Blue-Bleu

 Blue suede shoes seem right for Memorial Day no?

 Here's a way to double your creativity - spritz yourself all over with blue paint like Jean-Paul Goude did to Jean-Paul Gautier!

 One of my favorite shots of French ultramarine blue watercolor swatches.

 Mother and child reunion.

Have you noticed how French moms and daughters dress alike in Paris?

 Blue bag + blue dress.

All she needs are those blue suede shoes. I saw a lot of blue in Paris.

 A stunner of a bleu wall at an art show in March.

 A touch of bleu at the show.

 One of my favorite boutique hotels (in the Marais) is solid blue, Hotel Caron de Beaumarchaise. I long to stay here one night...

 And their prices are nothing to get bleu about either.

 Tres joli/beau oui?

 A blue dollie at La Petit Blah-Blahs

 Have you seen Nicole Robertson's gorgeous (means multi-colored Ha!) new book on Paris In Color?

 Nicole of Little Brown Pen lives in Paris full time. Take a look at her blog and swoon or get ze book and look offline whenever you want to sink into Paris colors.

 I went looking for some Cobalt blue yesterday but all I found were these jazzy, Floridian rhinestone sunglasses at Gap Kids of all places ($10)

 I was relieved to see turquoise bleu is A OK in Paris but will it double my creativity? One wonders...

I spent most of my time in March shooting lunette signs...

Do not ask my why?

Imagine:How Creativity Works

 Do you look at the world through rose-colored glasses?

Jonah Lehrer says the color blue can help you double your creative output. Consider switching to blue glasses. I am...

 Lehrer's book 'Imagine:How Creativity Works' is full of good ideas and anecdotes to back them up.

 I was planning to do up my Paris-apartment-to-be in red Vichy checks.

 But now it will be true bleu all the way.

 I'll stepping out in bleu ballerinas too..Why not?

 Head-to-toe bleu outfits can't hurt.
Bye bye Italian verte olive.

 Maybe that's why I love Paris pools? I get great ideas in the water. Is it the blue that inspires me?

 Paris in general is a great source of inspiration. Just one foot the door and I get inspired. But sometimes in the creative process you hit a wall.

"The question becomes, what happens if you hit the wall? Because we've all got experience with this. You're working on a creative problem, and then all of a sudden that feeling of progress disappears...

 I'd rather hit a wall in Paris.

'What you should do then — when you hit the wall -' .

 Is get away from your desk.

Step away from the office.

Take a long walk.

(Preferably during l'heure bleu..)

 'So when you hit the wall, the next best thing you can do is probably take a very long, warm shower.'

 Illustration by Soledad Bravi

'Daydream.
Find some way to relax. Get those alpha waves. Alpha waves are a signal in the brain that's closely correlated with states of relaxation. Breakthroughs happen in the unlikeliest of places, whether it's Archimedes in the bathtub or the physicist Richard Feynman scribbling equations in a strip club, as he was known to do. It reveals the wisdom of Google putting ping-pong tables in the lobby and confirms the practical benefits of daydreaming.'

 "And what scientists have found is that when people are relaxed, they're much more likely to have those big 'A ha!' moments, those moments of insight where these seemingly impossible problems get solved. The answer will only arrive once you stop looking for it."

 Lehrer sadly does not mention snacking as a great source of inspiration. But you do have to take a walk to get a snack even if just to fridge...

I'm crazy for the Imagine:How Creativity Works video on the Amazon site.

'It's this ability to attack problems as a beginner, to let go of all preconceptions and fear of failure, that's the key to creativity. One needs to constantly remind oneself to play with the abandon of the child.'
This quote made me buy the book (the audible version so I can paint while listening)

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND PBers!

Paris Blue Monday

Did you know today is 'Blue Monday' -  "the most depressing day of the year." Psychologist Cliff Arnall reasoned Blue Monday is the day when a slew of unpleasant variables such as drab weather, failing New Year's resolutions and Christmas bills collide, creating a veritable maelstrom of negativity.

 So let's pretend we're in tres bleu Paris instead non?

 Paris does have a grey-blue caste to it, that makes many Parisians long for 'blue skies' New York, but that's their problem...

 So many bright blue shops like chocolatier Marquise de Sevigne at Place Madeleine...

 Posh Bonpoint promotes bleu for French kids...

 Is it any wonder French kids are so mature? They get trained to be little adults right off the bat.

 Bleu port + bleu shoes = perfection!

 Jean-Paul Hevin does not have bleu macarons but all his goodies come in his signature cobalt bleu tins. MIAM! I'm a collector...

 The French wear bleu head-to-toe as do their dogs...

 More French in bleu. Don't you love the little 'bleu' riding hood jacket here?

 Street signs are easy to find in Paris - always in bleu and plastered on corner walls. Not the case in NYC malheureusment...

 Paris Metro maps are full of French Ultramarine bleu...

 Thanks to Harriet I ordered the bleu Paris bus guide from Amazon.fr...

 Somehow you can never find these treasures when you're in Paris and it's fun to plan ahead...

Still feeling bleu/blue?

BONJOUR BLEU MONDAY!

Salon du...Designers!

These are the shoes of a brilliant designer. And a brilliant chocolatier, Jean-Paul Hevin.

Every detail is carefully considered. *When M. Hevin signs his new hot chocolate book, he uses his pen backside up (it's a Muji pen btw).

J-P Hevin could not be more charming and he giggled when I asked whose elegant shoes he was wearing.

"Zara" he whispered and smiled.

Naturalement post-Salon I ran to Zara to find the same baskets, but non plus/no more. I bought a wooly scarf and matching bonnet instead.

Hevin's stand at the salon is like a giant chocolate bar/tablette.

Has Hevin a propensity for grids? His hot chocolate won best in Le Figaro. You don't have to be French to figure out his recipes. This has to be easier than $#@! macarons.

But how to decide what to buy?

Another top Parisien chocolatier-designer, Sadaharu Aoki.

I love his egg-shaped packaging.

 The Pantone-colored chocolate bonbons.

Who would not kill for an ultra chic library of chocolate bars from Bouillet-Lyon?

Or super elegant tablettes from Jean-Charles Rouchoux

I loved these witty macaron boxes from Arnaud Larhrer.

 Salon du Chocolat 2011 was an homage to maitre chocolatier Robert Linxe of La Maison du Chocolat - the first to bring Parisien couture design to chocolate in 1977.

In the end it's all about how the chocolate tastes in your mouth no matter what the design.

 We're all 5 years old when confronted with incredible delights the annual Paris Salon du Chocolat offers.

 Now I'm listening to Graham Robb's completely engaging and informative History of Parisians - the perfect intimate backdrop to a trip to Paris.

Bonjour All French Chocolatiers!