Salon International de la Maison de Poupée /SIMP-Expo

 

Yesterday, on Sunday, I went to the 1-day Summer doll house fair, Salon International de la Maison de Poupée /SIMP-EXPO.

I was looking for tiny roses 🌹 my current obsession 

Yesterday in Paris

 

Yesterday as I was leaving for the Piscine 🏊 Saint-Merri at noon, this French tour group was studying the back of my heritage building

Our building was designed by renown 17th century king’s architect Louis le Vau, creator of Chateau Vaux le Vicomte, l’Institut de France, Versailles, and a portion of the Louvre.

Queen of Jam / Queen of England

I started collecting Christine Ferber jams (miniatures only) in 2008.

It took me longer to taste the real jam. 

Maison Christine Ferber, Niedermorschwir

 If you love ❤️ jam, especially Christine Ferber jam

A trip to Niedermorschwir is a delight. 

Jam Trouble - Les Confiture Letter

It's that time of the month again when I go through torture creating the newest Paris Letter.

Inspiration for October's letter came last Spring when Coco Jobard showed off her wonderful old Alsatian jam(confiture) dish towel. Jars of luscious fruity jam spell Fall to me. I'm crazy for the hand-written labels, the fluted glass jars. Jam on toast or a croissant plus tea and a good book is the best no?

But researching jam for 3+ weeks is maybe not the best kind of immersion for the easily tempted.

These jam hats (chapeau pot de confiture) made me swoon. You can find a wonderful variety of hats on Littlemarket.com.

Some of the best hats are worn on the best jam made in France by Alsatian Christine Ferber. She hand-ladles her heavenly jams into each pot to maintain quality. I dream of visiting her shop in Niedermorschwihr if I ever figure out how to pronounce it. These jams are in the new Galerie Lafayette's Food department, moved across the street from the main store.

Three glorious floors of food boutiques and mini restaurants and everything is clearly marked out. Le Grand Epicerie feels like a maze since they redid it. I forever get lost and can't find what I want.

Do come prepared and wear battle gear to browse the huge jam department at Galeries.

If you plan to make jam yourself you'll need a different kind of armor.

Head over to Librairie Gourmands on 92, rue Montmartre 75002 for the best selection of cookbooks in Paris, two floors of them. some are in English. All of them gorgeous.

Their windows right now are full of jam cookbooks. I bought this one though I'll never lift a wooden spoon or stir strawberries in a copper pot. Look for 'cuit au chaudron' (cooked in a caldron) on the labels. Traditional copper pots are great conductors of heat. You want to cook your fruit quickly and evenly.

They have adorable boxed preserves sets with all the essential  accoutrement for jam-making. So tempting.

Researching jam requires a visit to La Chambres au Confitures. There's a new branch in the Marais.

Inside it's wall-to-wall jam divided into seasonal flavors. You can sample every jam in the place and I almost did before deciding on fig. See my sampling spoons below.

If you're like me, you have 'impulse control issues'. Then its best to stick to collecting miniature jam jars. Once jam enters my house it's 'Gone Girl' in the blink of the eye.

Painting jam, on the other hand, is a perfectly safe endeavor for the jam-addicted. It is advisable to work from photographs not the real thing.

Frenchy script on jam jar labels (etiquettes) always intrigues me. My first banner for Parisbreakfast was a jam label. If you're mad for these little paper stickers the best source is BHV, second floor craft department.

I used mini jam jars to sketch from, to minimize the damage of wolfing down big jars of apricot jam in one fell swoop. Size matters.

Parisbreakfast readers often ask for old watercolor still lives so I made this Paris letter more washy.

Finally, after too much jam research, the October letter is done and on it's way to you.

You can see ALL of the October letter uncovered on Etsy. If you've been resisting subscribing here's an enticement. A jar of pear jam (an original watercolor 4" x 6") sent as a bonus if you subscribe to the Paris Sketch Letters. This is the perfect time of year for jam don't you think.

Jours des Patrimoine, Jacques Genin, Street Food Temple, Jam

It was rainy and overcast Sunday in Paris.

But that didn't stop Parisians turning out early for the weekend of Jours des Patrimoines.

I went to nearby Hotel de Ville thanks to Jeannie's suggestion. She went last year and said it was terrific.

The entry line moved fast. Plus a jazzy Dixie land band serenaded us in the drizzle.

Hotel de Ville was a good choice to explore.

Very grand and you could visit all three floors.

You could also lounge and relax in the very fine tapestry chairs.

Or chat with the artisans who repair those chairs.

And check out all the innards.

Or chat with the ateliers caring for the parquet floors.

And the carers of the multitude of chandeliers.

Post visit to Hotel de Ville I headed up rue de turenne to the big Street Food fair...

The fair just happened to be a turnoff near patisserie Jacques Genin so. Impossible not to go in for a quick browse right? And finally after browsing for a good 4 years i decided it was time to taste his famed tarte au citron. No desserts were on display but what the heck. Two French guys were in front of me, trying to decide what they wanted, which was taking HOURS so I nodded to the vendeuse and asked if they had the tarte citron? She nodded yes they did and ran off to get me one (from I don't know where they are are hidden). When you get a dessert at Genin you also get to pick out a FREE chocolate of your choice! Yahoo.

Outside I stopped for one bite. 

I had to put my spoon down (never leave the house in Paris without a spoon by the way). Sheer astonishment. Not only was Genin's citron tarte the best I've tasted in Paris, it's up there in the Pantheon of best tastes in Paris. I kid you not. 

I even ate the crust - a record. It seemed criminal not to eat the tarte intact as it was meant to be eaten. This is an absolute Must-Do in Paris PBers!

On to the Street Food Temple with a somewhat dampened appetite.

My appetite was dampened further when I saw the LONG lines to purchase jetons to buy the food. Huh?

Even longer lines of jeton-holders waiting to buy food which was cooked to order I guess.

I was not the least bit enticed to get on the lines I gotta admit.

The interior of the Carreau du Temple IS spectacular and reminded me of the Victorian pavillion for  salon du chats.

Outside the halle you did not have to get on any lines to buy Real food straight from producteurs of the Ile de France.

At the annual Fall Manger Local held in the same space.

I bought champignon de Paris from the same mushroom lady as last year.

I made a big study of the jam people at Manger Local, since October's Paris Sketch Letter is going to be jam-oriented. Uh oh...

Have you ever tasted confiture abricot-Brugnon? You have not lived PBers. On the label it says the jam will keep until 23/07/2017. What a joke. Are they kidding?