Parisian Havens

There are so many Parisian havens and I hope to visit many of them this year.  But here's a few that I really love...most of these pics are from 2010....but you can expect to see lots of other Parisian havens from 1 April this year.

(1)  Jardin du Luxumbourg - an oasis of green and calm in the middle of Paris.  Parisians just love this park and it is easy to see why.  Lots of green, blossoms, sculptures, dappled shade and even a little kiosk that sells caramel tea.  Oh la la!  C'est magnifique!

(2)  Musee Rodin - in a word, this place is 'breathtaking'.   The musee is filled with Rodin's powerful sculptures and the garden is, as you can see, very beautiful.  The image below inspired one of my favourite collagraphs, "View from the Balcony at Night".  It was a very difficult collagraph to perfect but after lots and lots of proofs...I did!

I'll post this and other work inspired by my 2010 European holiday in my next post.  In fact, the holiday was the inspiration for my first joint print exhibition, Hallelujah, which was held in Brisbane in November 2010.

Even the bark of the trees was beautiful!

The Kiss - sensuel non?

The master's signature!

(3)  Odorantes - well....could Heaven be like this?  Odorantes is just around the corner from Jardin du Luxumbourg and sells divine roses and other very special blooms....which they arrange according to 'scent'.  The bouquets are wrapped in lovely black tissue paper to which is attached a special poem.

As you can see below, a girl just can't resist such temptation!  When I was there I commented on the gorgeous black tissue paper and the owner very kindly gave me a bundle of sheets to take home.  I have used that French black tissue so many times over the last year as chine colle on my prints......so when I visit Odorantes this year I have a special gift for them.....an etching that I've called "Pour Odorantes".  I hope they like it!

(4)  Musee de la Vie Romantique - this is quite a little treasure.  This musee (townhouse) is set in a little park at the foot of Montmartre in the Novelle Athenes area of the 9th arrondissement in Paris.  Our apartment, which will be our base for most of 2012 and into 2013, is just around the corner!  So I'll be having lots of morning teas in the musee's charming garden cafe which you can see below.

The house is really interesting and displays works of art for two great people of the 19th century - George Sand and the painter Ary Scheffer.  Did you know that George Sand was actually a woman and her real name was Aurore Dudevant?  She was an incredible woman who had an impressive literary career, but dressed like a man and smoked cigars, plus had affairs with many great artists, writers and musicians!  Well, that's Paris non?

Parisian green garden furniture in the garden cafe.

Mon mari, Pierre

 Voila!  And for my next post you'll be able to see some of the prints that I created after visiting these wonderful Parisian havens.  A bientot!