A Day in Paris... Bon Voyage Party...

Ooooh how I didn't want to get up this morning... knowing tomorrow I will be on my way home... leaving FABULOUS Paris behind... le sigh...But alas... I got myself... had a little breakfast...Then headed out on to the lovely streets of Paris one last day... shopping for tonights big farewell party... First some wine... I already purchased the Veuve Clicquot last week-end while in the Champagne region ... Some lovely crusty bread... yummmm...
Cheese... ooooh smell those aromas...Look a little sample...Aahhhh... la Pâtisserie that Claudia of Paris Apartment suggested... to pick up some treats...
Gathering flowers from one of the many flowers stalls...
I think I'm ready for a dress for the party now... ooh la la... let's pop in here... Paris Atelier insisted I wear a Dior frock...Wellllll... it was no problem finding a dress... isn't this gorgeous... but they wouldn't let me leave... nooooo... I was not trying to steal this dress (painting available)... they gave me a glass of champagne...and made me watch a fashion show... just in case I wasn't sure about my dress... hmmmm... Petunia is that you up on the runway...The things we do in the name of beauty... oooh... I bought a pair of these for everyone... hope you like them!
Time to rush back and get ready in my dressing room... Set the table...
with these...

Voilà... I give you dining with a SPECTACULAR view...
I hope you have all ENJOY my month in VIRTUAL APRIL in PARIS... Here's one last look...

Merci Beaucoup to ALL my GUEST BLOGGERS... you were all FAB!

And before we say goodbye to Paris... how about a GIVEAWAY... leave a comment (and be sure to leave your email address if you don't have a blog) and you could WIN a SIGNED PRINT of your choice (please visit MY ETSY STORE... to pick which painting you want in a print) and a SET of MATCHING FRAMEABLE NOTECARDS! Deadline Sunday, May 3 @ noon PDT... 2 WINNERS will be announced on my Monday, May 4th post! For those of you who attended (left a comment) my Special Exhibit in the Louvre... I will give you an EXTRA entry into the drawing!

Okkkk... now off to visit other FABULOUS Tablescape Thursday participants!

TOMORROW... please come see me off... I will be traveling FASHIONABLY... mais bien sûr!!! (Mr Linky will be up by 7pm PDT) Ooooh... and I do hope you will visit moi when I am back in the US of A on Monday...

WINNERS HAVE BEEN DRAWN... ANNOUNCEMENT ON MONDAY, MAY 4th POST!!!

Photos via Dior... Paris Apartment... Paris Atelier... A Gift Wrapped Life... Sophie Coppola's Marie Antoinette... Google Search for French food and French shopping

Paris School Days...

Welcome my guest blogger Linda of Lime in the Coconut...

If it weren't for Fifi asking if I would like to post about Paris...I wouldn't have spent the morning taking a wistful journey down memory Lane...getting to know me...26 years ago. How soon we forget!

I spent 4 months going to University in Paris (Exchange through the Sorbonne). I found my dusty and faded journal stuffed with pictures, metro passes, wine labels...and a much younger handwriting and outlook. The eternal optimism of youth.

We had to find our own housing, a new friend and I found a quaint and once beautiful place in the 17th arrondisement to lease.We shared it with a tortured young art student. It smelled of oil paint and varnish. The land lady was eccentric.We boarders made her nervous.

'...The tiny kitchen has no refrigerator, her food sits outside in a shoebox on the windowsill to keep cold. A broken gas hot-plate needs the urging of a match to work. Crouched between the kitchen and the livingroom is a tiny bathroom...consisting of a small stained sink and a temperamental toilet with a broken seat. She leaves us notes taped to the wall, shakily written in black felt tip pen. Cette lavabo est casse. N'pas utiliser s.v.p'

We shared a room with a large shuttered window that overlooked bustling market street of rue de Levi.In the early evenings you could buy everything you needed ~ from chickens, and deer to bread cheese and pâtisseries and flowers. While no street lights, the lights of the shops lit the way home.

I studied the social and economic system of France. Travelled by metro to the furthest corner of the city to study French language. I remember being amazed by their politics...which helped me to understand ours better. I met intriguing people. I was brave...not at all cautious. I inhaled Paris.
Paris...Intense, inscrutable, ingrown~Sometimes infuriating. Always intriguing...

It was an amazing experience...One of my last pages held a quote by Hemingway.

"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."



Thank you for this month long moveable feast Fifi...it has been a beautiful Journey!

___________________________________________

Thank you Linda for sharing your school days with us and some beautiful OUTDOOR shots of Paris... and thanks to you taking over for moi... I was able to sit in an outdoor cafe ...and paint flowers...and more flowers...Now... we must run off to visit Susan and her Outdoor Wednesday participants!

ALL paintings are AVAILABLE in My Etsy Store!

Tomorrow... join me for a FAREWELL TO APRIL IN PARIS Tablescape Thursday... and I will have a GIVEAWAY!!!

Fifi Hangs with the Great Artist...

Soooo... I received a phone call from Petunia a couple days ago... telling me to meet her in Paris at a place with a LARGE pyramid for an entrance... please send over 5 pieces of your art work today, and make sure you have a spectacular frock on when I see you Tuesday... and something about this is to be an important day for you... welllll the only place I know that has one of those is the Louvre...
A man slipped me a message as I ran towards the staircase...
Halfway up I paused to read it..."Dearest Fifi: This is about to be your best day ever!
Run down the hallway past all those fabulously naked statues...and past all those old paintings.

You will see a big gold door on your right. Take a moment to adjust your crown, and open the door..."
With love and fabulous thoughts of you, Petunia I opened the doors to a crowd of people... as I entered they parted and there on the walls were the 5 paintings I had delivered to Petunia earlier... I was sooooooooo overwhelmed... but all I could think of was... oooooooh no... I did not wear a crown as Petunia suggested but a hat...
Once I regained my composure... I saw my "Wine and Roses in Paris"
"Pont Neuf Apartment"
"On the Street with Eiffel""French Wine and Bread"
"Berry Cushions with a View" Just as my show was ending, another man approached me with another message.
"Dearest Fifi: I do hope you have had a grand afternoon! Your Opening was a wild success! Paris loves you! There is only one more thing for you to do. Run out to the street. A lovely car will be waiting curbside to deliver you to me! We have a bit of celebrating to do! Now hurry, Fifi! You know how I hate to wait!. Kisses and crowns! Your BFF, Petunia"

Oooooh... does anyone have a crown I could borrow... welllll... let's hope she loves my hat! Oooooh this car is FAB... off for more FUN with Petunia! Thank you Petunia for helping me out with today's post... and getting my art VIRTUALLY into the Louvre!!! Thank you to everyone that attended my VIRTUAL opening in Paris!!!

All art work in this post is AVAILABLE in MY ETSY STORE!!!

Tomorrow my guest blogger will be Linda of Lime in the Coconut!

(Photos via Google Search for Louvre, Gold Doors and Citreon car)

Le Train Bleu and Le Orsay Transformation...

Bonjour... today's BLUE adventure will begin at Gare de Lyon train station...We will be dining in an absolutely GORGEOUS restaurant... I hope you have lots of time... this is a place to dine slowly... Prepare to be AMAZED as we enter Le Train Bleu...

Gaze around the walls and ceilings... as we enter the dining room...Shall we sit over here... we have a lovely view out the window too
Although I must say it is hard to tear my eyes away from the decor inside the restaurant...Look at these gorgeous moulding, paintings and sculptures...

C'est magnifique, n'est-ce pas?

Not only is the restaurant stunning, but the food is said to be divine... shall we look at the Le Train Blue menu...

Yummy dishes...Decadent Chocolat dessert...
Ooooh lunch was FAB... I think we need to head over to another train station... only it is no longer a train station... once Le Gare de Orsay... NOW Musée d'Orsay... it metamorphosed into a museum in 1986 This musée is now home to French art from 1848 to 1915...Here are a few of my favorite aritists in the museum... starting with my number 1 favorite artist Matisse... though I must say this is NOT one of my fav paintings...
Van Gogh...
Monet... Cezanne...

Manet...Oooh what a fabulous day in Paris... I cannot believe this is our last week in VIRTUAL Paris... le sigh! For our last week...

Tuesday... Another Spectacular Day in Paris, bien sûr!
Wednesday... French School Days with my guest blogger Linda of Lime in the Coconut!
Thursday... A Farewell to Paris party for Tablescape Thursday... and a Fifi Flowers PRINT & NOTECARD GIVEAWAY!!!
Friday... A fashionable voyage home... goodbye to Paris... hello to California!

I hope you ENJOYED my Blue Monday at LeTrain Bleu and Metamorphosis of the Musée d'Orsay... You can see more Metamorphosis Monday posts over at Susan's and Blue Monday posts over at Smiling Sal's !!!

I'm sorry I do not have paintings for today's post... I forgot to bring my brushes and paints along to the Champagne region over the weekend... but I promise to have a small gallery of paintings for you tomorrow! Until then... you can see my paintings at my Painting du Jour Gallery and My Etsy Shop.

Ooops... almost forgot... The WINNERS of my French Cafe Collection Frameable Notecards is BEVERLY of How Sweet the Sound... MILLIE of The Laurel Hedge... PAT @ Mille Fiori Favoriti