A Morning With the Artist

Agnes' wonderful fabric designs. We were overwhelmed.

What a marvelous day we had today. This morning we were able to visit artist Agnes Hardi's home and studio in Thorigny sur Oreuse. Agnes is multi-talented. She has designed fabrics for prestigious companies like Pierre Frey, Manuel Canovas, Fortuny, etc. She also paints murals, trompe-l'oeil by commission. Her china patterns can be purchased through Pierre Frey. How fortunate we were to be able to meet her in her studio and see her fabulous and intricate designs first hand. After, she took us all into her backyard and the children were able to see her exotic chickens and pick some cherries! Merci Agnes!

Below are photos of Agnes, Mark and Leo's lovely home and backyard. Cherries anyone??

La Bonne Etoile Mélange I

Blue Doors

A copper pot of corks.....

becomes a village!

Ready for bed, but it stays light till 10:00!

Le bleu du ciel

Green Acres!

A rainy day today so we headed for the first big French supermarket we've seen. So many things to choose from but everything's in French!ha Somedays I will be adding more Paris photos so be sure to scroll down and check for these as well.

Paris Mélange II

Outside the Musée de l'Homme

Chatelet Metro Stop
(Peter, aren't you sorry you didn't take this one , even if it was vertical??)

Palais Royal

Out and About!

Fairy House #1 by Eva
(The fairy leaves a treat of some kind in the night!)

Art Exhibition in Thorigny sur Oreuse

Multi family garage sale French style!

Red Shutters

We are so enjoying our stay at La Bonne Etoile! Today we ventured out with Kippy to a neighboring village for a French brocante/ garage sale! It was great fun seeing what was for sale, and we all bought a few treasures. We also stopped to see an art exhibition in a nearby town and were actually able to vote on our favorite piece for the judging. Of course we are all enjoying the slowed down pace of life in the French countryside here. I had another afternoon nap! ( I could get use to this ) and meals on the lovely terrace are special treat.

I am experiencing LONG delays trying to load photos so my posts may not go up at regular times.

Ahhh, the French Countryside!

Talk about culture shock. We left Paris this morning and after a nice drive through the countryside, we arrived in Fontaine-Fourches! La Bonne Etoile is such a beautiful place. Just what you imagine a French country farmhouse is like. Our hosts Kippy and Jerome were out of town but their dear friends Serge and Caroline greeted us and served a wonderful lunch on the terrace. I promptly cozied up in a comfy easy chair and had a little nap. The children have had a delightful time exploring, making a fairy house, picking cherries and trying to make friends with the two French chats! We are already feeling relaxed and at home here.

Jardins du Luxembourg Redux

The Captain
(#11 - 100 French Strangers Challenge)

Today Eva, Davis and I took a nice walk back to Luxembourg Gardens. First stop the ice cream stand at the entrance. We all got a scoop (boule ?) from the friendly owner who apologized for his anglais! My stars, my français is much worse!! We sat a watched the ducks at the pond while we ate our glacés. As we were headed to find the smaller version of our Statue of Liberty, we passed this amazing boat. Luckily the "Captain's" son spoke perfect English, mainly because he lives in Philadelphia! The bateau, named the Sirius, is just a wonderful collage of strings, tiny drawings, more string, beads, miniature people, more string and assorted baubles and a little junk thrown in. See for yourself.

On our way home I took the plunge and we made our way to the poste. I was more than a little worried about how I would purchase stamps en français ( mainly because we have some "stamp Nazis" in several post offices in Birmingham) . Not a problem, they had helpful employees wandering around that 1. spoke English 2. Walked me through the whole French stamp machine process. 3. APOLOGIZED because the stamps weren't "pretty"! I personally didn't care what they looked like as long as I got them.

Our last day in Paris, tomorrow we pack up all our worldly goods ( and we have many more than we came here with) and make our way to the countryside to La Bonne Etoile. I'm a little sad about leaving our nice apartment and all the wonderful things in Paris that I still haven't seen, but since Fontaine-Fourches is only 60 miles SE of Paris, I plan to make some trips back here now and again on the train. That said, we can hardly wait to see what all Kippy and Jérôme have planned for us. Tomorrow's post will hopefully be photos from their lovely home.

The Glacé Man
( #12 - 100 French Strangers Challenge)

You know who this is .

Catching some rays and a nap at the gardens is a common sight.



The Friendly Pony Guy
(#13 - 100 French Strangers Challenge)

Le Petit Truck
( Eva and Davis LOVE this one! Davis calls it a "Smart Car Truck" )

A Day and Night With la Tour Eiffel

Author Jill Jonnes

Another day full of new sights, new tastes and old and new friends. I started my day with Mary and Peter at a wonderful little cafe, Aux Marches du Cafe, just minutes from the Eiffel Tower. After a delicious lunch we headed to Paris' Cite de l'architecture et du patrimoine. Only a little over two years old, this gorgeous museum is housed in a wing of the Chaillot Palace overlooking the tower itself. Stunning replicas of architectural features dating back to 11th century cathedrals to ultra modern architecture of today makes this a musuem you will want to add to your list when you visit Paris. After your tour you can stop by their extensive bookstore and have a cafe on the terrace and enjoy the spectacular view. We bid Peter good bye and headed to BHV . If you haven't visited their bottom floor hardware department, put that on your list as well. We loaded up on their great tote bags for 3.50 euros and headed for Shakespeare and Company on the banks of the Seine. I found the new Paris Magazine which features in its premier issue, an article by Meredith Mullins. We swung in Eglise Saint Severin for a few photos and walked ( I was getting pretty tired by then) to a nearby hotel for a talk and book signing by American author Jill Jonnes, who has written a fascinating new book called Eiffel's Tower. It was nice meeting Jill and several Americans living in or wanting to live in Paris. Richard Nahem of Eye Prefer Paris , fame joined us and we all had dinner at Pizza Chic. Time to say bonne nuit everyone!

Cite de l'architecture et du patrimoine
We stopped many times to admire the commanding view of la tour from the museum's windows!

Chapel Eglise Saint Severin

The stained glass windows at Saint Severin are remarkable
The ummmm view from the terrace!

We Like Paris When It Drizzles......

but we don't LOVE it! Enough is enough. It's hard to carry shopping bags, cameras etc. AND an umbrella. Time for some sunshine. The last two days my friend Mary from Cincinnati has been here, and we've covered some territory. She is a Paris Pro and has walked our feet off. Yesterday she and I ran a marathon as I shared on yesterday's post. Today Melissa and the kiddos joined us and we schlepped around in the rain and did a little more shopping. I regret that the planned blogger meeting didn't materialize. Chalk that up to good intentions and bad phones. Alice , maybe we'll see each other before I leave France!!

Today, a sampling of what we've seen and done the last two days.

Antiques Faire in front of Eglise Saint-Suplice
Mary showed me her favorite site at Montparnasse Cemetery , in the rain of course.

A quick trip through the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation was a treat. It has a small exhibition of his work and currently a larger exhibiton of Jim Goldberg's work, but I had to make the pilgrimage!

A trip to Gerard Mulot for macarons was a delight. We made it out the door before we ate one on the street. Did you hear the groans of delight?? ( There were more in the sack but that's all that was left when I took this photo)
No outside dining today!

Portraits á Paris

Sunday Street Musician
( Ile Saint-Louis)

I have had another marathon day in Paris. My friend Mary Gilbert flew in from Cincinnati this morning and hit the ground running. We had lunch, swung through Montparnasse Cemetery, shopping, visited Eglise Saint - Suplice and an Antiques market, wine, more shopping, stopped for a macaron ( OMG), swung by the apartment and dinner on rue Mouffetard. I'm worn out, so today you get some portraits I've been saving back.

Not every portrait I've taken qualifies as a "100 French Strangers" since I don't always have any interaction with many of them . Interesting people are everywhere in Paris. Have a look.

Stay tuned ....tomorrow a little blogger gathering. Photos to follow!

And They Came Two By Two- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Sunday was a banner day for photographs. I've still got more. Only in Paris is all I have to say. After we wandered through the dancers, bands, and ceramics art fair, we took a short walk to Jardins des Plantes. We've been there before but this time it was threatening to rain so we decided to head to the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle there. ( In Paris you learn to save the museums for rainy days). We were blown away with this fabulous place. I know my photos don't do it justice. Just come here and experience it for yourselves.

Baleen Whale Skeleton

Today was a rainy, chilly day in Paris. We didn't venture out much. These photos are from yesterday's excursions.