Golden Glory

Horchow:
1. Pine Cone Hill - "Fanny" Quilts & Organza Accessories
2. Contessa Mirror
3. Visual Comfort Brass Ring Lamp
4. Woven Antique Gold-Leafing Side Table
5. Gold Mirrored Console
6. Gold Curtains

Giveaway: 'Spun Sugar Paperie' Ladurée Watercolor Paintings! - Closed

To put an ending to my 'French Mademoiselle in Paris' posts,
I am celebrating my homecoming with a giveaway.

Think of this as a goodbye party.
Party. Wear heels.

The fabulous Spun Sugar Paperie, whose store you can find on Etsy,
is giving away one of her watercolor paintings.

You get to choose which one you'd like!

Here are your 3 picks:


1) Ladurée Macaron Chart (8 × 10)




2) Ladurée l'entremet Marie-Antoinette (5 × 7)




3) Ladurée Saint-Honoré Rose Framboise (6 × 9)




All you have to do is:

1. Visit Spun Sugar Paperie and tell me which item(s) you like.

2. Leave a comment stating which of three watercolor paintings is your favorite,
and write down your contact information. If you have a Blogger account,
and your email is on there, that's fine too.

3. For a second entry, become or be a public follower of French Mademoiselle on Blogger.


&nd that's it! Giveaway closes on September 1st.

Bonne Chance!


This giveaway is closed!

French Mademoiselle in Paris: Day 15

Bonjour!

Today is my last day in Paris.
We leave in a couple of hours.

We'll be heading towards Gare du Nord and taking the high speed train
back to Holland.




This morning we did a little bit of last-minute shopping, packing and
cleaning up the apartment.

I have loved every second of these last 2 weeks.
Staying in Paris for so long and having my own little apartment to stay
has been a dream of mine for many years.
I'm so glad I finally puckered up the courage to do it.

I will miss my street, Rue Saint-Sauveur.




Which is just off the pedestrian street Rue Montorgueil, filled with bakeries,
pâtisseries, restaurants and shops.




I will miss getting le petit déjeuner from Maison Collet.




I will miss taking the subway from Réaumur - Sébastopol.




I will miss walking through the beautiful streets of Paris and gawking
at the even-more gorgeous buildings.




I will miss the beautiful parks that lie here and there in Paris.




I will miss walking past the Seine, refusing to take the metro,
just to see the view.




I will miss the lovely window displays.




The stores, of course ;)




But one of things I will miss the most is the Eiffel Tower,
popping out everywhere.




I hope you have enjoyed my journey with me!

Au Revoir,

French Mademoiselle in Paris: Day 14

Bonjour again!

While I normally buy a demi baguette or a petit baguette, I thought it would
be fun to buy a whole baguette this morning for le petit déjeuner.

The baguette I got was a tad bigger than I had expected.
To be a bit more specific, I would estimate it 1 meter (3.3 feet) long!
We nicknamed it "the samurai sword".

After le grand déjeuner, we headed to the Invalides.
We visited Hôtel National des Invalides, which houses Musée de l'Armée
and Napoleon's tomb, among others.













We were very impressed and glad we went there.


Then another 'boyish' museum, the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie.
Paris' science museum. It is located in Parc de la Villette in the 19th arrondisement.






After the long metro ride from the 19th to the 2nd arrondissement, we were
both craving something sweet.
And while pâtisserie Stohrer was still closed on Day 5, today it was open!

Jamie Cahill writes in 'The Pâtisseries of Paris':
"Even if you can't make the day trip to Versailles, you can take a
small step into eighteenth-century French royal life by sampling
Stohrer's puits d'amour and famous baba au rhum. These two
revered recipes were likely favorites of Louis XV when
Nicolas Stohrer was the royal pâtissier."

And since I am a lover of all things with rum, I bought Stohrer's famous
baba au rhum (brioche soaked with rum).








My brother picked up his favorite pastry from Maison Collet, a pain aux raisins.




Today was my last full day here in Paris.
We leave tomorrow afternoon, so I still have ½ a day in the city of lights!

Bonne Journée,

French Mademoiselle in Paris: Day 13

Bonjour mes amis!

Today started as almost every day has started here in Rue Montorgueil:
breakfast from Maison Collet.
Their croissants are perfection ♥.

Today I did something a little different though; instead of ordering a croissant
'naturel', I bought a croissant 'beurre'.
Yes, butter. As if croissant don't have enough butter already.

And as if I haven't eaten enough croissants these past two weeks.
Oscar Wilde's quote "everything in moderation, including moderation" doesn't
really apply here in Paris. Well, for me it doesn't.

Enfin, my brother joined me today.
This is his first trip to Paris so I took him to all of the popular sites.
Starting with the iron lady, la Tour Eiffel:










We walked across the Pont Alexandre III.
One of the best views of the city in my opinion.
I took this picture 2 years ago from the bridge:




Walked by the Grand & Petit Palais.








And then headed to the Arc de Triomphe.
It was so hot, we felt like we triumphed the Champs-Élysées when we got to the Arc.




Then we took the even-hotter metro to Le Louvre, wanting to go in, but it
was closed because today is mardi.




We then decided to take a stroll through les Jardins des Tuileries and enjoy the fair.

After dinner, I took my brother to drool browse the pastry counter at my local favorite
boulangerie - pâtisserie, Maison Collet.
We picked a millefeuille and an éclair chocolat for dessert.



That's it for now.
Tomorrow will be my last full day.

Bonne nuit,

French Mademoiselle in Paris: Day 12

Bonjour!

I was so impressed with the fashion exhibition held at Versailles' Grand Trianon,
I wanted to pay a visit to Paris' fashion museum, Musée Galliera.

So, I bought another carnet of metro cards and headed to the 8th arrondissement.
Stepping out of Léna's metro station, I marveled at the grand buildings surrounding me.






I came to Musée Galliera to find that it was closed!
Due to construction, the exhibition is temporarily held at Musée Bourdelle in
the 14th arrondissement.

I wasn't too disappointed because the museum still had its park open in the backyard,
which was one of the most beautiful sites I have seen this Paris trip.










Because of the fine weather and high spirits, I felt like taking a stroll,
and that's what I did on the Île Saint-Louis and Île de la Cité.

Île Saint-Louis:






Île de la Cité:










I am fully aware that my Paris days are soon coming to an end (I leave on Thursday),
so these last few days I really want to only visit special (for me) places,
which is why I headed to the 6th arrondissement to pick up something sweet
from a top pâtisserie.

I knew Pierre Hermé was closed because it's Monday, but, as it turned out, Gerard Mulot
was closed as well because today is a national holiday here in France.
I walked to Rue Bonaparte, hoping that Ladurée would be open (or at least open its doors
for me ;) and thankfully it was!

The window displays looked absolutely lovely.
Walking along the pastries counter it dawned on me that I haven't eaten a single
macaron this Paris trip. Mon dieu!









The flavors are: Salted Caramel, Melon, Rose, Minty Strawberry & Almond - Cherry.


Still wanting to see the fashion exhibition, I went to the 14th arrondissement in the afternoon.
Fermée, again! It's funny how I don't mind coming to three closed doors in one day.
Paris is so beautiful, it's always nice to have walked those streets and discovering a
new neighborhood.

I still got to take some pictures of the closed museums' courtyards:






Bonne Journée!