Pack Your Bags—Paris

I'm sure I don't have to ask you twice to pack your bags for Paris. You wouldn't have to me—I'd love to visit the city of lights. And I'd love to stay at any one of the hundreds of hotels. But since this is merely a fantasy at this point, I thought I'd show two hotels that are particularly beautiful. We can pretend we're off on a fabulous holiday.

This (above) is the La Belle Juliette (even the name is a vacation!). I love the cool palette mixed with the warm antiques.


And then there's the amazing Hotel Joyce. I'm crazy about the Eiffel Tower concierge desk and even crazier about the drawn headboards, paneling and chandeliers in the bedrooms.
Going anywhere exciting this weekend?

Oh Amelie!

There's a sweet french movie called "Amelie" that you + I really love (or at least I do and you will). It's subtitled but a delight to watch and listen to and the soundtrack is gorgeous. As is the cinematography (how could it be anything but with Paris as it's backdrop?). Design*Sponge does a fun feature called "living in..." where they take screen captures of different films and then feature different housewares and fashion items that represent the film. They recently did one for "Amelie" you should definitely have a look.
Obviously the movie has inspired quite a few talented artists and in the June 2010 issue of Nonpareil magazine, a handful of creatives got together to create a party based on the movie. It turned out really nicely.



See a fun little video of the party here.
I've been waiting for the perfect post to incorporate these lovely designs from Emerson and I think they have that certain je ne sais quoi that goes quite well with this French party. They're really fantastic and Emerson herself (the blonde is her) is really quite funny. Go visit her.


Darling aren't they? I love the stripes with that big red flower! Perfect outfit for croissants wouldn't you say? Oui!

La Tour Eiffel

The perfect ending to a visit to Paris is a focus on the Eiffel Tower. Love it or hate it, it's undeniably a Parisian icon. Personally, I heart the tower - every time I see it I smile and am completely charmed. I'm not the only one obviously. These sweet photos from Flickr users showcase mini versions (and one illustration) of the monument.

These artists have lovely photostreams full of beautiful images: krishhtine, lilylove and lyptonvillage.

I love these fashionable interpretations of the tower from Pretty Raccoon on Etsy (01 + 02), french presents (03) and ioffer (04). That apron would be fabulous whether you were shopping at a local market or baking a creme brulee. And I love the idea of a nice graphic print on a cocktail dress. Get yourself some heavy bangs and add some fancy tights and you can make anything fashionable...

I so often see the Eiffel Tower depicted in black and white that when I came across these really sweet (and pink!) images I had to share them. My cousin's 18-month old sweetie, Grace, would be the belle of the ball in that charming pink dress (02) eating that pink Eiffel cookie. (04) Heck, I'd be charming in that pink dress... Even a cheapie plastic snow globe is somehow magical filled with a raspberry backdrop and the tower (03). Finally, that watercolor (01) is so beautiful - I just want to bite into those gorgeous macaroons!

I can't think of a better way to end this tour of the tower than with these hilarious and clever interpretations. They make me giggle...

(01) Drawing by Tom Takes Pictures (02) Hilarious stuffed Eiffel Tower (03) Cookie Tower from What's Cooking (04) Eiffel tower made of Legos (05) Caricature of Gustav Eiffel (06) One happy pup

A Votre Sante

I took a few years of French but didn't retain much, so I don't want to give you the wrong impression with the title of this post... I absolutely had to google "french version of 'cheers'". And "a votre sante" is what I got. This apparently means "to your health" which is quite a lovely sentiment, don't you think?

Another thing I don't want to mislead you about is my wine knowledge (of which I have none). But I couldn't possibly focus a week on Paris and not talk about wine, so, here we are. I've loved these photos from Flickr user tompalumbo for many moons and am so pleased that they fit with this post so well! They're from Paris in 1962 and they are exactly what I picture when I think of Frenchies (can I call them that?) drinking wine— a dimly lit cafe, bow ties, brooches and kissing.

Since I don't know a thing about wine, I am forced to judge a bottle by it's label. And I would absolutely purchase these lovely bottles from designer Thomas Berthon. He has a beautiful grasp on typography and does such a nice job with layout and color. Speaking of color, isn't that pink rose wine so charming? I'd hate to drink it!

And these from designer Hanna Backman, and from labels Hold Up and Fat Bastard are so witty and fun! I heart the moustaches and that sweet hippo!

And finally, I discovered an online winery that offers any wine you can imagine and gathered a collage of labels for you to enjoy. So, enjoy!

Patisserie

I've been reading a charming book by Debra Ollivier called Entre Nous (which means "between us" in French). The book chronicles her decade spent in France after she (a Californian) married a Frenchman and made the enviable trek to Paris. She writes casually but with authority and has managed to explain some of the things that have always intrigued me about French women: their style, their relationships, their ability to enjoy dessert without guilt...
When I think of French pastries I envision Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst lounging among tiered confections and fresh berries. She looks like a lovely dessert herself.

I've seen a lot of french macaroons lately—I take them to be the new cupcakes as far as trendy baked goods are concerned. There's one French patisserie in particular that serves lovely macaroons (and is responsible for that glorious mint green cake above). Laduree offers a wide variety of flavors (like orange bloom, chocolate with lime and mango with jasmine) pictured in this darling illustration.

These desserts are so elegant and understated from blogger Sooishi. Wouldn't you love to pour yourself a cup of coffee and bite into that crispy meringue? Or slice into that rhubarb pavlova? I was unfamiliar with pavlova but apparently the base is a meringue which is then topped with whipped cream and rhubarb resulting in a crisp outer shell and an interior similar to marshmallow. Sounds heavenly!

Of course it's not all whipped sugar and decadent cakes. The French often eat an elaborate cheese plate as the finale to a three-hour long evening meal or will end with a flaky tart topped with fruit fresh from the local market or maybe a puff pastry with creme and raspberries.

Whatever you're indulging in, be sure to compliment with a glass of le vin. Bon appetit!

J'Adore Dior

You can't really talk about modern women's fashion without mentioning the fabulous (and french) Christian Dior. His post World War II designs rocked the fashion industry and changed the standard for women's couture fashion. I won't go into his biography (because honestly this does a really great job and I'd rather show you pictures) but I will say that he led an incredibly influential life in the short time that he lived. He was only 52 when he died and had only been creating his own line for a decade. To the best of my knowledge, all of the following designs were created for the House of Dior before Christian's death. I do this simply to pay homage to the man himself and not just his label. This first set of pictures is from Life magazine and show him in his studio as well as some lovely ladies modeling his creations.

The following dresses were offered on various vintage retail sites. Can you imagine actually being able to afford an original Christian Dior dress?! A girl can dream right? Not only of the cash to purchase one of these gorgeous dresses but of the 18" waist it would've taken to squeeze into it. Regardless, these three dresses are definitely worth fantasizing about. The natural elegance of the early 1950's strapless dress is breathtaking, the draping on the sweetheart bodice of the 1952 gown is stunning, and I absolutely adore the whimsy of the fringed, tiered cocktail dress from the 1950's.

These beauties are from a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Can you believe the beading on the ball gown on the right? It's absolutely amazing - I can only imagine how stunning it would've been on an elegant french model!

And although these two dresses are a little more casual, they are still incredibly elegant and beautiful.

Since I'm a graphic designer and a lover of paper, I couldn't leave this post without some gorgeous, hand-drawn advertisements for Dior. Aren't they completely charming?

A heartfelt "merci" to the lovely designer and his beautiful designs.

Paris Interiors

One thing I've always really admired about French interiors is their ability to successfully marry historic and modern. They live in their antiques, not just with them. They also have a great sense of whimsy and color. I particularly love how elegant and bohemian these apartments are.

And I adore the bold, bright colors in these two apartments.

All of these pictures can be found in the Taschen book "New Paris Interiors"; except the lovely pink apartment which is from The Selby. C'est magnifique!

I Love Paris in the Springtime

It's going to be really nice here this week so I think it's finely ok to get emotionally attached to Spring. The midwest is notorious for teasing us with warmth and then spitting snow on our prematurely flip-flopped feet; but it's practically Easter so I'm embracing the sun and turning my thoughts to Spring. What better way to celebrate than to visit Paris? Even in the dead of winter, Paris is somehow ethereal and lovely, which is why I'm starting with some fashion shots of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) when she moved to Paris for a brief period at the end of Sex and the City, Season 6. Carrie is always fabulous, but something about her fashion while in Paris really charmed me. You can see why from these fashion shots...

And from these screen captures. I particularly love the shot of her in front of the patisserie and her gorgeous red umbrella outside of Dior. Oui, oui!

Au revoir!