Paris in July -I think there's another week left - week 5

 

Breaking News! I'm going to wind up Paris in July 2018 next weekend - 4th August - so you have a few more days to finish some of your wish lists. Its just to hard to do a wind up post mid week.

This past week has been such a delightful journey - thank you everyone for another very diverse and inspiring week. we have some reoccurring themes

• books - ones that take us Paris, food inspired novels and recipe books, novels by Parisian Authors, books by french people for french people, short stories, and reviews (mostly by Mel U) bringing to life Authors of Yiddish background or those who experience Paris in WWII. Mae was even bold enough to post on a disappointing book about Paris. 
• Recipes & dinners - french onion soup by Jean @ Delightful Repast was one that made my mouth water. Lisbeth hosted a french dinner, matching her wines with the menu. 
• TV series and Films - Art @ Ripple Effects reviewed Cleo from 5 - 7, and Lisbeth @ the content reader reviewed Le Bureau des Legends airing on Swiss TV. 
• The French Hutch shared with us her Place setting that reminded her of Franch - the Soleil and Laguiole cutlery. Beautifully representing the yellowness of french fields and sunshine. 
• Memories of Paris - such as Sami's first visit in 1984..

I wanted to thank Sami for reminding me of some of my first memories of Paris, and other french cities. I think I'll do a post about a trip I did to Arles a few years ago. I've also been learning so much from Mel U about Paris in WWII through reviews on Yiddish or immigrant authors in Paris. Mae's review of a book about french food idioms was pretty engaging and is calling to me now.

So here we go - into our final week of Paris in July 2018! What will you focus on in these last few days? ps. I note some of you have started you 2019 Paris in July lists already.... anyone else have thoughts about that? 

 

Paris in July - Ready for week 4?

 

Bienvenue à nos nouveaux amis se joindre à la dernière semaine. It makes my heart smile when I see new people joining in during the month we celebrate Paris in July. We have been treated to many new aspects of Paris and french living in the past week, and I suspect the next week will be another full week of options.

For me, I have been resting and recovering at home after being hit hard by a virus. So my French experiences have been slightly passive. I have been enjoying my subscription to TV5Monde which allows me to watch a range of shows in french.

I've also been enjoying a picture book I have. French Essence Here's a couple of images I'll share from it that inspire Frenchyness ....

The author speaks about collections...

samples of french items that create an ambience french.

 

then there are those images and colours that you expect of french culture....

And the essence of summer living in dreamy Provence....

What evokes the French Essence for you?

Here we go - Enter your new posts for week 4 here.

Simple French Recipes - Paris in July

For Paris in July, I like to set myself some new cooking challenges. This week I've been struck down with a head cold, and complicated cooking was not going to happen. But I found these simple every day recipes to try. I'm pretty happy with the outcomes. 

Farmers Cheese

I used this recipe from The Spruce Eats, and had no problems. It's so simple. Just three ingredients, 15 mins preparation, and the finished product was quite tasty and good as a cheese plate cheese, salad cheese, or to drop into a hot soup. I flavoured mine with a sprinkling of cumin for something different. 

Almond and blueberry galette

Another very simple recipe which I adapted  with gluten free flour, this has lasted in our house only 24 hours... highly recommend it. If you search for more about the Galette in french, you'll find it means flat cake - but in Brittany, it's more like a pancake. Yet the most famous Galette is La Galette des Rois - which is served to celebrate the Epiphany on Jan 6th. David Lebovitz (famed French Food Blogger) notes this 

There are two kinds of Kings Cakes in France; one is layers of puff pastry filled with almond cream, and the other is a circular yeasted cake, more popular in the south of France, festooned with colorful, sticky candied fruit.

My third recipe is going to become one of my go to favourites - it was delicious! So remember that I'm sick, I dont want complicated recipes or complicated flavours right now - so for Bastille Day, or La Fete Nationale, or Le Quatorze Juillet - this is what we had for our dinner... 

Galettes with ham and eggs

From one of my other favourite foodies, Luke Nguyen, I was attracted to this recipe. He notes that - a galette is basically a savoury crepe. They are traditionally served with ham and eggs, however you can fill them with anything you like. Although it may seem quite easy to make a crepe, there is great skill to it, so you may need a few goes to get the thinness of the crepe right. Unfortunately, mine didn't turn out as crepes, more like pancakes - but so tasty!

I had fun with each of these simple french recipes.... good luck with finding ones you like. 

Paris in July - Starting week 3

Wow, hasn't week 2 been full of Paris Love! We've attracted over 30 participants, and the variety of posts are staggering. I'm having so much fun with reading and visiting posts, that I simple haven't got time to do many of the Paris in July things I had hoped to do. (I've also come down with a huge head & chest cold, which is dampening my energy levels).

Here's my own view of what's been happening in Paris in July this week. The Tour de France started, and with that my favourite TV emission -  cooking segment for each region of the Tour de France with Gabriel Gate. (I am sorry if you cant access this in different zones, but it's soo good, if you search on YouTube you may find older versions).

Book, magazine and audio reviews have been coming through this week. Mae did a review of  a magazine she's loved - Cuisine et Vins de France: A classic french magazine, which gathered quite some attention of fellow bloggers with it's retro images. Jeanie at The Marmalade Gyspy reviewed some of her favourite French cooking books too. Then there were reviews of books about expats living in Paris, more on children's books from Deb, and some reviews of classic french novels on audio by Becky.

Also this week, we've had a couple of posts a little different, like Lisbeth,  who made some Paris in July Bookmarks, and Brona's post on tapestries visiting Sydney from Cluny. And I want to give a special mention to the French Village Diaries who posted on speed limits in France... worth a read if you;re planning a visit.

There were also some travel posts, including Esme's Market Day in L'isle sur la Sorgue, Molly's visit to Giverny, Mae's commentary on Paris: Where Intellectuals and Tourists never cease to roam, and Deb's post on Sunday Mass.

And then a couple of posts dedicated to home decor or things we love about France. Magnolia Darjeeling posted on Crisp Whites and Pastels, and French Ethereal for her little bit of Paris.

I wanted to make a special mention of this post by Mel U - about Jozef Czapski  - Mel has done some in depth research and notes that Czapski knew Proust and French literature intimately, working purely from memories he gave a series of lectures on In Search of Lost Times. He did this while he was in prison at Gulag between 1939-1945. Thanks Mel for this insight.

Now we head off into week 3 - what will this bring? I'm hoping for some news about how you've marked Le Quatorze Juillet, and maybe some movie reviews?  Dont forget to link your posts in here.

Pairs in July - marking 100 yrs..

I'm having troubles getting into reading this July as im soo busy blog hoping. Now with more than 26 participants in Paris in July, there's alot to do. However i did start reading "When Paris Sizzled: The 1920s Paris of Hemingway, Chanel, Cocteau, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Their Friends" by Mary McAuliffe PhD and was inspired by this quote to share the anniversary of Dorothy. 

"A t 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, Marie Curie was in her lab, working as usual, when guns sounded over Paris. Not German guns, but French guns. Guns that for the first time in four years were firing without hostile intent. It was an extraordinary moment, signaling that Armistice had come and that the war, that never-ending nightmare of carnage and atrocity, was truly over. Helen Pearl Adam, the British journalist who had remained in Paris for the war’s duration and faithfully recorded her impressions, wrote that “it would have been a strange thing if Paris had kept her head when the Armistice was signed, and accordingly she did not.” For three days Paris and all of France celebrated, as people surged into the streets, popped arcs of champagne into the air, and enthusiastically embraced one another."

While November is still a few months away, this is the 100th year since then. And on July 2nd my family celebrated 100 years since my grandmothers birth. Although she  passed away 13 yrs ago, she was worthy of remembering. 

 I hadn't really thought about this before, but as I started Reading about the Belle Epoch in Paris, I started to think about Granny, and the era that she was born into. During her formative identity forming years, when she was thinking about the world she would be living in, she was enjoying some of the best years of her life.

Also from When Paris Sizzled - In the meantime, L’Oréal continued its rapid growth, aided by the new hairstyle, the bob—the short, cropped hair for women that had begun to appear during the war and that Coco Chanel as well as movie stars such as Clara Bow and Louise Brooks made popular. Instead of leading to a drop in demand for hair dye, as Schueller initially feared, the new style increased demand, as it required frequent cutting and dying. Seeing another new niche, Schueller now produced a bleach, L’Oréal Blanc, that created the rage for blonde and platinum hair that continued for decades.

Yet in the second half of the 1920s, (when Granny was 10 or 11yrs old) the Australian economy suffered from falling wheat and wool prices, and competition from other commodity-producing countries. Australia was also borrowing vast sums of money, which dried up as the economy slowed.

Then (when Granny was just 11yrs)  the Wall Street crash of 1929 led to a worldwide economic depression. The Australian economy collapsed and unemployment reached a peak of 32 per cent in 1932.It took Australia almost a decade to recover from the Great Depression. (From here)

Granny and Grandpa got married after Granny had worked for a couple of years as a receptionist.  After bringing up her own 5 children, my Granny and Grandpa became house parents for homeless or children in need of care. I grew up with these kids, like my cousins. 

In the 1970s, Australia became the new home for many Vietnamese refugees, and again, Granny and Grandpa, became host Grandparents. 

Below is My Granny & Grandpa with me and my cousins. 

I'm so proud of my Grandparents. 

Other interesting facts from 1918

• Women (30 and older) in Great Britain are granted the right to vote, two years prior to suffrage in the United States.
• Architect Jørn Utzon is born in Copenhagen. He would go on to design one of the most iconic buildings on the planet, the Sydney Opera House.
• The Stars and Stripes newspaper begins publishing in France, and The New York Globe begins running Robert Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” cartoon.
• Tsar Nicholas, his wife and their five children are assassinated in Russia, ending the reign of the imperial family.

Paris in July - Moving into week 2!

Week one of Paris in July 2018 has been very busy, and very diverse. It's been a delightful journey and I hope many of you have enjoyed the reminders, the learning and the opportunity to dream! Thank you to all our active participants to date, and to all those who have been visiting us.  Here's my recap on what's been happening.
I've counted 26 participants signed up so far, and while many are returnee's, we are welcoming some newcomers, which I'm very excited by.
Firstly, can I draw your attention to Bellezza's choice of Paris in July image - a gorgeous B&W

If you're interested in posts with a focus on books and book reviews - there's no shortage here - childrens stories, novels set in Paris, Paris-ish Cookbooks, and the classics. I cant go through and name each blogger and their posts - you can find their links here, but four of my favourites are

• Louise at A Strong Belief in Wicker posted on a delightfully gorgeous children's book called Claris, the Chicist mouse in Paris. 
• Jeanie posted on All the Light I cannot see and brought it to life with her own photo's of St Malo where the story was set. 
• Lisbeth has prompted me to pick up a Zola novel with her post on Nana
• Mel U - always bringing a new perspective on literature related to Paris, is introducing us to Yiddish authors. 

There have been some wonderfully inspiring visiting Paris posts as well, for example Marilyn in her post 'France Delights my Heart' which is a must visit if you love the parks and patisseries of Paris. Nancy has also been teasing us with images of Patisseries and reviews of French Wine. 

I would like to say one of the fun posts I enjoyed was Deb's at A ReaderBuzz where she notes that many novels set in Paris have an image of the Eiffel Tower on the cover... go look and see what research she has done! 

As for me, I did not get time to post my own Paris in July themed post, because Lisbeth made me pick up Nana, and I also picked up When Paris Sizzled, and I had to read the Tour de France racing Guide.... Maybe I'll post something special tomorrow. For those interested in Celebrating with Paris - next saturday is Le Quatorze Juillet. Many of us will try and mark the occasion in one shape or another - and I cant wait to see what people choose to do. 

Week 2 - link your posts here.New participants - I will try and notice when you join in and link your blogs to my participants list on the sidebar of my blog.