Dreaming of Blanchlands..................

This divine crumbling old chateau called "Blanchlands" has been on the market for sale for as long as we have been here........

It is huge......absolutely huge. It has immense grounds, its own chapel and magistrate's court , farm buildings, stables, servants' cottages, land as far as the eye can see - and the list goes on!

I know that it has the most amazing high-ceilinged salons and divine cherub-bedecked fireplaces. You may recall that I used one of the pictures for my blog header some time ago

It would cost a fortune to restore and then another fortune to maintain but, at dusk, I just want to sit at a candle-lit table by the lake in front of the chateau and watch the sun go down.

It even has a beautiful little shrine in the woods at the side of the road - silent except for the sound of the birds and the wind through the leaves.

The trees have little bird-house shrines filled with gorgeous plaster figures and rosaries............

...with old stone steps up to the shrine itself.

There is a bronze cherub at her feet almost worth being struck by lightening for if you tucked it in your pocket!!

I haven`t been inside the chateau;  just walked around the garden of prayer. I see there is yet another new estate agents sign pinned on the woodlands today............would I dare to ask for a viewing? What do you think? The last rumour I heard of the asking price - a cool 4 million euros!

Mark recently asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year and I told him.................... Blanchlands.    He was not impressed!

I can dream can`t I?

Bonne weekend mes belles

xx

Delicious doors!!

You may know that I have an addiction to old period doors and Mark looks in despair each time I arrive home with another one lashed on the top of the car as he knows that irrespective of its size he will have to make it fit somewhere!

He did threaten that if I bought another he would banish me to the cellar and bolt the door!!
But....................

..........I didn`t buy this divine 18th century rustic door....................................honestly I didn`t....I was given it as a cadeau or did I save it from the flames?

You may remember in a previous blog  titled" Will you be my neighbour?"  that I mentioned that the only neighbouring house here at Le Breuil was up for sale.
http://simply-chateau.blogspot.com/2011/05/will-you-be-my-neighbour.html

It has been empty since January and for the last 10 months or so I have walked across there to photograph wall sconces and all sorts of shabby treasures on a delicious old 18th century door that was hanging on one of the barns.

A few days ago I saw a plume of smoke coming from the gardens of the old place and went across to say "Bonjour" to our new "voisin" neighbour. Alain is a really lovely young guy who is moving back to Normandie from Paris to be near to his family. I asked him if he wanted to sell the door I love if he was not going to use it in the renovation. He asked me what door and as I turned to point it out I saw it was gone! After I explained he took me to a pile of old timbers ready to go onto the fire ......and there it was!


Alain couldn`t believe I would want "that old thing" and told me to help myself. Two days later it has taken three men to lift it and to help it cross the lane to the chateau driveway!

Wonderful thick old timbers.....divine shabby grey paint , big heavy wooden studs, old hand made keyholes and full of character..............

Sorry Mark but you know I just couldn`t resist it. Now......where to put it? If it cannot be put to use somewhere in the chateau as a last resort I will make a feature of it somewhere in the garden.


A trick that everyone abhors
In little girls is slamming doors.
A wealthy banker's little daughter
Who lived in Palace Green, Bayswater
(By name Rebecca Offendort),
Was given to this furious sport.

She would deliberately go
And slam the door like billy-o!
To make her Uncle Jacob start.
She was not really bad at heart,
But only rather rude and wild;
She was an aggravating child…

It happened that a marble bust
Of Abraham was standing just
Above the door this little lamb
Had carefully prepared to slam,
And down it came! It knocked her flat!
It laid her out! She looked like that.

Her funeral sermon (which was long
And followed by a sacred song)
Mentioned her virtues, it is true,
But dwelt upon her vices too,
And showed the dreadful end of one
Who goes and slams the door for fun.

The children who were brought to hear
The awful tale from far and near
Were much impressed, and inly swore
They never more would slam the door,
— As often they had done before.

Dearest Tartelette..................

Dearest Tartelette..............

MademoiselleTartface way over there in Oregon..your current silence is ominous!!

Usually you Skype me in the middle of the night or call me at 4am to tell me that you are my muse - and that you are sure that I cannot live without your imput into my shabby chic emporium.

But.....................you are so quiet that I am worried!!!   I'm just thinking what could have happened. Tartelette and Antoinette sound quite similar, don't they? Perhaps you have finally become Tartelette Antoinette?

Has Jeff whisked you away in a horse-drawn carriage for a week of unbridled passions?................or

...are you in the middle of a week-long Laduree macaroon binge?..................or perhaps....

 ...you have already overdosed on macaroons and  taken to your silk brocade bed?

Has your new crown detached itself from your tooth and you are in hiding?

Have you been lured to the woods by some scoundrel who promised to escort you to an early morning brocante?

Have you developed some kind of gambling addiction and you are in Las Vegas frittering away your brocante money?..or

..are you still decorating that Salle de Bains with the toile you cheekily spirited away from the chateau?

Have you taken up jogging?

Or are you simply having a bad hair day?

Tartelette.....................ou est tu?

Trompe l`oeil at the chateau...............

Our own renovations are moving on apace; my office has a floor, walls, new roof, a second floor with a staircase, large French windows that open out into the garden and the marshland beyond - and a rear door that opens on to the drive so that when I arrive home with new treasures they can go straight in! We are awaiting the arrival of our electrician Monsieur Patrick - and as soon as the wiring is in it should only be a case of plastering and I will be in! The new simply chateau HQ!!

Our new salon lounge also now has a floor, beams ready for a ceiling, windows, the fireplace is almost in situ and, again, once Patrick has finished the electrics it will be time for plastering - and for us to make decisions on colours and decorations. I change my mind almost daily! Pale French grey and white; creams and buffs with a touch of Aubusson green; decadent deep cranberry silks and velvets with a twinkling lustre chandelier....who knows where it will go! Just when I think I have made a final decision something crops up and turns my head again!!!

Today I truffled out the most amazing old 19th century prints of "trompe l`oeil" designs that had been sent to a local chateau for the owners to choose their decorations. Now they really did get my creative juices flowing for 'over the top' design ideas for the salon!

These designs were offered as designs for the chateau by a decorateur painter called Monsieur Glaise who worked in the late 1800s.

Can you imagine having an artist to paint these wonderful scenes..............

stunning faux drapes and tassels.............................

a balcony and garden scene........................

regal Republique Francaise flags with gilded finials.........................I could definitely see this above the fireplace!

Divine flower-filled urns and oil lamps................

There is no way I could ever find someone with those talents today so I have decided to keep a few for framing - and list the others on my Ebay site.

But ........if only...to have an outdoor 'champetre' party with a setting like this..................!

I wonder if Patrick has any other talents besides wiring?!!!

A la prochaine mes belles....................

Gateaux...........I NEED gateaux..............

Laduree Paris......

Oh! ...... how I NEED gateau..........................or macaroons.....................!!!!!

Angel wings...............

I so want a pair of these wonderful archangel wings......................

I`d wear them to the supermarche and sweep everything from the shelves as I walked past!

I`d have this pair for brocanting..........................

....a little easier to handle but still large enough to stop others peeking over my shoulder to see what I was looking at! I could flap them in the face of other early morning dealers!

I`d have this pair for being angry ( wouldn`t wear them very often I`m usually pretty happy go lucky!) or perhaps for eveing wear?

They`d be quite good for the opera in Paris.....they would have to give me a wonderful seat in the Royal box or I would block everyone elses view!

I`d have these small wings to wear under my coat so no-one would know I was wearing them but me! I could go to La Poste with my parcels with a smile on my face and no- one would know what I was grinning at!

....and I would have this pair just to show off in!

I think it was Coco Chanel that said "Get yourself fully dressed and then, before walking out the front door, pause by the mirror and remove one item "......so perhaps wearing a halo as well would be a bit too much?

I don`t know why or how I came across this wonderful website but I know what I want Pere Noel to bring me this year!!!

http://www.dragonwings.net/ArchangelWings.htm

Which pair would you like?

I am NOT going to grow up!

My mum decided to call  me Shirley after Shirley Temple............It is such a 1950s name and I always wanted to be something exotic and arty........Arabella, Benedict , Camellia, Carenza, Francesca, Esme or something like that.....Not just Shirl!

But like Shirley Temple........I am NOT going to grow up!!!!

Toussaint day........

Today is a bank holiday here in France. Our village cemetery is awash with flowers that families have left in remembrance of their loved ones past.

When I was in the Venice cemetery I saw this huge huge marble figure that towers above eveything else....

Perhaps the saddest statue I have ever seen.

But it seems a very fitting display for today.

A demain mes belles...

Murano.....more to it than meets the eye!!

10 minutes by boat from Venice is the island of Murano, famous for its glassware - but we found out that it also has other treasures! With my addiction to visit old churches, we simply had to go inside this one and take a look...................

San Pietro Martire is, quite simply, a stunning little treasure. The original church and Dominican monastery, dedicated to St John the Baptist, was built from 1363 and consecrated in 1417. A tablet on the far right of the façade commemorates this. The church then burned down in 1474 but was rebuilt and enlarged, reopening in 1511 and dedicated to St Peter Martyr.

Now wouldn't this gold couronne make the most divine ''ciel de lit" bed canopy - but I thought someone might see me leave with it under my coat!

I also, just for a second, looked at of  those delicious Murano glass chandeliers; wouldn't they just make a magnificent pair of earrings, if only I could get them out!


At one side of the chapel was a small doorway pinned to which was a little paper sign with an arrow pointing towards the vestry advertising a museum of church antiques - and with a 1.50 Euro price tag.   There had been no mention of such a museum outside the chapel (nor in any of the tourist literature we had read prior to our visit) so I was naturally intrigued.

And that was possibly the most wonderful 1.50 Euros  I have ever spent!!  The first room (the vestry itself)  was  breathtaking - all four walls of the room were lined with the most beautifully-carved figures.

But the next floor simply took my breath away. Row upon row of early reliquaries  - some of  the most amazing pieces I have ever seen.

I had to take this photograph for Tartelette; with her addiction to all-things pink, she would have adored these little pink, flame- topped jars with handworked velvet reliquaries tucked inside. All closed with a wax seal too.

I only wanted one. I would have settled for just one...I`m not greedy!!!.. but they must have known I was on my way as they were tucked away behind glass - but how wonderful to see them, along with gorgeous old vestments, religious and crosses.

And these doors too ...I so need them. Both of them please!! Aren't they just wonderful?

 Rooms full of absolute treasures that no-one seemed to want to make any song and dance about! During the twenty or so minutes we spent looking at the treasures, no-one else came into those side rooms! And then we walked back outside to come face to face with the piece everyone was making a fuss about !!!!

Wonderful I know (a Murano glass 'special' in the central square) but, to me, it was not in the same league as those amazing glass jar reliquaries I had just seen.