La Minette Anglaise

Tourist in my home town

How strange it is to be a tourist in your own home town! But that is just what I was last week.
I was back in London for a few days to visit 100% Design and some of the other satellite shows and a couple of friends from Paris joined me for the weekend.

Walking around with them, sharing some of my favour spots, I started looking at the city in a different way, looking up, noticing the wonderful architectural details, new shops and bars and the of so British flavour...

Above ~ Dr.Martens shop in Camden
Below ~ Window of the new Luella shop, Conduit Street

Above ~ Giant Plug socket off Carnaby Street
Below ~ Strange plant and fabric installation at 100% Design

Above ~ A favourite view over the Thames
Below ~ Bridge near Waterloo station

Above ~ Mornington Crescent tube
Below ~ Coffee shop next to Spitalfields Market

Above ~ Rocking horse in his best suit
Below ~ Gnomes in a window on Bond Street

Blissful Brunch

Ahh.. Sunday brunch at our friends Sonia and Daniel's place was a treat. A table beautifully laid out with seasonal fruits and yummy cheese from the Marché Aligre, Sonia's sublime carrot cake straight from the oven and Daniel's new batch of blueberry jam straight from the Swiss mountains (the only man I know who makes jam!)

After brunch we headed up to the top of the 20th arrondissement for a stroll through streets unknown. We came across this wonderful little enclave called the Cité Leroy, with it's own Flat Iron building...

Right next to it is a tranquil little passage, the Villa de l'Ermitage where I saw the courtyard of my dreams..

I want to live here...

We finished up our walk with a drink at the café at the top of the Parc de Belleville, with one of the most wonderful views over the whole of Paris.

If only every Sunday was as beautiful as this!

Jardin Debrousse

Yesterday, a sunny day in the Jardin Debrousse, I found myself like a little squirrel, stuffing my pockets with chestnuts.
I brought them home and now they are sitting in a beautiful black lacquer bowl just under the window.
I have no idea what to do with them...

Wandering around

I'm supposed to be working but I'm having way too much fun being a lady of leisure! It's a great luxury to have time to myself, to wander around, discovering new corners of Paris, taking my time to photograph things..

In the last couple of days I have also got back on the hunt for a new apartment. Which gives me a good reason for a wander...Yesterday, I was in the 20th arrondisment enjoying the sun and taking turns down roads I've never walked along.

Above ~ looking down the stairs behind St-Germain de Charonne
Below ~ Art Deco building on the Rue Stendhal

I visited a wonderful but rather shabby little house with a fantastic long and narrow little garden (oh, what I wouldn't give for a garden!!) but sadly it's not for us. I took the opportunity to meander slowly home through an area I don't know at all but which I am growing to like more and more.

I love having the time to take in the sights and sounds, colours and details. So many buildings have great ironwork and carvings, little balconies packed full of flowers, and there are hidden gems in courtyards and gardens all over the city.

Above ~ plenty of food for the birds
Below ~ a sugary sweet shop front

The more I get to know different areas in Paris, the more I realise that for me, the real beauty of the city is still to be discovered.

Japan - where to start?

Ahhh....Japan....where do I even start? We spent three amazing weeks there in August and it surpassed all my expectations. First off - it was hot! Between 35 and 40°C and between 60 and 70 percent humidity - so hot that the moment I stepped outside I was perspiring in places I didn't even know I could perspire!

Our trip started in Tokyo - a city of many contrasts. Modern and traditional, beauty and not, calm and activity. I loved being in a huge city with so much to see and do (kind of reminded me of home..) - I know that we barely scratched the surface..

We were lucky enough to stay with my brother-in-law who has been living in Tokyo for the last two years. He lives not far from Ikebukuro, in North-West Tokyo.

On our first day there we were proper tourists - Tokyo Tower, the Imperial Palace gardens, Senso-ji temple and a visit to a Takayama department store where we saw a watermelon for sale for 60 euros!

The next day we took it easy and visited Tokyo National Museum and a walk through Ueno Park. We came across these girls playing in the park - they were thrilled when we asked to take their photo!

And of course we couldn't spend time in Tokyo without shopping!

In Aoyama we visited the Galerie Doux Dimanche owned by Jeu de Paumes where I picked up a copy of their new book "Paris Kitchens 2" ( I am a really fan of their books - I have quite a collection now), then on to Oriental Bazaar where I picked up some bargain beautiful lacquer bowls.

I couldn't help going into a shop called "KiddyLand" a few doors down - a six floor kitsch-fest emporium stuffed to the gills with the most amazing toys, collectables, mini robots, you name it, they had it. With amazing self-restraint I managed to come away with only this little doll - a Sonny Angel Pig Baby (really I would have much rather the reindeer but it's a pot luck buy!)

On our last night in Tokyo my brother-in-law took us to a restaurant called Gonpachi in  Nishi-Azabu where we ate the most sublime meal and drank my new favourite - Umesho & soda - a kind of plum liqueur, delicious on it's own but even better with soda and ice!

I must admit that our 3 days there left me with a longing to go back and spend some real time discovering the city. But the next day we headed out of Tokyo to the beautiful mountains of the Hakone region...but more of that in another post..

Reasons to be cheerful on a Tuesday morning

Yesterday evening, coming home from the Maison et Objet show , I bumped into our neighbour Fred coming out of his apartment  with a cardboard box brimming with freshly picked hazelnuts, walnuts and apples.  After exchanging  pleasantries he ran back inside to fill up a bag with nuts as a little gift.

Earlier in the day, the friend who I visited the show with,  pulled out juicy little apples from his bag, picked the day before at his place in the countryside.  It seems that everyone is off foraging in the autumn sun and more than happy to share their  finds!

I'm particularly happy with my show find - a copy of the latest Bloom magazine, the unsuitably autumnal, Foliage issue.

In the same autumnal spirit, I fell in love with this chair by Lou Fagotin seen in the Café Caban at Maison et Objet.

The café was decorated with a tree house by Daniel Rosensztroch - an amazing wooden structure accessed by ladders on each corner and surrounded by carved wood mushrooms. As a child I had a real thing for tree houses, I only wish I had a garden to build one in now!

Jardin Yitzhak Rabin

Yesterday the sun was shinning so we took a late afternoon stroll in the Jardin Yitzhak Rabin in the Parc de Bercy in the 12th arrondissement.

I really loved this little kitchen garden, especially the little shed with the ladder!

It's a really lovely park made up of different ponds and gardens, some formal, others modern in style.
The place was full of families enjoying a  belated but beautiful summers day. The beds were full of flowers in their end-of-summer glory; palest pink Japanese Anemones, Hydrangeas and Quince trees bursting with fruit.

If we're lucky it seems as though summer might just give us a last little wave...

The lovely Abigail Percy

Earlier this year I was blog-hopping, when I came across one which would turn out to be a real favourite.

Written by a very talented and creative Scot and illustrated with the most beautiful photos, I was soon popping by every few days to see if there were any new posts.

It's written by the lovely Abigail Percy, who not only writes fantastically, takes wonderful photos but makes some of the most gorgeous jewellery I've seen in ages.  You can read her blog here and buy her jewellery here.

The two photos are of her work;

Above ~ A set of beautiful, sensitive prints from her sketchbook

Below ~ My favourite new earrings (below) tiny smoky quartz briolettes on 18ct gold plates earhooks.

All available to buy in her little etsy shop.

And this summer a few days after I got home I was lucky enough to meet her whilst she was in Paris.

We met up in the Bar à thé on the Square Trousseau near Bastille and got chatting straight away over a cup of Honeybush tea. After that we wandered over to the brochante at the Place Aligre where we stocked up on old postcards and rummaged through the treasures.We spent a really lovely afternoon together wandering around the 11th and 12th arrondissements and the Canal Saint Martin before a last early evening drink in Le Marais.

I can honestly say that I had a really wonderful time getting to know Abigail and hopefully we will meet up again next time she is in Paris.

Wedding mosaic

I thought I would share a few wedding highlights;

*  The bus arriving

*  View over the pond where we held the ceremony

*  Inside the marquee

  * Left over flowers the day after

Home Sweet Home

Where do I start after so long away?

After nearly a month away, we are back home with a bulging suitcase and lots of wonderful memories!

We spent a week in London, culminating in the most glorious weekend of the year and our beautiful wedding. A year of stress and lots of tears was a high price to pay, but on the day it turned out to all be worthwhile. We were blessed with the most beautiful weather and it was really special to get together our families who jetted in literally from the four corners of the globe!

We hired a red route master bus (for those who don't know, it's a traditional London open-backed bus) to take all the guests to the venue - a beautiful farm an hour outside London. We had the ceremony in front of this little pond in the shade of a 500 year old Oak tree.

A reception on the lush green lawn (well, it had been raining all summer!) followed by the most delicious lunch, then dancing and more dancing! At 5pm a full English Tea was served - scones, little sandwiches and yummy cakes with tea from Mariage Frères. Then even more dancing before everyone was taken home by bus.

I had so much fun I forgot to throw my bouquet till the very end and am very happy to say that my lovely sister-in-law caught it, which makes me very happy!

The next day we left for Japan, for a three week trip (but much more of that to come later...)

Back in Paris now to the reality of Autumn (in September!!!) and time to knuckle down to some real work. But first  I promise that over the next few posts I will share some of the amazing sights of Japan....