Sonya Nimri

The Incognito art gala was one of the more memorable events I've attended in a long time.  Even though I'm on a super-tight budget with the kids and only working part time I somehow, during the event, managed to catch art fever and purchase five beautiful works of art. Er, well, four beautiful ones anyway. One of them, Grippy chose, and I'm still not so sure...Anyway, the event. Great set-up.  In a single room at Bergamot Station, 600 works of art are put on display. Each of them 8x10", in rows all around the museum with numbers below them and signed on the back so you have no idea who the artist is.  They are all priced at $350.00.  There are quite a few known artists in the show, museum faves  Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari  being among the most famous of the artists in the show...point is you just have no idea whose art you are looking at, which is suppose to make you follow your heart and buy what you would like to see on your wall, not just buy someone...

Macaron Magnet vs. the real thing  Everywhere I went in Paris there were lineups for the melt-in your mouth desserts invented by Pierre Desfontaines (grandson of Louis Ernest Laduree) at the beginning of the 20th century.  There was even a song on the radio called " Ca M'enerve " that complained about said lineups at Laduree .  Of course, I had to see what all the fuss was about.  Macarons are French desserts made of a delicate almond paste and sugar shell filled with ganache, usually butter or cream based, but sometimes jelly or caramel as well.  They look like little hamburgers.  They are pricey, ranging from 1.5 euros to 2.5 euros each (about $3).  Laduree, the most famous of the macaron toting patisseries, is located conveniently (and dangerously, I might add), on the very street where I was staying.  There, I found exotic flavors such as licorice, violet black currant, orange blossom, and their two most popular flavors- caramel and rose.  Up the street was Gerard Mul...