Parisienne Pastels and Serendipity

A little segment about my visit to La Maison du Pastel in Paris, the oldest pastel shop in the world where pastels are hand made and used to cater to the likes of Degar.

It was Saturday 16th December. We’d arrived in Paris the day before and my hubby and I were at the beginning of our European Christmas Adventure and one of the places I wanted to visit was here. I was beyond excited to see this place. We’d walked for hours to find it and arrived at 1.45pm. But the doors were closed and the curtains drawn so imagine my disappointment when we arrived to a closed sign on the door -oh no! The sign said they only open on Thursdays. I think I nearly cried with disappointment… But wait, there was a little note stuck to the glass that said they were opening for only 2 Saturday’s in December, the 16th and the 23rd, from 2 til 5 and it was 1.45. Joy!! Oh I was so excited (again).

So we checked the date and the time just to be sure and decided to go find some lunch then we’d come back. As we walked away I glanced back at the shop and saw a lady (who turned out to be Margaret, one of the owners), parting the curtains and gesturing us to come in. Oh my goodness, yes please!!!! In to Pastel heaven!! I don’t have words to describe how awesome it was to be there and I did cry when she showed my the new selection of reds they’ve made, so beautiful.  The shop was lined with beautiful old wooden drawers and they were all full of hand-made pastels – 1200 colours – it really was a highlight of the trip for me. Of course I bought the set of reds, they were just too beautiful to leave behind. How amazing that we happened to arrive on the right day at the right time – serendipity at its best!