Ladurée

The recent opening of a New York branch of the French pastry shop Ladurée had me venturing up to the East Side this weekend to purchase some of their famed macarons. Ladurée, which began as a Parisian bakery in 1862, is credited with creating the macaron that we all have come to love—two small round cakes filled with a soft filling of deliciousness.

The crowds at the Madison Avenue location have been large and so I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived to find the line was not spilling out onto the street.

The shop is adorable. With pale green walls, old portraits, bottles of fragrances, and candles it’s almost like stepping into an 18th-century boudoir.

The inevitable problem with shops like these is I immediately want to buy everything—the candles, the bags, the chocolates. But I refrained. I was there for one thing and one thing only—macarons. 

Rows and rows of macarons, flown in from France, greet you when you reach the counter. It's an extremely hard decision to make but I settled on a decorative purple box of eight—four caramel à la fleur de sel (my favourite), one citron, one fleur d'orange, one chocolat, and one pistache whose green seems to match the walls. I waited until I was back home to have one and they are incredible. Crunchy and soft at the same time and extremely sweet. Well worth a trip uptown for a special treat or gift.

Photos by Michele.

My New Boyfriend

I came across this photo of two members of the Columbia University football team dressed in their practice gear circa 1898. Check out the guy on the right. I think I’ve just found my new daguerreotype boyfriend (and I don’t even like football).

Photo from the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York.

100 Years of Style

Watch this darling video that illustrates 100 years of fashion in just 100 seconds. Created to advertise the opening of a new shopping center in East London, it's a great piece of marketing. I, of course, love the dresses from the 1920s and 30s but also quite like the WWII-era pants and hairscarf as well as the 1950s rolled jeans with blazer (an outfit that I wore just the other day).

Take a Walk on the High Line

On Labor Day I took a walk on the High Line. A former elevated rail line, the High Line is a park unlike any other where people can wander and explore way above the city streets. Originally running from Gansevoort to 20th Street, a new expansion that opened in June now extends the park to 30th Street. I've visited the High Line before but this time I went to check out the new section.

The new expansion includes more flowers and some denser plantings. There is also a much needed swath of grass and bleacher style seating along with art installations and gourmet ice cream carts.

One of the beauties of the High Line is being able to see up close the evidence of New York's history from cool modern buildings to fading advertisements on brick warehouses.

The High Line also offers great views whether it's looking out across the city or watching the action down on the streets below. So the next time you're in Chelsea, make sure to check it out.

Photos by Michele.

Midnight in Paris

Strolling the streets of 1920s Paris in Midnight in Paris.

Confession. I waited a long time to see Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris because I was apprehensive about the depiction of the artists of the Lost Generation. Since I was a teenager, I’ve been enamored with the 1920s and the Lost Generation. So much so that I went to graduate school to study the literature (I wrote about Hemingway). And while I’m a fan of Woody Allen’s and knew he was fond of the Lost Generation I was still a bit wary. But after seeing the film I’m happy to report that Allen did not disappoint.

Midnight in Paris is the story of Gil (Owen Wilson), a Hollywood screenwriter who is visiting Paris with his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents. While the others don’t seem to particularly care that they're in Paris, Gil is simply enchanted. Trying to write a novel that will hopefully get him out of the screenwriting game, he looks for inspiration in the city where his favourite writers once lived. One night he wanders off alone, slightly drunk, and gets lost. At midnight, a vintage Peugeot pulls up with a group of revelers dressed in 1920s clothing who invite Gil to come with them to a party. He accepts and is whisked off to a house where a familiar looking man is at the piano singing a Cole Porter song. Gil is then introduced to a couple named Scott and Zelda. Wait a minute. What?

 Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald in the film.

Turns out Gil’s nostalgia for the past has somehow brought him back in time to his favourite era where he meets and has discussions with the writers he admires. Later he and Adriana (Marion Cotillard), the beautiful mistress of Picasso who Gil falls for, travel even further back in time to her favourite era—the Belle Époque. Allen’s message seems to be that everyone always thinks that the golden age is in the past and never the present.

Allen also asks you to suspend your disbelief. Gil appears to time travel and doesn't question it, and Allen asks the audience to do the same. Explanations on how it all physically happens are not forthcoming and it doesn’t really matter because it’s all so much damn fun. Oh to be able to visit Paris in the 1920s.

Hemingway gives some advice.

As for the writers and artists of the Lost Generation? For the most part, the film does a bang up job. There were a couple of moments when Hemingway (Corey Stoll) threatened to cross over into parody (the actor by the way looked perfect) and Zelda Fitzgerald (Alison Pill) looked too young but F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston who also looked perfect), Dali (a brilliant cameo by Adrian Brody), and Gertrude Stein (who I’ve always disliked but Kathy Bates did a fine job nonetheless) were great. I also love how Allen included real places like Chez Bricktop and references that were like inside jokes for fans of the Lost Generation (Gil to T.S. Eliot: “Where I come from, we measure out our lives in Coke spoons”).

Gil and Inez visit Givenry.

As for the others, Wilson was better than I thought he would be as the wide-eyed Gil, Rachel McAdams was fine as the materialistic Inez given that there wasn’t a whole lot to work with, and Michael Sheen as Inez’s college friend played the pompous ass to perfection. And then there’s Marion Cotillard who is lovely and sad and just so good. I think she’s turning out to be a favourite actress of mine. And don't forget the costumes. Sigh. If only we could all dress that way. 

Marion Cotillard as Adriana.

But, of course the real star of the film is Paris itself, the greatest inspiration of all, which always seems wonderful no matter what the time period.

Photos by Roger Arpajou/Sony Pictures Classics.

Happy Labor Day

I hope everyone had a relaxing day off for the holiday. I braved the humidity to walk the High Line and take in the last flowers of the season in the neighbourhood. I have a bunch of movie reviews and other stories to share with you dear readers and promise to have some new posts up shortly.

Photo by Michele.

September Shows Up

Ah, September. Your arrival tells me that my favourite season, fall, is just around the corner, and with it the wearing of my leather jacket and cute boots and so many other items that have been biding their time in my closet. I can't wait. Welcome.

Image from the New York Public Library.