Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year ...

... and greetings from the beach!

A museum with a view

A visit to the Musée d'Orsay - housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900 - transports me straight in to the movie Hugo Cabret. Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. Here are a few impressions:

Peeking through to the Louvre

I wonder if Hugo has repaired this clock?

Spotting the Sacré Coeur on the horizon

Paris' Ferris Wheel next to the exclusive Hotel Crillon

The Tuileries Gardens with the Sarcé Coeur in the background

Contemplating the Louvre

I wonder who she is?

A day full of Red

Red is the colour of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. Well, how about that for a definition of Paris, the city of love? Yesterday, while strolling through the city I kept on coming across the colour red and decided to share some impressions with you.

Red metro sign

Red café on the Champs Elysées

Red carpet at Sephora

Red Christmas sign

Red menu at Avenue Wagram

Red coated tourist at Place de l'Etoile

Dior red window display at Printemps

Uniqlo's red digital staircase

Morgan's red ad campaign

Red Christmas trees are the latest fashion in Paris

Red Christmas ornaments at the Hotel du Louvre

Red Campbell soup cans at Publicis Drugstore

Red sightseeing bus

Red bus shelter advertising

Red metro advertising

A shadow of sadness

Ever since Friday I have been debating with myself whether to publish a post on the tragedy of Newtown and decided against it to honour the privacy of the families affected. However, I cannot stop thinking about this sad event and I feel for the families who have lost a loved one. No words can express the hurt, no mind is able to comprehend the unimaginable and no heart is big enough to resist the pain. No explanation is possible and there is no manner to fill the void.

For the first time it was not just a shooting in the US but an assault that hit very close to home. We all drop off our kids at school at one point in our lives, but we cannot and do not want to imagine a scenario that took place last Friday morning. Nevertheless this scene has been played out in so many parents's heads over the past 72 hours.

The media is full of the story and facebook has all angles of it covered. Where is the line between media frenzy and expressing your support and wanting to share your feelings with people the other side of the ocean that you have never met?

I believe it does help to know that there is a large group of people beyond the city of Newtown, CT who wish to support the mourning families. There is a community out there gathering to honour the children's memory.

They tell you it will get better but the truth is, it doesn't. You just learn to live with it. And you learn to lean on a friend when you need to.

Marché des Puces à la Starck

On a wet, cold, rainy Monday some friends and I decided to explore the Marché aux Puces at Porte de Clignancourt. The flea market of Paris is legendary and I hoped to explore it to find some prized items and - fingers crossed - successfully bargain for them. The last time I had been there was 20 years ago with my best friend hunting for an outfit for an African party!

Eventhough many places were closed, it was quite nice to have the marché practically to ourselves . I oozed over a big Louis Vuitton trunk and fell in love with a piece of art made of little toy cars.

Admittedly my ultimate objective was to lunch at Philippe Starck's new trendy bistrot called "Ma Cocotte". Nestled in the Marché Paul Bert, the crown-jewel of the dozen or so sub-markets within les puces, Starck calls it his ‘canteen’. The service was very friendly, the waiters good-looking and the food organic. What more can you ask for in a French environment?

Even the closed stalls look attractive

Bric-à-brac

A portable tabletop crystal bar from the last century

Delicate French lace

Antique Mini-Globes

Designer chairs

An American touch

Colourful beads

Vintage trunks

Toy car canvas

Relections in a frame

Japanese robot toy

Hunting trophies

A real old-fashioed flea market

A lost item on top of the roof

Lift tower

Lunchtime!!!

Menu of paté campagne, poulet roti with frites and café gourmand.

Yum!!!

Tough life in Paris

Too much to do and not enough time to blog....

Eventhough my husband wonders what I do all day, I insist that my day does not contain enough hours. Yes, I "do" lunch from time to time but it is certainly not the norm. I prefer panting around Paris discovering branché spots, trendy areas or eclectic markets.

Here is an insight to my past week in Paris:
- Monday: Shopping tour with mum at Galeries Lafayettes and Printemps
- Tuesday: Visit to Musée Marmottan and the Musée d'Orsay for a good dose of Impressionism
- Wednesday: accompanied the kids on a field trip to the Planetarium AND
- attended a Ladurée Christmas apero with hubby at the Intercontinental Grand Hotel
- Thursday: off to the Rodin museum with Mona's Tours
- Friday: shopping at the Swedish Christmas bazaar with a friend
- Saturday: touring the Marais with a visiting friend from Switzerland
- Sunday: Christmas market stroll followed by a Christmas cocktail chez Christian Dior.

Galeries Lafayettes's Christmas tree

Printemps X-mas Decoration

Heading back from the Musée Marmottan

View from inside the Musée d'Orsay

Looking onto the Louvre

Reflections at the Planetarium

Ladurée's Christmas tree with 8500 golden macaroons

Thinking in Rodin's Garden

Swedish Christmas decoration

A coffee break in the Marais

Christmas market along the Champs Elysées

Ahh, quelle est belle, Paris!

It goes without saying that I squeezed in a manicure, a pedicure and a hairdresser's appointment since I need to look the part. I can't miss my daily excercise to burn off all the chocolate, macaroons and other Christmas goodies I have been munching out on. Drop-off and pick-up of kids needs to be done everyday and they have to be chauffeured to their respective activities. And while waiting for hubby to return from work, I whip up some muffins for the school's backsale event.

So forgive me if I'm a bit slow on my blogging lately.....

       ... all I can say is that life in Paris is extremly tough ... as usual!!!!!

Jogging home under a full moon