les frères Bouroullec

Looking back at the work of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for the past few years, 2011 appears to have been a vintage one. With a number of real design winners, I find their work this year particularly stunning and pleasing. The lines, colours and tones have been perfectly researched. The Pico tiles have already been imagined into our overhauled bathroom and the Ploum sofa I know will look terrific in our bedroom or livingroom. With talent abound, this family team currently has a retrospective running in the Centre Pompidou-Metz, devoted to their work. The exhibition runs til 20 July 2012.

 Image via bouroullec.com - Pico tiles

 

Image via bouroullec.com - Pico tiles

Image via bouroullec.com - Osso chair

Image via bouroullec.com - Textile Field, London Design Fesival

Image via bouroullec.com - Ploum 2011

Maison Labiche

Maison Labiche is my latest petite découverte.  A bit too late for Christmas, I know, but a good tip for updating your wardrobe, just a tad. I am liking their well-cut, crisp white t-shirts, hand embroidered in France - with a special little name or message. A selection of beauties appear on the website, but you can have whatever you want on there.

Image via maisonlabiche.com

Image via maisonlabiche.com

Image via maisonlabiche.com

Goude stuff

The recent speedy festive trip to France involved a lot of countryside, plus peace and quiet. I had mentally pencilled-in a visit to the museum, Les Arts Decoratifs, in case we made it up to Paris. It is currently hosting the Goudemania exhibition, until 18 March 2012, and looks well worth a visit. Jean-Paul Goude is master of visual-brilliance and the brains behind some memorable advertising, for some of the world's biggest brands. A French graphic designer, photographer, illustrator and advertising film director, he was once also married to Grace Jones, with whom he collaborated on many projects. The exhibition is the first ever retrospective exhibition of the artist's work. Take a look at the attached overview of his creations below. Genius.

You Tube: Jean-Paul Goude - Retrospective

noël x 2

Our unseasonably mild Christmas celebrations are over. The pre-Christmas Christmas in Burgundy, has been and gone. The bone fide Christmas day in Edinburgh is also behind us. Both quiet affairs and spent with family and friends, just as it should be. We are all now speeding towards 2012. Let us hope it is a good one. Bring it on. Joyeux Noël à tous.

a storm and something savoury

That is an aerial at a jaunty angle, because it is about to be blown off a roof. There have been severe weather warnings for Scotland throughout the day and it has been particularly stormy in Edinburgh. The radio warned people to stay at home - so I did. I got my head down and made good progress on an editing deadline for next week. I also did some baking. My husband and I had a cook-off a couple of weeks ago. It was our daughter's birthday party and we decided to make some treats for our guests. One of my contributions was a cake aux olives and it went down a treat. This is what I baked again today, while the storm was raging outside.

Cake aux olives

180g flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
150g cheese (my favourites are comté, mature cheddar, cubes of blue cheese)
100ml olive oil
100ml milk
300g pitted olives (green, black or mixed)
100g nuts (optional)
salt, pepper

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees. Mix the flour with the baking powder. Separately mix the eggs, olive oil and milk. Mix altogether with the olives and cheese. Place the mixture in a loaf tin and bake for 50 min. Best left eaten slighty warm, so try to resist the temptation to eat straight out of the oven.


Source: Author's own.

here comes the summer

Image via apc.fr

Designers must be applauded for bringing out their Spring/Summer collections, in the dead of winter. This last week or so, Edinburgh has suddenly become properly cold and with it has come the ritual of layering and hat, scarf and mitt-wearing. Whilst it is chilly there right now too, I am impatient to get to France and smiled when I opened up an email from apc today. I smiled when I saw the photograph above, which looks to have been taken in the Jardin du Luxembourg, in Paris. I smiled too because it is sunny and looks warm. When the weather is good, I love sitting and lazing around in the iconic green metal chairs. I've earmarked a few pieces from the S/S 2012 collection already and have found myself wishing away the winter, already.

double rainbow

Black sky; amazing light; snow forecast on the hills; and many rainbows over Edinburgh, today. Our flying visit to France is soon. Let's hope we beat the weather this year and get there and back before Christmas.

José of all trades

Image via joselevy.fr

Round at my parents' house the other day, I found a suitcase full of good clothes I'd forgotten about. In amongst these, I found a great skirt I bought around 10 years ago in Paris, by Parisian designer, José Lévy. I am definitely wearing it again this winter. Beige, long and made of a soft felted material, with lovely big pockets at the back, it's like wandering around with a big blanket wrapped round your legs. I wondered whether he was still designing and the man has in fact been very busy indeed. Turns out he can turn his hand to just about anything touching on design. He has collaborated on numerous and varied projects (including furniture design for Roche Bobois and Galerie S. Bensimon), covering both high-street fashion (with Monoprix and La Redoute), higher-end (with Cacharel, Nina Ricci and Emanuel Ungaro), homeware, styling, photography, contemporary art, not forgetting his own ready-to-wear label, José Lévy à Paris. Ladies and gentlemen - he's good at it all.

Courrèges online

Image via 'La mode au siècle des créateurs', Charlotte Seeling.

I recently reported some activity by 60s Paris fashion house, Courrèges, in celebration of its 50th birthday this year. It is also bringing things bang up-to-date, by launching a website at the end of this month. A visionary, André Courrèges championed the miniskirt after its invention by Mary Quant. A Courrèges boutique was once situated inside the Carrousel du Louvre, in Paris, where I bought a quite unexceptional black make-up bag, when viewed alongside the candy-coloured fashions he is famous for. I doubt very much I will be investing in a micro-mini or vinyl anything any time soon, but I reckon this site may well be worth a visit.

a lesson in stripes

Image via saint-james.fr

This is a bit of an obvious one for a French-related blog, but no matter. Here's a thing or two about some great French stripe style. You can never have too many stripes in your wardrobe (so say I). Ok, well there should possibly be at least one 'Made in France', good quality, well designed, hardwearing, classic stripey top in there that you can dress up or down and can last you for years. For the real thing, here are my tips: Armor Lux, St James and Petit Bateau. Just in time for adding to your Christmas wish-list...

Courrèges + Evian

Images via packagingoftheworld.com

Evian: long been the bottled mineral water of choice among stars and models alike. The iconic tear-drop glass bottle has had a number of glamorous partners over the years, with the company having produced a successful range of limited editions, including with Jean-Paul Gaultier, Paul Smith and Issey Miyake. In yet another perfect pairing, it is now the turn of 1960s Paris fashion house, Courrèges, who celebrate their 50th anniversary this year. The bottle features the company logo and its emblematic white and pink flower. Available for pre-order and from colette.

Claudie Pierlot

It took me quite a while to pluck up the courage to start buying anything online. These days, a significant proportion of my clothes shopping is done sitting in front of my laptop. Casual wandering around the streets, popping in and out of shops still has an awful lot going for it though and one of the things I miss most about living in France is the shops. Particularly in Paris. There once was a great little boutique, Rue Montmartre, called Mon Ami Pierlot. A spin off of its older sister, Claudie Pierlot, at the time it was also slightly more affordable for my new-graduate pocket. I seem to remember that a lot of the designs and pieces were based around or sourced from the designer's travels. I bought a lovely green parka there about 10 years ago, that I still wear today. The shop disappeared from sight a while back, but Claudie Pierlot is still alive and well, with yet another cracking Autumn/Winter Collection. Chic, effortless style, as the French do so, so well.

Images via claudiepierlot.com

let there be light

British Summer Time 2011 came to an end, a couple of weeks ago and with its departure came the start of Scottish Winter darkness. It gets so dark, so early now and it's only going to get worse. Short of jumping on a plane to Nice, I decided to look at the photographs I took in the Languedoc-Roussillon this summer, instead.

weekend à Rome

Etienne Daho/Pierre et Gilles via wikio.fr

I have never been to Rome, nor am I planning a weekend away there any time soon. The heading is in reference to the song by Etienne Daho, the French singer, songwriter and record producer, who has achieved cult status in France. It was played at the French leg of our wedding and I can still picture our friends dancing to it on that night. The UK band, St Etienne, in collaboration with the singer, adapted the song and made it into the well-known and equally good English language version, 'He's on the phone'. Toe-tapping, happiness-inducing pop, both.

Bensimon



Image via Bensimon.com

When I used to think of Bensimon, I thought pumps. Those great little plimsolls that are either elasticated or lace-up and come in a variety of colours. I was delighted to read that they are still very much a French, family company, but even more so to see how they have developed. Their move into art and design could easily have been viewed as tryhard, but it is actually really good and I would definitely buy some of it for our home. The gallery S. Bensimon, situated in the Marais, in Paris, opened its doors in 2009 and has since been exhibiting and selling limited edition work by a range of artists and designers. A few special edition pieces, like the ones below, are available online. Lovely, lovely stuff.

Images via Bensimon.com

nouvelle vague

Jean Seberg, À Bout de Souffle, 1960
Image via newwavefilm.com

I am coming to the end of some editing work I've been doing on a publication about film director, Jean-Luc Godard and French New Wave cinema. The work has been interesting and it has led me to rediscover work I had not seen in a while. Much of the décor in these films is as visually chic and stylish as its actors, with leading stars including Brigitte Bardot, Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo; much of the sixties design featured looking very contemporary. All really good fashion, interiors and hairstyle inspiration. In the same vein, I'd also recommend La nuit Americaine by François Truffaut and I often think of Godard as a good introduction to the French New Wave, before venturing into the slightly more obscure territories of  L’année dernière à Marienbad and Hiroshima mon amour, by director, Alain Renais. But to be honest, the list of gems is endless, so well worth investigating.

Film stills, Le Mépris, 1963
Images vis filmcuts.co.uk

raindrops keep falling on my head

Image via guycotten.com

I found myself whistling it this evening. It has been raining all, day, long. Not heavy rain, just the fine, incessant kind that feels at first like you have received a pleasant skoosh from a posh facial spray, but rapidly turns your hair into a frizz-fest. My daughter and I left the house this morning both wearing down jackets, but we really shouldn't have bothered. After a couple of days of what has felt like Edinburgh winter was well on its way, it is kind of mild again. We could really have done with some Guy Cotten classic marine rainwear, instead. So brilliant are this lot, that they do them in sizes to fit all the family.

Image via guycotten.com

remember, remember

The 5th November. It's Guy Fawkes night, right? It is. It's also St. Sylvie, my saint or name day. In France, name days are known as a fête and are a very important part of everyday culture. It is still traditional to give a small gift to a friend or family member on their name day. I just happen also to get many fireworks displays for mine. Every day at the end of the weather forecast, that follows the French main evening news, the next day's name day is announced so you can prepare yourself to wish your loved ones well the next day. A really lovely coutume. Check here if your name is of French origin and start marking it in the diary.

Lawson's Books

Image via lawsonsbooks.co.uk

I am proud to announce that my brother, Christophe, and his partner, Gemma, have recently set up a publishing company, Lawson's Books. The website is live and their first title, 'Quality of Life', by Brian W. Ferry, launches on 2 November 2011. This beautiful photography book has a first edition limited to 500 copies, so best be quick. Check out more of Brian's work on his popular blog, The Blue Hour.

mon amour

Cheese. It's amazing. The fact it comes in so many varieties, is amazing. Even the way it's made is amazing. I have not eaten meat for a few years and really make up for it with cheese. My appreciation of cheese began at a very young age, with the softer, more simple tastes and textures of Brie and Camembert. By my teenager years, I, of course, thought I'd tried it all. Moving to Burgundy in my twenties, I was however introduced to the hardcore Soumantrain and Epoisse. This was also where I was made my first tartiflette, by the man who is now my husband. I have finally repaid the favour.

Tartiflette 
(for 4 people - or 2 very hungry people)

1 onion 
2 tbsp crème fraîche
100ml milk
1kg potatoes
1 reblochon
black pepper

Preheat the oven at 180°C. Chop the onion and place in the bottom of a large oven proof dish. Peel and slice the potatoes and scatter on top of the onions. Pour the milk over the potatoes and spoon on the crème fraîche. Slice the reblochon in two and plop the halves directly on the top. Finish off with a grinding of black pepper. Bung in the oven for an hour and ta-da. 
Source: author's own

In my opinion, the perfect autumn/winter dish.
Bon appétit!

answers on a postcard

This photograph is of the side of a building in Edinburgh, near our home. I have no idea what it symbolises, but I've always liked it. If you have any idea, please do get in touch.

Note that the tag for this post is labelled 'shoehorning'. I am writing this blog on the proviso that I am able to shoehorn-in a few non-French related items, every now and again.