Guest Posting at Greige

Christina from Greige is lucky enough to be in Paris this week, and while she is antique shopping there she is hosting a series of guest posts called Design Traveller, taking readers to some fabulous and inspirational places.  Today it’s my turn, and I’m taking readers on a tour of the Château de Chantilly. 

Chantilly is a very personal château, which was lovingly restored by Henri d’Orléans, the fifth son of King Louis-Philippe.  He inherited the château as a very young boy, and his stamp is all over the residence, literally.  It is filled with his collections, which include paintings, drawings, sculpture, books, manuscripts, porcelain, arms, furniture and more.  I love his monogram~

There will be an extended tour and much more text in Rêve, which is the nice thing about a book versus a blog post….we can go into much more detail, including how it has been restored, and show you many more photos.  The story of this château is a long, fascinating and very French one.   

Pop on over to Greige today to come along on the tour.  If you would like to pre-order your copy of Rêve, you can do so here: 

 

Rêve Le Livre

Volume I: Paris 2013 $6.00 USDAll Four Volumes 2013 $20.00 USD

 

Thank you Christina, and hope you enjoy the tour~

P’tite Valentine

I love this statue, which sits in a pocket-sized park in Beaune.  In summer it’s white stone is perfectly offset by the green leaves of the trees above. But on this particular winter day, the trees are bare and so the branches frame Cupid perfectly as he reaches for an arrow in his quiver.  The slight blush of the evening sky was incredible, as if someone had taken a paintbrush to it….as soon as I viewed the image I thought it would be perfect for a little Valentine~

Meanwhile back in California, today I brought home a little gift, from me to me with love.  It’s something I have wanted for a long time, and will use on the trip to Paris, so that was my excuse to buy….a tripod!  I’m imagining photos of the Eiffel Tower at dusk, and the light trails of the cars going down the Champs-Elysees…..ah, can’t wait…..there will be lots of experimenting before then, but for now, I’m testing it out on some food shots, like the berries and chocolates set on camellia petals which I’ll bring to the market tomorrow for a pre-Valentine’s day treat~    

 

I’m a pretty steady hand with my photos, though I have to be sure that I don’t have too much coffee before a shoot.  I’m really happy with the tripod after just a few photos though; they are perfectly crisp.  This last week has been super busy with lots of writing and editing and collaboration for Rêve.  It’s taking shape, and it will be great!  Have a great Valentine’s week~ 

Welcome to Rêve

Rêve, n.m. Dream, idle fancy, day-dream, illusion.

What is your dream of France?  Come join us on our journey as we travel across this beautiful and incredibly diverse country and show you the places that we know and love, our French dream…of romantic interiors…

haystacks in winter~

…of vistas that are post-card perfect, even with a moody grey sky~

…Where we might happen upon a pastoral scene…

…Or maybe the humor of a vintner’s entry~

And food…did we mention the food?  There will plenty to see, if only you could taste~

We will devote an entire volume to Antiquités; touring the foires and déballages of the South of France with a veteran antique dealer, as well as visit antique markets of Brittany.  We will visit our favorite antique shops across France, as well as many brocantes, vide-grenier and maybe even a vide-bateau or two.  We will show you parts of the collection of a 50-year flea market shopper, as well as a hôtel particulier that is stacked to the rafters with decades of flea market finds~

The polished and the perfect, the unvarnished and original, you will see it all~

For Laura, Elizabeth and I, this is our passion, this is our love, yes…our dream. 

We can’t wait to show you all this and much more.

Our first issue will be devoted entirely to Paris, where we’ll visit the best perfume houses, the Chateau of Chantilly, as well as our favorite museums.  But we’ll also show you the street scenes and other candid shots that make a trip to the City of Light so memorable.

In the fall we have planned a trip to Marrakech, which has influenced so many designers from Yves Saint Laurent to Serge Lutens.  And in winter, we will be back in Burgundy for some holiday shopping, how to style your home for a French Christmas as well as tips on how to package some very simple items to create perfect French gifts.

Each of the four volumes to be published in 2013 will be in flip-page book format, for your iPad, Kindle or computer screen.  Each volume may be purchased singly for $6 or $20 for the series of four.

We hope you will join us for our journey across France in 2013. It promises to be completely authentic, rich with images, ideas and insights into the wonderful pays de La France.

Andrea, Laura & Elizabeth