When I have two close friends who live in the same city, I consider it a sign from heaven and I have to go and visit. So my trip to the Hague was decided and it took a fabulous turn that I did not expect. Marc de Brichambaut, a judge at the International Criminal court, suggested we discover Rotterdam, the … Read More
Chantilly at its grandest
It was a very International affair but also a privileged family moment which took place at Château de Chantilly on Prince Amyn Aga Khan’s 80 th birthday and all guests were mesmerized by the beauty of the castle which houses the largest collection of paintings in France besides the Louvre.
Jean Bissonnet, a young butcher who went very far
The theme of the evening at Club de la Chasse et de la Nature, was the crowning of a very long working life, that of Jean Bissonnet, who started as a young butcher in Paris at 18 and is now, at 87, at the head of an empire of real estate, butcher shops and a shooting paradise near Orléans, called … Read More
A perfect wedding, seven years in the making!
It took seven years to prepare and was therefore a perfect wedding in the most traditional French way with a religious blessing in the medieval church of Echillais, Charente Maritime. Aude Moriani and Alexander Shea were married by Father Gérard Bénéteau, from the Oratorian order, and dinner was served at La Limoise, the family home, often visited by writer Pierre Loti in … Read More
An Irish (golf) Odyssey
Playing golf in Ireland is like climbing the Kilimandjaro with espadrilles, you feel you can do it but you are slightly helpless. The wind, the rain, the daunting bunkers and the narrow fairways make you act like a dwarf. And yet, once you have survived your eighteen holes, you feel like a hero and you are extremely happy !
Hens are also racing in Chantilly
Named after Princes de Condé, owners of château de Chantilly since the 17 th century, Le Potager des Princes was created by Yves and Annabel Bienaimé fifteen years ago for their grand children. It has become over the years a children’s kingdom and a parent’s delight, a vegetable and flower garden.
British bliss in Gloucestershire
Flying to Heathrow and being welcomed by an immigration officer as tough as if I was an undocumented Mexican trying to enter the US was not a good surprise but as soon as I was on the M4 driving west into the sunset, I felt blissfully happy. At Stancombe Park, Gloucestershire, a magical garden with an 19 th century … Read More
Le Lude, a modern days fairy tale castle and now a book!
When I was a little girl, my mother used to drive me to the « Sons et lumière » of Château du Lude, a fairy tale castle in the Sarthe, between le Mans and Tours. We always stopped at Malicorne, a faïence manufacture where we watched artists paint tea cups and plates by hand. At the time, Pia d’Orléans Bragance, Comtesse de … Read More