Pretty in Pink

My friends know my signature colour is pink. My readers know my favourite Parisian monument is the Eiffel Tower. Every year on October 1st the two come together for the launching of Pink October to support breast cancer awareness month. 

The association Le Cancer du Sein, Parlons-En!, now nicknamed "Ruban Rose" (Pink Ribbon), is launching the 27th edition of Pink October in France, an informative operation to raise awareness and support the research against the disease lasting all month long. 

An evening stroll under a near full moon just made it all the more magical.

Celebrating in Madrid

Bonne fête Maman

A place in the sun

Feeling very energetic and thrilled to have rediscovered my love for city biking I resuscitate my 20-year old Rossignoli bike which had transported me with little Expat boy far and wide across Milano back in the days. 

So, I might have been a bit ambitious wanting to bike from the 16th arrondissement to the Bois de Vincennes but luckily I have girlfriends who hurl me back to earth.

Bringing out the car for the first time in two months I followed a lunch invitation by a dear friend and drove myself the other side of the city. Boy, it feels good to get around town again. I missed flaneusing the streets of Paris and although it's not quite the same in the car it was nice to salute Notre Dame Cathedral all wrapped up in scaffolding, drive along Ile Saint-Louis admiring the 17th century building in the sun, navigate around the Bastille in the bus line by mistake and admire an empty, very pristine looking Place de la Nation.

What I did not expect after our lovely walk around the Lake Daumesnil was the enchanted garden that welcomed us at my friend's house. Clearly a great deal of time, dedication and passion had turned this little green patch into an English garden complete with Laura Ashely patterned deck chairs... and much to my delight in PiNk! This is definitely my place in the sun for today.

Happy International Women's Day

When I left Lugano nearly a decade ago, one of my local friends presented me with a Ticinese translation of Audrey Hepburn's quote: "I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."

Today seems like a perfect occasion to share this unique version of the famous actress' quote. A big cheers to all my girlfriends across the globe but especially my Lugano ladies who are keeping a close eye on their neighbours down the road.... Lombardia!

Hang in there... “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart… I'll always be with you.”

Galleries Lafayette turns sexy...

There is a new kid in town or should I say a new shop on the block...Galleries Lafayette have opened a satellite store on the Champs Elysées... and they have nailed it! We are talking flying carpets for shoes and a moving conveyor belt (like a sushi bar) for handbags.

While checking out an enormous wall of designer sunglasses displayed in such a way that you don't dare touch them, a French lady turns around to me and says with a grin: "Cela change des Galleries Lafayette, n'est-ce pas?" And, she is right, this is Instagram heaven, a sanctuary for lovers of beautiful architecture and design but a far cry from your regular Parisian department store. It's more of a lifestyle concept store. 

This splendid Art Deco building (ex-Virgin Megastore) will make fashion-victims and food-addicts very happy with a space covering over 6.500m2. So what, if the bronze Eiffel Tower by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels is a bit of a cliché, he is the brain behind Google’s current and under-construction Silicon Valley campuses after all.

As for service, Galleries Lafayette has recruited and trained 300 tech-savvy personal stylists to advise shoppers on the range of fashion, accessory, beauty and lifestyle brands on offer. They are everywhere!!!

Oh, and the icing on the cake? The fitting rooms! The architect has placed them in prime locations with natural light and a view onto the Champs-Elysées, plus they are fitted out in pink velour!

Whether it's all enough to boost business remains to be seen... but it's certainly worth a peek!

A majestic entrance

Bjarke Ingels' Eiffel Tower

Beautiful layout 

Pink fitting rooms!!!

Design everywhere you look

My secret fetiche...hats!

MORE pink fitting rooms inundated with natural light 

Mixing and matching just for fun

Am I allowed to try a pair?

Chanel has taken over this month in honour of Karl Lagerfeld

"Citron", the café on the first floor... roof top restaurant to open this summer!

London en rose

For a while orange was the new black, whereas for Parisians nothing will EVER replace their beloved favourite "colour" black. By my book PiNk has always been my Parisian black... nothing will ever change my fetish colour!

Tickled pink when I come come across pink objects, London is the perfect place for photography en rose... i just wish I had more time to explore it all!

I wish the Parisians would believe in PiNk!

My perfect little tea place

The day I open a store in Paris, the entrance will look like this!

Spectrum: a band of colours, as seen in a rainbow, even if I only spot pink it will do just fine!

My dream sofa

Un petit boudoir en rose

It wouldn't be a BFF day without Victoria's Secret!

The prettiest ladies powder room... EVER!

The mews: formerly a row of stables, usually with carriage houses below and living quarters above, today are hidden gems reflecting London's chic 21st lifestyle! 

Cherry blossom cocktails

When the Peninsula Hotel requests your company to launch the Sakura season there is only one option... you cancel everything else and inform your hubby that he is accompanying you to visit your old neighbour. I do miss it when in early October the Peninsula Hotel in Paris turns pink in honour of breast cancer month and its light reflected a slight rosy hue throughout my living room and kitchen.

Sakura has become very popular in Paris this spring. No day goes by without spotting photos of the Eiffel Tower framed with cherry blossoms on social media. It has become a commercial incentive. I do admit I'd much rather do a pink Sakura season than a scary Halloween one. 

Back to my cocktail... and a cocktail worth mentioning it was! The Japanese bartender had been invited all the way from the Peninsula Tokyo to showcase his fabulous skills. He mixed his specialty and handed me his Cherry blossom cocktail to taste. The pink, gin-based, sweet cocktail was an instant hit.

While waiting for my second Cherry blossom cocktail to be mixed, hubby informed me that we had won the raffle prize and were needed in the next-door room for photos. Yeah right, there was no way I was giving up my cocktail but as I turned around to him with a big smile I realized he was not kidding. Nevertheless, I was not letting go of my spot in the queue (might I be more Parisian than I realized?) and with cocktail in hand we had our picture taken as the proud new owners of an exquisite piece of Japanese calligraphy that had been painted before our eyes earlier that evening.

"When the cherry blossoms are even more beautiful than embroidery that is happiness" I have been told is the meaning of the delicate piece of art that will find its place next to the Arabic character symbolizing happiness in our apartment... but before... just let me enjoy one more Cherry blossom cocktail.

The Peninsula hallway is picture perfect

Dress Code: a touch of Pink

The Tokyo Peninsula bartender

Cherry blossom cocktails are his secret weapon

Japanese calligraphy ceremony

An enchanted exotic unforgettable evening: Osoreirimasu (おそれいります) 

La Parisienne à trois!

When I first arrived in Paris in September 2011 I decided I'd jump in the deep end and signed up for "La Parisienne" straight away. I figured a race specifically for women through the center of Paris was just the ticket to begin my new adventure with a blast.

It has been my "rentrée" event for the past six years. With 37,000 runners in the 2016 edition, "La Parisienne" is now the biggest race for women in the world and I'm in the thick of it...

... only this year I didn't run the 6.6. km by myself. We were three ladies in pink waiting nearly two hours for our turn to start the race at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in a festive and joyful atmosphere. That, of course, allowed for endless opportunity to catch up. One of the girls had travelled all the way from Germany to participate!

This year - due to security reason - the route, lined with over 600 musicians, was altered and we ended up running alongside the banks of the Seine which was a welcome change given the open space, fresh breeze, picturesque surroundings and historic landmarks on either sides of the river.

I could have run faster but we were a team and crossing the finish line arm in arm with a big smile on our face made us feel like we had just run an entire marathon.

It still feels as gooooooood as it did when I ran this race the first time five years ago. No, actually, it feels better because I got to share the victory with my girlfriends!

 Here we go again... La Parisienne 2016

Picking up my number and pink t-shirt the day before the race

Sunday morning and the sun has disappeared...

... but where did the palm trees come from?!?

This year's theme was "Carnaval"

My shoes are the same colour as this year's official race t-shirt

Waiting to start...

... chitter chatter all over ...

... more waiting on the Pont d'Iena ...

... nearly at the starting block ...

... the first 100 meters into the race.

One of the many music groups: guess where they're from?

Running down one side of the Seine ... 

... and up the other!

Remembering the little girl I was...

How can you create an exhibition of a 57 year old doll and give her a platform usually reserved for the greatest artists of our time?

Well, the answer is simple: her name is Barbie and she has accompanied millions of girls through their childhood years.

However, only Paris could pull this off with so much style contemplating the success of this iconic doll by contextualising her within a cultural and social history of the 20th and 21st century.

Located in the Palais du Louvre's western wing, the entrance of the Museum des Arts Decoratifs was grandiose and, oh, so Parisian. At the top of the grand staircase stood a bright pink door inviting my Flaneuses friends and I to enter the magical world of Barbie.

Two of us were clearly enchanted the minute we entered the exhibit since we lost ourselves in reverie right in the first hall standing in total awe surrounded by an object which had taken over a good part of our lives between the ages of six to twelve.

We watched two wonderful documentaries about the history of Mattel and learned that the company's name is derived from Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler, who founded the company in 1945. Matson soon sold his share to Handler due to poor health, and Handler's wife Ruth took over Matson's role.

Much to my surprise I learnt that the success of not only Barbie but also Hot Wheels (little toy cars which my little brother and later my son would spend hours and hours playing with) were thanks to this creative and innovative husband and wife duo and not just streamline products of the huge company Mattel is today.

We waded through Barbie models from 6 different decades, spotted familiar models on the big "Family rainbow tree" - all I could remember were Skipper and Ken - and admired the real life couturier dresses the Barbie dresses had been inspired by.

Who remembers the Spice Girl Barbies? Or the Marie Antoinette one? Ever seen the Andy Warhol or Audrey Hepburn version? The stewardess, the vet, the architect and of course the princesses were all on display.

The absolute highlight was a 10 meter wall covered in Barbie clothes. Thousands of outfits had been carefully and creatively pinned on a black panel in perfect colour coordination ranging from pink (obviously!) to dark blue.

I walked out of the exhibition elated and a bit overwhelmed with all the memories of my childhood that had come flooding back. I could still see myself at my best friends' home sewing miniature clothes for our dolls and playing with the biggest acquisition I had ever made until then: a Barbie swimming pool!

Four decades later Miss Pink is still my best friend eventhough we don't live in the same country, I just wish we could have shared this special moment. Her memory is so much better than mine!

Pavillon de Marsan's magnificent staircase

Barbie's most famous portrait

La Barbie Parisienne

The Dior Barbie

Can I get a copy of that ski suit?

My prince has come along with many pairs of shoes

My most cherished acquisition at age 10

Christian Leboutin's dedication to Barbie's 50th birthday

Three Christian Dior dresses with Barbie size replicas in the background

I'll have one of each of these outfits please!

1980 Aerobic Barbie... remember the multi-coloured leg warmers?

A collage of thousands of Barbie outfits

Close-up of the collage in PiNk, of course!