Macarons

Posted on November 1, 2018 Updated on November 17, 2018

I am skeptical of Macarons

They look so nice
But sometimes that’s where it ends

The outer crisp rounds are not always crisp
The flavors (oh, I expect these wonderful French Flavorings) are sometimes overly sweet

I heard of Giant Macrons at Bouchon Bakery in NYC filled with buttercream frosting
(why would you want that much sugar? – even so, I am interested)

Chicago Versions of Macarons (at the French Market Place)
Looks wonderful
They were packaged in a beautiful box
but they tasted old and stale

In Paris at Eric Kayser
The Macarons are delicious, but why they are in short supply?
They store them packaged in the freezer, which guarantees they are fresh
but the package have a ‘lame” selection of brown and beige macarons
I am in Paris, buying Macarons “blocks” from the Louvre . . .
(I expect “amazing” french flavorings and colors, but was a little disappointed)

Madelines

Posted on October 31, 2018

madeleine pistache

Rustic Pistachio Madeleines
HUMMINGBIRD High

Louvre History

Posted on October 23, 2018 Updated on November 17, 2018

Louvre Palace le Louvre wasn’t always a museum

The Louvre, in its successive architectural metamorphoses, has dominated central Paris since the late 12th century. Built on the city’s western edge, the original structure was gradually engulfed as the city grew. The dark fortress of the early days was transformed into the modernized dwelling of François I and, later, the sumptuous palace of the Sun King, Louis XIV. Here we explore the history of this extraordinary edifice and of the museum that has occupied it since 1793.
http://artknowledgenews.com/201001239682/2010-01-22-19-22-37-the-louvre-acquires-17th-century-painting-saint-peters-denial-by-private-donors.html

Marianne, the symbol of republican France

Posted on October 20, 2018 Updated on February 5, 2022

Monument à la République
Place du Château d’Eau (Place de la République)

The Monument is topped by a Statute of Marianne, the personification of the French People
and a Goddess of Liberty (like the Statute of Liberty)

Marianne also appears in Delacrox’s most famous painting at Le Louvre

Liberty Leading the People (Eugène Delacroix)

Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc) is another symbol of republican France

Liberty Leading the People (Delacroix)

Posted on October 20, 2018 Updated on July 6, 2022

Marianne, the symbol of republican France

https://wp.me/p3hvvc-1Xy

Sidecar (Cocktail)

Posted on October 19, 2018 Updated on October 19, 2018

Sidecar

La Pyramide

Posted on October 17, 2018 Updated on August 11, 2021

La Pyramide is a very famous and classic restaurant featuring French chef Fernand Point

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=0JPHW7qiNtKIggfw1aeoDg&q=la+pyramide+fernand+point&
LA PYRAMIDE F. POINT
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&channel=cus&q=fernand+point

Pyramide du Louvre (the Louvre Pyramid) was designed by Ieoh Ming Pei (I.M.Pei) when French President François Mitterrand modernized the Louvre

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&channel=cus&q=im+pei
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&channel=cus&q=François+Mitterrand

The battle of the Louvre pyramid
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csywyg
(BBC World Service, Witness History)

Marie-Antoinette

Posted on October 16, 2018 Updated on June 13, 2021

Marie Antoinette (1755 -1793)
38 years

Last Queen of France in the Ancien Règime (before Napolèon)

Her husband Louis XVI was executed January 1793
Marie as sentenced to death by the guillotine in October 1793

http://www.saint-denis-basilique.fr/en/Explore/MARIE-ANTOINETTE-AND-THE-SAINT-DENIS-BASILICA

Kings and Queens of France

Chardin (Jean Siméon Chardin)

Posted on October 15, 2018 Updated on October 15, 2018

We love this guy for his Self-Portraits

Jean Siméon is also master of the still live which populates many Musée in Paris

Louvre Masterpieces (Calendar)

Posted on October 14, 2018 Updated on November 25, 2020

One factor in determining the best things to see at Le Louvre in what appears on their annual calendar
(we were anxious to see which works were featured the most over the years, but there is some evidence that the same 12 pieces appear each year)

Léonardo da Vinci Lé di Ser Piero da Vinci
Mona Lisa
-Avril 2016 (and on the Cover of the Calendar)
Sainte Ann
-Mai 2016
Portrait de femme
-Septembre 2016

Eugéne Delacroix
Jeune tigre jouant avec sa mère
-Mars 2016
Femmes d’Alger dan leur appartement
-Juin 2016

Hippolyte Flandrin
Jeune homme nu assis au bord de la mer
-Janvier 2016

George de La Tour
Le Tricheur
-Février 2016

Antonio Canova
Psyché ranimée par la baisr de l’Amour
-Juillet 2016

École de Fntainebleau
Gabrielle d’Estrées et l’une de ses sæurs
-Aoôt 2016

Véronèse Paolo Caliari
Les Noces de Cana
-Octobre 2016

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Le Grande Odalisque
-Novembre 2016

Botticelli (Alessandro Filipepi)
Vénus et les Grâces offrqant des présents à jeune fille
-Décembre 2016