Paris Pastimes

In my experience, Paris is the greatest city in the world for shopping. Further (or rather integral) to this, Paris is the greatest city in the world for walking. Or even just getting around generally. The metro is reasonable (€1.10 per ride, versus £4.00 in London and $2.00 in New York). And brilliantly, the trains run every 4 minutes or so. Regardless of what day of the week and what time of day.

But I don't take the metro unless I have to. I prefer to walk, or rather, wander. I like to be what the French term a flâneur, a stroller or saunterer.

I find it helps to have a vague destination in mind, but I try to make my way there without maps, just heading in the general direction. And I stop by inviting shops along the way. Which can be dangerous, because as a flâneur you follow your instincts, and shopping by instinct is a great way to fritter away all your money.

Flânning about one day I discovered the passages, covered shopping arcades between buildings, perfect for whiling away a couple of cold hours in February. There are a whole series near the Grandes Boulevards, but others scattered throughout town, which I'll have to seek out on future visits.

For the crafters (inevitable that this would come up) there is a lovely embroidery and cross stitch shop in the Passages Verdeau called Le Bonheur de Dames, jam-packed with gorgeous kits. I've almost given up cross stitch entirely, but I was very tempted to purchase a project (unfortunately they are as expensive as they look).

I wander about this area quite a bit, drawn by Galleries Lafayette (and Printemps, to a lesser extent). I don't bother with the clothes, but the accessories department is usually worth a look (though there weren't any tempting hats this time). The real draw for me is Lafayette Maison. Four floors (or is it five?) of the loveliest housewares ever, for every budget.

I can spend hours rummaging around there, but this year I had a goal - a tablecloth. I've been lusting after a Jacquard Francais tablecloth for years, and now that I have inherited a proper set of dishes from Richard's grandmother (Royal Doulton Larchmont, which is, most appropriately, green), I can finally start building my table.

I went with the cotton damask, which proves that I don't ALWAYS have to get the most expensive things. Linen is better, but I didn't like the flowery damask patterns on offer. I somewhat nervously went with the beige Provence pattern, hoping the hint of gold and green would complement my dishes. I shouldn't have worried about the colour, it is absolutely perfect. The only problem is it's a bit too big for our table.

Fortunately we will not be living in St John's housing forever, so whenever we get around to buying our own furniture, I can just get a table to match the tablecloth. And in the meanwhile, I can acquire cutlery, glasses, and all the other assorted tablewares one needs to entertain properly.

Avoiding V-Day

I know a lot of people don't like Valentine's Day - too much pressure to be in a relationship if you aren't and too much pressure to "be romantic" (which sadly just seems to mean chocolate and candies) if you are. I don't mind it myself - it's all part of the panoply of celebrations to enjoy in February, including my birthday, my sister's birthday, Chinese New Year and finally my wedding anniversary. Which falls on the day after Valentine's Day, so we can delay the requisite meal out and avoid the crowds.

I got a special little souvenir from Paris for our anniversary this year, from a treasure of a shop in the Passage des Panoramas selling odds and ends from old factories. The kind of shop you find so often in Paris, which makes you want to become a bohemian artist and move to Montmartre (preferably the Montmartre of Hemingway's day).

Our initials in metal type letters - romantic, non?
(I had to buy the period because the proprietor didn't have enough change)

I lack the imagination to become an artist, unfortunately (and also, perhaps more importantly, the drive), but I have been inspired to eventually create a little display which I can update with souvenirs and little trinkets from our holidays. Something along the lines of Joseph Cornell's boxes.

photo from http://www.artistvideos.net/2007/11/joseph-cornell.html

Maybe on my next trip to Paris I'll find the perfect box.

Paris Playground

I've gotten a bit behind on my blogging - all the fault of Paris. We were there for a week over my birthday, and I still haven't quite recovered (particularly my bank balance). We go to Paris quite often because my husband does research there, and I tag along as often as possible, because, well, it's Paris! Only the most beautiful city in the world. Well, as far as I'm aware, not having visited that many other cities lately because we're always going to Paris.

Not that I'm complaining. I absolutely love Paris, and one advantage to going there often is that I'm starting to know the best places to visit. Which for me means museums, parks, and shops. I've been to most of the museums by now, but we did visit Quai Branly to check out the Baba Bling show, about the Peranakan Chinese community in Singapore. The male heads of family are called Baba and the exhibit included all their bright finery - hence the title. It was all wonderful (though quite familiar from my years in Malaysia), but the batiks in particular were spectacular. Unfortunately I couldn't get any good pictures with my camera phone, but here is one example.

Amazing colours and detail - and those are squirrels embroidered on the top!

I can't resist one other example - the colours and pattern are so gorgeously subtle. These are Indonesian batiks, of course. No one else makes them quite so well.

It was a bit too cold for parks, but we swung through the Tuleries on the way to the Louvre. One of these days I'm going to rent one of the boats - it can't be fair for only children to have all the fun.

I passed through the Palais Royal on a later day (unfortunately the sunshine did not last). Wonderful place for window shopping - but only that, it's even more ritzy than Rue St Honoré.

As to the actual shopping I did... more on that later (guess what - it involves yarn!)

I'll leave you with this photo - not sure if this is yarnbombing or a gift for a very lucky homeless person.

Branching Out

Just a quick note about some things I made at Liz's fabulous hen day. We had an afternoon of yarn dying at the Fyberspates dye studio, which was just an amazing treat. Turns out dying yarn is not as messy and labour intensive as I imagined.

And here are my creations:

Mignonette Green

Fyberspates Sparkle Merino Silk Lace

named after the colour of Belle Époque Paris.

(Richard Serra at the Petit Palais in 2007)

Tyrian Purple

Fyberspates Scruptious Sock

named after the purple favoured by the Byzantines.

(Mosaic in a small church in Istanbul)

And finally, Lovely Cotinga



Fyberspates Sheila's Sock

named after this lovely bird.

(photo obviously not taken by me)

Naming them was almost as much fun as dyeing them.

I went a bit mad surrounded by all the Fyberspates loveliness, and came away with far more lace and sock yarn than I possibly need. My creations and purchases, followed by a week of Paris shopping (more on that later), have filled my stash to overflowing, and I've had to remove a bag of recycled yarn to make room. I forsee much shawl knitting in my future.