Christian Dior’s house in Granville, where the family moved in 1905

I had not been to Granville, Normandy, since I was a child and when I arrived after a three and a half hour drive from Paris, I felt blissfully happy. The five miles long beach at low tide and the magnificent views from fashion designer Christian Dior‘s childhood house, gave me the feeling of privileged beauty. Bought by the town when his father Maurice Dior went bankrupt in 1932, the house called “Les Rhumbs” was almost erased… and the large garden became a public park. It reopened as the Christian Dior museum in 1997.

The bench designed by Dior at 15

Access to the garden is still free and it is sweet to see young mothers play with their children in the lovely rose garden overlooking the sea. A little pond with a pergola, a charming tea room on the lawn are a perfect frame for the recently restored house painted in pink.

Woolen dress in Prince of Wales, Autumn winter 1948

The exhibition of dresses worn by famous socialites of the fifties, (Dior died in 1957), are illustrated with pictures by photographer André Ostier (born the same year as Dior) and Robert Doisneau, representing the Duchess of Windsor, Geneviève Page, Shabanou Soraya of Iran at different balls. It is a pity that most photographs are lacking serious captions but two of Marie de Rothschild’s wearing a shepherdess’ dress designed by Dior for the Beistegui ball in Venice, and many of Fleur Champin and her mother are evocative of past times. What I disliked is the intrusion of contemporary handbags and dresses that have nothing to do with the refinement of Christian Dior’s world… The exhibition is curated by Florence Müller.

What emerges from this lovely visit is the talent of the young Christian Dior who designed the garden with his mother at age 15 and created beautifully designed benches. He went on to become a gallery owner in Paris, exhibited Salvador Dali before everyone and worked as an illustrator for the Figaro. He eventually worked in fashion with Piguet and became the most successful postwar fashion designer thanks to industrialist Marcel Boussac who gave him unlimited funds in 1946. His life ended abruptly in an Italian spa in 1957.

The views from the rose garden are very inspiring and you can see the islands of Chausey on the horizon

I felt wonderful stopping there on my way to Brittany and enjoyed the most fabulous strawberry tart in the garden. I exchanged good wishes with another lady who felt just as happy as I was… to be away from civilization on top of the cliff, a few miles from Mont Saint Michel.

Private stone stairs lead directly to the beach

There is something very special about this garden and the town of Granville, maybe this is a key to happiness? One of them at least…