Inspiration Paris

Welcome to my blog, Femme et Fleur at the intersection of Frenchified, Fashiony and Funny.

My first post will be about my trip to Paris in September. It's pure Inspiration Paris.

This mademoiselle inspired my drawing for the blog's title  I saw her in the Jardin du Luxembourg. She was walking with friends, and I just managed to snap a picture before she passed out of view. What a beautiful smile. To me she embodies everything wonderful about how Parisian women dress. The eccentric hat, the casually tied scarf (I defy you to tie one like it) and the red poppy pinned just so. Oh, and the Louise Brooks haircut!

Before I write another word, I must thank my stepdaughter, Dianna, who helped me start this blog.  She came along on our trip.

Here is Dianna and her husband, Michael, contemplating treats from

 Gérard Mulot.

My stepson, Richard, also traveled with us. Here he demonstrates is typical bonne humeur. 

See the pillows on the bench? That's Arthur Miller with the pipe.

We stayed at the Hôtel Pont Royal, the hotel of writers. It's centrally located near the Rue du Bac metro and has decent-sized rooms and beds. It was good except for a little "incident" which I may tell you about later.

I'm happiest just wandering the city discovering things and looking in shop windows. And Parisian shopkeepers have the best vitrines.

This is just a run-of-the-mill fleuriste.

A shopkeeper opening her store on a sunny morning. 

Our weather was perfect for the whole trip with temperatures in the 70s and 80s.

La boucherie is ready for Madame.

Alexandra Sojfer on Boulevard Saint Germain sells umbrellas. These parasols will cost you an arm and a leg. Then you won't be able to carry the umbrella or walk down the street.

A few years ago we discovered Coton Doux. My husband, Richard, loves these shirts. Here he is buying his annual allotment. He's wearing one too.

 J’adore this vintage orange shoe.

 These two women look really, really French. What is it? The trenches cinched at the waist? La Belle Époque hair style? The little strappy shoes worn while riding a bike?

An inanimate French woman.

You'll think you died and went to pom-pom heaven at Yesim Chambrey on rue Abbaye, around the corner from the Place de Furstenberg, where you'll find the Delacroix museum.

This fashionable jeune fille is clutching Madeline from my favorite childhood book by Ludwig Bemelmans. "In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. They left the house at half past nine....The smallest one was Madeline."


On this sweet note, we'll pause for today. But please stay tuned for Part Two of Inspiration Paris.

À Bientôt!