Musée des Arts Décoratifs

I had been waiting to visit the Museum of Decorative Arts since a while back. But I waited for Claire to be here as I know that she would appreciate it as much or even more than me. I thought that we could at the same time visit the Musée de la Mode et du Textile since they were housed in the same building. However, I was not aware that the fashion museum only held temporary exhibitions. When we were there, the museum was closed and undergoing preparation for the coming exhibition; Valentino - Thèmes et variations. Claire was pretty disappointed as she was so much into fashion.

Still, we did enjoy the decorative arts museum. It brought us through the early stages of religious arts from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Above were statues representing the four seasons. Can you figure out who is spring, summer, fall and winter?

The above picture shows an 18th century furniture in the rococo style.

Alessandro Mendini from Italy designed this arm chair. It was an amazing piece of art with great fabric and colours. I would love to own one though I doubt Seb would accept it in our living room. The vases around the armchair were painted by various artists.

On the last floor of the exhibition, we were greeted with various chairs. Some were familiar to us and others were unique. On decorative arts, I figure that chairs are the most flexible and common object to design. Tables can only take limited shapes as table top with legs as support. But with chairs, designers can vary the forms so long as one can sit on them. If you have a fetish for chairs, this is the place for you.

MIA

I know that I have been writing less. I have been so so busy these past weeks.

I am right now in Helsinki. My fourth trip in less than a year and come to think of it, I actually know more resturants here than in Paris.

This was the month that I had been doing 'aller-retour' at the airport. We sent Ivan and Belinda to the airport after dinner at our place on 30 April. The next day, we went to the airport to fetch Claire and Jill Wong. A week later, we sent Jill off at the airport. Last Sunday, we sent Claire off at the airport. The next day, I went to the airport to take my plane to Helsinki.

While Claire and Jill were here, we three had fun. Claire's holiday was hugely spoilt over a mishap when she was robbed in my car. Details will come in a later entry.

On Sunday, after sending Claire off, I met up with my blog friend from Daily Affairs. She was visiting Paris with her family. I got to know her recently and it was the first time we met. It was a quick meet up but we hit it off right away. Singaporean girls are amazing. We can warm up to each other so easily. Other recent experiences include Sharon, Sandra and Jill.

With such a busy month of meeting various singaporeans, I thought I could have a good rest in Helsinki. But the 4.30am sunrise wakes me up each morning. Even with the curtains pulled, sunlight managed to peep through. It is really werid to have daylight even at 10pm.

For this weekend, Sam, the globe trotter may be dropping by for a visit. I will be hosting him and cooking dinner for him. However, I won't be his tour guide. I had enough for this month.

Ladurée

I have been busy keeping company my 2 guests from Singapore. Claire is still in Paris while Jillian has left on Sat. As usual, with each new visitor, I discovered new areas of Paris.

One of those new discoveries is Ladurée. I had heard of Ladurée famous pastries; especially its macarons. But I had never tried it. I am not a pastry person unlike the Misses Wong. So, a pilgrimage to Ladurée is a must for them.


Each of us ordered our beverages and our lovely piece of cake. The cakes were indeed heavenly. The taste was exquisite and we enjoyed our "tai-tai" style of afternoon tea. I said "tai-tai" because a tea cost around 6.50€ and a piece of cake 7.70€. That was really an expensive tea break.

If time allows, Claire and I would drop by again at Ladurée. With one of my best friends in town, Ladurée just seems to be the right place for a priceless afternoon chit-chat.

On a side note, the weather here has been really warm this past week. When Misses Wong arrived, it was still cold but now, the temperature stayed at 25 degrees in the afternoon. We spot a tan already.