The Ritz Paris

Ever since my first trip to Paris in 2012, the Ritz Paris has been closed for renovations. I've walked by it countless times on the Place Vendome, eager to take a glimpse inside one of the world's most iconic hotels. Throughout its storied past, the Ritz has hosted a slew of famous guests including Hemingway who used it as his base when he covered the war and Coco Chanel who lived there for 34 years.

Grand Hotel du Palais Royal

This past November we decided to book a spontaneous trip to Paris for New Year's Eve, and decided that we wanted to check out a new hotel. On past trips I've tried out several different AirBnB's and hotels in Le Marais, on the Ile Saint Louis, and in St. Germain, but for this trip we decided we wanted to stay in the elegant 1st Arrondisement. Thanks to the gorgeous views, chic decor, and near perfect reviews we decided to stay at the Grand Hotel du Palais Royal, and couldn't have been more pleased with our choice.

Travel :: Paris, France

Ryan and I spent a few days in Paris over the holiday season, and it was pure magic. It was my fourth time to the City of Light and every time I return I seem to fall more and more in love with the city. We stayed at the beautiful Grand Hotel Du Palais Royal and, having already been to most of the popular tourist destinations on other trips, we didn't feel pressured to try to fit everything into our four days.

Interiors :: A Parisian Dream

Oh my gosh.  Prepare yourself for this view.  And this apartment.  Filled with gilded mirrors, crown molding, luxurious fabrics, and a gorgeous neutral color palette, this Parisian home would be magnificent no matter the location.  But add a devastatingly beautiful view of the The Grande Dame herself, and well, you get the point :) SWOON!

Guest Blogger :: Paris in Color from Melinda's Musings

{Place de la Concorde}

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  We are on our way to Florida, but no worries I have lots of fun content planned for this week :) Today I am excited to be sharing with you a guest post by none other than Melinda of Melinda's Musings.  We 'met' a few months ago and connected on a mutual love of travel.  I swear, this girl is always on the go!  I absolutely devoured her Instagram feed when she took a weekend getaway to Paris last month {jealous!}, so I'm thrilled today that she will be posting about just that.  C'est parti!

Hello Everyone! I'm Melinda of Melinda's Musings, and I'm so excited to be guest-posting on Dreams in HD today. It was not too long ago that I came across Molly's wonderful blog, and couldn't help noticing that we shared similar passions - style, art, food, photography, and travel….as well as the ability to find and appreciate the beautiful things in everyday life. 

Since Molly is off on her own travels this week, she asked me if I'd like to share a piece of one of my most recent trips with you. Last month I was very luck to spend a few days in Paris with my boyfriend...it was simply wonderful! But the weather was on-and-off rainy, and while some say that "Paris is even more beautiful in the rain," I have to admit that I prefer the sunshine! The reason being that not only do I love bright blue skies, but I love taking bright, colorful photographs. The rain did lend itself to one great shot, but the photos I chose to share with you today represent the most colorful ones from our trip. I hope you enjoy them! 

{One of the many infamous "Love Lock" covered bridges}

{Carousel at the Hotel de Ville}

{Colorful street art mural near the Centre Pompidou}

{The Centre Pompidou contemporary art museum's colorful, industrial exterior}

{Yaacov Agam's installation at the Centre Pompidou}

{Gérard Fromanger's "En Chine, á Hu Xian" at the Centre Pompidou}

{"Made In Japan, La Grande Odalisque" by Marital Raysee, at the Centre Pompidou}

{A colorfully painted door in La Marais}

{Me, in front of a blue door in La Marais}

If you'd like to see more photos from our Paris trip, visit Melinda's Musings. You can also connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Google+.  A very big Thank You to Molly for having me guest post today!

My Life :: Parisian Treasures

I hope all of you have enjoyed this week's posts on all things Parisian.  Personally, I have loved being able to reminisce on the time I have spent in my favorite city in the world.  Traveling is my absolute favorite way to pick-up special treasures for my closet or the home.  I love seeing a piece and being reminded of the memory associated with it...I still sigh every time I spray my Diptyque and Le Labo perfumes as they bring back the magical experiences of buying them in Paris.  Today I wanted to share with you four of my most treasured goodies from my Parisian travels.

The first is my beloved Chanel brooch.  I have always loved Chanel and have thought about buying a brooch for years.  Last time I was in Paris I was at Le Bon Marché wandering through the Chanel boutique and came across a beautiful stone-encrusted brooch.  I tried it on and contemplated buying it for nearly an hour, but ultimately could not justify the purchase.  The whole day I thought about the brooch and how it would be something I could keep forever and even someday perhaps pass down to my daughter.  I contemplated walking back to the store at least five times but decided because I had over a month more of travel planned I just could not afford it.  Later that night in my flat while Skyping with Ryan I mentioned how much I loved the brooch.  He called me back the next morning and told me that since he was not able to be in Paris with me he wanted to buy it for me.  It was such a thoughtful gesture, and I feel so much joy every time I wear it on the collar of my coat, pinned to a tweed jacket, or fastened to a cashmere sweater...as looking at it always brings me right back to that magical fall day in Paris.  Thank you Ryan!

The last three were all flea market treasures I found with my mom.  The first are a set of four little purple glasses I got for an absolute steal {I believe they were less than $20 total}.  Although one is smaller than the rest, I think it makes them that much more charming.  They typically sit on our bar cart, but two weeks ago at Ryan's birthday party I found a friend using them as shot glasses.  Needless to say they were quickly washed out and stored for safe keeping :)

The next is a green glass bottle hand painted with tiny gold stars.  The seller told me it was used as a bedside water pitcher in the mid 1800's.  Typically I have this stored on my bookshelf amongst a jumble of books and treasures, but I'm always rearranging my odds and ends so who knows where it will end up next.

Lastly is another treasure that is very close to my heart...an antique barometer that my mom and I found together.  I remember we came across it and both thought it was one of the most interesting things we had seen.  The glass was shattered and we had no idea how we would fix it, but we loved it anyways.  The market was actually closing and the seller was packing up her booth so we had to decide which of us {if either} wanted to buy it.  It was very heavy and fairly expensive {especially considering that it was broken}, so neither of us could make up our minds, but at the last minute my mom decided to go ahead and buy it.  Of course, I spent the whole week regretting that I hadn't bought it and lamenting how perfect it would look at my house.  My only consolation was that it was really, really heavy and I wouldn't have to lug it around Europe with me.  So imagine my surprise when on Christmas morning I opened up a box with the exact same barometer, except with a brand new piece of glass, staring straight at me.  My sweet mom once again surprised me {and I must add, somehow managed to bring all of our heavy and incredibly fragile flea market finds home without a scratch} and to this day the barometer sits front and center in our living room. 

I know that wherever I go, my treasures from Paris will come with me, and I hope that one day I will have a home filled with meaningful pieces such as these that bring me so much happiness and joy.  Have a great weekend!

Art :: Flying Houses {Part II}

I know this is probably a huge blogging faux pas...but although I blogged about Laurent Chehere's "Flying Houses" series a year ago, it is just too good not to share again!  When I decided to make this week all about Paris, his beautiful images of Parisian homes and buildings suspended in the air were the first thing that came to my mind for my Friday Art post.  Ever since stumbling upon his work in early 2013 I haven't been able to get it out of my head {his image of the flying circus tent was my desktop background for months}.  So imagine my delight when I went to his website and saw he added even more fantastical images of Parisian homes flying effortlessly through the sky.  I love the picture of the house filled with zoo animals, the image of the crypt floating through the sky {skeleton and all}, and the close-ups of some of the curious little details so easily missed with a simple glance at the screen.  So that technically means I'm not completely "re-blogging"...right?  Regardless, I hope you love his whimsical dreamscapes as much as I do!

Are you as big of a Francophile as me?  If so, see the rest of this week's Paris posts :: Parisian Style // A Day in Paris // Parisian Apartments // A French Chateau // Chocolate Pots de Creme

Recipe :: Chocolate Pots de Creme

I would have to say that one of my absolute favorite parts of being in Paris is the food.  I could go on for days and days about the unparalleled deliciousness that is French food {in particular the cheese and pastries}.  But, while their food is always elegant and delicious, it is often quite labor-intensive and challenging to reproduce at home.  I bought my mom the Ladurée Cookbook for Mothers Day last year, and although the recipes were incredible and photographed beautifully, many gave me a slight panic attack just reading {often including at least seven different elements that needed to be prepared separately, for one recipe}.  But have no fear, today I will be sharing with you the recipe for one of my absolute favorite French desserts - Chocolate Pots de Creme.  Other than chopping the chocolate {bonus points if you use chips, chunks, or wafers} and allowing time for the custard to set, it quite honestly takes less than ten minutes to prepare this decadent dessert.  Made of essentially chocolate, cream, and egg yolks...it doesn't even pretend to be healthy, but it is truly a perfect treat for a special occasion {do I hear Valentine's Day anyone?}

Chocolate Pots de Creme {recipe via Food Network} 

Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS

9 ounces high-quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped {keep a little aside to sprinkle on the whipped cream before serving}

1 1/2 cups whole milk 

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

6 large egg yolks

5 tablespoons granulated sugar {add an extra tablespoon if using bitter chocolate}

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS 

Place the chocolate in a blender. Whisk the milk, 1 cup cream, egg yolks, granulated sugar and salt in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spatula and almost boiling, 5 to 6 minutes.

Immediately pour the milk mixture over the chocolate in the blender. Cover and hold the lid with a thick kitchen towel; blend until combined and smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender as needed. Divide the chocolate mixture among ramekins or small cups and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

Whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream and the confectioners' sugar with a mixer or in the blender until soft peaks form. Top the chilled pots de creme with whipped cream.  Bon appetit!

Interiors :: Parisian Apartments

This morning I showed you a beautiful chateau in the Loire Valley, and since I couldn't pick which amazing Parisian apartment I wanted to feature this afternoon, I figured, why not just include both?  I recently stumbled across the fantastical home of French designer Patrice Gruffaz and absolutely fell in love.  Doesn't it seem like it is right out of a fairy tale?  The mushroom table and stools are out of this world cool and I love his unusual choice of color palette and textiles.  It is quirky, witty, and personally I love it!

Images via

The second apartment, home to Danish designer Klavs Rosenfalck, was unoccupied from 1963 until he his purchase in 2008.  The abandonment didn't help it's condition, but it did preserve the original architecture from the horrible design that was the 1970's and 1980's.  I love the contrast Klavs created with the highly modern furniture placed against the ornately guided molding {I mean seriously, some of those walls could easily be mistaken for Versailles}.  And how beautiful is that Venetian Glass Chandelier?  Seriously impressive.

So what do you think?  Do you prefer the first whimsical apartment or the second traditional-meets-modern home?  Personally, I can't resist amazing architecture so I love the second, but the decor of the first is more up my alley.  My dream apartment would combine elements of the two to create an unexpected but enchanting home fit for the wanna-be-Parisian I am.

Images via Elle Decor