I Love Paris in the Springtime {Brunch}

Really, Paris in the spring... there isn't anything better.

I love the food, Laudree macarons and warm baguette and brie.  I love the drinks, red wine and champagne.  I love the Eiffel Tower and Sainte-Chappelle and the Centre Pompidou, the mix of very old juxtiposed with the very new.  And I love that brunch, an American concept, is becoming a popular thing in Paris. 

My favorite thing is sitting around with great friends, good food, and laughing for hours.  The lingering over that table listening to French music & debating for hours means more than the vintage silver or the menu planning, though after reading this blog, you know I enjoy those too.

To decorate, we pulled lots of black and white Paris photos from around the house, some we had taken ourselves.  I added lots of white and lavender flowers in different types of vases and jars.  To set the table, we pulled out the silver Dave's great aunt left him, the vintage glasses that we received as a wedding present, vintage linen napkins given to me by my aunt that were hand stiched by her mother in law & mixed all of those with glass plates picked up at the Dollar store and our everyday white plates.   We used what we had {though admittedly, there is a lot of French stuff in the house to choose from} & pulled out special pieces that we don't enjoy often enough.

I made the placecards using a French photograph from Graphics Fairy.  She finds some amazing graphics that she cleans up & encourages you to use for free!  I loved it because it was whimsical & the caption reads "true friendship" in French.  Even if I was the only one who knew that, I just loved the message.  I also printed out several vintage French labels from her site to use on the vases & jars.  I just used some double sided tape to stick them on for easy removal after the party.

The macarons were made by the fabulous Cecilia Mercante.  I am going to give those a separate post later in the week to tell you all about our visit.  We drove up to Ann Arbor to get them at her kitchen and they are, in a word... amazing.

Le Menu

Creme Brulee French Toast

Quiche

Fruit Salad

Sausage Links

Croissants & Bonne Maman Cherry Preserves

Nutella, Raspberry, & Vanilla Macarons

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

Champagne

French Roast Coffee 

And we can't forget les enfants!  Our little guest Oliver is obsessed with the Ratatouille movie, which is set in Paris.  He has been telling his mom how excited he was to come to a french brunch, so I themed the table for Ollie and Finnegan based on the movie.  I used a red and white tablecloth & turquoise napkins, chairs, & glasses.  I added a silver pot, some wooden spoons, red flowers, Remy place cards, crayons, & coloring pages.  And really, for the two year olds, they thought it was awesome to have brunch with a view of the Eiffel Tower!

  

Just one last thing... This is Oliver's Mama and me {we are the two in the top middle} in the spring of 1992 1993 when my love affair with Paris began.  How amazingly wonderful that eighteen seventeen years later, we're still enjoying croissants... and now our boys are too.  {Edited because I am an idiot & Amy set me straight in the comments!}