i heart madeleine vionnet: day quatre a paris

day quatre:

my belly is FULL from the most amazing rose wine, antipasto, gnocchi, and molten chocolate cake. yum! even the long walk back across the seine didn't help to "walk it off." jet lag is severe. craziest case ever with my travels. each night i wake up after 3 hours of sleep and toss, turn, get online, read, plan the next day - anything - for 3-5 hours before i can fall back asleep. last night my neighbors were going to work and i was still trying to sleep. thus, i slept until 2pmish again. in the wee hours i was googling "jet lag." apparently i did two no-nos: alcohol on the plane (what's a girl to do when offered complimentary riesling? oh, and a chardonnary?) and sleep upon landing (at least i unpacked before my 6-hour slumber!). this has set my body into some random pattern but i'm squeezing as much out of my waking hours/paris' open hours as possible! upon waking i made an appointment for a hammam tomorrow. received many recommendations to check it out and in my late night online searching found this one with the enticing write up by the woman who wrote the naughty paris guide. funny how you really need a vacation from your vacation. so many things to see/do and it's important to just be. and, why not be while immersing in water and getting a massage, hair wash, and face treatment? next i headed to les arts decoratifs near the louvre for an exhibit i was told i *must* see: madeleine vionnet. was truly blown away. she is referred to as the "queen of the bias cut" and credited for the cowl neck, hankerchief dress, and halter top. my fave dress is the gold lame dress about 1/3 of the way down on the above link, next to the white grecian dress with gold belt. to. die. for. so elegant. all of her pieces are classic. i'd wear 85% of them now and they were designed mainly in the 20s and 30s! so impressive. i sketched a few of the dresses and took random notes that i shot for this blog post. clearly doesn't do her work justice but i wanted to capture ideas while they were fresh. then to laduree for rose macaroons and lime blossom tea with a tranquil space yogini who lives in paris. what a treat! next was wh smith for a book event with the blogger of chocolate and zucchini. she was darling, great presentation on her evolution as a blogger turned author and was sharing the process of translating i know how to cook by ginette mathiot to english (with a team of help - she was sure to point that out). next we walked by chanel. my heart skipped a beat. it was closed so i could only get a tiny glimpse of the famous staircase. finally, the evening culminated over italian cuisine, good convo (nice to actually talk to another human - it's been a few days), and rose wine. another day that nurtured my senses in many ways. feeling truly blessed. interesting observation: i haven't seen one person with a laptop at a cafe. it's books, cell phones, cigarettes, and friends. i'd thought a lot of writing would be happening by moi while sitting at sidewalk cafes. guess i'll need to slow down on sightseeing to make that happen but i'd be the odd ball out - sans cigarette and with laptop. we'll see. beau arrives on thursday so tomorrow is spa and yoga day. total tranquility. looking forward to his arrival and our exploration of this romantic city of light together. au revoir. xo