GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAFY

Though we have certainly visited a number of beautiful wintry destinations, from elegant train tours and exquisite St.Petersburg, to romantic wintry gardens in England and enchanting ice hotels, often the promise of warm sunshine calls us away from home for an escape from it all . . .



. . . an escape away from snowy slopes, boots and layers upon layers, to endlessly blue waters and an indescribable golden sky, to Bora Bora, Tahiti . . .



Here, beautifully warm and languorous days await.




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No winter evening's rendezvous on the Champs-Elysées, with its glittering shoppes and glistening holiday lights is complete without a stop at our most favourite "fabricant de douceurs & gourmandises": Ladurée, in all its gilded grandeur.



In the early 1900s, Pierre Desfontaines, cousin of Ladurée's founder, Louis Ernest Ladurée, took two almond meringue cookies and joinied them with a divine ganache filling, creating the macaron as we know it.



Prior to that, macarons were simply cookies, which were first brought to France by Catherine di Medici and her pastry chefs in 1533.



These little round cakes, which made their onscreen debut in the film, Marie Antoinette, are crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle, and are made every morning by Ladurée’s pastry chefs who measure precisely, the required amounts of almonds, eggs and sugar, and a touch of magic . . .



Ladurée, which began as a tea room near the Place de la Concorde in 1862, has since expanded within Paris, then to other parts of the world, including England, Monaco, Japan, Luxembourg, Italy, the Arab Emirates, and its most recent location, in New York's Upper East Side, where we met Ladurée's owner, Elisabeth Holder, who is also the sister of the Chairman of the company.



The NYC shop, located just down the street from Dior and Chloé, is a jewel box of pastel green, displaying traditional decorative accents, busts, mirrors and classical paintings, showcasing chocolates, crystallized flower petals and of course macarons, all imported from Paris each day.



Elisabeth, who began her career working in the fashion industry for the likes of Hermès, moved to New York recently to run the affairs of the newest Ladurée boutique.



Elisabeth has said that "The macaron is a grand classique of the pastry arts -- it's not an accessory. It's an experience of pleasure." And so, during our meeting with her, we just had to ask for her:

{creator of legendary chocolates}

Movies have been made, novels have been written, and even songs have been sung about chocolate—celebrating its tradition, its magic and its wonderment.



And whether you prefer creamy, milk chocolate as smooth as silk, or enjoy the stark bitterness of a deep and intensely flavored dark chocolate, some say chocolate preferences can say a lot about a person. For whosoever has a love affair with chocolate, shall always . . .



If you plan to travel to Paris, Cannes, London, New York, Tokyo, or Hong Kong, you might make a stop at the legendary chocolatier, Robert Linxe's La Maison du Chocolat.



Originally founded in Paris, and "with over thirty years of expertise and ever evolving creativity", some might say the perfection of Linxe’s creations is unrivaled, and that the experience alone is worth a trip.



Made only of the purest, freshest ingredients, legendary chocolatier Robert Linxe's mouthwatering confections are noble, artistic creations that capture the essence of chocolate in its truest form and exalt its taste in every exquisitely memorable bite . . .


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. . . always fun to see collaborations, whether or chloë sevigny x opening ceremony or lanvin x h&m, and one that is especially fun is the recent six london & farfetch collaboration with six design bloggers, one of whom was alix from the cherry blossom girl, whose midnight blue satin sky-high mary janes, complete with dainty straps and crystal clasps, perfectly wrapped in elegant bows were a definite favourite . . .

. . . hello! it's lovely to see you again, and after an early morning show, followed by a mad dash across town to another in the afternoon, and lunch with laily at pastis, finally, a few [very brief] moments of repose to stop by and say hello, before the champagne pours at tonight's soirées . . . and apologies for the absence -- have been having a bit of time keeping up with the days, and so, posting may, regrettably, be a little off-schedule this week . . .

hope you're having a beautiful week so far & à bientôt, roséline xo


{p.s.} if you follow along on twitter, a few glimpses here & there


[image : photography by alix from tbe cherry blossom girl, via tumblr; dress, vintage]

. . . keep coming back again & again to this stunning chaise -- the watery hue and luxurious sheen . . . what is it about tufted velvet that captivates so?


{image: vt interiors, the cherry blossom girl via seaside dreams}

. . . a very favourite blogger collaboration must be alix from the cherry blossom's girl's with french lingerie company étam -- the pieces are so perfectly pretty and draped in sheer romance, it's nearly impossible not to be swept up in the delicate ruffles, elegant lace, and powdery whisps of chiffon . . .


{image: photography by the cherry blossom girl}

. . . one of my most favourite places in the world is versailles, a place so filled with the magic of history and the perfectly ornate stories of times gone by, it nearly overwhelms; often filled with travelers and admirers, one can only imagine how it must have been in the quiet of nightfall, especially the wonderfully mysterious appartements privés de marie antoinette / private apartments of marie antoinette, and the majestic hall of mirrors, enveloped in the beautiful shadows cast by a sea of chandeliers . . .

{images: all photography by the cherry blossom girl}

. . . if you've been reading for a while, you'll know about a certain fondness for glimpses of the vacation shots of others {paris: one two three, bella italia}, and while this afternoon may have been a flurry of speeding along busy highways, still unpacked carryalls and a million unanswered e-mails, everything seemed to fall away at the sight of perfectly ornate domes, venetian mirrors and chandeliers, soft and pretty pastels and the palest pink roses in marvelous madrid . . .

{all images by alix of the cherry blossom girl}

. . . there has been much talk about ralph lauren's new flagship store in the quartier latin on the left bank in paris: housed in an 18th-century city mansion across the boulevard saint-germain from the café de flore, it was built on the foundations of an old monastery and completed in 1754; over the centuries, it has been a private home, the dutch embassy, the carnegie foundation for international peace, and, most recently, a government office building

through the carriage entrance and cobblestone courtyard is where you will find ralph's, the shop's polo-chic restaurant with tables in the old stables, {in the summertime, the courtyard}; there is a bar in the old tack room, and the place is enveloped in warm wood and leather chairs; here, you will find a menu of american classics -- new england clam chowder and maryland style lump crab cakes, crispy southern fried chicken, and, of course, seared double RL ranch steak . . .

{p.s.} previous at the shops:
* neology by mina, brooklyn
* mrs. press, australia
* rothschild & bickers, uk
* billy bride, australia
* satomi kawakita, new york

{all images by alix at the cherry blossom girl; some background from newsweek}