I LOVE GRAY WITH ORANGE

J'AIME L'ORANGE AVEC LE GRIS

You must have noticed that when you like something you see every where. 

I like gray, you may have noticed. I love it with orange, you may have noticed that also. It is certainly my favorite color combination, it has been for a while and I can't seem to shake it. Not a terrible affliction...

I love it in everything and I have spotted in in everything.

In interior design

Even in a nursery

In AW 2011/12 fashion

Of course in accessories

Including in menswear

Make-up is playing the game as well

images pinterest, elle decor, flights of fancy, decorpad, burberry prorsum, lanvin, vogue, hermes, chloe, manuelle mag, ralph lauren




au revoir.

YOU AND ME, AND ME AND YOU.

LA VIE JUSTE A DEUX

This is going to be our second year à deux, just the two of us. We are what is commonly referred to as empty-nesters. We now sit at one end of the table, en face-à-face, just as we did years and years ago...

We are not the only ones; far from it; a lot of our friends are now back down to two "occupants", just as we are, living a life without messy bedrooms to close the door on, without laptops and cell phones cluttering the kitchen table, cars being borrowed and fridges criticized for being "empty".

It is also a life without loud music and phones ringing, without loud laughter and irreverent teasing, without all the wonderfully irritating mischief that a happy house is filled with.

We have to adjust to all that's missing now. We have to find ways to adjust to a life no longer like a rock band and definitely much more like a string duo.

images joelle desparmet, suchstuff, pinterest via decorology, gildo

We have kept more than 2 chairs around the table. The others are still there... at the ready.

Yes, we are adjusting. We just really miss our rambunctious DJ's.

au revoir.

FRENCH EYE VIEW

 COUP D'OEIL

Just something that caught my eye.

image via habitually chic

The richness of the ceiling, the contrast with modern furnishings the black and white juxtaposed with the warm gold and gray, the feeling of cool modernism and nonchalant grandeur.

au revoir.

IGNORANCE AND INTOLERANCE

image by françois caspar

L'IGNORANCE ET L'INTOLERANCE

If only those two towers were destroyed...

This weekend, 

Let's remember horror and heroes.

Let's imagine acceptance and understanding.

au revoir.

FRANCE: THE COLORS OF THE SOUTH

LA FRANCE: LES COULEURS DU SUD

There is a craft market in our village every Tuesday evening in the summer. All kinds of clever, creative, passionate artisans come to sell their newest products on the old village place under large umbrellas. We love to go as every year a new feeling seems to prevail. This year it was mostly color. A lot of color. 

In great contrast to the village shops that like to offer a lot of grays and beiges and raw linen, which I love also, these temporary stalls pop in the late afternoon light and offer a array of bright happy pieces that it is very hard to resist. I said clever.

The basket shop

The potter

The leather accessory maker

all images joelle desparmet

au revoir.

FRANCE: WE ACTUALLY MADE IT...WELL, ALMOST

LA FRANCE:
NOUS Y SOMMES ARRIVEES...ENFIN, PRESQUE

This is the new pool in my sister's house in the south of France. So far nothing extraordinary, you'll say; lots of people have pools, you'll say; What so special about this, you'll say.

Well, it's a MIRACLE, that's what.

The pool is not a miracle, the fact that it happened at all or rather in time for our stay in August, THAT's the miracle.

This is a picture taken a few years ago of the spot where the pool was just put in. We went to France to analyse the sight a few times (from the US and Canada) to position, think, ponder, re-position, design, think some more, all the while pouring over catalogs and pools in magazines when we were back home; we went over every detail: do all the pools fixtures come in gray like the pool? can the pool look a little more like a reservoir and a little less like a pool? where do we stop the stone, how much grass area do we leave? Where will the lights go?

A  multitude of emails and phone calls were exchanged. Sketches and plans redrawn.

All this seems pretty straightforward right? Well, when you are thousands of miles away and need to make instant changes or else the pool will not be ready, a little tension comes into play. 

The contractor, the pool man, the electrician, all promised we could plunge in straight upon our arrival on the 1st of August -they were all leaving for their August vacation the weekend before. 

BUT they came through! we plunged! well, the next morning, but it was ready. 

MERCI messieurs!

We have had to adjust to the change in the scenery: less charm, in a way, with trees and century old walls having had to be taken down, climbing ivy torn off, and stone work where grass and flowers had been.

On the positive side: seeing the house from a totally new angle where we seldom stayed for any length of time: a real treat.

We had to immediately go to work looking for the style of lounge chairs we wanted, the right color and style pots for the area, the right color umbrellas, the right plants. Remember this was August when France is on vacation. ALL of France. And when stocks of pool stuff are very diminished, needless to say.  

In the end, after many a trip to this nursery and that furniture store, it was all done.
Yes, the grass and the bamboo hedge need a little more time to grow and the retaining wall needs a little patina, the pool area stone work needs to be completed so as to extend along the house, and we will need to buy a long, long, long table and a lot of chairs for lazy lunches poolside next summer.

Being on the "wrong" side of the Atlantic has never stopped us before. We did entirely renovate the house in Morocco the same way. 
Thank heaven for the internet, e.mail and digital cameras; and for trustworthy contractors and artisans! and of course, a little naive enthusiasm never hurts.
I am the enthusiast, my sister is the more reasonable financial officer...

Now, getting a pool built in Australia, THAT might be a totally different kettle of fish, so to speak. 
But wait! I see it already, a lot like a large water hole in a quarry.
No, stop! I don't even have a house in Australia...

au revoir

TANGER: PLAYING WITH CONTRASTS

TANGER: LE JEU DES CONTRASTES

Once in a while, in Tangier, strict modern lines are found side by side with the gracious curves of traditional Moroccan architecture and furnishings. It could not make me happier. 

A modern art exhibit, le Musée de la Kasbah

An insurance company office

The bed and breakfast L'Elephant Blanc

cote sud

I do not understand why one should want to live in Morocco in a totally modern European space where there is not the slightest hint that you are actually in Morocco. By the same token, I do not go for Dysney-esque Aladdin chichi decors either. What I do love are modern touches playing with the curlicues of typical Moroccan style. I find it refreshing, forward thinking and, when well done, what you experience is a pleasingly balanced tension.

au revoir.

TANGIER: THE CREATIVE POWER COUPLE

TANGER: LE COUPLE SUPER CREATIF

world of interiors

Laure Welfling and her husband Gipi de Rougemont Salvy are two of the most creative people of Tangier. She designs an exquisite line of caftans, one-of-a-kind handbags, extraordinary necklaces and much more. He is a impressive artist who sells his art but also exquisite hand painted plates and table accessories (I included his knife rests here), in her wonderful shop seen in the center of the image below. 

I have mentioned their house before here and this time I must share his latest work.

Laure invited us to the opening of his exhibit "Banners." We had no idea what to expect except, of course, something quite out of the ordinary. It was that, and much more. 

Imagine large banners that have been patched, painted, embroidered, laden with bullion and tassels and pompoms, then imposingly displayed in one of the  giant white room of the Musee de la Kasbah.

The result is positively striking. A mélange of medieval tradition, Moroccan craftsmanship, over-the-top adornments and a perfectly -and surely willingly- translated sense of humor.

Gipi himself is quite a character, often sporting a straw hat, extravagant shorts and colorful tops in the summer. (This picture was taken before the start of the event and he went home to change into a very chic white shirt and wide gray pants).

The Banners were rich, amazingly interpreted, detailed and whimsical. You had to stay staring at each one to take in just a hint of the quality of the work and the depth of the creativity.

Handpainted portraits

formidable tassels

Even the entrance area where the programs were laid out was stunning.

What a great asset for Tangier to have these two artistic powerhouses. They stand out even in this town full of beauty, color and with surprises on every corner.

Oh, and Gipi seems big on the French tradition of the baisemain (kissing a lady's hand)...another quirkiness of his and not something very common in this day and age and certainly not in Tangier.

au revoir.

A LABOR DAY PICNIC? WHY NOT?

UN PIQUE-NIQUE POUR LABOR DAY?

It's such a great tradition.

 Where ever you are, why not go outside and enjoy the (official?) last day of summer.

au revoir.

TANGIER MOROCCO: THE STYLISH LITTLE GIRL OF THE KASBAH

TANGER: LA PETITE FILLE TRES STYLEE

I  noticed a very cute girl one day as we were leaving the Kasbah towards the Medina and asked if she would mind posing for a street style shot. She very eagerly and very naturally struck a pose and smiled sheepishly at her mother. We thanked her and went on our way. She caught up with us a few moments later and said that her mother wanted us to pay her for the privilege of photographing her. 
What a disappointment. 
She seemed embarrassed so I gave her a few dirhams.
I don't know if that was the right move. What I do know is that she might be on her way to a brilliant career. You cannot miss with that kind of ambition and such a stage mother.

au revoir.

TANGIER MOROCCO: THE FUNKY BEACH PLACE

TANGER, LE CAFE/PLAGE KITCH

We had heard about Cafe Abdou numerous times but had never taken the time to go scout it out. We are so glad we did so this time. 

It has to be the most retro/kitchy/cotton candy colored fun place on earth. I am not exaggerating. 

Cafe Abdou has been around since the 50's maybe earlier, just outside and to the west of Tangier towards the Atlantic. It is located in what is called the Foret Diplomatique, so named because an American army base used to be there. You drive through a pine forest for a while and suddenly you have arrived. You are Chez Abdou, a group of low, pastel colored buildings reminicent of the more modest areas of the French Riviera in the 50's and 60's. Complete with mid century wire chairs and metal tables, umbrellas with soda company advertising all over them and a collection of the most fun flower pots I have ever seen. 

The vegetation seems to be very pleased with the climate ...

...even the fake vegetation.

Don't you just love the sun bleached travel photo left upside down?

The few misspellings add to the happy-go-lucky feel of the place.

The "entrance" to the beach could not be more extraordinarily funky.

But most of all : the food!

You choose your meal at the counter as you arrive (you literally point at the fish you wish to eat) and it is brought to your table a few moments later, grilled to perfection and DELICIOUS.

Oh, and the cook came to the table at one point and asked that I come to take a picture of "our" fish... with the cook of course.

Another great address to add to our list of Tangier favorites.

au revoir.