Antoinette à la rose by her favorite portraitist
Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun

next to it I placed a detail showing a project of a quilt
for the queen's bed in her chambre d'apparat
ceremony bedroom at Versailles

***
The queen's dressing protocol was quite elaborate.

A lady of the court, called the "dame d'atours" would present her, in the morning,
a book filled with samples of fabrics and ribbons of the queen's dresses and attires
and Marie-Antoinette would choose her different costumes for the day.

She would change her dress according to the day's events and
only her "dames favorites" would know in advance which color the queen would wear.

This was a way used by the queen to create new fashions

****
Would the exhibition be complete without
the sweet collaboration of Ladurée
which delivered kilos of delicious macarons on a daily basis
on Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette movie set ?




I crashed down a bench outside to savour
my little macaron à la pistache


Nice legs eh...?

Wish I would have been in sandals and a light chiffon dress
but if you want to know, yes I had my black skinny jeans on
with high heeled black low boots


and my pseudo Chanel jacket
and a vintage black handbag




of course in the end, off was the jacket
and I even ran to H&M to buy a black top !




voilà Paris, c'est fini
until next time

Mille mercis
my lovelies for
your sweet thoughts and
encouragements







photos by your devoted blogging hostess


ps: I would have loved to take pictures of the exhibition but of course....impossible

Comments

Gill said…
Oh but you've done such a fine job describing your lovely trip to Paris for us!
And you got the order, even more important, so congratulations!~
I love H&M. I just adore how cute and cheap it is. I loved your photos and am so glad you had a wonderful time...welcome back!
xo Bisous
Vanessa said…
So nice to catch up with you! The Laduree macarons had me weak at the knees.
Sue Krekorian said…
Thank you for sharing some of the delights of Paris, as well as your good news. Congratulations!
Elizabeth said…
What a blissful trip to Paris!
How well you describe it.
I'm green with envy.
Such marvellous pictures.......
rochambeau said…
Congratulations Lala! You did it, Le Bon Marche bought your cards!! Your foot is in the door now. That is HUGE!! and wonderful! Standing ovation for you!! Thank you for taking us with you! Loved taking the tour and window shopping with you!

xo
Constance
Lavinia said…
Lala, welcome back. I see you had a tres bon time in Paree!

How wonderful are all your pictures, and your story of your trip. I hope you found a cool breeze to cool you down, after all the warm weather.

Congratulations on your success in Paris with the purchase of your cards, new business. Wonderful!

I think your Chanel black jacket with accessories is tres chic.

Heads were turning when you walked down the street, wherever you went, you are a woman of style.

I wish I could have seen the Marie Antoinette exhibit....did you say kilos of macaroons, ooh la la!

Everything looks so lovely, the French know how to "live" or should I say Live with a capital L.

Glad you're back!
I love your pictures! Sounds like you had a great time.
Unknown said…
wow..what a trip, I'm still dreaming to go and just came back from cambodia and finished my post on angkor wat! happy weekend :)
What a wonderful post! I enjoyed every word and every photo....and one thing I can say I know about Paris from my own limited experience is how hot and humid it can be! Summer 2001 was fatiguingly hot and muggy when we were there!

Congratulations on your cards....you have no reason to get nervous, from what I've seen of your creations, they are absolutely fantastic.

Sara
l'air du temps said…
i feel as if i have been to Paris for a moment. merci a vous for taking us there. it seems it was an exquisite journey. & congratulations to you on having all go well regarding your cards. well done!
Unknown said…
oh i am loving the great shots of paris and all the other stuff!
kyh said…
Oh thx for the lovely pics of Paris. I've always wanted to go there. I'm sure I will make it one day...

And those pretty sights and pretty girls! Haha!
Susan Tuttle said…
You have really drawn me in with this post - what beautiful photos from Paris!

You make me want to go back for another visit very, very soon.

Susan
xo
Yoli said…
Lala, me alegra que allas regresado y con tantas cosas bellas de contar! Me encanta lo que te pusistes. Vestir en negro y con botas es mi facinacion!

Beautiful photos and I am thrilled to see you got so many cards ordered by Le Bon Marche!!! WAY TO GO GIRL!!!!
Karen Cole said…
It was very difficult to get past the pastries and the shop windows.....I must say.

Nice travelogue, Lala!!
What a wonderful visit you had. Thank you for sharing theses beautiful photographs! I will be in Paris and the French country in June! Roxanne
cara said…
How lovely!

Congratulations on the success of your stationary, that's wonderful news! How nerve wracking it must have been.

Your pictures are beautiful and I love your description of your time in Paris. I'm so very jealous, we are planning a holiday to Paris in a year's time, I don't know how I will manage to wait so long!

Thank you for dropping by my blog, yours is really lovely and I will look forward to coming back!
Mélanie said…
you were dressed like a parisian girl or should I say woman ! great to hear everything went out great !
felicitations

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