Music, Chocolate, and Art

MUSIC
So a couple times now as I've been walking to or from the house where I babysit, I've run into this little 3-5 person brass band roaming the streets and playing 40's music and jazz. It transforms the upscale, mostly residential, suit & tie atmosphere into an upbeat, can't help but smile, Parisian dream. The last time I heard them I was on cloud nine because as I was exiting babysitting at 7:30 after having a totally cooperative and fun Leah on my hands for the past 4 hours, I walked out into the most beautiful evening. 70 degrees, colorful sky, and this:



So instead of going home, I grabbed a Velib and rode around through Arr. 16 & 17.

CHOCOLATE
I've also been quickly checking off my Tour de Chocolat recommended places.

Patrick Roger

I loved the background in the place - all trees as you can see. Though I didn't feel the link between a forest of trees and chocolate? His caramels were of the same caliber as my grandma's - which says a lot. And the other chocolates had exciting fillings. Notice the chocolate sculpture in the window. I'm actually getting kind of used to those :-)

Jean-Paul Hevin

I didn't get plain chocolates here, but rather chocolate patisseries. Very good, though I wasn't blown away. Perhaps if I'd tried the Choco -Passion rather than the Caramel Buchette.

Just one more Chocolat Tour stop left!

ART
My friend, Sinead, and I visited the Kandinsky exhibit at Centre Pompidou today. I have discovered another artist that I like. He's a bit trickier than Henri Toulouse-Lautrec because I have no clue what "feeling" each color and intersecting shape is supposed to imbue, nor do I think that creation began as a geometric point and extended into triangles, circles, and squares from there. But I do know that I love the color choices he uses and I prefer his paintings with bigger and bolder shapes than his later-on little surreal, microbiology-inspired squigglies.

We weren't allowed to take any photos, so I google-imaged him and laughed when I saw this as the result.

Have a little color! I love it. These were some of my favs in chronological order:

Blue Mountain

Black Lines

Moscow

Several Circles