backroads of Montmartre......

If you want to escape the hustle and bustle of tourists and street artist
around Sacre Coeur and Place de Tertre
take a stroll behind the domes
and you will discover a shady little park
~Parc de Turlure~

entering into this little park from the Rue de la Bonne
we found ourselves in a shady little enclave with wonderful views
into the back-end of the Sacre Coeur Cathedral
It's a tranquil area where the local residents of Montmartre
come to escape the ongoing carnival!

A gentle water~wall
where I noticed some of the local children enjoyed
cooling their feet after a game of ~Hide & Seek~

the pigeons made me laugh as they walked from one end

of this wall to the other then flew back to do the same again
What fun!!

(click on the image & you will see this pigeon has nearly

made it across for the umpteenth time. Yay !! )

it's what I call ~whisper quiet~ which is unbelievable
seeing that less than 5 mins walk from here
is a totally different world.

Beautiful "Baronne Henriette de Snoy"

This beautiful French tea rose is in full bloom in my garden
I wish I could pronounce her pretty name as the French do
it sound so elegant!
She's a stylish but fickle lady, who dresses in the finest of fashion & colours one day
lifting her proud head to greet the day
only to find the next morning, she is perfectly disheveled
~fallen into a heap ~frayed around the edges
and any semblance of "joie de vivre" totally gone !!
as I say, fickle !! but she has her day
and lives it with reckless abandonment.

~ pretty "Baronne Henriette de Snoy" ~
bred by the famed rose breeder Alexandre Bernaix
at Lyon France in 1897

I would that she was a climber and have her day of glory up here with my
lovely wisteria ~ they would look so lovely together.
.............

I send you here a wreath of blossoms blown
and woven flowers at sunset gathered,
Another dawn had seen them ruined,and shed
loose leaves upon the grass at random strown,
by this their sure example, be it known,
that all your beauties, now in perfect flower,
shall fade as these, and wither in an hour,
flowerlike, and brief of days, as the flower sown.

Pierre Ronsard 1550

Beautiful Saint-Sulpice in the 6th...

I love Place Saint Sulpice in the 6th because it has a lovely ambiance with
many up-market boutiques surrounding the shaded square
and the beautiful Eglise St-Sulpice as it's backdrop.
One of my favourites being the pretty "Annick ~Goutal" parfumerie.
I love her advice on how to perfume yourself

..............

"Discreetly. A perfume is a secret between you and yourself
first step: in the morning just after a shower splash on Eau de toilette,
dress~ put on make~up and spray high above you a light cloud of parfum.
then spin in this cloud to lightly perfume your hair, clothes~discreetly.
put a touch below your ear, in the nape of your neck
like a whispered secret to those you love"
..............
Don't you just love it ?



water softly falling from the
~Fountaine des Quatre Eveques ~

Ooh!... and look ~ Yves Saint Laurent~
so stylish !!

I had been told that Catherine Deneuve lives in an appartment
above this elegant building and that she takes her
petit dejeuner in the cafe de la Marie
right on the corner ~ so seeing I was in much need of a cafe creme
and perhaps une petite patisserie
I took a rattan chair facing out towards the beautiful square
and waited and waited and....
oh! well not today but what a wonderful little cafe
a rendevous for writers and students and it was featured in the
1990 french film "La Discrete"

note the very handsome & attentive waiter!!

J'adore Place Saint~Sulpice

in an old house in paris...

Whilst walking around the backroads of the 18th arrondissment

I heard a guide explaining to her group that this house
was the house that inspired the story of that
little red-headed French orphan "Madeline"

"in an old house in Paris
that was covered in vines
lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
they left the house at half past nine...
the smallest one was Madeline"

described as charmingly impetuous
irripressible mischievous & precocious...
and left under the supervision of Miss Clavel!
who woke in the middle of the night
and proclaimed!
~Something is not right~

the actual house used in the Madeline films, was apparently

located in a small French village

..............

And as every Madeline story ends

~ and that's all there is - there isn't any more~

Palette of Provence....

The colours of Provence are like an artists palette

ochre, sienna, duck-egg blue, sunflower yellow

And different hues that I can't even describe, like the open shutter

in the pic above ~ does any one know the colour name ?

it's somewhere between green and blue~ just gorgeous!

In this little village I felt as if the walls were going to fall inward on me

I guess the word is implode ~ but no they have stood like this for hundreds of years

my little bedroom window opened out to greet the warm morning

Provencal sunshine

~Bonjour tout le monde ~

can anyone hear me ? no~ they have all disappeared ~ taken a stroll to

le petite boulangerie for some croissants!

C'est la Vie

We had the best little terrace for eating and sitting and chatting

and of course even on Les vacances

one must 'faire le lavage' - do the washing uggh!!

Favourite Metros in Paris...

Do you have a favourite metro in Paris?
I love this busy Saint-Michel station with the art-nouveau entrance
lots of action on the streets around and usually you'll be greeted by
sounds of music wafting up from one of the many
groups of buskers that frequent this station.

after riding the metro ~ one needs to partake of une petit cafe creme
before getting down to the more serious business of
shopping along the gorgeous Saint-Germaine &
Saint-Michel Boulevards
bien-sur!

Metro Abesses ~ is prettily decorated in the art-nouveau style
made popular by the designer Hector Guimard
this station still has its beautiful glass canopy
and walking down the stairs you can't help but notice the stunning
grafitti-art on the curved walls

I think my favourite of all is "L'Ecole Militaire"
I know it well ~like and old friend ~ it's on the purple line and
when I want to go over to the Place de la Concorde,
I just watch out on the front of the train
for "Ballard' et Voila!!

Les Fleuristes en Paris......

" Au Nom de la Rose"

a lovely little rose boutique with

rose petals scattered on the pavement

in front of their pretty shop!

Parisians love les fleurs and I guess that's why I found pretty flower shops
on almost every corner in every arrondissment.
I love the expression Les fleuristes ( literally meaning the florists)
they are true artisans who create the most exquisite and delicate arrangements
Madame (above) is taking her time to select une petite cardeau
I love her beautiful denim jacket with pink rose ~ so very chic!!

~Flower Markets at la Madeleine

by Antoine Blanchard~

fashion for Les Petit Enfants.... Cannes

I loved checking out the pretty little Children's boutiques in Cannes
pink lace up boots ~ fur jackets with ribbon bows
and my favourite the little cerise coat worn over a shell pink pin-spot voile dress
with hot pink shoes.

Note the little pink bear with blue bow so cute!

~ Chloe for les Enfants in Cannes ~

foie gras & blackcurrant mustard....

If you're a real foodie as I am, you must not miss this fabulous gourmet Hall
at Galleries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussman ~ this is truly food and wine wonderland!!
an entire level stocked with nothing but the finest gourmet foods from around the world.
I was totally awe~struck with this cornucopia of riches from foie gras to blackcurrant mustard
and limitless kiosks of cheeses, breads and spices ~ guaranteed to titillate your taste buds

I did recieve a severe reprimand from the service manager about
taking ~le foto~ non! non! madame - non foto!!! whilst making that little noise from the
side of his mouth pffft!! ( as French men do) oops!
Did he seriously think that I was going to go out and and try to replicate
these world class dishes ~ This in no way dampened my spirits
and I continues to saturate my senses in the wonderful ambiance and aroma
that is truly as close as I will get to gastronomic heaven!!
C'est Superbe ! non ?

antiques... & pretty spots along the Sorgue

Pretty ~Isle sur la Sorgue~ in the Vauclause.

If you fancy a bit of antique shopping ~ well this is the place to go
absolutely jam packed with all sorts of bric~a~brac shops

~ducks make the best mothers~

lots of shady nooks and don't you love the colour
of these walls with the gorgeous blue/green shutters

Elegant Pont Alexandre iii ....

There's nothing lovelier ~ than to stand looking across at this beautiful bridge
it's the most opulently decorated bridge in Paris and
I always feel in awe of such beauty
The attention to detail is exquisite
when you click on the photo you will
be able to see the pretty little gold ribbon bows on the side of the bridge

What a fabulous backdrop for wedding photos
and we were fortunate enough to arrive just in time to see
this young couple posing beside this nymph {or is it cherub} with dagger!!

they were happy and in love in the ~city of Love~

looking towards the majestic "grand palais" on the right bank
pretty as a picture

I love the pretty bronze 'art nouveau' lamp posts
especially at night
I remember on my very first trip to Paris looking across the bridge at night
and thinking how absolutley magical
it was like fairyland !!