La Minette Anglaise

Sunny Days

A new twice or even trice weekly rituel - a walk in Père Lachaise cemetry. Came across this Cherry tree in full bloom

Sunset from our balcony. I love the way the pink tinged sky brings out the blue of the roofs

Misty morning view

We live on the 10th floor of an ugly 1970's block on the unfashionable side of the 11th, but we have the most knock out view of Paris possible.
From our bed you can see the Eiffel Tower, the Pompidou Centre, the Invalides, the Bastille and Notre Dame cathedral. It's a view to take your breath away.

This morning we woke up to a misty Paris. No Eiffel Tower to be seen. Just a soft haze hanging over everything. Just beautiful..

Our Cotswolds trip

I know that I normally write about the wonderful things to be found in Paris but I wanted to share some pictures from our trip to the Cotswolds this summer.

We stayed in the beautiful cottage on the right, part of the OwlPen Manor Estate. Although it rained most of the time we were there it didn't put us off exploring the area.

One of the highlights was a visit to Sudeley Castle with it's fantastic collection of contemporary art doted about the grounds

This photo makes me laugh - my Dad on the right and me with Sacha in the scarf on the left

 

I love this weird cross between a pulpit and a tree house by Henry Krokatsis

The ruined part of the castle

Sudeley Pitchfork by Michael Craig-Martin

 

Favorite things from the last few days

The last of the summers' dahlias and amazing mixed autumnal foliage from the market

The sunny view from our living room window - it's the 20th October and it's 25°c!

Truly delicious birthday cake for my Lo from an amazing place called Pause Detente near Ledru Rolli. Beautiful chocolate leaves and flower, all dusted with the most amazing intense cocoa

Light falling on Lo's birthday present - a Yoseki 72 move trick box. He is a big fan of these boxes ever since he bought a little one in Japan. His collection has grown to ever more elaborate boxes with more and more moves to open them but this is the most complicated one so far!

 

Jardin de Cristal

Saturday was a  lovely sunny day so we jumped on the metro to visit the Jardin de Cristal exhibition at the Parc de Bagatelle. On show are crystal pieces from Baccarrat, Lalique, Daum and Saint-Louis.

Crystals decorating the palm trees

The Baccarrat "garden"

 

Suspended air plants and crystals

The Lalique "garden"

 

The park itself is lovely too with a great vegetable garden and a big rose garden.

 

 

Well worth a visit on a nice day!

It's been a while...

I haven't disappeared...I just took a little break from the blog....that turned into a long break...

But truly I have a good excuse!  I was working non-stop to help mount a fantastic exhibition here in Paris.
It's called "Matières à cultiver" or "Growing Materials" and it's on at the VIA Association until the 16th March 2008.

The VIA is a non-profit organisation that promotes innovation in design, in particular in the fields of furniture, product and interior design and architecture. The exhibition's theme is Eco-materials and is designed to show the vast range of  materials available from sustainable sources and the different possibilities for ecologically-conscious manufacturing techniques .

The VIA gallery space is housed in three arches of the Viaduct des Arts on the Avenue Daumesnil. If you don't know it, the Viaduct des Arts is a wonderful old railway bridge that has been converted into a long verdant promenade that runs from the Opera at Bastille all the way to the Gare de Lyon, with shops and galleries in the arches underneath.

For the exhibition we amassed over 160 exhibits from all over the world which are being shown inside an amazing undulating organic bamboo structure that runs through the exhibition space like a beautiful cocoon.

The exhibition highlights the wonderful diversity of materials from wood, bamboo, rattan, coconut fibre and straw through to paper, compressed coffee and bio-plastics in the form of furniture, clothing, tableware and even an eco coffin!

Matières à cultiver
VIA
33 avenue Daumesnil
75012 Paris

Opening hours
Monday - Friday 10am - 1pm and 2pm - 6pm
Saturday - Sunday 1pm - 6pm

For more information www.via.fr

Vente Noel

My friend Daniel (a very talented designer) and I decided to hold a little "Vente Noel" which started on Saturday and will run until the 23rd December, here in Paris.

By invitation only , you are invited to  peruse  fine contemporary Swiss  design in the form of a very clever and  neat storage system "Casier" by Daniel Baumann

Amusing "Origami" make-it-yourself objects by Samuel Perret and Joachaim Vogt

With a little English design thrown in too - Silver and enamel jewellery by me

Like a crazy lady, I spent two days drying slices of orange and apple to make sachets of Glühwein spices to sell, whilst Sonia, Daniel's beautiful and very organised wife, baked tons of Swiss Lemon Sablé biscuits. Both have been a great success!

Add metres and metres of home-made paper chains, the wonderful warming smell of Glühwein served in little china cups and it all makes for a wonderful atmosphere.

For an invitation, please leave me a message and I'll be happy to email you the details!

AWOL

My apologies! I went AWOL for a bit. A trip to Lisbon, new freelance job, a trip to Switzerland, more new job, all conspiring against my blogging time..
By the way... thank you Nanette for the very sweet message!

But let me share a few pictures from Switzerland - or rather Bale and Zurich to be exact, where I passed a wonderful long weekend with my friend Daniel.

A little mouse making Christmas cakes

In the window of a clothing shop in Bale, a beautiful paper dress

A wonderful carved door

The beautiful painted courtyard of the Hotel de Ville

A wonderful sculpture of fruits and flowers

Giant fabric toadstools in the Dadaist theatre in Zurich

The worlds biggest cookie cutter!

Christmas lights on the street of Zurich

And I promise ...more soon...!

A walk along the canal in the autumn sun

Today, a walk along the canal, soaking up some of the autumn sun. I love the Canal Saint Martin and especially the Basin de la Villette, home to two of my favorite little cinemas, the MK2 Quai de la Seine & Quai de la Loire.

Half of Paris was out enjoying the sun, playing pétanque, or nosing around the rather expensive, but worth a visit  Puces du Design - a kind of flea market for design that happens 3 or 4 times a year.

Further up the canal on the way to La Villette an amazing lifting bridge

Subtle palest blue stripes painted on a building at the side of the canal

The wonderful bridge over the canal at La Villette

Taking in some rays at the canal side.

My new little Etsy shop

Those who know me well, or have seen my photos on flickr, know that I can't pass a brocante or flea market, antique shop or charity shop, market or braderie without having a good rummage around.

It is by far, one of my favourite pastimes. And here in France, much to my delight, you find a whole different mix of things.

Since my appetite far exceeds my storage space, I decided to open a little Etsy shop, La Minette Anglaise, selling the best of the wonderful vintage things I have found.

I will be adding more things all the time and even some of my jewellery.

So please do visit, let me know what you think and don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions...happy browsing!