I can’t help feeling that if I’d been shot with several arrows, my face would express something a little more intense than “Oh, look at the sky... what shall I have for lunch today? Doo-de-doo...” (“Saint Sébastien” by Pietro Vannucci dit Pérugin)
I’m posting this because I like the way you almost can’t tell where the real people end and the painting begins. (“Les Noces de Cana” by Paolo Veronese.)
Each to their own, I guess? (“La Mort de Cléopâtre” by Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli dit Giampetrino)
You know what sustains a girl through many hours at the Louvre? Delicious handmade truffles by Camille. This was the “gingembre” truffle. I was a little scared going into it as I don’t like crystallised ginger, but hurrah! This was a smooth and luscious chocolate ganache with just a hint of ginger heat coming in at the end. Score!
Girl, I feel your pain and crankiness. I too once had the misfortune of getting a haircut that made me look like Patty and Selma. Did you also have a brother who teased you mercilessly about it? (“La Reine Marie-Anne d’Autriche” by Diego Velazquez)
A woman after my own heart – halfway through a pomegranate and going for the figs. Chuck in some raspberries and a fuyu persimmon and you’ve got all my favourite fruits right there. (“Femme Prenant des Fruits” by Abraham Brueghel)
I seem to be taking lots of photos of horse statues and paintings. Parents, it’s my birthday in a few months. I WANT A PONY. (“Tête de Cheval Blanc” by Théodore Gericault.)
This is for Shellie and Fiona, because they got so excited about David’s, erm, bits... (“The Turkish Bath”, by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres)
And a coconut truffle, which had honest-to-goodness the silkiest ganache I’ve ever come across. Camille, you’re a magician. But even this couldn’t compare to your praline truffle wonders, particularly the ones that had nothing but crispy-crackly-nutty goodness inside. Anyone in the Paris vicinity – get thee to Camille’s place of work and go crazy!
(Also, I should mention that it’s forbidden to eat in the Louvre. So yes, I was the girl darting into the nooks and crannies between rooms to sneak illegal truffles. That’s not addict behaviour, is it?)
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
wow!
LOL you should hold art gallery tours. You know how you get those headsets, we could opt for the Hannah version which would no doubt be tres entertaining!
He really does look quite blase about being shot to pieces with arrows, right? LOVED your captions, more please! Also your sneaky close up shots of chocolate are making me very hungry.
Hannah, I LOVE your Louvre tour! I hope to see some of these when we are there. The crowd scene is fantastic. I think this post must win the best photo caption on every picture award. Perfect. I didn’t think that they’d be overly thrilled with you eating chocs in the Louvre. How are they with you taking pictures?? Where does your friend Camille work? I think I need to experience the chocs too, even if I have to eat them outside the Louvre.
When I finally get to Paris I’m taking you with me for the telling-it-like-it-is tour of the fine arts. I will expect secreted chocolates for the duration of the tour (including discretely letting me know if I have evidence left on my face).
I reckon if enough of us chip in we can have a pony waiting for you when you get home! Your parents can just look after it while you travel, and house train it and everything, I’m sure they’d be very happy to do this for you.
You wanna bet!
Patty and Selma! Ha! Also, I’m so happy that you liked the ganaches. I’m proud to say that the coconut one was my very own invention (not that I came up with the chocolate-coconut combination, but that I developed the recipe and “sold” it to the boss, thus making it a permanent part of the repertoire).
I was wary of the ginger chocolate, too, the first time I was told to make it, but it turned out to be one of my favorites!
Thatssoron: That’s as good a reaction as any!
Lorraine: Teehee, maybe I should broach this with the National Gallery once I get home?
Laura: Maybe he was high on snuff or something?! I might have to become a roving art gallery connoisseur back in Australia, so that I can keep providing you with these posts!
Louise: Thank you so much! The comments here have absolutely made me feel so much better, as today my toe played up and I had to cancel my sightseeing plans. In the Louvre, you could take non-flash photos. At the Musee d’Orsay, though, all photos were forbidden, which was annoying. I kept thinking of comments in my head, and couldn’t take the photos for them!
Conor: Sounds like a plan to me – my “expertise” and endless stash of chocolates, your company? Brilliant. And, you know, if you all do want to get me a pony, I wouldn’t say no…
Maybe just one of those tiny ones that are only as tall as a kitchen table?
Camille: Changing the face of Parisian patisseries, one truffle at a time…
(But he still wouldn’t go for the mint combination? Silly man…) I truly loved the subtle spicy kick to the gingembre… was wondering, though, do you use a stencil to write the words on them?
Ahh Hannah! I love it!
Karly: Thank you! And thanks for stopping by!!
It’s actually a transfer sheet, or rather, hundreds of tiny trnsfer sheets – one for each chocolate. The imprint is colored cocoa butter.
Camille: Wonders never cease! If I’d known that, I’d probably have tried to eat around the letters to see if I could taste the straight cocoa butter… and that would have made me a crazy lady. So thanks for only telling me now!
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