La Pluie

Unexpected rain here today & would that we were in Paris in the rain (or shine). Here's some good advice on how to handle Paris rain. A favorite song always helps, here or elsewhere. Don't forget to review your French, weather terms included. xoxo (photograph by Susan Sermoneta)

Happy Bastille Day

To our friends in France & around the world, have a wonderful le quatorze juillet. If you aren't French, pas de problème. Celebrate anyway. Always celebrate!

For some last-minute holiday help:

Here's a short history (including two quizzes).

Some easy ways to make the day a little more French, any day of the summer.

Consider putting together a Saint Honoré; it is so much easier than you think.

bisous! xoxo

(photograph by Yanidel)

Origami on Walls

French artist Mademoiselle Maurice creates art for the open air. She uses origami & lace (among other media) & installs them in the streets of Paris. In this origami installation she pays homage to Hiroshima victim - and anti-nuclear weapons activist -Sadako Sasaki. Here is a lovely (short) vimeo about that project.

How to make origami cranes; for origami roses, here are simple instructions & a helpful video.

ciao/xo

(photograph by Mademoiselle Maurice via Illusion)

Wednesday Wishes - Paris in Winter

While we are catching up on work, some links to Paris in the winter. Also a big recommendation for people to visit Strasbourg (& all of Alsace) anytime but the wintertime is lovely. The Alsatians know how to do cozy.

Kiss My Spatula has a persuasive (if you need that:) list of 10 Reasons To Visit Paris in the Winter. Hop over to look at rental apartments at Haven in Paris (& also the HiP blog) - the photographs are wonderful. Then think about an itinerary for next winter (or sooner if that's a possibility). As we've said before, if you don't begin to plan, you will go nowhere - ever.

ciao-meow/GG Travel

PS: Paris & Beyond blog has lovely carousel photographs

(This photograph is everywhere w/no attribution. A combined 4-hour+ search turns up nothing. The only reason we're posting this is to find the photographer & give credit. Please contact us here or on Twitter)

Holiday Wallpaper

...of the computer kind. We're under-the-weather & also trying to troubleshoot Spotify, the music service. It downloads but then does zip. This is causing all manner of upset here. (Well, Giulia is not bothered one bit, of course. She likes the Christmas music/Beatles iTunes playlist currently in rotation. But her editor will not rest until she has more more more & can tell everyone about it.)

We decorated for Christmas on Twitter, take a look (you can, you know, even if you're not signed up). We're decorating our tree today/tonight (it's an ongoing process:), & also our laptop. Here's one of a million free Christmas wallpaper sites. We chose a glittering Paris scene; no doubt we'll switch it up to London, New York City, Rome, & Strasbourg before the holidays are over. We feel more festive already. Joyeux Noël!

Merry ciao-meow/GGCM

My Little Paris

Il pleut des cordes.*

Giulia is asleep (of course) but her editor is writing. And when she is writing, she must take a break now & again, bien sûr. An early autumn rainy day reminds her of university in Strasbourg. Playing in the background is Yves Montand's Les Feuilles Mortes. It's all very cozy, yes, but to be in France would be lovely.

Alas, the closest we'll get to France this month is thanks to Carol of Paris Breakfasts & her introduction to My Little Paris. There are also editions for Marseille & Lyon. Very well. But where is the Strasbourg edition, eh? We must speak with someone about this glaring omission; meanwhile, sign up for the weekly newsletter that will make you as chic as a Parisienne (for whom this newsletter was originally intended).

ciao-meow/GG's editor

* Literal: It's pouring ropes. It's like the English 'raining cats & dogs.' See the BBC's French language page to brush up on your French.

(Paris sous la pluie by Ron Reiring via Resto pour enfants)

Oh Happy Day's Paris Giveaway

Generous Jordan of Oh Happy Day is so happy with her new life in Paris that she put together a giveaway for a trip for 2 for one week. The website is having a few problems with traffic today, but you can easily follow the Facebook & Twitter instructions right away. (The giveaway is open until June 20, 11.59PST.)

Bonne chance!

ciao-meow/GG

(Instagram Paris collage by Paul Ferney/via Oh Happy Day)

Le Portillon in Paris

Settle in with some coffee or tea, your cat or pup, & browse through Swedish Madelene's beautiful photographs & writings. For terrific suggestions about a trip to Paris, check out Smartypants Goes to France (or "The Clever Pup will set you straight":).

ciao-muse-meow/GG

(photographs via Le Portillon)

This is a re-post. Blogger deleted during the outage & we're not sure it will be back.

La Tour Eiffel des Enfants

This is fun - for any age. Plan a trip to the Eiffel Tower with children by visiting the children's page on the Tower's website. (What? No plans to go? Why ever not - start now!) There are puzzles, memory games, & you can work out an illumination plan. (See our handwork in the top image.) There are riddles & history lessons. There's also a teacher's guide & a free downloadable pamphlet. If you have photographs from a trip to the Tower, upload them on the site to share with everyone.

Still not convinced this is a good idea? Well, first read this article. And then...if you've not read it, you must read Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik.

ciao-bonsoir-meow/GG

(GG's illumination plan)

Monet's Debt to Flowers

I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.--Claude Monet

Happy birthday to Claude Monet (1840). For some helpful travel information about, thoughts on, & photographs of Monet's garden at Giverny, visit The Clever Pup's Paris Notebook. She was there just last month & has the best ideas about how to visit Paris. Hint: Wear rose-colored glasses only part of the time or you will miss out. (Poplar (Autumn) series via here)

We're off to walk through some autumnal garden scenes, as well. Have a great Sunday.

ciao-bonjour-meow/GGCM

The Clever Pup's Paris Notebook - Week's End

GG Central is in a mad Friday/Saturday- Hallowe'en-Rally for Sanity rush...oof. So pull up a chair, sip on some hot chocolate (or a glass of wine) & dip into the recent Parisian adventures of our Canadian friend. This is a new & ongoing venture, not the Pup you might be accustomed to (note the Breton shirt, ballerinas, & the beret placed just so). Très mignon, non?

We'll be back over the weekend to wish you a Happy Hallowe'en. (You can always hop over to GG's editor's blog & say boo.)

ciao-meow/GG's editor

(illustration by Hazel Smith/all rights reserved 2010/used with permission)

Sous le Ciel de Paris - Week's End

GG & her editor wish everyone a good weekend. A big welcome back from Paris to our friend La Clever Pup. Here is Juliette Gréco in 1962, singing the Jacques Brel song. It was re-popularized by last year's excellent film, An Education.

ciao-meow/GG Central

(Photograph by windswept ribbons via audrey hepburn complex)

Paris Breakfasts in Washington, DC

Now hear this: Ahem. GG has a sweet tip for you. If you will be in Washington, DC tomorrow, you have until 4pm (tomorrow, 17 Sept. 2010) to call & RSVP to attend the opening reception (described below). If you will be there, send us an email or tweet (juliethecat). We'd love to meet you. If you can't go, the exhibit runs through 1 Nov. 2010.

ciao-meow/GG's events coordinator (running late!)

PS: Giulia doesn't know about this or she would hop into her bag & demand to attend. We would have asked, but we have a feeling that when in America, zee French are not too cool about cats at a party. We could be wrong (often are).

New York City–based watercolor artist Carol Gillott travels to Paris three or four times a year to soak up inspiration and shoot thousands of photos to paint from.

Her Alliance Française exhibit, Paris Façades, features her charming paintings of Parisien boulangeries and patisseries.

For the artist, the heart and soul of Paris is revealed at street level by its shop façades where “There's just as much glamour and mystery in the quotidien boulangerie or fruitier as the grand Michelin restaurant"

It is this bright contrast that makes Paris the perfect subject for Carol Gillot and her delightful watercolors of everyday Parisian scenes, from les boulangeries to les lèche-vitrines.

Visit carolgillott.com & www.parisbreakfast.com

Opening reception is free, but reservations are required. Call 202-234-7911 x31 for reservations.

Reservations will be accepted until 4pm the day of the event. The exhibit runs through 1 November 2010.

(via Alliance Française website & Paris Sunset via places I wish I were tumblr)

Gigi & GG - Week's End

GG celebrated her blog-birthday by watching Gigi for the first time. As she falls asleep during most films, her editor does not know if she liked it (or not). But her ears moved up & down, front & back quite a lot as "Gigi!" is pronounced (& sung) more than any other word(s), except perhaps "Paris" or "I'm bored!" These are especially charming images from the film (& one drawing of pretty Leslie Caron as Gigi - by Cecil Beaton). As ever, GG would love a hat & is still agitating for one that will accommodate her ear-tips.

ciao-meow during an especially busy week...The Management

Blue Paris - Week's End

If you've not visited Carol at Paris Breakfasts, you must, you absolutely must. We look forward to her Washington, DC exhibit in September 2010. (Is that enough lead time?! We'll remind you again, no worries.) Also, Tina at The English Muse has just returned from a Paris getaway. Here are some marvellously moody Polaroids she posted yesterday. [Beautiful photograph by Johnny Santo Domingo]

Have a wonderful weekend.

ciao-bonjour-meow/GG Central

A Parisian Café Cat

We're busy & photographer Patrice Panfili saves the day with laugh-out-loud pix. Most of his shots are people, streetscape. GG is in love. What a puss on this puss. Patrice calls him (in French) "king of the town." [Notice how proud the cat's guardian is ..he ees so chic, non? Oui. [from the archives as brief relief. The photographs are larger & better quality than original downloads.]

bisou
GG Central

GG Celebrates la Tour Eiffel - Week's End

GG Central bids an official happy birthday to La Tour Eiffel. (Yes, we know people have been celebrating since March 31st...calm down, there's no such thing as celebrating what was called 'an odious column of metal' (!) too many days. )

The exhibit Tales for the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, begins tomorrow (we're preparing this quick post early) & runs through 31 December 2009. The Tower's official site is here in English (it has several languages, just click). It's a lot of fun to virtually visit if you can't be there. The Tower's live webcam is in our right sidebar (we first saw it on The Clever Pup's site, she is so very clever & tasteful). You can click & download it for yourself. It's cheerful to watch the sky & lights change throughout the day & night.

The photographs for today are from the Brooklyn Museum; explication from their site below in italics. Salut to our dear French friends, here & there. un grand bisou.

a rushed ciao-meow/GG's editor

William Henry Goodyear (1846–1923), whose image collections are presented here, was the Brooklyn Museum's first curator of fine arts (1899–1923) and a renowned art and architectural historian. In addition to being a vital force in the early years of the Museum's fine arts department, Goodyear did extensive research in art history and architectural theory. In 1900, Goodyear traveled to the Paris Exposition with photographer Joseph Hawkes. They brought back numerous images from the exposition including street life, vistas, pavilions, statues, and other structures and decorative details. The entire Goodyear Archival Collection can also be found on the Brooklyn Museum Web site.

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale!

The Eiffel Tower, Paris
Holiday Collection
Design by Galison, New York
sent by Giulia, Christmas 2007

Café crème in Paris

Don't you just want to be there? Photo by Glynnis Ritchie, an American photographer & writer currently living in Paris.

Bisou, bonsoir/GG's editor/rédactrice

GG in les Tuileries

GG & her editor can dream, non? We would watch the little kids & their sailboats...people watch, flip through a new Vogue (Zola or Balzac at night), go to a Ladurée shop for a macaron (or two). New York artist Carol Gillott of lovely Paris Breakfasts is off to Paris soon. We wish her a safe journey & look forward to reaping the vicarious rewards of her photography & watercolors upon her return.

We're having some computer troubles so we must go. We have much to report about the Tents of Hope gathering. And GG's big news--for Halloween, she'll be GG the Plumber. We think she's made an excellent choice.

Ciao-meow, xoxo
GG Central Mgmt.