Paris amour in Springtime.......

Oooooooh la la mes belles!!!

A little Paris amour!

Monsieur spots his Mademoiselle on a park bench.

He cannot resist and buys her flowers - she looks away!

Still shy she accepts his invite for aperitifs

Followed by a little dancing

Cocktails for two

A walk in the moonlight

et voila!!!

C`est L`amour!!!!


I found these old enamel clock numbers tucked away in a local brocante. Just awaiting a new project!!

A demain mes belles

xxx

Poor cold mice.......

If I can give nothing else to my daughter Frou Frou I can at least pass on what I have discovered from 28 years or so of truffling for old French textiles.

But sometimes the temptation is simply tooooooooo much!!!! At a recent house contents auction there was a large box of  vintage household linens and the auctioneer said the word " candlewick". Well I am sorry I just can`t do candlewick.....mainly because I can remember sleeping under sheets and candlewick as a child. UGH!

But Frou Frou being from the age of plump feather duvets asked me what candlewick was.

I couldn`t help myself and told her quite solemnly that she should never buy or sell the stuff as it was made from baby mice. She stood wide eyed as I told her that baby mice called "Wicks" were bred solely for candlewick production and as soon as they grew fur it was shaved off and woven into the candlewick. I told her the practise was disgusting and the poor mice were never allowed to keep any fur and many froze. I said that many baby "wicks" would have been sacrificed just to make one bedcover.

I thought no more of it until yesterday when Frou Frou told me she had "googled" candlewick and it has nothing to do with mice at all!

Well I love it! What can I make up next?!

A la prochaine mes belles!

My boys.............

It may be below zero and lashing a gale around the chateau.........but my two boys are snug and warm by the log fire.

I am SO ready for the start of Spring!! I hope you are keeping warm too.

A la prochaine mes belles

xxxx

Au Revoir to The Ritz...........

In 2012 The Ritz Paris closed its doors for a major refurbishment. See this wonderful video link for details...................


http://www.ritzparis.com/inprogress/a-legend-in-progress/good-bye-ritz-paris.html,1,194,192,0,0


A Paris dealer friend of mine was lucky enough to buy some of the interiors furnishings that were being replaced. I met him by accident at the weekend and I now have this amazing and decadent silk boudoir table cover for my auctions.......

It is the most exquisite rustling silk taffeta in an amazing shade of soft Paris pink.

So now of course I am driving my dealer friend crazy to see what else he has!

Bye Bye the Ritz and Bonjour Simply-Chateau!!

A la prochaine mes belles
xxxx

Le petit diable..............

Sometimes it is the most timeworn and dejected treasures that catch my eye when out truffling!!

At the early morning brocante last weekend a local house clearer turned up with boxes and boxes of books. The local dealers descended on him and there was quite a tussle for the old leather-bound books. Some dealers tried to make sure they gathered up all the editions of certain publications, some grabbed the oldest ones they could find and others looked for rare books. It was all a bit frantic and got quite heated.

But not me. I was quite happy simply sitting on the tailgate of the house clearer's van with my nose in this battered old childrens book that had been thrown onto the floor by the serious book buyers!!

Dating from the late 1800s "Le Petit Diable" tells of the escapades of "The little Devil", a young mademoiselle full of mischief.

The vignettes are all so charming. I do confess that there are some very similar family photographs of me as a toddler with wild mad curls!!

My hair had been very slow to grow and, as a last resort, my mum kept rubbing olive oil into my scalp!! When it did eventually start to grow it was wild, curly and had a mind of its own!! At the age of three I had a sausage roll curl across the front of my head and I was told later that I hated it so much I hid behind the curtains and cut it off with mum`s sewing scissors! Hence more old photographs of me with a "Mohican" ! In my teenage years I used to desperately try and iron my long wild curls flat; all I wanted was long, straight hair!

Oooooh! What I would give to still have those curls today!!

A la prochaine mes belles

xxxx

Loop the LOUPE!

In November I sold a very beautiful old jeweller`s magnifying glass loupe to a wonderful lady in the US. It was to be a very special gift for her mum.

With the French postal system there is no tracking for items under 2 kilo, so, if something is special it is wise to pay for the extra tracking service.

So, I paid for a full followed and signed for service and of course......it went missing!!! The tracking stopped dead in December at a Paris airport.

My lovely buyer was very, very patient and we all waited for its arrival " just in case" the Christmas post was backed up somewhere.

 A week ago it had still not arrived so I refunded my lady fully as La poste had not come up with any answers.

Then to my surprise this morning there was a box on the doorstep! The loupe!!!

No explanation just a label stating " Unclaimed".

So after all it`s travels and wherever it has been it will be listed again this evening.

A very well travelled petite loupe!!

Bon weekend mes belles
xxxxxxxxxxxx



I

Cupid in your boudoir...........

I found this divine old pastel shade print whilst out truffling for treasures this week.

 

Cupid the cheeky little minx has flown down the chimney into a mademoiselle`s boudoir and the captivated ladies are gathered with their finest silk shoes, jewels, and hats for him to try!!

 

 

 

I cannot make out the signature but it looks like E de Beaumont.

 

 

A perfect find for Valentines day!!

A la prochaine mes belles

xxxx

This week is shaping up quite strangely.......

It may only be Tuesday but already this week....

...I've had an altercation with a kleptomaniac - see below!

...my laptop 'crashed' on me  - this time for good!

...I assisted Frou Frou in the rescue of an adorable stray young cat who has now been rehoused -also see below.

...I managed to crawl out of bed at 4.30am. in the freezing cold to drive two hours to a huge brocante.

...saw a man's "hoo har" standing in a bottle of formaldehyde,  it having been surgically amputated (ouch!!) during the 19th century!

...I almost  fainted with shock when, after asking the price of a single 19th century tassel, I was told it was 1000 euros  - and the seller seemed totally insulted when I walked away without buying it!

...I ran out of anti-wrinkle cream  - which means I might wake up tomorrow morning with a face like a crinkle cut crisp!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

 



Returning to the cat..... Frou Frou and I were coming out of the village Zumba class when this adorable young cat appeared. Flea ridden, starving and with no fur on her paws ( the cat that is,   not Frou Frou!) we were giving her a stroke when a local man told us that the she had been wandering around the village for 3 weeks and didn`t have a home. The cat looked Frou Frou in the eye and knew she could win her over. So, with cat in the car curled up purring on Frou`s lap off we went to visit the vet in the nearest town.

Parking up at the vet's surgery I recognised on the other side of the road a tall unkempt man who  wanders about the town quite frequently. He is harmless and well cared for but he is also a well known kleptomaniac - and all the locals know that they have to lock their cars;  he has a habit of trying to open car doors!

Just as we were about to enter the vets  I saw the man bend down, try to open the door of a parked car and, finding it open, began to delve inside. I knew I had to stop him, so I began to cross the road towards him with Frou Frou saying " No....Mum....don`t do it, he may be dangerous!"

As I approached him I could see him holding a handbag which he then turned upside down,  emptying the money out of a purse and grabbing a bunch of keys. The money and credit cards held no interest for him.....he simply  wanted the keys!

I knocked the car window but he ignored me so I had to go around to his side of the car. The poor man jumped to attention and threw the keys back in the car. All I could think of to say was " Non monsieur....c`est pas bon!".

Much to Frou Frou`s amusement he mumbled something at me and went to sit on a nearby bench to sulk. I felt so sorry for him I almost went home to find him some keys!!! I assume he may have thought I was the car owner.

Attending the brocante today was wonderful; despite the cold I returned home with a car brimming with delicieux treasures.

And finally.... the "hoo har" in a jar? Well .....all I can say is why? Whose was it? Will anyone ever buy it?!! Also, just as we were leaving the brocante there was a huge smash at the stall where the 'item' was being exhibited.  The whole glass panel on the display cupboard had smashed. Does that mean it has escaped and is on the loose? Will it hide out in a hedgerow and jump out on some unsuspecting woman?

As for the cat...she has been treated for fleas, wormed, innoculated and is living a life of luxury at Frou Frou`s cottage.

Should I spend the rest of the week hiding in an armoire as I wrinkle?

A la prochaine, mes belles
xx

Oooooooooooh la la!!!

Just a quickie before the weekend. Take a peek at this......


www.magnoliapearl.com

All I can say is divine!!! I can`t stop looking!!!

Have a wonderful weekend mes belles
xxxx

A little late Zumba.......

Sooooooooooooo...................I left home a little late for the 3.30  afternoon Zumba class in the village hall. I arrived to find they had already started so I dived in, threw off my shoes and sweat shirt, put my bottle of water on the windowsill and joined in. For some reason everyone collapsed in hysterics but I smiled and carried on. 

I soon realised that we were dancing  the "cool down" section, so, I stopped looking puzzled. 30 seconds later they all stopped and looked at me in amazement.

Soooo................the Zumba class on Wednesday starts at 2.30 and not 3.30 so I had arrived for the last minute!!!

I will never live this one down!

Senior moment mes belles!!

xxxx