A French Love Affair with...Pâtisserie!

France is gâteau-heaven and I... LOVE desserts! While wandering around one of my favorite sites (or community of bloggers), seriouseats.com, I stumbled upon an article entitled "10 must-try sweets in Paris". Of course, I stopped everything I was doing and started to read...voraciously ;-)

So, I thought I'd share it with you. Just try not to read it if you're hungry or craving for dessert, it will just make matters worse!!!

http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2011/08/10-essential-paris-desserts-best-pastries-paris-pierre-herme-laduree-stohrer-poilane-sadaharu-aoki.html?ref=sweets-bb4

I've tried a few of them already but I just cannot wait 'till next time I go to Paris to try them all!!!

A French Love Affair with...Beauty!

The French are well-known for their beauty products. I won't bother mentioning all the famous brands that  everybody knows, sold by cosmetics stores across the world. But I do have to mention a particularly miraculous product developed ages ago (like in the 1920s) by a company called INNOXA: it's called Gouttes Bleues and it works wonders for tired eyes!

These -literally- "blue drops"* are adored by make-up artists and the fashion industry in general. What differentiates them from your ordinary eye drops is that they do not only give you that extra sparkle that you want when you're ready to go out but they also soothe and relax the eyes- plus they are made from all natural ingredients (like chamomile, witch hazel, etc).

In France, you can get them from most pharmacies. Elsewhere, you may order them online.

* they get their vibrant blue color from a plant called cornflower, or "bleuet" in French ;-)

A French Love Affair with...Tea!

I absolutely LOVE tea. But not just any tea. Authentic, pure, strong tea. And definitely not Lipton..!

Now that autumn is slowly creeping in, it's time to enjoy my daily cup of tea once again... :-)

Many of you may not know that the British are not the only ones who have a tradition in tea. The French do too: Mariages Frères is an excellent example of that. Of course, Hédiard also sells amazing tea. But recently I've discovered YEMAYA Thé. They make Puerh tea from China which they sell in the form of "bonbons". Their innovative design is not only amazingly cute but also very practical, while the bonbons can be infused 4 or 5 times each.
Get them online at www.yemaya-the.com, or buy them from only one location in Paris and two in Biarritz.

A French Love Affair with...understated fashion!

So, i came across this cutting-edge Belgian brand the other day called n.d.c., and i really like some of the stuff they make...

Check out their golden Naima babouches and their Laguiole knives in which they have incorporated exquisite vintage or lizard skin leather in the design of the handle...

I also loved their women's and men's sandals (especially jess, jael, jeesus and sondld-what original names!) and even the things i didn't like that much have exquisite craftsmanship-it's no wonder that their slogan is: n.d.c. made by hand...

For those in Paris check out their flagship store in 20 rue des Canettes-definitely worth a visit on my next trip to France- otherwise you'll have to make do with their fantastic website, http://www.ndcmadebyhand.com/