JennAHHHHH.

I made a beautiful Pasta à la Jenna the other night, my favorite dish laden with basil, cherry tomatoes, spinach, olive oil, a squirt of lime, plus salt and pepper and a bit of shredded emmental cheese among little farfalle pasta. It is divine. I decided to sprinkle a little extra salt on it, but forgot that I'd taken the cap off the salt earlier. So this happened.

"Uh... oops." Good thing I made plenty and still had some for a proper dinner!

Beauty Above All Other Things

Good news, I found a backup home in case anything happens to the Princess Palace. It's called the Musée Jacquemart Andrée, and it is crazy beautiful.

It used to be the home of Édouard André, the heir to a banking fortune, and his painter wife Nélie Jacquemart, whom he met when she painted his portrait. They would travel to Italy often to amass their incredible art collection, not to mention impressive ceiling murals.

Right now they're having a superb exhibit called "Désirs et Volupté" featuring Victorian masterpieces from a single collector, Perez Simon of Mexico, highlighting a period of art cultivated by painters like Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Sir Frederic Leighton that was dedicated to aesthetic idealism and, better said, beauty above all things.

And it really lived up to its theme. I nearly died of beauty.

This painting, called "The Roses of Heliogabalus," is breathtakingly, ridiculously gorgeous, and massive - nearly life-sized. Yet its theme is quite sobering - it depicts a Roman emperor who, for fun, suffocated his party guests in rose petals.

(not a bad way to go, if you ask me)

Lawrence Alma-Tadema was said to have had thousands of roses flown in from all around the world to his studio in order to be able to depict the flora in the most realistic, vibrant way possible

The rest of the exhibit was equally beautiful, full of contrasts and sculptural details.

I feel like the painting below is really familiar - maybe my mom had it somewhere in our home or her classroom? Not sure. Either way, I'm sure my mom would have fainted with joy at this exhibit.

Every piece was full of detail, like this woman's delicate veil and jewel-encrusted bodice.

The painting below didn't seem that interesting to me at first, but upon closer inspection, the level of intricate attention paid to every millimeter really blew me away, and kept me looking at it for several minutes. Each feather and fold in the drapery, every line of each nose was held sacred.

Naturally I was drawn to the red dresses.

This painting was fascinating, a panorama of some kind of heaven/hell where angels are miserable.

Gorgeous.

Good Omen

This was my view when I got the call that my friend had an apartment I could move into. Incidentally, I ended up being about a 3 minute walk from this spot!

Some Snaps Of The 'Hood

Here is the area I've moved into, the quirky and cool nabe known as Ménilmontant...

The first day I was here, I went to a "Portes Ouvertes" or artist atelier walkabout around the neighborhood. One of the exhibitions was in the big church right down the street, the one that wakes me up with 15 minutes of bell-ringing every day (gorgeous). But the exhibition was in the church basement. I went up to the churchy part of the church, and it was completely, totally empty. Have you ever been in a completely empty church before? It's.... quiet.

What I love about Ménilmontant is all the amazing street art all around, which definitely enhances the beauty of the place. Everywhere you turn, there's some funky or fun piece of neighborhood art that jumps out to greet you...

(and I love this "Coiffure" - hair stylist - which just has plants in the window?)

You stay classy, Paris.

My New Home - A Detailed Tour

Well, after a few weeks of panicking after my roommate told me I'd have to leave our place in Montmartre, I've been touched by divine intervention or the graces of the universe or whatever and landed in a truly wonderful apartment in east Paris where I'll spend my last few months... living all on my own (finally)! Since you won't be able to see it for yourself, I'll show you around virtually.

This beautiful red door near Le Chiquito is mine!

Then we walk past the first building of apartments and through this lovely courtyard...

And if you look up, that tippy-top window up on the left is mine!

Then we walk up seven super-fun flights of stairs, basically until we think we might die, but our glutes will be the better for it. Buns of steel.

Et bienvenue... welcome to the most insanely girly apartment ever created.

 

Let me note here that I only arrived with 2 suitcases and 2 boxes (almost no décor besides Post-Its, a map of Paris and a movie poster you'll see in a sec). I'm told my friend's father-in-law (who the apartment belongs to) went through the place decorating it with little cutesy touches "pour Jenna." I mean, I like color, but this is just hilarious.

My petite kitchen...

(view down to the courtyard from that window) 

And here are some roses that my friend's husband bought for me when I took them out for dinner to thank them for the apartment and helping me move...

 

The little fridge, which my "landlord" decorated with flyers for upcoming events happening around the area, plus a towel with adorable little macarons embroidered on it. I thought it was the perfect place to also hang the apron given to me by Grandma Mickey (for use when making pies)...

ET VOILÀ! LA CHAMBRE DE MAGIQUE (ET COULEURS):

The bedspread is bright pink and has the words "home design" written all over it, because, I guess, what else is there to say? And I'm happy I finally have a place to put my "Quelle Joie de Vivre" poster.

And here is my work space:

The cupcakes/candies artwork is nice and all, but I did replace one with a photo of me and my Pengabears Kerri and Shannon. So, while I'm working during the day/blogging/perusing the Internet, this is my view (note the "France, Travel, Bon Voyage, With Love" artwork, and "Americains" book):

And this is a ceramic pup whom I'm calling Hank, who guards my headbands with style:

Then at night, I switch to the other side of the table (like I'm going to a different office) and work on fiction with this view of my inspirational Post-It Notes (Romy and Michele would be flattered):

Ah, it's so nice out today, let's open the window, shall we?

If you'll look to your right, you'll see some neighbors and the church Notre-Dame-de-la-Croix (there are actually several "Notre Dames" in Paris), which rings different chime combinations pretty much every 15 minutes of the day. It's lovely.

And to your left, you'll see:

Which sometimes transforms into this:

You can kind of see the tip-top of that famous tower there. Oh here, she's easier (and nicer) to see at night, when she sparkles:

So yeah, I'm pretty happy. I feel so fortunate to get to spend my last few months living in Paris the way I've always wanted to. Stay tuned for a tour of my new 'hood!