TANGIER: A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL

TANGER: LA SEMAINE DE REVE

Great weather and  breathtaking views

Bright white houses overflowing with lush vegetation

and...

a bit of a surprise: our Barek Fouta being sold in one of our favorite stores, Las Chicas,  albeit lined in a fun print. (the designer of the line, Au Fil de Tanger,  had no clue she was being sold someone else's piece...) 

Such is Tangier.

au revoir.

TANGIER HOLIDAY MODE

TANGER POUR S'AMUSER

We'll be going to Tangier soon for our yearly girls' week. New places, shops, and restaurants to discover and this time maybe a day's outing on the choppy waters of the Straight of Gibraltar to get a look at Tangier from another perspective ?
I do have to go take a look at our new line being woven...
...or not.

au revoir.

MOTHER'S DAY

LA FETE DES MERES

Great brunch (scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and perfect Hash Browns)

The Keith Haring show at the Musée d'Art Moderne (a lot of male...content) 

The most adorable Hydrangea flower (it almost did not survive the day out of water) 

Relatively clement weather (no rain today, to celebrate)

All in all a great day!

I just wish I had had all of my children with me. 

Not an easy wish these days.

au revoir.

LIBERTE, EGALITE, FRATERNITE

LIBERTE, EGALITE, FRATERNITE

Which part of those three words do they not understand?

au revoir.

PARIS IN THE SPRING TIME

PARIS AU PRINTEMPS

1 of a million reasons why we all love Paris...

au revoir.

WHY I LOVE PARIS IN THE SPRING

J'AIME PARIS AU PRINTEMPS

It was late afternoon. The Spring weather was perfection. A soft, warm light flooded the saturated green shade of young leaves on large full trees.  A stroll down the Canal St. Martin was in order. 

We were in for a wonderful surprise: the waterway was like a mirror, reflecting every tree, every building, every hue of the brightly colored shops. 

Double the beauty, double the pleasure. 

Priceless. 

If only we had thought of a picnic. 

All along the edge of the canal, picnickers were chatting as they enjoyed drinks and snacks -I did notice some bags of chips and some beers- but this being Paris, I also spied paté, baguettes, Camembert, all kinds of other French goodies and what seemed to be nice bottles of bordeaux...

Next time we need to be more organized...quiche,, a great bottle of wine, a chocolate mousse... a normal Paris picnic (hold the chips!) in a delightfully relaxing place.

au revoir.

21TH CENTURY GLASS?

DES OBJETS EN VERRE DU 21EME SIECLE?

16th century

MID 1800'S

1900

... NOT EXACTLY!

When we were in London last week, we visited the Victoria and Albert Museum. Among the  permanent exhibits the glass "rooms" offer stunning pieces. The variety of techniques, the colors, the finishes, the evolution from very detailed items all the way to the modern, very minimal ones of the 20th century.

What struck me most, however, is the amazing modernity of certain very old pieces, including this one:

25BC, Roman

au revoir.

IMPECCABLE BRITISH MANNERS

L'EDUCATION SANS FAILLE DES ANGLAIS

Where else would a disposal notice be so charming?

au revoir.

TANGIER: THE NEW SHOP IN TOWN

UN NOUVEAU MAGASIN A TANGER

The new store in Tangier called Las Chicas is delightful. It is spread on 2 floors of an old refurbished house very near the main "gate" to the Kasbah. The ground floor entrance has been glass enclosed and this is where the large pieces are exposed. 

Above that space, the 2nd floor terrace has also been enclosed and is now a delicious and relaxing tea room.

In the tea room the chandeliers are crafted out of news print and magazine pages cut to resemble the shape of crystals.

Fun mirrors abound and are all for sale of course.

I love the shape of the glassware at Las Chicas. Slightly smaller at the top instead of the usual other way around. And always that pale green tint.

The shop carries a line of dishes in an iridescent deep bronze shade. What a great table look that would make on crisp white with bright accents, or on a raw linen cloth with grays and beiges and smoky glasses.

All kinds of lanterns are for sale, all made from recycled tin cans.

Note the picture above:it is made with shipping tape of various shades of beige and brown!

On the stairs leading to the second floor, a delightful scarf was draped on a soft velvet top and embroidered loose pants worthy of a Disney version 1001 nights but so elegant!

For a more simple look, there are kaftans cut in wonderful shades of gray and rusty red linen. You can choose to match them with matching pompom-decorated scarves.

Tangier is definitely moving in the right direction. I do hope it stays more "authentic" than Marrakech however. 

This kind of shop is so much more fun to discover in Morocco than any Zara, in my book...

au revoir.

COPY as COMPLIMENT...

ETRE COPIE: UN SINCERE COMPLIMENTS...?

"Copy is the most sincere form of compliment" says the proverb.
I agree.

When I went to the weavers "foundouk" in Tangier last week to work on our new samples, I got a real surprise: our "Gaultier" fouta, which we had introduced into our line for the January NYIGF show in New York, was hanging in another weavers "shop".

We have been copied down to the exact number of stripes and the exact colors and size, by another weaver. Well, not entirely. He did make his own black/gray version- on the right. The quality also was slightly different. It was lighter.
No apology, no embarrassment. I almost sensed a measure of pride from him when I mentioned the copying.
We had simply convinced another artisan that this must be a good style since it had been bought in quantity by us from someone else. (our artisan has been hanging our styles on the hanger in front of his shop for months in spite of our request not to do that.
We did sell this item very well and are keeping it in the line of course.
We do not feel exactly threatened by the few foutas that this shop will sell in Tangier.
No, maybe the good news is that this is a compliment- albeit a slightly annoying one at first. Not to mention a free design ready for selling. Can you blame him? of course not.

Oh well, this is Tangier after all, where you can find "Vuitton" babouches!

au revoir.

WHAT A FEW FLOWERS CAN DO.

L'EFFET DE QUELQUES FLEURS

A corner of the Cinema Rif Café in Tangier.
Retro neutral ambiance in black and white, faded photos, simple flowers cut in the countryside. A few soft shots of pastels.
Love it!

au revoir.

LA PAUSE: a "camp" near Marrakesh

LA PAUSE :un "camp" de campagne près de Marrakech

A dining tent: 

the ground is covered in carpets in various sizes and shades of rich red. The tent top is made of thick dark brown wool rug-like fabric typical of the south of Morocco.

Wrought iron furniture of the rugged-look kind

There is no electricity, so all the lighting comes from lanterns and candles (up and down the  path to the various dining tents, lanterns are hung from a multitude of iron hooks panted into the rocky ground)

Straw adobe pillars and walls and bamboo ceilings

Furniture made in Essaouira of braided palm fronds

Notice the breathtaking view from our tent.

Fun hand-painted glasses. I just could not help buying some...

A fabulously pretty and delicious meal:

Cabbage roll, upside down carrot-stuffed tomato, sesame arugula salad and a Tajine of  lamb with pear, apricot and prunes. 

GO THERE!!!

au revoir.

LA PAUSE

DEJEUNER A LA PAUSE

Today will be somewhat of a break in Marrakesh. A break from visiting sources - including a trade show where we found a FANTASTIC source and a weavers' cooperative in a small village (at 9:00 PM yesterday evening).
Today we are going about 30 km from Marrakech to La Pause a "camp" for lunch. This is not what can be called "toughing it", you will agree...

This is the surroundings !!!

Can't wait!

au revoir.