Tag Archives: Paris

A village in the middle of Paris

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Discovering a village within a city is one of those things that feels like you've walked through Alice's looking glass. It's unreal. You feel like you ought to pinch yourself, but you don't want it to go away.
So it is in the rue de Mouskaïa quarter, in the northeast part of Paris. In perfect rows, the tiny pedestrian walkways run in either direction along steep paths. They're lined with pristine, provincial-looking houses -- like you'd find in a small town in Burgundy or along the Rhône River valley.
The delight is in the detail.
There are deeply pigmented colors, none the same. Color-washed walls are offset by nicely tended roses, like the old garden variety above.
These marine blue shutters draw the eye to the lovely old russet drapery inside.
French design, city or country, has a healthy respect for sunny yellows.
Ivy and other greenery abounds up and down these cobblestone rabbit paths.
Each pathway is called a villa, like the Villa Renaissance here. Always amazing to see palm-like growth in the middle of Paris.
Off the cuff, I'd date these residences to the early part of the last century, reaching into the Art Deco years. I noticed several glass awning-type structures over doors, bringing to mind the Art Nouveau entrances at many Paris Métro stations.
Again, marine blue shutters catch the eye, leading you to the Art Deco brickwork.
The craftsmanship of masonry, brickwork and stonework bring out the character of subtle tones like these. The metal pipe fence in the foreground rings with Art Deco lines.
A furtive peek into a back garden makes it hard to believe you aren't in the country.
There's a little mystery, too. Is that a real cutwork linen window shade, or is it a bit of trompe l'oeil trickery?
Are you really in Paris, after all? This bit of swank could just as easily be in the Hollywood Hills. You almost expect the LA coroner to come along, followed by morgue attendants in white coats, to take the body away.

Ok. Safe to pinch yourself now. à bientôt...Tatie

 

A note: The Camera Bag app gets credit for improving my photography in this post. Various filters bring out richness of color or nuance that I failed to capture. Camera Bag is just one of many great apps that are a lot of fun to play with.

 

Mon Paris cheri

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Paris is probably the most photographed city in the world, so I will not throw a lot of the usual ones at you and call them special just because I shot them. Instead, let me share a few images of little things I like about this place.
The day-for-night view, above, of the Panthéon captures the awe of awakening in the middle of the night to see it from your hotel room. That was once my experience, from the Hotel des Grands Hommes, across the street.
In the Panthéon quarter, around dusk, along the way to dinner are the finer details: an ochre-washed building with a gated courtyard, left corner above; the chalky 19th century façade of an ordinary apartment building, middle right; a green public fountain called a "fontaine Wallace," lower right corner. Nearby is the Place de la Contrescarpe, in a neighborhood where Ernest Hemingway lived. The writer left his mark all over Paris, it seems. Sometimes I wonder if places just make up a connection with him to attract American tourists. Contrescarpe has its share of tourists, though it does lack the plastic Eiffel Tower and T-shirt feel. At Delmas, a restaurant café, our table just inside gives us a nice vantage on the Place, lower left. If there's a better way to finish a meal than an espresso and a crème brûlée, top right corner, I haven't found it.
Back to the Hotel du Panthéon (sister to the Grands Hommes next door), at center above. The cocktail sitting area, top center, is low-key elegance. Aged-in-the-wood tones mark the staircase and its fabric-covered walls, at left. Our sweet room featured French country fabrics in rich crimsons (I NEVER use red in describing anything good) and Provence yellows, from the bed's headboard and the wall covering, at right, to the dust ruffle, bottom center. Our hotel and our neighborhood were a delight. I am sad to say, however, that this, my 19th visit to a city I love, was virtually ruined. Delta saw fit to lose our luggage. My bag was delivered four days after we arrived, the night before we left Paris for Germany; we have no clue where my husband's is. We wore the same clothes for several days and, fortunately, had toothbrushes and medications with us. Unfortunately, we wasted stressful hours on the phone every day with baggage people and spent money we had not budgeted when we finally bought several changes of clothes. This is not to dump my drama on you. It is a cautionary tale. DO NOT CHECK LUGGAGE. Not overseas, not in the United States! certainly not on Delta. Carry-on sized luggage plus the secondary bag allowed on board (backpack, tote bag, large purse, etc.) are ample to carry all you need. If you think otherwise, you have an inflated view of your own importance. Next time, I'll share a delightful side adventure in Paris that even dirty clothes couldn't ruin! à bientôt...Tatie  

Secret canals?

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Dreamy little canals abound, and not just in Venice. The quiet corners and walkways along the canals of Brugges in Belgium, above and below, can carry your imagination along for hours.
 
 
 
 
Canals can capture you in unexpected places, like Copenhagen, above, or Paris, below. Copenhagen is a seafaring town, so you might expect to see a row of multicolored houses with boats parked out front.
 
Canal St. Martin, above, seems hushed on its face, even though it has grown popular among Parisians in recent years. I'll report my findings when I take a look for myself in September.
 
 
In Washington, down behind all the fuss of Georgetown's M Street, runs the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, once plied by barges pulled by mules tramping along the towpath. It's an autumn kind of place, all shaded in browns and yellows and Colonial façades. If any town needs an honest haven, it's the Capital.
 
 
Not to take away from the better-known canals of Amsterdam, above, and Venice below. To be led along by waterways, past tall buildings like pretty spinsters, is to know Amsterdam intimately.
 
 
The miniature bridges of Venice shroud her canals with lace-like ironwork and finely crafted masonry. From one to the next, a visitor follows an unspoken path into the heart of a city one never quite understands.
 
In The Swimmer, John Cheever's title character sets out to swim "the river" of friends' swimming pools that run across his bedroom community. Likewise, an ambitious traveller might set out to walk along the river of canals that run through old cities across Western civilization. What a voyage that would be.
 
à bientôt...Tatie

 

Pastel, Pouf and Party Pretty: Chanel Resort 2013

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Cake and ice cream, anyone? My choices from Chanel's 2013 Resort Runway Collection would be right at home at a birthday party on the lawn. The ice cream pastels at left are all froth and frappé. Karl Lagerfeld told Style.com he wanted something floating and frivolous. "Frivolity is a healthy attitude," he said. "I know people who were saved by frivolity." May as well have been marshmallows: There is lots of pouf and puff in these selections. Each one features a touch of hand-detailing produces bubbly gathers or pompoms. What else would you wear to a birthday party on the lawns of Versailles? That's where Chanel showed off Resort 2013. These frocks echo the 17th and 18th centuries -- the glory days of the palace. As certain as the sundial of the Roi Soleil, you know there's always classic Coco Chanel construction in Karl Lagerfeld's collections. These three are my favorites this time. After the Kaiser's tartans, that is. à bientôt...Tatie Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Vive la layette!

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Nothing has a bigger "awwwww" factor than a baby's layette. Add a little French touch, and "awwwww" becomes "oh la la!" It also means a lot of fun for this new Nana!

For several years, I've collected French layette booklets from the '30s, '40s and '50s , and the one pictured at left is one of my favorites. It is filled with ideas for everything from knitted dainties to the classic styles in the center spread below. The soft tones of shell pink and powder blue make you want one of each.

I had the pleasure of learning to "knit in French" when I lived in Paris. French women love to knit, and there are shops with everything knitters and other needle workers need in most every neighborhood. (These merceries stock hose and stockings, too. No clue what the connection is!) I especially like the little knitted romper style, like the one below left, that the French call a barboteuse. I can see one knitted in cotton for our little Zoë.

I am particularly enchanted by this booklet. For years, the French knitting magazine, Mon Tricot, published an annual layette edition. The cover always featured a head of cabbage, no doubt a reference to where babies come from!

Many French women over the decades have saved pristine copies of their layette booklets. I'm grateful that a few of them have found their way to eBay!

à bientôt...Tatie

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

La Poste: Black. White. A pinch of Poirot?

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Catching up on Remodelista newsletters, I picked up a little black and white goodness to share. Special touch: I saved the images with the Silver filter in my CameraBag app. This espresso machine took on a rich noir feel.


The façades of a couple of elegant Paris hotels look like deco-era photos, but both were only recently photographed. Sunlight throws a creamy finish on the masonry.





A couple of entryways, above and below, each beckon with a bit of mystery.


More intrigue: Tapers, like intricately turned wood, stand tall in mercury glass and tarnished silver candlesticks below. Framed by a battered old whitewashed door, a question seems to hang in the air.


I just may stick with a black and white palette in my craftwork this year. Ideas welcome. à bientôt...Tatie


La Poste is an occasional feature that showcases design and craftmanship from newsletters and blogs that I enjoy.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Pink and green: a marriage made in ... Paris

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How special to find the interplay of favorite pastel colors captured on the blog, French Beauty Mark. Note the boxes, in palest green above and shell pink below. (A little personal tribute to my Alpha Kappa Alpha friends, my sisters under the skin!)
These delicious little containers are from Ladurée, a pair of pastry shops/tea rooms (salons de thé) on both sides of the Seine, in Paris. I'm especially fond of the rue Bonaparte location, below. (I described the exterior in an earlier post as robin's egg green!)
I have quite the little collection of Ladurée boxes myself, filled with memories of the incredible macarons they once held. (The green one in the back is a little faded -- it normally holds earrings.)
While pink and green are on my mind, I must share a serendipitous find. The Art Deco fan vases below did not come as a set -- I've had the green one several years, so imagine how thrilled I was last weekend to find the pink one! Also in the tableau: a doll size hobnail beverage set and a very vintage bride's maid, part of a complete little bridal party.
I don't know about you, but certain color combinations speak to my sensibilities. Not eye candy exactly (see below) but a visual treat you can almost taste.
à bientôt...Tatie - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Bru Jne 11, a French doll who's pretty in pink

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Of all the French antique dolls, I believe the Bru dolls are some of the prettiest. That's why I enjoy recreating the 18" doll known as Bru Jne 11. Above is my latest version.

As a trained Doll Artisan, I paint the features like the original dollmakers did in the Bru atelier, or studio. The tiny lashes and brow strokes, the lips and the blush of the cheeks are as close as possible to a picture of an actual antique, which I go by when painting.

I did something new with this bébé, as this type of doll is called: I created handmade earrings from old Haskell-style nailhead beads. I found a huge lot of these beads on eBay, with doll earrings in mind, and this was the perfect opportunity to use them, since the original Bru Jne 11s also had pierced ears.

I love making the dolls, but my greatest passion is in designing and creating their clothes. I chose palest pink French organdy for this doll's frock, and I highlighted it with antique lace and a rayon ribbon trim. I used an unusual old length of lace from my collection, with antique lace insertion and edging already assembled to make just the right width for the collar and dropped waist skirt. I set the collar off with an heirloom knotted bow made of the tiniest rayon ribbon.

The bébé shows off her elegant ivory pointed French doll shoes that tie with pink rayon ribbon. I made her socks from a delicate piece of antique lace.

I found some wonderful wide French taffeta ribbon at Textile Fabrics here in Nashville. It makes the prettiest bustle to these old-fashioned dropped waist dresses. I repeated the effect with the bow in her hair.

This bébé doesn't mind showing off what she's wearing beneath her frock: a "combinaison" (one piece combination of bloomers and camisole) made from an old piece of eyelet fabric. Like just about everything else she is wearing, it is trimmed old pink rayon ribbon.

One other detail: She wears a handmade human hair wig. The old doll wigs were made either of combed mohair or human hair. I prefer working with the latter. After sewing wefted lengths of it to a wig cap, I cut and style it. I really like the chestnut color and natural curl of this wig. (I buy the wefted hair weave from hair supply shops.)

One of the great things about the craftmanship of antique reproduction dolls: It gives 21st century doll lovers a chance to own a doll that looks almost exactly like the antiques at a fraction of the cost. Unlike many reproduction dollmakers, I am particularly proud that I can offer these dolls to you at prices that are accessible.

I love sharing these beauties with you, and there will be more in the weeks to come. A great Christmas surprise for someone special!

à bientot....Tatie

La Poste: Minimal, neutral and hints of pastel

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home in new york city: open hallway Peep down this open hallway and into a renovated Soho loft, where modern hosts just a bit of traditional, courtesy of Remodelista Daily. Minimal and neutral, this is a fine, clean look and feel. Plus, there is something so comfortable about a hallway where one can sit and relax. Soho loft living room Love the living room like I do: for its comforting neutrals and just a tiny touch of shell pink on the mantle and in the upholstery of the chair. pink booties on mantle The pink warms the room just enough. The array on the mantle includes a pair of handmade baby booties, left. pine mirrors Don't pass up the dressing area, where these stately but welcoming white-washed mirrors and table live. linen armoir from les puces The linen cabinet, from les puces de Paris, is awe-inspiring, and don't miss the tiny little bit of robin's egg blue peeking out. You'll also find it in the drapery, reflected by the mirrors, above.

à bientôt...Tatie

La Poste is an occasional feature of Atelier Chéri where I share a particularly good blog post or newsletter item from my email inbox.

Chanel fall is coal-bin black

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chanel fall sophistication Apologies that this is a few weeks after the fact. Against a backdrop of smoldering boulders and brimstone, Karl Lagerfeld presented a dark vision, with glints of the impeccable rich design he always brings. The ensemble above is as weightless as it is deep in vision.

chanel fall innocence

A little of the ingenue in this design, with all the innocence of scallops and all the world-weariness of shadows, gray on gray.

chanel fall concerned coat Still innocent with this lovely little coat, though its serious attention to style shows maturity beyond its youth. chanel fall foufou fun No vision at Chanel is ever so dark that there isn't room for a little fun, as with this dress-up whimsy. chanel fall confident couture Cliché and cleverness aside, this is a terribly sophisticated collection that is as confident as it is dark. Count on the Kaiser. Every friggin' time.

(And speaking of dark vision, the black lace is coming very soon, I promise. Lots of it.)

à bientôt...Tatie