Chanel Again

So I went back with my carte d'identite/passport to find out what the Chanel exhibit was really about as requested.

I discovered more exhibits upstairs I'd missed first go round..

And more historical information from the audio tape which includes photos too. More about Chanel's romantic entanglements/liaisons...

Plus a reminder that Chanel was firstly set up as a hatmaker.

Even her hats were revolutionary. Utterly simple compared to what went before. Apollinaire wrote poems about her hats.

Chanel's hats were the cherry on top...

The finishing touch. We've lost so much elegance haven't we...

Catherine di Medici was a heroine to Chanel. She owned this little portrait and followed closely the severity of di Medici's black and white style.

You always see more the second time around don't you?

What was it like to walk in her shoes..?

Or work in her atelier?

Upstairs there's a gazillion reference books to browse on big comfy sofas. And a room to watch all the Chanel N5 videos - a delight.

If you work at the exhibit you get to wear Vans black and white sneakers which are very in again... What would Chanel think?

Murder in the Latin Quarter

Private detective Aimée Laduc's back in town and duking it out in the Latin Quarter.

Hanging out with Aimée's creator Cara Black in Pigalle was a trip. She doesn't miss a trick. There's red velvet elevator in her Latin Quarter book described in great detail. Will this elevator in the Hotel Langoise we strolled into show up in a future mystery? Ya gotta wonder..?

Cara/Aimée is a bit of an imp. Yet there are can be serious political undertones in her stories. And I appreciate that her women characters are not brutalized or prostitutes.

The 'Latin Quarter' or 5th arrondissement is Aimee's old university turf with scenes inside the Sorbonne. and scenes in the last remains of Roman ruins in the city like Les Arenes. Plus some underground shenanigans going on in the catacombs that you'll never get me to go down in.

Neighborhood cafes are featured since Aimee is big on espresso. So is Cara for that matter.

The main museum is the Cluny on 6 Place Paul Painlevé

There's a terrific scene late in the book with Aimee hiding out in the Frigitorium from her supposed villain.

Aimee could definitely wear a helmet full-time. she gets knocked about on her head way too much IMHO...

She runs around a lot hiding from her persuers...

I wish she'd wear some decent shoes for once..

Foiled again at rush hour on the #10 Metro is Aimee...

And Aimee Puleeze try to stay out of Parisian ambulances. Too much tripping, falling down, heels breaking and tearing of vintage Schiaparelli beaded jackets. Sensible this French girl is not.

Aimee does eat a pastry in Latin Quarter! OK, so it's a figue tarte but figs are not in season so you'll have to make do with apricot or strawberry.Be my guest.

Murder in the Latin Quarter is just as un-put-downable as the rest of Cara Black's Paris by arrondissement series. Right now the guardienne of my building is gobbling up the latest batch sent over from Soho Press but I'll soon get them all to myself. Can't wait! Maybe a tarte citron is waiting in the next bunch to devour. Qui sait?

How to Paint Like Eugene Boudin

A little painting-sketching leçon today so you can draw like Eugene Boudin even if you can't make it over for the exhibit at Musée Jacquemart-André by July 22.

The day I visited the Boudin exhibit the sun was shining brightly..

Today it's continuous Paris drizzle but never mind. This is perfect to get you in a 'Boudin' frame of mind..

If there was another 19th century outdoor painter so in love with umbrellas I'd love to to know about it.

Is it only French rain that makes such nice shadow shapes?

Probably. This one mirrors exactly

The rough dog sketches of Boudin

That later turn up in a beach scene painting.

*Note at least 2 umbrellas...

Another rough preparatory sketch of Boudins that I copied above, first with tracing paper and then into watercolor. The iPad Mini makes a great little portable light box to trace from your photos or paintings.

1. Simply set up an album and pop just ONE picture into it.

2. Then go into your Settings,

3. Then Picture Frame

4. Choose - Show Each Photo For 20 seconds

5. Turn off your iPad in the corner

6. Press the 'flower' icon to start the slideshow (which will stay on that one picture so you can trace it wiggle-free).

Voila! Another reason to love the iPad mini.

No umbrellas in the finished painting but these are working class so...

Another pencil sketch of beach loungers with their umbrellas and a good one to copy. Boudin loved to throw in just a touch of red to liven thing ups among all the neutral colors. Plus red paint was quite pricy back then so you had to be judicious with it...

Boudin, himself sitting out on a dock. He was really the first to get everyone out of the studio and painting in 'plein aire' including his good chum Monet. Do note his umbrella of course...

At the museum shop you can get a full painting outfit a bit more upscale than Boudin's supplied by the delightful left bank art shop Charvin.

The museum shop does not have any Boudin umbrellas on offer but they do have this darling lampshade for about 69 euros. Why not just practice tracing Boudin sketches and in no time at all you can make your own?

This is my watercolor set, in case you're interested from Amazon. I do use other colors from Winsor and Newton like Burnt Sienna and Permanent Rose, which tend to run a bit more. They didn't have Boudin's paintbox at the exhibit but it's still a terrific show and worth a visit if you're into 19th century anything.

Researche du Canelés

Falling in love with a little custardie cake, le Canelé, can be quite deleterious to your health.

I'd resisted the flirtatious wiles of the canelé for a long time, but at the Perigord Foire the old coup de foudre/flash of lightening hit and it hard.

Handmade by Lucette of Hautefort in Perigord using walnuts picked from her own grove (usually only vanilla and rum are the only addends to the egg and milk mixture), these rustic babies were irresistible. I even went back to the well for a third helping(!) and decided I must do some caparitive analysis with Parisian canelés.

Research began Sunday morning right after a dunk in the pool at nearby boulangerie, Le Moulin de la Vierge.

Le Moulin is one of the prettiest of Paris' boulangeries but see the yellow tops on these canelés?

That's a no-no according to Paula Wolfert and top pastry chefs of Bordeaux. These little cakes originated over 300 years ago either by nuns (nuns get a lot of credit for creating cakes in France by the way) or else by poor Bordelaises down by the waterfront with bits of leftover flour and egg yolk etc.

Next stop Maison Lemoine originating in Bordeaux with branches in St.-Emilion, Sarlat, Cap-Ferret.

Even Lemoine's logo is a canele cake

They sell the preferred copper molds or moules to make these puppies or you can find silicone molds in any Paris pastry supply shop.

Lemoine makes a soft/moille canele and a crispy or croustillant version with a more crunchy caramelized outer shell. Both had a cakey aroma or nez. The crispy version can be quite chewy.

Just across the street on rue St. Dominique patisserie Jean Millet is a  member of Relais Desserts so anything they do is generally delish.

Note the spelling here all you ex-French teachers!

Only authentic cakes from Bordeaux are allowed to use the single N in the spelling. It's the law according to 88 pastry chefs of Bordeaux who hold dear the secret recipe to this little cake.

Only about 1 1/2" high but there's a lot of protection for this recently back-in-fashion pastry - just the past 20 years or so.

The biggest Bordeaux brand of canele is Baillardran. They have a shop in gare Montparnasse.

They offer 3 levels of quality. I got the 'traditional', their top canele with visible flecks of vanilla, a rummy aroma and a little red paper crown for 2.30 euros.

Still after tasting as many of Paris' best example to be found on a rainy Sunday afternoon none comes close to the artisanally made canele by Lucette from La Noix Patiente/ the patient nut of the Perigord fair at Montmartre. I should have known and not gone off on a tasting tangent that has left me with a tummy ache. These little cakes are meant to be eaten just one at a time. And multiple taste-testing by one person is not such a hot idea. I guess I'll have to visit Perigord if I want another ONE!