Dior darling deux

Following on from Dior Darling

After the amazing toiles and Dior ladies, you once again plunge in to the darkness....

.....only to emerge in the most amazing double, poss triple height ball room(?)

With what can only be described as a wedding cake of Dior looming over you,

it really does take your breath away.

the dress once again are amazing and I am running out of adjectives.

This one below is definitely one of my favourites, and one of the very early pieces, I remember seeing it in my Fashion History books when I was doing A-Level Textiles. Exquisite

And off course we all know this one, the launch of the New Look after WW2, which kick started the French Textile/Fashion industry, because of all the fabric in the skirt.  But the women in Britain had to wait quite a few more years for the end of rationing and Utility Wear before they could enjoy such glamour.  That is unless they had the money to nip over to Paris.....

Dior darling

Back from Paris at the beginning of last week, I do love that city!

And I was able to go and see the Christian Dior Retrospective in a wing of the Louvre.

Definitely recommend getting tickets before,

as you just walk right in rather than queuing for nearly an hour! 

Its very popular, even on a Thursday afternoon, it was heaving and hot, but the cloths are to die for.  You start in dark galleries the clothes spot lighted, all sultry and glamourous. Then you burst in to the light, and these beautiful white rooms with ceiling covered in cascading white paper wisteria, stunning.  And perfect for the more summery garden party style of dresses.

Then you cross the triple height fall way and up another flight of stairs and in to this amazing room

Full of toiles (early dress samples).

The displays in this exhibition are the best I have ever seen.

There were two ladies in a little alcove, they were from the Dior workshop, but not sure if they were dress makers or pattern cutters? It was the only part not well signed and the only part that I wanted signs! But sadly I was not brave enough with my French to ask...

But I was up for asking about the sample of embroidery and yes they do outsource to Lesage !

In the dark section you couldn't use your flash,

so I felt it was a good excuse to practice my sketching.

Very enjoyable.

If you are in Paris I definitely recommend going to see this exhibition, but do pre book!

More photos in part deux

sometimes we need a little help to realise how lucky we are.....

Yesterday I met to a lovely lady in the Gallery, who was an embroidery teacher from Australia.

I was chatting about sewing/embroidery courses I had done,

when she said something that made me stop and think.

'you are very lucky to have access to so many wonderful courses and Museums this side of the world'

Now I have been to Oz and it is a beautiful country, but I think I know what she means.

The wealth of history we have on our door step is truly amazing.

I have shared the links to the Gobelin Tapestry Workshop, West Dean and Lesage embroidery school, all of which I have been lucky enough to visit or attend courses in.  The last image is the Aubusson Tapestry Museum, definitely on my wish list!

Gobelin Factory

 Lesage

 West Dean

Aubusson Tapestry Museum

These beautiful places are just the tip of the ice-burg, the amount of museum, chateaux, castles and other historic building that allow us to view some truly amazing historical textiles is incredible.  

But I do think when in we live in Europe ( I mean the continent not the EU!) we can get a bit blaze about the treasures we are surrounded by and sometimes we need a stranger to remind us.

a sausage cabbage rose!

 Chris and I have got totally hooked on a cook book by Caroline Conran Sud de France .  

Its brilliant, full of delicious and exciting recipes, unusual combination such as chicken with almonds, but they all work! They challenged us a bit, but not too much, our sauces are improving!  

One that caught our eye was stuffed cabbage.  Now usually you associate that with individual leaves wrapped round something delicious, but this was a whole cabbage!

You start by blanching the whole head and then slowly and carefully peel back the leaves.

Till your cabbage really does look like a cabbage rose!

Then you cut the small heart and replace it with a stuffing of sausage meat, chard and seasoning.

Then you fold the leaves back with another layer of stuffing between each leaf. 

Tie up the cabbage like a parcel and place it in a foil sling (easier to remove) and place in a casserole with stock, and cook it gently.

The finished piece looked positively historic, very impressive.

And you serve it in wedges like a cake with a tomato sauce.  It would look very splendid being carried steaming to the dinner table!

The cabbage is delicious, subtle but very tasty and surprisingly light.

being a fan!

You may remember a while back I did a blog post on this beautiful book

Well any way, a couple of weeks ago I go an email from the artist Jean-Loup and his wife Florence to say they were in Guernsey for a few days and would like to come in and see my Gallery.

Wow, this guy is a seriously good water colourist, very excited.

So I made sure I had my copy of the book in the gallery

so that when ever they popped in I would be ready!

And I was, and I got more than a asked for, not just an autograph but a beautiful little sketch,

so chuffed!

 really lovely couple, so lovely to meet them.

and I even heard rumours that there might be another book in the pipeline........

Chartres

A couple of weeks ago Chris and I had a long weekend in France, that started with a night in Chartres, a city neither of us had visited before
Its full of beautiful medieval buildings, but what makes it one of the most popular places to visit in France is the cathedral.  Its the most complete Gothic Cathedral in existence, and it is stunning!

 

And we were lucky to be there for the last weekend of the Lumiere which runs all summer.

 

The lighting display is absolutely mesmerizing, its a work of art in its self, flowing naturally from one image into another, quite beautiful. 

All of this magic was being projected from a small window above the Tourist Information Office.

But it wasn't just the cathedral but twenty other buildings over the whole city, including bridges and river side wash houses......

.......now wouldn't it be amazing to have something like this on Town Church ?

chervil

Just a quick post, wanted to show you a photo of my chervil that I grew from seed,.

Chervil is not a commonly used herb over here, but very popular in France, its got a mild aniseed flavour, so you use it like you would tarragon, with eggs, cheese and chicken.

I should have taken this photo at the beginning of July when it was looking its best, but totally forgot!

The reason I really want to share was its leaves, can you see its beautiful colours, ranging through from an acid green to a dusty pinky lilac, stunning.

Will definitely grow it again next year, but will plant it in the beds as it has a large root system and the one above is now looking rather pot bound......

ma petite crevette gris

It was my birthday at the beginning of the month, and I was lucky enough to celebrate it down in the South of France with my husband, a gorgeous few days of sun, rose, river swimming

and Crevette Gris! (brown shrimps)

I joke to Chris that I am a cheap date, as this is my all time favourite shellfish, maybe even food!

Now you can get them here, but they tend to always be shelled, I could go down to the beach, but the one time I did that, I only caught one, bonded with him, gave him a name and ended up setting him free ( I know, not normal).  So these days crevette gris (with their shell on) is a treat reserved for when we are on holiday in France.  Just like orangina used to be when I was little.

And to top it off, look what my lovely sister gave me for my birthday!

Two stunning Emma Bridgewater plates, one covered in langoustine

and one covered in my crevette gris! Perfect, thank you Serena xxxx

Place de Marche

Just a little post today.

Its amazing isn't it how the blindingly obvious can get ignored....

Was sitting in Café Delice this morning having a coffee before work,

enjoying the spring sunshine, and I just thought

'this could easily be France'

it was so beautiful. The Old Quarter of St Peter Port does have a very French feel, but so often we are tearing round in a hurry we forget to see what is right in front of us,

its so important to sit down and enjoy it.

Or as I saw in an office window on the way home last night

' Don't be so busy saving for a rainy day that you forget to enjoy the sunshine!'

I like that.

( oh and I know I should have moved my bag and coat out of the photo, sorry, was too busy enjoying my coffee!)

inspiration is flowing

When I am stressed I find my creative spirit dries up. In the last few years, stuff happened that made me stressed, and when I flicked back through my sketch book it really was a drought. 

I still was making things, the quilt is a very good example,

it didn't need much creative input but it kept my fingers busy.

 

Then last Autumn it all started to get sorted and things started to flow again, and the strange thing is that you don't really notice it isn't there till it comes back.....if that makes any sense.

 

Then in February, after we were in Paris we headed down to Beaune near Dijon and one afternoon Chris brought me a little sketch book, and I found myself having an irresistible urge to doodle the stunning, wonky buildings. And I felt happy and satisfied.

And am finding it important to carry that on.

After sketching a Shag (birds heads, so much easier from a photo)

I have moved back to architecture again, I find it easiest to work from life and photos, so sketch of the Town Church and the bottom of Fountain Street was done from both. 

 I like to get a lot of details, and the photos help with that, especially when I zoom in.

Amazing how happy and satisfied it made me.

Lots of plans afoot for this little sketch.....

2 degrees of seperation

Following on with the theme of Victor Hugo,

last month I was lucky to have a day in Paris while Chris was working.

 

 

And as we have Hauteville House in Guernsey where Hugo spent 14 years of his life in exile,

I thought I should see the apartment he lived in on the beautiful Place de Vosges.

Its worth noting that the house in Guernsey was the only property he ever owned,

the Paris apartment was rented and so is no where near as flamboyant as Hauteville House.

Place de Vosges - taken a few summers ago
 

I don't know what it is but working out the opening time of attractions in Paris is hard, the websites just never seem to tie in with reality for me, and once again this proved to be the case here. 

I had read opening at 10 am, but the time on the door said 10.30am

 and it was now about 10.15.

I got chatting to a nice British lady by the door who had also got the times wrong,

 and someone working inside had said they wouldn't be open till 11am.

What to do for 45 mins.

So we decided to go and have coffee together.

 Now that alone is a first for me, I have never before gone for coffee with a total stranger,

 but maybe Paris has that effect on me!

Café in the Arcades surrounding the square

I mentioned that I wanted to see the Apartment because I was from Guernsey and it had strong Hugo connections, and she was a mid wife and at the moment lived in Vienna. 

We lovely coffee, enjoying the February sunshine. 

Then she said 'When I was training as a nurse in London, there was a girl on my course from Guernsey'  for some reason the hairs on my arms stood up on end, I knew what was coming. 

 'Her name was Serena Lovell' 'That's my sister!!!' I almost shouted! 

 You should have seen the look on her face in was priceless!

Its such a small world when you start chatting to strangers.......