The village market

I think this weekend was the weekend for antiques and other bric a brac.. I don’t know what it was but there were at least three flea markets running this weekend. One is pretty major and it’s the bi-annual Bastille Antiquities Market (a separate post is coming up on this!), another was more of a neighborhood flea market in the 12^th arrondissement and the third was held at the Village St. Paul.

I love the village St. Paul so it made sense that I check it out first. The village St. Paul is exactly that—a small self- contained little village in the heart of the Marais. It is just a few tiny pedestrian streets that wind in and around the Church of the St. Paul but what it lacks in size, it more than makes up in terms of charm and history. It is here that you can see remnants of the old fortifications that used to ring the old city. In those early early days of Paris, the city was a fraction of its size now and everything was enclosed in strong walls, designed to keep out ruffians and other criminals. Another site to note is the Hotel de Sens, which lies close to the Seine River. It used to be the residence of the Archbishop of the City of Sens (hence the name) but nowadays it is a public library that houses a few temporary exhibitions.

Here's a photo of the medieval wall..

The Hotel de Sens which won't look out of place among the different castles of the Loire Valley...

The Village's lovely lay out of small streets that enclose little courtyards made it the perfect place for antique dealers. Ten years ago, it was renowned for its weekend antique fairs. The dealers would set out their wares onto the courtyard of the Village and people would come from everywhere to browse and shop. Unfortunately such fairs created nightmare parking and traffic issues so the Mayor was obliged to prohibit such fairs. It was a real shame and in fact it was widely criticized. As a result of such prohibition, number of the antique dealers were obliged to move away. That said, there are still a few stalwarts who open during the weekend and its at this time that the village is at its liveliest. But I have to say that during the week, the calm courtyards of the village serve as a delightful place to have a simple lunch!

This weekend it was busier than usual thanks to the temporary weekend market. There was a good mix of stands selling handsome furniture and beautiful tableware as well as some selling beautiful French linens. There was even a bookseller selling antique leather bound books. The most interesting stands didn’t have a particular theme but featured a number of attractive and whimsical items. One was selling old- fashioned jewelry stands in the form of a miniature dress dummy while another had what she called a “repose-pied” or a little stool where one could rest one’s feet. Yet another had a set of beautifully mismatched glasses and pitchers. It was quite frustrating that the sellers more often than not refused to have their merchandise photographed! I did manage to take a few general looking pictures of the market as a whole to give you a flavor of how things were.

On non-market days, this is a particularly lovely spot to have lunch, just under the boughs of this old tree...

A view of another courtyard

One seller agreed to let me take a picture of here repose-pied

While another agreed to let me shoot her pretty glasses and pitchers..

After browsing the stands, I got the hankering for something sweet so I popped in Izrael, still within the confines of the Village but on its outer perimeter. This is a greet spice shop that stocks what seems like an enormous amount of spices from all over the world. You step in and its like Ali Baba's cavern of treasures except its spices that reigns here. They also make the best chocolate orangettes and mendiants that I've ever had. Each time I go, I cannot resist buying a bag of each. Often my bag of goodies don't even make it back home, as during the walk back, I don't stop at one piece!

Délivrance

Au bout de deux mois, j'ai enfin réussi à finir les 700 pages de London Fields, je crois n'avoir jamais mis longtemps à finir un livre .

London Fields relate l'histoire d'avance un meurtre dont on sait d'avance qu'il va se produire. Le récit sert donc à poser les jalons. Ce n'est ni ennuyeux, ni mal écrit, ni vulgaire (même si cela le frise parfois), cela se lit, mas je n'ai juste trouvé aucun intérêt au roman.

Selon les critiques Martin Amis jouit d'une excellente réputation comme écrivain. Certes... Mais un conseil, passez votre chemin. Les critiques sont sûrement moins élogieuses envers Stephanie Meyer, mais en tout cas cela se lit beaucoup mieux!

Going, going, gone

Stuck as I am at home, I have a few hours of “liberty” whereby I could carry out errands and other essentials. When I’m feeling well enough, it is also the perfect opportunity to walk around and see what’s happening around the city. Yesterday was one such perfect opportunity and I made the most of it by popping into Art Curial (picture above, the only one I could take), one of Paris’ venerable auction houses. And while I don’t make the habit of visiting auction houses, yesterday was special as it was one of the viewing days of the upcoming Hermes Vintage auction which will take place on the 10^th of November. I can’t tell you how excited I was when I read about this auction. Not so much for the idea of being able to acquire my own Hermes bag (the prices are completely out of this world) but just the idea of seeing the whole lot up close and personal.

And what a lot it was! Something like over 600 Hermes bags are up for grabs at the auction, one of which is a beautiful pale green croco skin Birkin offered by Naomi Campbell in celebration of her 25 years in the modeling industry. Just to digress a bit, Art Curial has been organizing auctions for the past 12 years of Hermes bags, and over the last three years, they have been fortunate enough to obtain celebrity bags (Jane Birkin and Princess Stephanie were the previous celebrity donors) to auction off for the benefit of certain charities. This year, the proceeds from Campbell’s bag will be for the White Ribbon Alliance, a non-profit group fighting against maternal and infant mortality. A pretty good cause I have to agree!

The Campbell Birkin aside, the other bags merit just as much attention. There are outstandingly beautiful ones (models included the Kelly, its precursor the Haut a Courroies, the Constance and the Bollide, to name a few) in different leathers and skins—croco of course, but also ostrich and suede and all of them beautifully preserved and shining with the well-loved patina of age. Its clear that these bags came from owners that truly loved them and took good care of them. It isn’t a big surprise then that the starting estimates are still a hefty price. Still and all, I suppose it beats having to go to an Hermes store and being told to wait for xxxx number of years unless your last name is Beckham or Mittal.

As Hermes is not only renowned for their bags, the auction is also featuring a good number of their silk scarves. I wish I could have taken a photo of the auction rooms to show you as even the scarves were beautifully presented, almost like museum pieces. Imagine if you will, a whole row of silk scarves of all colors and prints hanging from the ceiling and decorating the walls of the room like tapestries and you will get an idea of how Art Curial has presented them. If scarves are not your thing but you still want to come away with a little something, the auction will also feature several timepieces, some carefully selected beautiful bangles and for the less the menfolk feel a bit neglected, there are some nice shoes for them. And for the real Hermes obsessive, there are some vintage playing cards and notepads too!

As I wasn't allowed to take a photo of the actual rooms, I've had to content myself with this prepared photo...the Campbell Birkin is the one in the middle

Viewing of the Hermes lots for sale continues this weekend at the Hotel Marcel Dassault 7 Rond Point des Champs Elysees from 11 to 9 and by special appointment on Monday (9November). And the auction will be on Tuesday the 10th of November .

In the business of Choos

In less than 2 weeks, H et M will be launching its collaborative effort with Jimmy Choo. It is the first collaboration of its kind by Jimmy Choo whose range of goods normally retail for several hundreds of euros more than the usual going price of an H et M item. The H et M line is supposed to include not only its trademark stilettos but also bags and for the first time, ready to wear. Take note, they are also releasing a line for men. The news created quite a buzz among fashion circles and there is much anticipation over it.

It is interesting that Jimmy Choo has now decided to jump on the collaborative high street band wagon when its main cachet is, and has always been luxury and exclusivity. I’m just as curious as the next person who follows these things and to be sure, I’ll make the effort to see what the fuss is all about. And it comes at an opportune time too as I’ve just finished “The Towering World of Jimmy Choo: A Glamorous Story of Power, Profits and the Pursuit of the Perfect Shoe” by Lauren Goldstein Crowe and Sagra Maceira de Rosen.

This book tells the story of the Jimmy Choo business as spearheaded by former British It girl turned glamorous business mogul Tamara Mellon (nee Yeardye). When Tamara first met the Malaysian born Jimmy Choo, he was already in the business of hand made couture shoes for a select group of rich clients, including the late Lady Di. It was Tamara who convinced him to start a luxury retail shoe business. And it was her family that initially put up the funding for the fledging business. From here, the book details the gradual rise of the company, along the way losing Jimmy Choo as designer to the company’s retail business. It seems that Jimmy Choo wasn’t content with the way the business profits were being divided yet at the same time, he refused to come up with the required number of designs needed for the company to release new stock every season. From such beginnings the company has since been sold from the Yeardye family though Tamara has retained a significant amount of shares in the company and the book goes into great detail into each financial transaction. At times, such detail slows down the narrative of the book but fortunately the authors know enough to go back to the personal narrative behind such financials to keep the readers’ interest. Along with the evolution of the company, the book gives us a rather intimate look at Tamara Mellon’s life including her often tumultuous love life. Interestingly enough, the book was written without Tamara's cooperation. What remains the most fascinating aspect of the book however is still the how the business grew and the tremendous effort involved into making it into what it is now—a multimillion dollar business with glamorous shops all over the world.

En bonne parisienne snobinarde, les films asiatiques ne m'attirent pas particulièrement. Les arts martiaux sont beaux à voir, mais je préfère les voir mis en oeuvre dans Buffy que dans les films de Bruce Lee. Oui c'est pathétique de ne pas pouvoir se transposer dans une autre culture, mais c'est comme ça. Pour en revenir à nos moutons, je vais donc rarement voir ces films au cinéma, et je les loue aussi rarement. Cependant ayant été extrêmement touchée par Adieu ma concubine, je me suis dit qu'il fallait que je persiste et ai donc acheté Les filles du Botaniste. Le thème est finalement assez comparable, puisqu'il s'agit d'une histoire amitié amoureuse entre deux personnes du même sexe.

Dans les années 80 en Chine (totalement différentes manifestement des nôtres. Ils n'ont pas vraiment dû avoir leur période fluo, grunge, punk, disco, leggings, Studio 54 et le Palace....), une orpheline vient faire un stage d'un mois chez un célèbre professeur de botanique, qui vit passablement reclus avec sa fille. Arrive ce qui devait arriver: les deux filles tombent amoureuses. Je ne dévoilerai pas le reste de l'intrigue, même si finalement, comme dans ce genre de film, ce n'est pas vraiment l'histoire qui compte, mais tout ce qu'il y a autour.

Les images sont superbes, et tout est suggéré, rien n'est montré, ce qui a un impact beacoup plus fort. On y retrouve une grande délicatesse, ce qui manque souvent aux films occidentaux. En bonne snob, je pensais que Mylène Jampanoï (représentant Dior en Asie) ne valait son succès qu'à son physique comme nombre de starlettes (moi jalouse? non.........). Elle joue merveilleusement bien son rôle dans Les Filles du Botaniste, et mérite amplement le qualificatif d'actrice; mea culpa donc encore une fois. Les autres acteurs sont également excellents.

Un petit bijou, qui me conforte dans l'idée que parfois craquer sur les promotions offerte sur Cdiscount est une bonne chose...

Placebo, baisse de régime?

Les vacances sont déjà loin, mais je commence à peine à me remettre de la déprime post-vacances.

Placebo a sorti son nouvel album il y a quelques mois, et cela fait donc quelques mois que j'étais en quête 1) d'une date de concert et 2) de gens qui veulent m'accompagner (je suis asociale, mais les concerts seule, je n'ai pas encore fait....).

Le groupe semblant au départ ne jouer que dans des festivals, j'avais abandonner l'idée de les voir. Les festivals sont une bonne idée, sauf quand vous prenez vos billets (chers) pour voir un groupe en particulier et que celui-ci vous plante (Hello Oasis at Rock en Seine!). Imaginez ma joie quand j'ai vu qu'ils joueraient à Paris, et en plus au Zénith.

Fausse joie quand j'ai vu que mes goûts musicaux n'était apparemment pas partagés. Entre les "c'est du rock pour midinette de 15 ans, j'aurais honte que mon mec y aille" (spéciale dédicace pour V.), le presque "c'est ça, on se rappelle, on se fait une bouffe " (ce qui veut dire diplomatiquement "oublie moi"), le "j'arrive, avec mon mec!" (là c'est moi qui coince...), et le classique "euh non merci", j'avais abandonné tout espoir. J'en étais arrivée au cynisme de proposer ça à un déjeuner au boulot (c'est pour dire quand la seule chose que je consens à dire sur ma vie privée au boulot est que j'ai passé un bon we), lorsque surprise, quelqu'un était intéressé (et non, ce n'était pas le boulet de service qui me draguait).

Coup de chance, une date avait été ajoutée, il restait des places, et deux personnes se sont rajoutées. En première partie, le groupe Expatriate, rien à dire dans un sens comme dans l'autre, mais comme ils sont australiens, ma subjectivité me fait dire qu'ils étaient bien.

Donc premier rayon de soleil depuis la rentrée!

Brian Molko est extraordinaire sur scène (on oubliera sa coupe de cheveux, qui me fait penser à beaucoup de mes propres expérience ratées), il tient le groupe sur ses épaules en terme de charisme (quoique le batteur est excellent comme musicien). Le troisième acolyte est sûrement un très bon élément mais je suis probablement plus charismatique que lui, c'est pour dire. En rock star wannabe, il est parfait.

En commençant par trois ou quatre chansons de leur nouvel album Battle for the Sun ( ce qui est légitime et commercial), Placebo n'incitait malheureusement pas le public à se mettre dans l'ambiance et à se déchaîner. Les gens viennent majoritairement voir Placebo en concert, et donc leurs "vieux" tubes, et non pas écouter leur nouvel album (étude statistique faite sur quatre personnes, dont moi, donc hautement fiable). L'ambiance a donc eu en conséquence beaucoup de mal à se réchauffer, malgré les nombreux tubes enchaînés. Musique dont je ne me lasse pas, chanteur définitivement talentueux, c'est dommage que le concert n'est pas mieux reflété ça.

Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas (bizarre mon père -pourtant plutôt Nostalgie que Oui FM- les connaît, alors qu'au Canada, ils ne semblent pas être connus), voilà un de leurs grands succès (et oui les clips, comme pour Indochine, sont toujours extrêments bizarres, mais toujours fascinants).




Et ce qui est formidable et que le monde étant en circuit fermé permanent, on découvre grâce aux jeunes générations d'artistes les anciennes. De même que j'avais découvert la chanson The Man who sold the Word de Bowie grâce à Nirvana, Brian Molko m'a ouvert les yeux (oreilles?) sur Five years, toujours de Bowie. Ai-je le droit de dire que je préfère les reprises des jeunes générations?

A passer en boucle...

When it comes to fur

Still on the subject of fashion, I'm currently reading this great book titled Vintage Handbags. It does a wonderful job of presenting the history and evolution of bag styles of the 20th century. It is full of information about the different eras and how bags have evolved in conjunction with the fashion of the times. It helps that there are gorgeous pictures showing the predominant styles. Different designers from the well known to lesser known have their place in the book and its such a pleasure to learn all about this wonderful accessory. I haven't finished with it but I just had to share this great photo (above and just below for a closer look). Taken during the 70s, check out the bag casually swinging from the chic woman and the way she's dressed. The bag dates from 1974 (a most significant year!) and her style is described by the book as rural. I love the whole look, though I don't know if rural is quite the word to describe it. I love the turban style hat and the fur coat wrapped so casually around her. She looks warm and toasty and totally put together and not in a stuffy old lady way. I think even now, this look would work wonderfully.

This got me thinking about the current rage for fur. Yes, fur. Notwithstanding PETA and all other animal rights activists, the fashion industry hasn't quite given up its love of fur, as can be seen in the A/W 2010 looks. Politically incorrect as it may be to admit, there's something really nice about the current offerings. They look completely wearable and you gotta admit, probably really warm. And they go from day to night..

This one is a faux fur gilet (perfect for those who don't like the idea of real fur but still want to get on the trend) that works with jeans and dresses...

A slightly dressier style from the high street brand New Look...

This one takes you out to a fancy night out..maybe to a nice 2 star Michelin dinner or the opera?

And finally, a totally modern look....

I can't quite decide which I prefer---cool 70s look or the hip current look?