For my birthday - back early March- my wish was to have a week-end away on my own in Paris. Thanks to my amazing husband this happened last week-end and I had such a fantastic time. The kids (Téo is one year old, Ophelia nearly 10 and Lucien 6) were just so excited to spend a couple of days just with their dad, it made me feel like I should go away more often!
I took a pile of magazines and my sketchbook on the train and I had a big smile on my face pretty much for 3h30.
My sister Milou was waiting for me at Gare du Nord and took me out to this delicious and cosy restaurant near République called Elmer. If you like fresh, organic and well presented food in hand made ceramic plates then go there. Our table was not available when we arrived so we sat at the bar and they offered us a plate of hand made paté with a glass of Côte de Provence. What a nice thing to do.
I woke up Saturday, the sun was shinning so I jumped on a Vélib and off I went cycling through the streets of Paris. I'm much happier to move around town on a bike whether it's in Amsterdam or Paris.
I stopped for quite a long time at Sennelier one of the older art shop in Paris on the left bank. I tried different pencils, brushes and left with a bag full of new pencils and notebooks. Fun. The rest of my day was spent doing sketches at a café or two, shopping and visiting art galleries.
I really enjoyed to just have time for myself, not look a the time and not have any plans (things you cannot do with 3 children!).
I met up with my best friend Anais in the evening at the local Fujita Japanese restaurant near Pyramide. We've known each other since we were 5 years old. We met at the Waldorf Steiner school in Chatou back in the Eighties! Ah! A long time now!
On Sunday morning I went to see the exhibition Picasso. Sculptures at the Musée Picasso in Le Marais.
The museum reopened in 2014 after 5 years of refurbishment but I never had the chance to visit the place since then. The exhibition was really beautiful but I have to say I was even more amazed by the interior of the museum. The sculpted ceilings of the main staircase are magnificent. The sun was shining through the large windows bringing a warm glow to the stone floor and blue-grey painted doors.
Later that morning I met my French family for brunch at Beaucoup and then jumped back on the train back to Amsterdam with the same big smile on my face.
