France Calling

October days in France beckon. Paris will only been seen from the air this time as I fly from London to Toulouse. Hopefully, if a clear afternoon, I can look down and spot this wonderful sight. I last ascended in June 2006. A ninety degree day when the metal was too hot to touch, and the sun blazed down while awaiting the elevator. It's always worth it though, the glorious feeling when you 're actually standing at the top ~ Paris is spread before you in all her loveliness.

Framed art available at SuzAnna's Antiques.

French Doors en France

I am excited by doors, especially really old doors. I love windows too - but more on them another time. In Southwest France and Provence there seem to be far more old doors than new. The wood is scarred and scraped, the colors may be faded from the hot Summer sun, the ironwork has tarnished and appears melded into the softer wood, but the doors hold so much promise.

• What is behind them? Ordinary families - sometimes aristocrats.


• Who lives or works there? Hard working people - artists, crafts people, farmers.


• Why are they rarely replaced, only repaired? Buildings are old, new doors would look odd.


• Why are they so tall when the French were of short stature? To move those huge armoires inside perhaps!

These are just my personal thoughts, right or wrong. I still stand looking longingly at the doors imagining the history they have closed on through the years.

This is the 200 year old door into my brother's house in the Minervois prior to repair. Part of the four year renovation has been waiting patiently on French artisans who will repair wood, stone and tile and bring these natural elements back to their original beauty.

While talking of the doors, how about the locks and keys. This is the original lockset and key on the above door. Imagine a modern day lock lasting two centuries, I think not. This huge key weighs several pounds! I used this photo I took as the basis of a Memory Book I made for the family as a house warming gift. This more modern door, though not elegant, is actually the doorway to view the upstairs bedroom of painter Vincent van Gogh in the house he lived in whilst in Arles. Granddaughter Jasmin was so excited to visit here as he is her favorite artist.Churches have really beautiful doors - these were in Arles - and the stone carving was amazing. Being so old, many thousands have passed through portals such as this for daily Mass, Sunday services, weddings and funerals, yet the doors still hold strong on their hand crafted iron hinges.

The village school in Peyriac, home to all the little ones fortunate enough to have been born and raised in this pretty place for many years. Heavy wood doors, now scuffed by small feet and hands, as they pushed them open to enter for another day of learning. The hydrangeas were the loveliest I've seen anywhere - wish they were in my garden!

France - heading South

My brother moved to France permanently 4 years ago. He left the hectic, expensive life of London for a tiny village of 1100 inhabitants in Southwestern France......... and has never looked back.

For many years he, his wife and daughter had always taken their holidays in the countryside of France, loving the relaxed lifestyle, the fabulous food and the abundance of great wines at cheap prices. About 12 years ago they bought a holiday home in a village in the Minervois, just twenty minutes from the famed double walled city of Carcassonne and historic Cathare country, less than an hour from the beaches of the Mediterranean, and a two hour drive from Northern Spain.

Within a couple of years, and much traveling back and forth, they owned a wine importing business, my sister-in-law doing most of the work while my brother continued his stressful corporate job in the fashion business in the bustling center of London. Then Sara Lee Corp. bought his company, moved their American directors to London and subsequently, after many years of giving his all to his job, he was given the "golden handshake". It was for the best........................he now has a completely different life, happy and stress free, and has traded his Armani suits for shorts and flip flops!

Their London property sold and a second French house was purchased in a village just five minutes from where they were living. This area is famous not only for excellent wines, but also the red marble quarried to build the Palace of Versailles and many other famous French historic buildings. Their 200 year old rustic beauty with a huge two level garden, unusual in a village setting, needed a complete restoration. For almost four years they worked on this house and finally moved in just before Christmas last year. The first house sold and they are now "at home, at last" and loving their life.

If you've read my earlier posts you'll know that last Summer DH and I, together with our traveling granddaughter, Jasmin, flew to France. Following the few days in Paris we headed South - it was a fabulous time. Seeing family and sharing their new life was exciting. I have to admit I could easily be comfortable in that picturesque village, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, with the mountains in the distance, and the colorful open air markets selling everything one needs for a simple, yet rich life. I've always said I can survive on bread, cheese and wine....and they have the best!

The 200 year old stone house - Jasmin at the upper window. I love shutters - and the European ones actually work - you open the windows inward and then throw open the shutters outward - I love doing that at the start of a fresh day!

My sister-in-law's potager (kitchen vegetable garden) on the lower level. There are three natural springs on the property - one here to water the garden, one on the upper level where the swimming pool was built which can be filled from the spring, a nice water saver. The third actually ran through the kitchen in a trough in the floor tiles - that one they've had diverted as they prefer modern faucets to fill the tea kettle! The local bakery - we'd walk through the village in the early morning to buy warm croissants just out the oven, and farm style bread to spread with butter and my sister-in-law's delicious homemade jams and marmalade. Late afternoon the bakery would reopen to sell fresh crunchy crusted baguettes for dinner. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I saw the fresh produce at the outdoor markets! Every shiny fruit and vegetable was so perfect. The farmers were obviously proud of what they had lovingly grown and now displayed on their stalls.

After wine production this area also grows olives and produces oil. The markets always had several stands like this with many different types of olives.

Later I'll show you more of the Minervois and also of our visit to Spain and Provence.

Hidden Surprises in the Musee d'Orsay

The wonderful Musee d'Orsay has the Impressionist paintings to really wow you, however, there are hidden sections within this amazing museum displaying Art Deco furniture, architectural models and renderings, and statuary. Here are some photographs I took after stumbling through some back corridors and staircases into these wondrous places.

Although I'm a "cottage girl" at heart and have very little that could be classified as modern or contemporary in my home, the Michael Thonet original bentwood furniture was beautiful, and the display, though stark and linear, was perfect and enabled one to see the clearly defined shapes and shades of the polished wood.
Do take a seat!

Be sure to visit this wonderful place when you go to France.

Paris Shopping

No trip to Paris would be complete without some shopping, especially for the girls! Window shopping was in order along the Champs-Elysees where famous French fashion designers' shops are plentiful..........and very expensive. The window displays were fabulous but many of the clothes would look somewhat out of place around our Southern town! Jasmin enjoyed posing by the windows but for serious (affordable!) shopping we headed to department and drug stores.

After the long hikes to the historic buildings, the beautiful parks, and so many museums, the well earned rest at a sidewalk cafe is the place to see and be seen in Paris. It's comparable to watching theatre for the price of a cafe au lait as the people pass by, fashionably attired, their dogs at their heels. Oh yes, word of caution here - sidewalks are like mine fields - dogs seem to reign and nobody cleans up after them! Here we stopped at the famous Cafe de la Paix, the interior is gorgeous and it's where my husband took me to dinner on my first visit to Paris in the sixties! That evening, sitting in the elegant circular booth next to us, was designer Coco Chanel herself - I was impressed!

Jasmin picks out her Paris shirt. Sandy does Paris too! This favorite dog has been on all our trips and is probably the most travelled stuffed canine around................but wait, surprise! Sandy's tummy unzips (she's actually an English pajama case) and inside is Tiny cat - the most travelled kitty too. Next country coming up guys - off to Canada soon! But, how long before Jasmin decides they are too childish, and so well worn from an over-abundance of love and hugs, that they must be left at home? My heart will break when they are exchanged for an i-Pod!.....................and so, it's Au Revoir Paris......time to head South. The city was wonderful and to see it again through the eyes of a child was special.At the Gare de Lyon we chose baguettes and fruit for the five hundred mile journey on the fast, comfortable, TGV bullet train..............Southwest France here we come. During the trip Jasmin worked on her art journal - so many memories to record. See you in the vineyards!

Around Paris - June 2006

Up early - so much to see - hopped on board a Bateau Mouche and were on our way along the River Seine to explore beautiful Paris.

Morning at the Musee du Louvre
Paris is beautiful no matter which season you visit. The summer was extremely hot again last year even in early June. The light changed from early morning crystalline grey as people entered the wondrous Musee du Louvre, to mellow gold in the wavering heat of the late afternoon. It was so special to show my granddaughter, Jasmin, who was nine at the time of this trip, this historic, hectic, elegant European city. In just three days we whisked her everywhere possible. It would take months to explore all of Paris so we picked places she was most interested in. Besides famous landmarks she chose to see the Impressionist art she loved - the waterlily paintings of Monet in the Musee de L'Orangerie - two oval rooms where you stand in awe as the lily ponds surround you - and Van Gogh, Degas, Renoir in the Musee d'Orsay. In the Louvre, so vast you would need weeks to tour the entire place, she also had to see Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Winged Victory. Note, no pic of Mona Lisa - no photography permitted there!

Self portrait of Vincent Van Gogh - more of him later when we visited his home in Arles.



View towards Montmartre through the huge glass clock of the Musee d'Orsay.

Montmartre crowned by the beautiful white Basilica of Sacre-Coeur


Our adventures will be continued.................

PARIS ~ The City of Light

I really want to start posting about my trip to France last Summer but am short of time today. Will just show you these few photos I took of the Eiffel Tower - and promise more of Paris, the Southwest Minervois area where my brother now lives, and Provence.........also our fun little side trip to Northern Spain.

This photo gives you an idea as to the amazing size of the Eiffel Tower! It was granddaughter Jasmin's first visit and she was flabbergasted to find it SO BIG. It was also ninety degrees that day and we almost melted into the ground awaiting the elevator to the top.

Stay tuned - more later.