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

Musée Gustave Moreau and the Mystery Staircase

Do you recall my recent post about giving photo credits on blogs? Well, something interesting happened which led me to find the origin of the image I was fiercely searching to credit.

My friend Renee saw the photo of the spiral staircase on my blog and excitedly gave me a call. That gorgeous staircase stood out in her memory. She recalled her favorite museum in Paris, the Musée Gustave Moreau, and that staircase in the museum was one she would never forget.

So thanks to Renee, I did a little searching and voila! She was right!

Gustav Moreau was a prolific 19th Century French symbolist painter, sometimes considered to be one of the precursors of surrealist painting. As a professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts one of his notable students was Matisse, and long before his death in 1892 he had already decided that a museum of his own work should be created.

He extended and converted the house that had belonged to his parents, creating giant workshops and display rooms. Even with the immense size of the rooms, there was not enough space to show all the accumulated works; Moreau left 4,800 drawings and 450 watercolors, many of which are in storage.

Huge room with filled to the brim with Moreau's work...

The monumental staircase leads you up to yet another floor above...

private living areas...

"Gustave Moreau collected his very dear souvenirs, relating to his parents and to Alexandrine Dureux, his "best and only friend..." Nothing has changed in a century."

Musée Gustave Moreau
14 rue de La Rochefoucauld
F-75009, Paris, France

photography: Hotel Paris Rive Gauche

Oh, and by the way...the photographer credited for the spiral staircase image is...

beBO on Flickr! Thanks beBo for the inspiring photo!

The Mystery of the Floating Bed

Much thanks to Roséline at This is Glamorous for identifying the talent behind the beautiful floating canopy bed image that I posted this past weekend. I had stumbled upon the image on the web, but was mystified as to who the photographer was. I searched and searched with no avail. No photo credit was given to this talented artist {that's a topic I'll cover later}. In any event, Roséline was a great help with my endless search.

The artist is Vincent Olinet. French, but of course. The work is titled, "Pas encore mon histoire," and is an installation piece from the Lauren Godin Gallery in Paris.

I've located a French design blog that details this unique installation and have done my best to translate it into English. Follow along and enjoy the lovely photos and story behind them!

"Pas encore mon histoire," 2007

Floating bed, installation by Vincent Olinet
Presented by Galerie Laurent Godin, Paris
2009 in the Tuileries

A bed canopy floats elegantly over the basin. As it sails delicately, the cushions call for a romantic girl. A fairytale that appeals to little girls who love stories about beautiful Princesses in danger to be rescued by a Prince Charming.

Upon closer inspection the seemingly pristine bed reveals its yellowed blue and white veils. There are slight tears in the muslin and gold swags from heavy rain. The wonderful yields to the blows of reality and the nightmare is not far. The bed is a crumbling fairytale. The Princess is missing and Prince Charming is not coming.

Vincent Olinet anchored his four-poster bed in the Exedra north of the Tuileries Gardens. Pushed by the wind, the ghost ship drifted a few inches into the basin. Ducks climbed onto the bypass or white sheets at the risk of soiling. The bed was flanked by statues inspired by classical Greek mythology: on one side, Venus Callipyge (Aphrodite), the other Apollo chasing Daphne.

The time for fairy tales are over. Visitors gazed at the facility with pleasure, attracted by the sweetness of the first installation.

photo credits: Vincent Olinet via archéologie du futur