French Decor Craft

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I wanted to do an arts and crafts project that would incorporate my love of France and of art. So what better way than to make my own art piece to hang in my house! I made an art box, or simply, a decorated box you can hang on your wall like art. Easy, right? A couple weeks ago, I had seen this project done, but with a cheapy painting you might find at a thrift or crafts store. I wanted to do the same thing, but with pretty construction paper I had around the house. I did cute sayings for my piece, but you can put song lyrics, or your favorite quotes for the lettering. 


You'll need:

• Plain gift box
• Construction Paper
• Craft paint
• Paint brushes
• Letter Stickers or make your own letters

Authentic French Recipe: Crêpes

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Step 1:
Ingredients

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• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

From the Editor: Holy Crêpes, Crêpes, Crêpes!

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I absolutely love France. I definitely know I will be living in château in the south of France sometime in my life.  IT WILL HAPPEN!

c'est tres délicieux!

Before we go onto our next destination of the week, I just wanted to share some lasting impressions of France, and by lasting impressions I mean food recipes! Something I have always wanted to try is crêpes. I've never had the pleasure of tasting one, even though I've had other French delicacies. 

I found an easy crêpes recipe that is super fast and yummy, because as I have said I am culinarily challenged!!! I topped my crêpes with powered sugar and fruit, but you can add just about anything to crêpes, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert!

Stayed tuned for tomorrow when we reveal the next stop on our travel journey!

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À Bientôt!

French Art + Culture: Check this out, Mes Petites

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If you are interested in contemporary French art, check out The French Art Studio, a French contemporary art exhibit from London!

♥ Bisous!

Photo Tour of French Art

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The world famous Musée du Louvre in Paris! 

Art and France have had a love affair as old as time. Some of the greatest artists, both visual and written, have come from France. Additionally, some of the greatest artists to have ever lived have made their way to the country for its pure inspiration at some time or another in their life.


France has been on the cutting edge of making art into our understanding of Art. From the Renaissance through the Impressionist period, and into our modern day, the Art world would not be the same without French influence.

I'm going to share some of the most famous classic works of art by some of the biggest names to enter the Art World, as well as what is going on in modern French Art.

Read more about my favorite French artists and their works after the jump!

Top 10 Favorite French Films!

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I am a big fan of movies, and I think watching foreign films is a fantastic way to pick up a language. I also, just for kicks and giggles, turn on the subtitles of movies in English to learn different languages my favorite movies come in. I definitely recommend it!

Going along with our destination of the week in France, I have to share my favorite French films with you all. French cinema is rather odd, compared to American standards. Nonetheless, French cinema is totally cutting edge and intriguing. What I like best about it is how closely it follows a kind of French aesthetic, the same one the French view toward art.

France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributors. Many important cinematic movements in film, such as the Nouvelle Vague, began in the country. The famous Cannes Film Festival is the most prestigious film festival in the world.

★Fun Fact: Actor Robert De Niro is the President of the Jury for the festival.

When I have friends over for dinner or a movie night, my go-to stash of entertainment is always a French film. No matter what, the film is ALWAYS a popular topic of discussion for the group, and it certainly makes the evening lively and fun.

Check out my list of favorite French films after the break!

French Music Playlist

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I have a deep love and admiration for French music. Seriously. I could practically have a whole separate iPod for my French music collection. I think one of the best things about French music is how wonderfully diverse it is, yet has a fundamental quality that makes it universally unique.

France has a wide variety of folk music, as well as styles played by immigrants from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. In terms of the "classical music" of the country, France has a number of legendary composers, while modern pop music is big on hip-hop, techno/house, rock, and a little genre called "Zouk". Now like many of you, I had NO IDEA what the heck zouk was as a musical genre when I first heard that term. Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean. Zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole French culture in the Caribbean. Find out about Zouk here!

I, for one, am a fan of how avant-garde French music is due to how wonderfully the influences of the world blend with classic French culture.

Some popular music festivals in France to check out would be the Nice Jazz Festival, on the famed French Riviera. It boasts itself as "the first" jazz festival of international significance. Over the years, it has drawn some of Jazz's biggest acts like Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, and Louis Armstrong. Some choice rock festivals include Rock en Seine, and Les Eurock eennes de Belfort, which is one of France's largest rock festivals.

It's hard for me to widdle down my list of favorite French songs, but I composed a pretty diverse mix of jazz, rap, rock, folk, pop, and plain ol' weird French music I think you might all enjoy!

Here is the list of 10 songs I Love  in French. Click the song titles for the actual links to the music/videos!

From the Editor: "There are only two places in the world where we can live happy: at home, and in Paris"

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Je t'aime, France!

Our second destination of the week was pretty much a no-brainer. All I had to do was look down at my key-chain, and quite literally "Voila!" there was my inspiration: WE WILL GO TO FRANCE!!!

I'll admit, I have a particular bias to France, and everything french, for beaucoup raisons (a lot of reasons)! Besides having French heritage, I speak french, and I even was minoring in the language for a while in college. Even though I dropped my French minor, I never dropped my love of French. Everyone knows that French is the MOST romantic language in the world, and it is incredibly beautiful to hear. French culture has definitely crêpe-d (haha, see what I did there?) it's way into the culture of the world. And countless french items have made their way states-side (and no, I don't mean French Fries).


 As Gertrude Stein said :
"America is my country, and Paris is my hometown".

 I'm kind of obsessed with all the fun facts, art, movies, music, crafts, decor, and recipes I have planned this week for you all! You may not know what l'esprit de l'escalier means in English, but after this week you will definitely know what is to make your daily life just a little more French!

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♥Au Revoir♥