A Propos de Paris...

While I would normally try to keep this blog content hip and happenin' (there, an embarrassing dad moment already..) with the current season, I thought 'How could I have a blog about the little pleasures and delicacies of life without mentioning my magical trip to Paris?'  After spending a week in a city that looks like a film set and smells like a just-opened box of chocolates, I returned with the optimism of a sugar-coated almond, determined to live my life as Parisians do:

1. Sleep below a velvet bed frame.  This one is from our hotel, but we made one that's very similar, for my own bedroom.  

The heaviness of the velvet made it so hard to wake up every morning

2. Splurge on soap. Admittedly I haven't found any Hermes bath supplies that didn't smell like a man you might meet on the back of the #95 bus at 2 am on a Friday, but the entire Philosophy line more than makes up for it.  (Especially their fall collection which I received as a lovely birthday gift from my first Blogspot friend Anais!)

The soap was already hairy when we got there, I swear!

3. Eat lots of delicate desserts. Alright, I already knew this one, but the incredible shapes and ingredients of the thousands of Parisian concoctions I wolfed down during the week....really inspired me to hunt for similar things in Ottawa. So far, The French Baker has really...taken the cake...when it comes to fluffy yet rich Parisian macaroons, but their prices are a little on the higher side.  Once again, Anais to the rescue!  She recommended the Ottawa Farmers' Market where I found macaroons as wild as lavender-apricot, at slightly more reasonable prices.  

"I'll have one of each!"

A cherry turnover I ate barefoot in a downtown park

The name of this mess crumbles under the pressure of its exploding components

Some cakes are kept under futuristic domes

A Parisian McDonald's

A 'Divorce'

A chocolate-wrapped eclair and a raspberry mousse cake kept in place with dainty plastic toothpicks!

Strawberry Coulis with Creme Fraiche

4. Dress as though you are quite literally out of this world. I noticed something funny about Parisian women: looking effortless is key in any outfit. For example, they'll combine a perfectly tailored Marc Jacobs raincoat with a flawless make-up application and....messy hair.  There always has to be something to lure their audience into thinking this is just something they threw together.  Lipstick is always minimal, make-up palettes are very neutral, and, for the most part, hair color doesn't stray farther than 3 shades away from the color of your roots. So, while you might be wearing a faux fur stole, or in this case, an electric blue suit, always keep it looking like you didn't care about looking good when you got up this morning, you don't care about it now, and you won't ever have to care...it just comes naturally to you. 

5. Eat unique food as much as possible.  I won't even get into the story behind our dinner at this little bistro...let's just say the chef was unpleasantly surprised by my persistence in getting us a seat despite my date's vegan restrictions. All part of the atmosphere,  my vegan date likes to say.  Though I normally don't enjoy snobby chefs, the food surely made up for it.

6. Accept yourself for the hopeless romantic that you are. It's impossible not to fall in love with love in Paris. I'm trying my best to keep some of that magic back here, where the Eiffel Tower can only be found in old photographs :)