Tournesols ~ Citroen Deux Chevaux & a little wooden door....

 

You never know what little surprises you find tucked away in the cobble-stoned
alley-ways of the Luberon.

Buckets of freshly picked tournesols waiting at the gate




A butter-yellow Citroen Deux Chevaux - renovated and
ready for a spin  ~ very classy !!

Did they paint the car to match the walls or paint the wall to match the car
I shall never know.

And polished timber doorways leading into who knows where!!
a perfect compliment to those golden cobbled stones.

Waiting at the corner....

At the corner of Rue de Mont-Cenis
I needed to make a decision.
Continue on down these beautiful stone flagged steps
to Rue St-Vincent

Or turn left into the quaint and leafy Rue Cortot
wandering past the Musee de Mont-Matre
and then the house where Renoir painted

"Garden in the Rue Cortot"

Pierre Auguste Renoir  1876
now housed in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art


Decisions-Decisions!!
Of course I took the Rue Cortot
then doubled back and walked those beautiful stone steps
~Paris is like that ~  

Pere Laschaise....

Paris' most hauntingly beautiful place of rest

At every turn of the shady cobblestoned alleyways
I found familiar names
Frederic Chopin
Oscar Wilde
Honore de Balzac
and the unlucky lovers
~Heloise and Abelard~''

My sister and I spent a full day here and still didn't  see
half of the  sites on our list.

Le- Petit Dejeuner on Rue Monge....

~Looking for a good coffee to start the day on Rue Monge~

This narrow street in the 5th is a jumble of cars, people and sandwich boards
but it has that big bonus factor  ~atmosphere!!

I asked an elderly Parisian lady if she could reccomend
a good place for mon petit dejeuner
She walked down a little way and pointed across to the
Eric Kayser Boulangerie.
The one with the green canopie  not the red!!
she was right


 

jus d'orange
choix de vienoisserie
cafe ou the'
just perfect!

More splashes of colour.....

Not only is ~L'Isle Sur La Sorgue~ the place to shop for antiquities
it's definitely a place for walking and soaking up the atmosphere
and drinking in these beautiful splashes of colour.
If you could only visit one village in the Vaucluse
I think I would say, this must be it.


The shallow canals that wind around reflect
the beauty of the shop facades and colourful parapluie
dotting the walk-ways and out door eateries.

Walking the Red carpet....

This is where it all happens
"Festival du Film de Cannes"
where the Palme D"Or - the festivals highest prize is awarded.
It felt very special to be standing at the entrance door
thinking of the many famous people who have walked
up the red carpet and through these very same doors.
...............
Orson Wells
Jane Campion
Quentin Tarantino
Francis Ford Coppola
Martin Scorsese
the list goes on....

I hope you like the reflections - they give a glimpse of
the mediterranean setting



people continually visit the auditorium to have their photo taken
standing on the Red Carpet

"Guess Who's coming to Dinner....

The subject heading for our essay in my French Class this week
is ~If you could invite 3 people to join you for Dinner,
Who would they be?
The first names that came to mind were

1: Richard Gere for his good looks and charm.
2: Catherine Deneuve for her love of the French Film industry
and all things Parisian
3: mmm.... it needs to be another male...
maybe Valentine ~ how romantic that would be!!
or Gustave Flaubert
I would like to ask him more about Madame Bovary
Did she really exist, or only in the imaginations of his mind.
or Ernest Hemmingway who made that profound statement,
there's no friend as loyal as a book.....

Which begs the question
~Who would you invite~

image by Jan Kranendok

My Dinner would be held in Paris ~bien sur~
Some-where classy
perhaps "Le Grand Vefour" or "Le Train bleu" or.....

Elegant sculpture .........

In a little park at the river end of Avenue Montaigne
I found this delightful statue entitled
"A la France la Belgique reconnaissante"
1914 - 1918

The detail in the work is truly magnificent
The designer Monsieur R Foucart
obviously had an eye for ladies finery
and how it draped on the female form.

I couldn't help but think ,
what a perfect location for this beautiful sculpture,
nestled in the heart of Parisian Haute-Couture
with it's aura of elegance and gentility

More about Vincent.....

The life and art of Vincent van Gogh
never ceases to amaze and sadden me
however upon entering the drive-way to the asylum of
St Paul de Mausole at St Remy
I could feel the peace and quiet of this pretty place
shifting the name ~asylum~ into the recesses of my mind
and replacing it with Serenity and Tranquility

click here to see my previous post

A beautiful sculpture of Vincent carrying
his most loved flowers
~ Les Tournesols ~

Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze,
reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.

Colours changing hue,
morning fields of amber grain
weathered faces lined in pain
are soothed beneath
the artist's loving hand

Monsieur Monet's Kitchen.....

There's no shortage of space in the big blue kitchen at Giverny
Every window looks out onto the beautiful garden
where Claude Monet spent most of his days
either painting or gardening.
The black cat is a very pampered puss
(note the blue collar to match the kitchen decor)
Interestingly in many of the photographs of Claude taken in this garden
there is a black cat
I'm wondering if this is the grand-son cat??
or as the French would say
le petit-fils chat

images by Ariane Cauderlier

No shortage of pots and pans in this kitchen!!
and notice that huge wood oven
lots of space to bake for the large Monet family.
The meals were eaten in the lovely
 buttery yellow dining room right next door
(click here to check it out

Canal St-Martin.....

A leisurely way to view the Canal St-Martin
is to take a boat trip which leaves from Port de Arsenal and ends near this
beautiful mirrored dome in "Bassin de la Villette"

I found the first stretch to be quite spooky
as the tunnel travels directly under the Place de le Bastille
 with only occasional drafts of light
from these overhead vents

After this section however, the 3 hour trip is quite delightful!
 with quaint timber arched walk-ways frequently spanning the canal
and the sides  framed by beautiful Chesnut trees.


In all we passed through 9 locks
and ended up becoming totally drenched with water.
It was still a fun day out and I saw sections of Paris
I would have never seen otherwise.

This canal has often featured in films
1938 "Hotel Du nord"
1972 "Les Malheurs D"Alfred"
2001 "Amelie"  where Amelie Poulain who
 ~ glides through the streets of Paris as quiet as a mouse~
 goes to her quiet place ~ skimming stones on the Canal St-Martin
click here to see the video.

Edith Piaf sang about it, in her beautiful but sad song
"Les momes de la cloche" (The Bell's Kids)

Golden Days in Beautiful Provence.....

I know that I've posted this photo before
But I hope you enjoy it.
It speaks to me about everything I love in Provence
Golden sunfilled days
Lunch on the Terrace
poulet roti, with jugs of freshly pressed lemon-ade
A good chair to sit back and relax.
Nothing too complicated
~I love the simple life~

Monaco where everything glistens......

~ Monaco is ever so classy   -  the water glistens ~

~ Pavements swept - gardens finely manicured ~

I'm just waiting for the postman to deliver my invite
to the Wedding of the Century
When Prince Albert will marry his sweetheart
Charlene Wittstock.
22nd July 2011

What a fabulous city for a wedding!