MERRY XMAS!

JOYEUX NOËL!!!

To all of you who read my blog -or rather those posts that I manage to publish between life's obligations- I thank you ever so very much for being so kind, understanding and patient.
To everyone, including those of you who may happen to find my blog once in a while, those of you who generously leave encouraging and always  interesting comments, those of you who on those occasions literally make my day, I hereby extend my sincere apologies for being that blogger who is constantly MIA.  
To everyone without exception, reader of The French Eye of Design or not,  
I have this to say today:

END 2013 MAGNIFIQUEMENT!

WHAT A LITTLE COLOR CAN DO TO XMAS

NOEL AVEC UN PEU DE COULEUR.

The plastic tree came out again this year. The soft silver, beige and clear ornaments seemed just a tad too ... bland this time around. 

I wanted a little more oomph, but I was not about to start all over again. 

A few sheets of day glow stickers from the "papeterie" and the ornaments got a brand new wardrobe!

The reaction from the family went through the whole spectrum of total indifference, to "Yes, better I guess" to "Wow, cool!"

Not a box office hit but not a bomb either. Next year might be altogether different.

The Spirit of Christmas does do wonders for one's fragile ego...

au revoir.

IT'S THAT DAY AGAIN!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING over there!

It is strange, after all those Thanksgiving days in the US, spending time with family and friends, sitting at welcoming tables- all of them beautiful and plentiful; The cold outside, the smell of roaring fires in the hearth, the after dinner walks and dessert afterwards.

I really miss all that!

Have a wonderful day!

Here in Paris, Thanksgiving dinner will be at our place with a few of our girls' wonderful Franco-American friends. 

Like last year it will be lively, delicious and so much fun! 

Like last year it will be on Saturday...this is France. No day off.

Oh, and we have a Thanksgiving dinner invitation with a number of "Paris Americans" on Sunday. A lot of turkey and cranberry sauce this year.

au revoir.

YOU KNOW YOU LIVE IN PARIS WHEN...

VOUS SAVEZ QUE VOUS HABITER PARIS QUAND...

...a delightful street organ player with an almost cliché true-blue Parisian outfit and demeanor shows up on your street one morning. 

This gentleman went on for quite a while right under our windows, to our (somewhat temporary) delight. The weather was great and we wished to leave the windows wide open. 

What was a perfectly charming development quickly became very tiresome; Yet, street organs are lovely and it would be a shame if they disappeared altogether.

Monsieur, could you perhaps revisit your performance and make it a tad more...mobile?

au revoir.

THE LITTLE SWEATER THAT NEVER QUITS

LE CARDIGAN QUI A REFAIT SURFACE

You may remember my post about the Missoni sweater I got at Target, against all odds, two years ago. (There was a rush- no, a regular stampede- on anything Missoni had designed for Target.) I still have it even though it is more than two years later and I still love it. Yet, I was relatively surprised to see Kate Blanchett wearing it in Blue Jasmine, the latest Woody Allen movie. A Target sweater? Yes, a Missoni, but really? with her Hermès bag and Roger Vivier shoes?

The (highly important!!) question is this: where did the film's costume designer get it? At Target, that one and only day they still had some? on Ebay afterwards? -everyone was saying that was the reason for the rush on the event in the first place-. 

I won't loose sleep over this, of course. it's just funny to see it in the movie, that's all. Of course, the costume designs were certainly chosen a long time ago. Maybe even when THE Missoni/Target line was in the stores. The designer can be commended for his or her thriftiness, in any case.

Two (highly important!!) questions were put to me, by a dear friend: how did you spot it and how do you remember it? 

The last (highly philosophical!!) question : is it that important? 

To ME it is...somewhat, maybe, a little; enough to bring it to the attention of the Fashion-History/Woody-Allen-movie-hungry readers among you, my no-minute-detail-bores-me readers...

Oh, and if you have not already done so (and if you are in a super, SUPER up mood...) do go see Blue Jasmine.

au revoir.

THE MODERN ART EXHIBIT AT THE GRAND PALAIS IN PARIS

LA FIAC AU GRAND PALAIS

I love contemporary art. Visiting the FIAC at the Grand Palais in Paris was a must, of course.
These three pieces were delightful! (there were a lot of pieces made of mirror: broken mirror - by Doug Aitken-, mosaic, kaleidoscopes etc.), a few delicate mobiles like the one below which moved very soothingly slow,

and of course a array of surprising pieces in a various fun materials

Dice

Baseball bats.

The venue alone is worth the trip! Anything looks great in there. 

It was somewhat hot and stuffy and at one point rain came crashing down on the glass "verrière" with enough force that one felt that taking a little more time to admire the offerings...
This aside, there was the well known:  Some Keith Haring, Picasso, Dubuffet and Basquiat. 
And there was the unfathomable: installations that I have to admit, I don't get...it takes all kinds.
I was mesmerized, as always, with what some creative minds can come up with! That will never cease to delight me!

au revoir.

FRENCH EYE VIEW

COUP D'OEIL

Just something that caught my eye

The relaxed, comfy, eclectic atmosphere with great 1950's chairs, classic art and the great "bones" of a classic Paris apartment. Plus that lovely light grey!

au revoir.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

au revoir.

THE "TOWER" I WILL NOT SEE.

LA TOUR QUE JE NE VERRAI PAS

Why will I not see the tower? 

(as most everyone in Paris and a lot of people elsewhere know, the Tower I am writing about is the TOUR 13, an empty building in the 13th arrondissement of Paris which, for the month of October only, has been transformed into one giant Street Art Fest, with more than 100 internationally recognized "Street Artists" doing what they do best in the empty rooms and stairs and basement spaces of the building)

This is why:

This was the line - no 1/5th of the line winding its way around the said Tour the day I decided to go visit. The people in my shot were not going to get in, or maybe around 5:00PM ...and it was 10:00 AM! 

It's a small consolation that I managed to get a few photos of the exterior.

Including a very clever fellow who was doing a brisk business selling coffee!

The tower is slated to be dismantled beginning of November. 

The show is over tomorrow.

Well there will always be the internet...

au revoir.

STREET ART IN VENICE

VENISE: LE STREET ART

As we were walking along the Gran Canal towards the Biennale in Venice, I spotted a wonderful stencil on the corner of a building. I had not noticed much graffiti. Maybe a few tags here and there, nothing noticeably offensive. Was this the anonymous work of an artist on the margin of the Biennale? Who else would be this discreetly, fabulously creative?

au revoir.

LAUNDRY DELIVERY IN VENICE

VENISE OU COMMENT LIVRER LE LINGE?

As we were having a leasurely lunch by a small canal in Venice one day, we noticed a fit young man piling up large plastic bags filled to the brim with something on the other side on the "sidewalk". After a while he stopped so as to keep watch on the increasing pile as other men with wheel carts came, added on to it and went. Finally, with the help of a strong acolyte, he started throwing bags from a boat that had just arrived along side, onto the "sidewalk" as it were and replacing them with the growing pile we had been watching. It all turned out to be hotel laundry. Dirty laundry was being dropped off and clean laundry was being picked up for delivery further down a canal or another. 

So that's how they do it? of course! How else? 

In Venice you are witness to unimaginable beauty...but you also encounter the very mundane. Like everywhere else. Just a little differently.

au revoir.

VENICE: THE UNIQUE RESTAURANT

VENISE: LE RESTAURANT DIVIN

The main item on our list of stops as we cruised around the Lagoon in Venice was lunch at the Antica Dogana in Tre Porti, on the mainland as it were. 

Arriving to any restaurant on the speedy white boat of a charming and chatty Italian, right up to its terrace is a treat in itself! Arriving to this one on a bright sunny day, having had a glass of Proseco, or two- it helped trying to bring back the few words of Italian hidden deep down from the bottom of my rusty brain- was priceless.

The setting was stunning, the temperature was just right, the restaurateur could not have been nicer and the whole meal was magical! more Proseco was consumed- our entire trip was one long Proseco-fest in fact- starting with the boat ride from the airport at around 11:00 AM! It was after all a birthday trip, and this was after all Italy!

I immediately noticed playful Murano glasses in an array of eye popping shades at each place setting.

The main course was 2 huge sea bass cooked in a crust of salt. DI.VINE!!

If you go to Venice one of these days DO NOT miss the Antica Dogana. Unforgettable!

au revoir.

VENICE AND ITS ISLANDS- BURANO

VENISE ET SES ILES

BURANO

On our 2nd day in Venice we spent the day on the lagoon cruising around the islands and our second stop was colorful, slightly commercial almost too postcard perfect Burano. It was a total change in atmosphere from Venice's faded ochres and orang-y reds. I must admit it was fun discovering what the house around the next corner was going to be slathered in...

Love this small alley leading to a very green garden. I just had to go have a peek!

Now, if this does not remind you of a Walt Disney production of some sort...

One thing you can say about Italy, among a whole lot of other things of course, is that their leaning towers seem to withstand the test of time...

au revoir.

VENICE, UNIQUE VENICE

 VENISE, L'UNIQUE

The minute I saw the outline of Venice a few weeks ago, I could hardly believe my eyes! So familiar and yet so stunningly, breathtaking, softly amazing!  We were arriving from the airport and little by little the city became clearer and clearer. What a beautiful sight! 

We left our luggage at the hotel and immediately went to explore the little streets and cross the many canals and stop to admire the beauty all around us. Who could imagine for a second that this is a hospital! it is located in what used to be the Scuola Grande de San Marco, near the square by the same name, you know the one.

As I was admiring the surroundings I spotted what I have decided must one day be my home, there, on the right, with the flowers and trees,overlooking the canal..., one day.

And if not, then I'll settle for this one. The one with the green terrace and the pretty balcony, right above the little bridge. I'll settle for no less. It's decided.

au revoir.

VENICE- THE VENINI GLASS EXHIBIT

VENISE: L'EXPO DE LA VERRERIE VENINI

View of Venice from the island of San Georgio

The 4 days we spent in Venice were pure heaven. The weather cooperated and the trip was made even more exceptional through the priceless help of very very dear friends who, having lived in Venice for 3 years, were our "Venetian guides" with the pre-travel insider info and advice anyone going to Venice must have. 

The boat ride from the airport to the Gran Canal alone will be forever engraved in my memory!

 One morning we crossed the lagoon and went to San Georgio Island to see a breathtaking exhibit of the work - 1925 to 1931- of glass blower Napoleone Martinuzzi for the Venetian glassware company Venini.

 The colors are spectacular and the artistry is unequaled. To say nothing of the humour in certain pieces; animals with minimalist lines

 and vegetables with a definite 30's feel.

We did go to Murano and we saw the glass makers finishing leaves that were destined for a huge chandelier. The shop at that company had some extraordinary pieces, not all to my liking...yet, as we were accompanied by a wonderful true Venetian, noone pressured us to buy. A relief!

I will share some of our other finds in a few days... and there were plenty!

au revoir.

VENICE...AT LONG LONG LAST.

VENISE... ENFIN.

We are off to Venice tomorrow!

I have never been.

I know, you can't believe it.

Because I have lived in France? So near?

Yes, but I have a million excuses:

a) I have spent more than half of my life outside of France.

b) I have had other places to go to when the choice came up, all of them exciting.

c) I wanted it to be just the right time. Just the right company...

Now is the right time. It's SSH's birthday. A big one.

And by the way: no, we are not taking the Orient Express, we are flying.

Time pressure exige. Sigh...

But it will be great, with a little bit of the Biennale, a whole day on a boat and fabulous restaurant addresses from friends who lived there for 3 years. 

Nothing like getting the inside scoop.

au revoir.

THE WONDERFUL ARTIST AGAIN.

L'ARTISTE MERVEILLEUX, UNE FOIS ENCORE

images Dominique Poussier, artnet.com

During my stay in Morocco last week I had the opportunity to go to Asilah, a few miles down the coast west of Tangier. 
Every year a few chosen artist paint the walls of Asilah (owners "lend" their walls to artists for the annual cultural festival of the town, created to fund the much needed rehabilitation of Asilah.) They are all stunning but my very favorite each year is the mural painted by Khaled Al Saai. This time again he did not disappoint. He even painted 2 walls.

au revoir.