Pink Flowers & Champs Elysee Picnic

The great start

to a finally

{sunny} Sunday. 

Daniel Buren / Monumenta 2012 / Grand Palais

You can never be bored in Paris.

The days are {too} rapidly disappearing and I am desperate to drink in as much of the city's culture tonic as possible so that I fly back in a complete state of intoxication. 

Every year the Grand Palais invites an artist to create specially to fill the impressively enormous 13,500m² nave of the Grand Palais for Monumenta. 

This year it was Daniel Buren's 

[EXCENTRIQUE(S) TRAVAIL IN SITU]

(Eccentric Work  In Situ)

Incredible really. A big play on color, light and perspective. Under the carpet of colored disks with black and white stalks, one felt like a  small creature within technicolor forest.

A Good Reminder

On the wall at L'Inconnu

[a new, very hyped and seriously cool bar in the 10eme]

Expect lots of cool young Parisians, 10euro cocktails and a techno dance party in the basement.

17 Rue de Mazagran 7510

Frieder Burda / Granet Museum

The special exhibit at the Musee Granet was a particularly pleasant surprise. 

It was the first time Frieder Burda's exceptional collection of Expressionist and Neo-Expressionist pieces had shown in any other museum but his own. 

Burda is a German art collector with a particular interest in Expressionism. A greater emphasis on instinct, introspection and a certain mysticism was the characteristic of the artistic movement of this trend. Starting in the 1890s, certain artists abandoned the representation of an objective reality, following the example of Impressionism, in favor of a free expression of their individual subjectivity. As you can imagine, the resulting works are quite varied and  interesting. 

Among Picasso and Pollock, there was a lot of work by Gerhard Richter. 

Gerhard Richter / Le Chateau de Neuschwanstein / 1963

Considered by many to be on of the most famous living painter, Gerhard Richter defines himself as an artist without a style. As an eclectic artist, he practices all types of paintings and he has a great capacity for renewal and setting himself new challenges. 

Bouillon Chartier

Rachel is our default restaurant guru (literally, she never recommends a bad place), so when she suggested historic (since 1890!) Bouillon Chartier for Chloe's last dinner, we were all in agreement. It was perfect, very inexpensively priced and very French. 

You have to wait for a spot outside the restaurant (7 Rue de Faubourg Montmarte 75009) in a small courtyard but the ambiance alone is worth the wait.

It appropriately has been awarded for its inexpensive prices...

And it has all the classics - escargot, poulet roti, escalope de veaux, boeuf bourguignon...

We closed it down with a couple of bottles and of course, some mustaches.

Traveling Alone

I really enjoyed my weekend in Aix-en-Provence. 

And I was all on my lonesome. 

 Don't be afraid to go sit down in a cafe and drink some booze solo. I was sitting at this cafe admiring the atmosphere, reading and enjoying some wine when a very nice young French Brazilian engaged me in conversation. I learned a lot more about the city and made a foreign friend, score.

Farewells & Celebratory Sparklers

Chloe's departure is imminent. 

We had a close friends over for a little fete the other evening.

[how can I possibly say adieu to French wine and cheese?]

\\sparklers in the courtyard//

Granet Museum

Just as I was tiring of walking the streets of Aix-en-Provence,

I stumbled upon the Granet Museum (free entry!). 

Cezanne - Quatre Etudes: 

Un nature morte, un baigneur, un paysage, un plante 1879-80

The Markets of Aix-En-Provence

Besides meandering through the beautiful streets or stopping at museum, the main attraction of Aix-en-Provence may be the markets. Numerously placed around the small city, the each hold a similar smattering of -

\\wildflower art//

omg. a yorkie matyroshka doll.

lots of {relatively inexpensive} lavender 

More Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence is a quintessentially beautiful town in the south of France. 

There are lots of beautiful little streets radiating out from the central square, some business, many residential. 

--Carosuels and wrought-iron--

copious amounts of fountains

Old churches and places

Around Aix-en-Provence

From a day of wandering in the beautiful and quaint south of France city

[charming streets, sun-bleached colors, artisanal speculoos gelato, cast iron balconies, Provencal prints & lavender]