Aris...an American artist realizes her dream at the age of seventy-two

When Carole Guillot visited Paris for the first time, she was 16 years old, coming from Philadelphia, following in the footsteps of her older sister. Seven decades later, the city became her permanent home, after she decided to move there permanently when she reached the age of 72.

Guillot built her career as an illustrator in New York, worked in the fashion industry, designed shoes in Italy, and wrote a picture book about flea markets in Europe. But her permanent appointment several times a year was with Paris, before she made the decision to settle there.

She told Ofoq News: “Everyone was asking me: Why don’t you move to live in Paris?” In 2006, she launched the blog “Paris Breakfasts,” in which she documents her fascination with the city through watercolor paintings of French desserts and pastries.

She quickly gained a wide audience and began selling her work on the Etsy platform, which provided her with a source of income that encouraged her to move. Today, at the age of eighty-six, Gilot lives alone in a small apartment on an island in the Seine River, and continues a life full of art, food, and daily strolls through the streets of Paris.

She recalls her father's joke that he expected her to end up in an attic surrounded by cats, saying: "He told me that I would end up in an attic surrounded by cats. Well, I got the attic." 'I was having a lot of fun' Guillot studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and received her BFA from the University of Pennsylvania, before working as a freelance illustrator.

Her work varied between pharmaceutical illustration, as her drawings appeared in advertisements for Advil and the antidepressant Prozac, and on the covers of “Time” and “Newsweek” magazines. Her volunteering with the James Beard Foundation also allowed her to meet prominent French chefs, including Alain Ducasse and Paul Bocuse, during special events.

These relationships resulted in artistic commissions, including designing labels for champagne bottles for GH Mom. Her career included other stops, as she worked as an assistant to designer Anne Klein, traveled on work missions to Hong Kong, Taiwan and India, and also attended the sixtieth birthday party of feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

Guillot was not married, and she joked: “I never got married... I forgot about it,” adding: “I was having a lot of fun.”

In the 1980s, she was shot by an armed robber near her apartment in New York's East Village. She survived the accident, but her view of the city changed, especially as she noticed more rude and pushy behavior, and she began to think about a different life away from the hustle and bustle of New York.

And also dinner. In 2012, Gilot decided to test life in Paris, so she rented her apartment in New York and moved to the French capital, where she has settled ever since, except for short periods. She lives in a small apartment that was reserved for domestic servants, on the island of Saint-Louis overlooking the Seine River.

She describes the neighborhood as being like a small village in the middle of the capital, where she can accomplish most of her tasks on foot and enjoy its buildings and streets. Her blog remains an essential space to showcase her work and document her daily life.

After she became famous for drawing pastries and sweets for the house of “Ladurée”, especially macarons, she expanded her topics to include art, literature and history, from the French writer Colette to the works of the painter Claude Monet. Guillot sells her paintings through the Etsy platform and sends small copies of them to subscribers around the world.

Among her works is an illustrated map of Paris that identifies sites associated with Napoleon, and another that guides sweet lovers to where to buy macarons and ice cream. She also participated in designing a poster for an exhibition specializing in champagne and pastries, which was displayed on the Paris Metro and viewed by tens of thousands of passengers.

“I don't have a lot of money, but you can keep busy here if you like food and art.” “It's all about the seasons.” French cuisine is largely inspired by Gilot, who sees seasons as an essential part of daily life in France. Every season has foods and events that people look forward to, from cherry season to tomato and hot chocolate festivals.

“There are many rituals associated with food here,” she says. “Every month, there is something new that attracts a lot of attention.”

“When the cherry season starts, people celebrate it with enthusiasm and share recipes.” She is keen to attend food festivals and tasting events, from competitions to choose the best croissant to chocolate and champagne fairs, and finds opportunities to draw and discover new aspects of French culture.

But integration into everyday life was not without its challenges. Although she speaks French with a good accent, she is not completely fluent in the language, which sometimes leads to misunderstandings.

Moving to a new country also required her to change her way of thinking and adapt to a different rhythm. Art, Architecture and the Citizenship Exam Gilot finds the cost of living lower in Paris than she used to in New York.

She relies on Social Security benefits and income from the sale of her artwork, and travels on foot, by metro and bus, taking advantage of discounts for the elderly. She also feels safe in the city, saying: "I don't worry about crime."

She holds a French residence card, and was not required to prove language proficiency due to her being over 65 years old, but she took a test in civil affairs and French history, which included a question about the name of the architect who designed the building in which she lives. When asked if she found such questions strange, she responded dismissively: “They are French,” referring to their interest in their history and cultural identity.

Gilot, in turn, has become more interested in French history and architecture. “Living here is absolutely wonderful,” she says. “You walk down the street, and then you look up and see a bas-relief on a building, and the view is amazing.”

She misses her sister, who still lives in Philadelphia, but has given up her apartment in New York and has no plans to return to the United States. She still has exhibitions to visit, foods to taste, and ideas to turn into paintings.

She sums up her relationship with Paris by saying: “It is a beautiful city, even when the sky is overcast and the weather is raining.”