I was there…in Paris, that is, for Valentine’s Day, and before I left I caught a glimpse of the shop windows starting to roll into Easter. But, first, take a look at what stopped me in my tracks before Valentine’s Day:
You have to go see for yourself! The Pont des Arts (pedestrian bridge in the 6th and just before the west end of Ile de la Cite) and the Pont de Archeveche (just behind Notre Dame on the east end of Ile de la Cite in the 5th) bridges are even more love-lock laden than the last time I was in Paris. The site actually startled me and then took my breath away when I came upon the sentimentality left behind by lovers. This photo captures a close shot of the approach to the Pont des Arts, but the brassiness of the locks can still be seen lining the length of the bridge, which, of course, are on both sides of the bridge. This Valentine’s sentiment can be seen all year long. However, the Valentine season shop windows come but once a year–Gerard Mulot in the 6th (76, rue de Seine):
Notice the abundance of placards of chocolate standing upright on the left! Although he has several locations in Paris, Patrick Roger’s windows at 2-4 place St. Sulpice became some of my favorite windows not to miss on my walks! And, then this shop:
and yet another:
All macarons! A new shop, just with macarons! And then the windows shifted with the season….
Back to my new favorite chocolate shop windows–with Easter now the focus! (And, I think the fish are to pay homage to a tradition in France on April Fool’s Day.) The eggs are on one side of the window display at Patrick Roger’s shop. Here’s the rest:
Chickens–hens! On chocolate ground with chocolate grass! (sorry for the glare)
And, then Easter dolls, as they were calling them, at the next stop….
and another lineup…But now I am in Uzes (qualifies as a gushy, mushy, impressionable town in the Gard region, just south of Provence and a 45 minute drive from the Avignon TGV station) and here is what my dessert looked like for lunch today at L’Artemise:
This creative ‘bunny’ shaped dessert is all sweet–not really an egg! For Easter, I have been invited to a vineyard picnic just outside of Uzes! Consider me fortunate! How about you?
Directionally Challenged 