Sneak Peek...

I nearly tripped over myself when I spotted this antique souvenir mirror from the 1900 Exposition Universelle, Paris. It was calling my name and I had to have it!

The color of the crushed velvet is the most lovely faded mauve. The beveled mirror has the perfect amount of age...

The gold appliques such as the "1900" and the Eiffel Tower send me...





The question was... Do I keep it or sell it?



The answer...it will be available for purchase next week!!!

image: David Stone

Fête Nationale!

In just a few hours Bastille Day celebrations begin in France, as well as other countries and cities all over the world.

The storming of Bastille was significant because it symbolized the destruction and end of Louis XVI’s reign. As a result, during the French Revolution the storming of Bastille symbolized liberty, democracy and the struggle against all forms of oppression. Very much like Americans 4th of July.

Will you be celebrating?

Happy Bastille Day everyone!

Midnight in Paris

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I was able to escape reality for a bit and saw Woody Allen's latest masterpiece, Midnight in Paris. What a wonderful film! The story, scenery and all, had me yearning to go back in time to another era. Particularly Paris.

Have you seen it yet? If not, you must. If you were able to go back in time, where would you want to go? What era? Would you stay?

Going, going, gone!

Yesterday I lost out on one of the most beautiful pieces of hotel silver/china I've ever seen. This Hotel Ritz, Paris teapot fetched $560 on eBay. My bid just wasn't high enough!

You may already know that I collect and sell hotel silver. I have similar pieces to this in my collection (from US hotels), but have never seen a combination of Christofle silver and a very rare china manufacturer, the Sarreguemines Co., that was located in France.

Interesting...the cobalt blue china insert portion of the teapot is turned to the left side and was intentionally designed that way to accommodate pouring with use of the right hand.

This piece dates to 1919 or 1920. Beautiful elaborate crest Hotel Ritz crest on the front and insanely beautiful craftsmanship. Divine...

Okay, so I didn't win, but my, oh my, isn't it beautiful?

images from here, uniondepothotel

King or Queen for a Day!

Did you know that today is the last day to eat a galette des Rois?

I recently had lunch at one of my favorite San Francisco French cafés, La Boulange, and was eye-balling these yummy galettes. I couldn't resist sending my friend Janet one of these tasty treats!

During the festival of Epiphany, people in Northern France and Belgium eat the galette des Rois, (flaky puff pastry with almond cream or frangipane.) In the South of France it is called gâteau des Rois or Royaume, and is made of brioche.

collection of "feves"

This is a kind of "kings' cake" with a trinket (feve) -- a porcelain figurine or a bean hidden inside. The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket becomes "King" or "Queen" for a day. There is a whole collectors market for feves in France.

I've never tasted a galette de rois, but curious to know if Janet ended up getting the slice with the feve and got crowned Queen for a day?

Here's to a fabulous week ahead!

images; Toronto Life; My French Country Home; "World of Interiors” January 2010

LOVE.

I am in awe of this photo captured by legendary photographer Mark Shaw for LIFE Magazine in 1957. The model is at the Paris Louvre Metro Station wearing a gray Christian Dior dress.

Print available for purchase here. sigh.

Holiday Must-Have: French Essence

Many of you may already be familiar with the warm & charming Vicki Archer. I met Vicki some time ago via the blogging world (her blog is titled French Essence.) She is such an amazing woman!

Ten years ago Vicki bought and restored a seventeenth-century property in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, and told the story in her book My French Life, a true classic.

Vicki's beautiful dressing table

Now the moment we've been waiting for... Vicki's second book, French Essence. In this fabulous book, Vicki collaborates with photographer Carla Coulson. The book is a celebration of Vicki's daily life in Provence. Vicki shares the ambiance and beauty of this beautiful area. The book is filled with gorgeous photographs of lush gardens, timeless interiors, hauntingly beautiful village lanes, and inspired aesthetic details.

one of Vicki's favorite chapters in the book is about the French circus..."'the big top' was an an interior to love - the textures, the colour, the lighting even the simple velvet covered seating."

French Essence is definitely a treasure. Not just the content of the book, but the delightful Vicki that many of us have grown to love via her blog!

Be sure and add French Essence to your Christmas list! You can purchase it here or here.

image credit: Carla Coulson

Flower Power at Versailles

Currently on display at the Château de Versailles are the works of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. Murakami has created a juxtaposition of of 17th century monarchy against contemporary modern Japan and it's quite controversial.

While some French monarchists have denounced the exhibition as “illegal,” the artist himself says that he is quite used to what he calls “Murakami-bashing.”

Many tourists who have came to the palace for its history are unimpressed by the novelty juxtaposition. Others see it as whimsical and refreshing. The museum’s director is well aware of the controversy these exhibits provoke, but insists on drawing a line between debate and censorship.

What do you think? Do you like pop-art inhabiting the palace?

"Murakami Versailles" runs from now until December 12th and is part of the standard museum entrance fee.

images via RSVP Gallery & design boom

Ethereal Eye Candy.

Happy Ever After~
Is this what Cinderella saw through her eyes?

That is the title of this stunning blog post by Jamie Beck, From Me to You.

I was elated to discover Jamie via fellow blogger Shilo while searching photo credit for that lovely pink chair image that I recently posted. Funny thing is that I had swoon over Jamie's blog before, but just assumed that the photos were random images taken from the internet. But no, the entire blog is Jamie's brilliant photography.

Jamie resides in New York City, collects vintage cameras and typewriters, and shares her beautiful photography with us. These images are of Jamie daydreaming among the French rooms that inspired her at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Stunning, don't you agree?

For more amazing eye-candy, be sure and visit Jamie's blog From Me to You here.

image credits: Jamie Beck

Bon Appetit!

You must check out this fabulous website that I found via Di at Designer's Block (Di always finds such interesting things...)

Petrelle, a restaurant in France, has re-created the sights and sounds of their restaurant via their virtual website. Listen to the chef talking, the phone ringing, wine pouring, the cutlery & dishes clinking & clanking, slicing & dicing. And it seems to go on for awhile as if they just kept the audio going. Very atmospheric and some striking images.

Well don't dilly dally here. Go and check out Petrelle's site here. So much fun! And thanks Di for the 'head's up!'

photos from Restaurant Petrelle

The Grand Tome -- Goyard

Goyard, the luxurious Parisian luggage maker founded in 1853, is coming out with a limited edition book celebrating its history, and I am drooling....(sigh)

Each of the 233 numbered and limited edition books will be locked in a trunk almost entirely customizable.


Continuing the heritage of the prestigious collections from the 1920s, this extremely limited edition publication "resonates with and celebrates the golden age of luxury travel, from horse-drawn carriages to the great transatlantic ocean liners."

This magnificent art book uses traditional letterpress techniques for the text, features its own watermarks and is printed upon custom made vellum paper à la forme of Arches Mills.

From the New York Times-- "As the pages turn, with their deep-grain photographs and written passages, some are blank, except for subtle intaglio plate marks. In their natural whiteness, produced with a 500-year-old technique of hemp lightened with the petals of a desert flower, the hand-cut pages resonate with craftsmanship."

The Goyard Book features more than 200 pages featuring photographs and descriptions of all the greatest achievements by Goyard since starting in 1792.

This book took almost a decade to put together.

The book comes in a specially designed Goyard trunk available to order in any of Goyard’s standard colors.

This "work of art" retails for €6,000, and sale is by appointment only.

Now that's not too much to ask for, is it?

photo credits: Goyard