There’s always a conflict raging inside my soul: with limited funds, do I choose to save my money for travel or do I indulge my taste for French elegance?

At last, a solution and a surprise – some Baccarat crystal perfume bottles are very, very inexpensive. On a whim and because I love French perfume, I looked up perfume bottles. You can actually buy beautiful Baccarat crystal perfume bottles for $10 – or, of course, you can go up into the hundreds and thousands. The older the bottle and the better the condition of the paper perfume label, the higher the price. Oddly, there appears to be a premium if the perfume is still in the bottle, regardless of how old it is. Note to self: perfume does not last forever. Enjoy it.

Can you imagine owning a piece of French crystal for so little? Beauty, elegance, and affordability.

BTW: This might be a good time to buy euros. It appears the euro is at a temporary low, so even if you’re not going anywhere right away, you might want to stock up now. NOTE and DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial advisor and this is
not financial advice. It’s just something I’ve read in a couple of places.

Onward to France!

It’s Spring and time to think luxe, luxe, luxe. Hubert de Givenchy, couturier to Audrey Hepburn and the Duchess of Windsor, among many others, ahs had a brilliant idea: an exhibition of stunning clothes by three of the most exceptional couturieres of all time. I have an especial fondness for Balenciaga, a humble, quiet man of exceptional skill who quit couture when he could not longer assure himself of quality.

The exhibit opens May 7th and runs through August 17. There will be 40 dresses enshrined on the first floor, amid French royal furniture. Watch for the black duchesse satin gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s – an iconic image.

The Chateau itself is worth a visit. Built in 1720, it is still owned by the same family, the Beauvau-Craon and is occupied by a descendent of its creator. The Chateau is in Lorraine, a territory which has passed back and forth between France and Germany, while striving to remain independent. The Chevalier de Lorraine was a thorn in the side of the second Madame, wife of Monsieur, Louis XIV’s brother (read her letters for a totally unbuttoned look at that court, BTW!)

The chateau has a unique design based on the calendar (which one?): 3654 windows, 52 chimneys, 12 towers and four bridges. It has huge gardens, as well.

It can be reached by car, train, airplane, or helicopter. It appears that one may stay there, with rates available upon demand. If you have to ask, you can’t afford it. You can drive straight to it from Paris, Strasbourg, Luxenbourg, Bale, et Metz. By train, the station at Nancy is the closes and there are daily trains. The closest international airporst are Luxembourg and Strasbourg. For those of you with private jets, you may debark from Nancy-Essay or Mirecourt (about 25 km). And for those of you who have servants reading this blog for you, you may organize a helicopter approach through Proteus Helicopters or by arrangement, I would assume, with the Chateau and land at the foot of the park. Goodness.

Hours are limited in May: looks like tje 1st Saturday and 2nd sunday only from 2-6. June is wide open – every day, 14h to 18 h (206); July even more so: 10 – noon and 2-6, dropping back to Saturday and Sunday, 2-6 in September.

Château d’Haroué
Place du Château
54740 Haroué
03 83 52 40 14

All-day, all access (park, chateau, and special exhibits): 10 euro for adults.

Check it out at:

http://www.chateaudeharoue.fr

Pictures to follow.

Couture, chateaux, France . . . ah la vie en printemps.

Of course there is wonderful food available throughout the domains of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales: smoked salmon, fresh trout, strawberries, properly roasted mutton (I guess), shortbread, and so on. Oddly enough, the Prince of Wales (Prince de Galles) conversion to organic farming at his estates was ahead of his time and has now been proven effective in reminding Brits of the wonders of fresh, beautiful food.

However, la belle France . . . . If I’m going to put on the weight, it better be with croissants or pain au chocolat in France, the Laduree kiss, the Ispahan (rose, raspberry and litchi), millefeuilles, gateau St. Honore, Pithiviers, and . . . you understand.

Cosmopolitanly yours (but with a definite edge for France), and in the hopes of still being invited over to share a potting shed near London,

Restez tranquille mes amis. It can’t be true. However, a new survey circulated by the French magazine, Madame Le Figaro, and the BBC’s food magazine, Olive, appears to give the British the victory in home cuisine. That is, the 3,350 respondents (2,000 French) reported that 50% of the British cooks spend over 30 minutes preparing a meal, while only 25% of the French cooks take that long.

Further, one respondent sniped at French food for being too “traditional”, citing satueed veal, wild boar stew, cannelloni with cheese (that’s French??) as examples.

Picture this: You live in Picardy, Paris, Rouen, Lyons, Bordeaux, Provence, the small towns near the Camargue (and so on). It’s lunch time – it’s dinner time. Cook or go out? Stroll the boulevards and sample that “traditional” cuisine? Stay at home and work in the kitchen?

Putting aside the amazing quality of Indian and Pakistani food available in London, would you stop for boiled cabbage? steamed mutton? tatties and neeps? bubble and squeak?

I say the Brits cook more in pure self-defense, if, in fact they do. It’s also possible that the true French domestic cooks are cooking, not filling out silly polls.

However, perhaps the best approach would be to make lots of friends in France, explain that you are on a scientific quest to defend the honor of French cuisine, and show them how they can help, with you standing by to time the effort, sample the food, and document the results.

Just a thought as the weekend nears here (and is already there, there. Am I channeling Gertrude Stein? It’s definitely time to go to France!)

Versailles Photographed 1850-2010 is an exhibit of 130 photographs, including both famous photographers and perhaps less famous ones. It closes 25 April 2010, and is hung in the North Wing [Galerie de pierre haute]. The curator is the head of the Versailles Museum Archives Department and may have been overwhelmed by the number and historic value of the photographs. At least one reviewer for Le Monde felt that the exhibit is poorly organized, with “documentary views, in-jokes, poetic vision, and glossy fashion snaps” (Claire Guillot, Le Monde).

To which I say: So what? Versailles is an incredible, overwhelming confluence of ego, art, ntaure manipulated into controlled beauty, magnificence, attention to detail, and history. I think Le Monde missed the point: this is an exhibit about Versailles using photographs as the medium, so the focus is on the wealth of images and perspectives. The photographers featured include the well-known all-stars: Eugène Atget, Man Ray, Brassaï, André Kertész, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Dora Maar, Robert Doisneau, Henri Cartier-Bresson. But it also includes newer artists: Robert Polidori, Raymond Depardon, Jean-Loup Sieff, Michael Kenna, Jun Shiraoka and Luigi Ghirri.

There is a thematic approach, loosely organizing the photographs around four themes: “Versailles at the heart of history”; “Stone, marble and silk” capturing not only the glorious architecture, but also the luxurious details of the decoration; “Nature tamed”; and “Dreaming Versailles”, a photographic record of visitors and films inspired by Versailles itself – perhaps somewhat self-referential.

However, for the photographers out there or anyone who happned to capture that perfect image, there is another feature linked to the exhibit: A contest organized with Flickr: “Reflections of Versailles Competition”.

Each contestant may submit up to 5 photos that “highlight the play of light, the colours of the water, and reflections of the chateau and its estate.” Photographs must be in landscape format, high resolution, and natural, i.e., not heavily retouched.

To participate, register in Flickr, download the competition rules, and go to:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/concoursversailles/
concourseversailles/

The curators of the exhibit will be the jury. It’s definitely worth entering!

The first-place winner gets:

• “a privileged reportage assignment in the Chateau and its estate. You will be accompanied by a representative of the Chateau who will open for you the doors of the apartments, reception rooms and groves when the chateau is closed to the public.
• the online display of the winning photograph on the home page of the chateau de Versailles (including the author credits).

For the next 10 runners-up
Tamron zoom lens, catalogues of the exhibition “Versailles photographed, 1850-2010” and free passes for the chateau and the estate.”

Allons-y! Audace, audace, toujours l’audace!

Aussi, vite, vite, vite! The competition closes the same day as the Exhibit: April 25, 2010.

Bonne chance!