Guillaume Apollinaire was a French poet. In a poem called calligram, the letters' arrangement has a meaning. Here is an extract of the collection of poems Calligrammes:
This calligram is carved on Apollinaire's grave. The poet is buried in Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
The text in French is: Mon Cœur pareil à une flamme renversée
The translation in English could be: My Heart like an inverted flame
Can you guess where this picture was taken?
The answer is in the comment section.
The César are the French equivalent of the Academy Awards. This year, the ceremony was held in Paris on february 22th. This was an
occasion to see some nice gowns and some disastrous outfits.
Here are two outfits I like:
Chiara Mastroianni (on the left) wears a simple little black dress. It is a wrap dress and the front of the dress is nicely draped. Chiara
could wear it also for daytime. I like the idea of wearing one dress for different occasions.
Chiara has a minimalist look with very few accessories : no jewel, black pumps. Only the embroidered purse gives some brightness to the outfit.
Chiara Mastroianni (c) BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images
Actress Aïssa Maïga wears a Dior gown whose cut is simple. The color is sober. But there are pleats and embroidered silver sequins on the
front of the gown. I find it makes her gown both elegant and original.
Aïssa Maïga (c) Francois Durand/Getty Images
I don't know who made Chiara's dress. If you know the answer, please leave me a comment.
The metro entrances are typical part of Paris street furniture (like Wallace fountains).
In 1899, the Compagnie du Métropolitain de Paris asks Hector Guimard to design different entrances to the metro : small stations, enclosed
entrances (called "édicules") and open entrances (called "entourages"). Hector Guimard is an architect who belongs to the Art Nouveau movement. His cast iron gates indicate the entrances to the
new Paris metro. They are criticized for their innovating shapes.
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After Guimard, metro entrances are less avant-garde. Open entrances are made of stone or wrought iron. Entrances are signposted by masts.
Later, they are replaced by signs simply saying "metro" or "M" (those signs are not worth taking a picture of) to signpost the stairs (only
stairs no lift, Paris metro is not wheelchair-accessible).
In 2000 at last, a new metro entrance is bold. The "kiosque des noctambules" (kiosk of the night-birds) is designed by the French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel for the Palais Royal station.
kiosque des Noctambules (Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre station)
I like this kiosk surmounted by two domes made of glass bubbles because it's kitsch and fairy. The criticism I would make of this work of art
is that it doesn't help you to find the metro entrance because there is no sign. I am afraid it has forgotten its main function.
Links:
Différent metro entrances (in French)
Guimard metro entrances (in French)
Some works of art by Jean-Michel Othoniel
If you plan to go to Paris, here is a list of stores selling organic products and all sorts of good shops (ecological products, Fair trade
products, natural cosmetics, honey...). This list was made by people living in Ile de France who share their good shops. You can open this rtf document in a word processor (like Microsoft
Word).
Click on the address book picture to download the list.
This document is under a Creative Commons license. You are free:
* to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
* to Remix — to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
* Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
The original document is here : http://eclectic.over-blog.net/
I visited the Musée des arts décoratifs in Paris during Heritage Days. The surroundings are nice and look like the Louvre Museum (it is normal because the museum is in a wing of the Louvre Palace). The museum is a maze of corridors and I had to ask several times how to get to my destination.
Decorative Arts, it is when daily objects become works of art. The museum presents some furniture, chests, chairs, tableware, jewellery etc. I liked the period rooms: there are for example a Renaissance bedroom, an 18th Century living room and the apartment of the fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin. I was only disappointed with the Jean-Paul Gautier exhibition in the Fashion department. I found that the clothes were a little worn.
Some restorers were present on the occasion of Heritage Days. A tapestry-maker explained how he repaired old tapestries. I heard that the wall hangings in the Jeanne Lanvin's apartment were restored in India. I didn't know that offshoring concerned culture too :( .
Here are the pictures of my favourite works of art:
A magnificent eighteenth century canapé. The style of this sofa is called Louis Quinze. I was not allowed to sit on it but it looks comfortable and is very long.
An Art Nouveau guéridon designed and manufactured by the furniture designer Louis Majorelle around 1902. The top is in the form of a water lily leaf.
And a tea set made around 1785.
With this furniture I could furnish a living room to my liking.
I was spoiled with a lot of surprises in the packet:
* a herbal tea for sleeping
* a fair trade organic chocolate bar with orange because I love chocolate
* some seeds that can be sprouted with some gauze and the directions for use (I wanted to test sprouting)
* Soap nuts (I wanted to try them)
* Dried tomatoes (I wanted to try them too)
* and a nice recycled paper notebook with eco-friendly recipes for cosmetics, cooking, health, cleaning and crafts. La Griotte collected these useful recipes from several bloggers.
La Griotte was well-advised because I am greedy and inquiring.
Thank you La Griotte!
I have signed up for an Eco-friendly swap. For this barter, I had to find an eco-friendly present or something made from reclaimed materials. I had to send this present to a cyberfriend, Cerise
(her blog in French is Bioventure). But Cerise knows a lot about Ecology. Therefore, I tried to use my imagination, at the risk of being
irrelevant.
My packet contained:
- a notebook about decluttering and organizing that gives some advice from my favourite web sites. I made some drawings to illustrate it.
- a reclaimed box. I made a collage with flower pictures.
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- and a few cookies in the box.
That was my first swap. That's a good experience that stimulates creativity.
After some hesitation, I have added a new category called "Crafts" to show my creations. So I will keep a memento of the items I give and hopefully I will see my
progress as time goes by.
My latest creation is a cardboard picture frame. I painted cabbages because it was a birth present for a baby boy. And in France it is said that little boys are born in
cabbages.
At the same time, I made a trompe-l'œil frame. The cardboard frame imitates wood. And now the difficult part is to choose a picture to put into the frame.
