Ehud S/S 2012

Last night I attended the Ehud show for Men's Fashion Week here in Paris. As I waited outside the venue for the crowd to be let in, I noticed the ever presence color choice of clothing in Paris. Black and grey were all that could be seen. I hoped that once inside, the models would be a little more daring in the colored clothing department. I was not disappointed. Inside, the guests took their seats, including Diane Pernet from "A Shaded View On Fashion."

Once the show started, models came down the runway sporting bright yellow lips and matching outfits. This season, designers seem to be in love with bright yellow. There were suits made entirely of the bright color or some with just a little yellow accent color. There were also beautiful crisp white suits that seemed perfect for a summer day in St. Tropez. Overall, a nice bright show with punches of color just in time for the summer season!

Royal Ascot Hats

Ever since the Royal Wedding, I have been more interested in hats and fascinators more than ever before. This past weekend was the Royal Ascot in England where women get the chance to show off their most precious head toppers!

There was a collection of sophisticated and chic hats along with some wacky and over the top creations. Sadly, I was not there in person to celebrate. (my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail!) However, I have found some of the most interesting pieces that were photographed and thought I would share with my readers. Enjoy!

New Monet Earrings!

Over the past few days, I have been working away on my new line titled "Monet." These are a few pairs of earrings from the collection that you can find here at www.glimpsebeads.com or in my Etsy bouique here http://www.etsy.com/shop/GlimpseCreations

This collection is inspired by a recent trip to Giverny where I visited Monet's gardens. The colors, textures and delicate beauty found in his gardens were truly inspiring.

Eiffel Tower Bread at Poilâne

Today as I was on my way to the grocery store, I passed by a bakery on Blvd de Grenelle called Poilâne. This bakery is not like the usual Parisian bakeries that you will find on almost every street corner. This chain of shops first opened in 1932 when a young baker from Normandy came to Paris to open his first shop. The first one was in the Saint- Germain des Prés district. Today, there are 2 shops in Paris and 1 in London.

What makes this bakery special from the others? They are famous for their large round off-white crumb sourdough loaves that are baked in wood fired ovens. Most Parisians are known to eat baguettes, but before these were available, the sourdough loaves were the bread of France. The breads are even customizable, allowing up to 26 characters to be crafted out of bread and placed on top of your loaf.

If you happen to pass by this bakery on a regular basis, you will notice that they often have sculptures in the windows of the bakery. The reason for this leads back to 1969 when Salvador Dali met the owner of the bakery, Lionel Poilâne. He soon began to order objects and sculptures made out of bread. In 1971, he even ordered a whole bedroom made out of bread. He apparently wanted to find out if he had mice in his house!

This week, there is a bread Eiffel Tower scene in the windows of the famous bakery. You can get more information about the shops and history from their website here http://www.poilane.fr/index.php?passer=1

French Cliché

I came across this movie that about stereotypes of France and frenchmen seen from abroad. It made me laugh and I hope it puts a smile on your face too!

Midnight in Paris

Today I went to see Woody Allen's new movie, " Midnight in Paris." Venturing out to Montparnasse, my boyfriend and I took our seats for the 11am movie. Morning movies in Paris are much cheaper and there are a lot less people, so we prefer to go to the early shows.

After sitting through 20 mins of previews, the movie started and we were presented with images of areas around Paris. There was Place Vendome, Les Invalides, Sacré Cœur, and of course the Eiffel Tower. My boyfriend and I had to control ourselves after about the first 5 times we leaned over to each other whispering "look that is Saint Michel!" or "Our apartment is right over there!!" I realized this was probably very annoying to the others in the movie theater with us.

I don't want to say too much about the movie so I don't spoil it for others, but I definitely recommend this movie for those who want to take a little trip to the city of lights. It is a light, easy watchable movie that takes you through Paris past and present with some cameos from characters such as Salvador Dali (played by Adrien Brody) and Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates). I loved the costumes in the Paris 20's scenes and wondered if I could get away with wearing a flapper dress today!?

Overall, both my boyfriend and I really enjoyed this movie and give it two Parisian thumbs up! I just wish that the "real" Paris was as clean and uncrowded as it was portrayed in the movie! I would love to sit in the gardens of Notre Dame with only one or two other people around me!... maybe if I go around 5am!

Window Shopping

I found myself window shopping yet again this weekend. I love the window displays here in Paris because they change so often and because they are done so well. First I checked out Hermes and their windows.

Next stop, Lanvin where the models were striking quite the crazy poses!

A quick stop at Dior...

And then I saw these Chanel shoes! I LOVE them!! So sparkly!!!

Air de Paris balloon

This weekend, I came across this giant air balloon in one of the parks here in Paris. In the middle of André Citroën park this huge balloon sits on the lawn waiting for tourists to take a ride.

Other then offering rides, this balloon tests and provides air quality in Paris. The day that I was there, it was flashing red which means "poor quality."

The balloon is 150 meters high and has 6000 cubic meters of helium. Paris is always full of surprises, and this was yet another. I never would have imagined that I would have come across a giant air balloon when walking through a park!
Unfortunately, the balloon was closed due to high winds the day I found it. I will have to go back sometime and take a ride!

Metal People By The Seine

Yesterday my boyfriend and I decided to go for a walk along the Seine to enjoy the nice weather. We decided to go a different way then usual and explore a pathway that we had not taken before. We headed away from the Eiffel Tower and found ourselves at the Statue of Liberty near the Grenelle bridge on the Île aux Cygnes.

As we continued along the river, we came upon this great little restaurant overlooking the water. We will definitely be coming here for dinner one night!

Next, we came upon a statue of a vegetable seller.

Thinking it was very interesting I took a few photos only to see some more statues in the distance. After walking a little farther on, I was delighted to find a collection of them!
Outside of Parc André Citroën there is a temporary exhibition of these rusted metal statues created by Edgardo Carmona. They are fun, quirky and I thought they were interesting since they are not what you would expect to find along the Seine! Overall, I great walk along the river ending with a few metal people who mad me smile!