Since everyone has time at the moment, I asked a few friends to create their Christmas table for Parisdiary and here is the first one by Anne de Caumont la Force, a writer and member of the Femina prize. Don’t hesitate to mix bamboo chairs with precious Herend porcelain and a home made gold tablecloth. My most precious presents come from Scotland and London and for the young who move into a new house, I privilege Kartell, the Italian designer of lights and furniture.
Salvation comes from cooking
The French spend their time discussing food and even while they are having lunch or dinner, they speak about a past or a future meal. Here are a few pretty dishes which are super easy to make. A stylish ratatouille designed by interior architect Leonie Mason, an endive and salmon eggs starter which I like to serve at home and a potimarron (pumpkin) soup by Denise Dubois. Read More
With Jungle by Jungle, children have their eco responsible furniture!
I heard about Jungle by Jungle through Forinvest, an association of forest owners who, as business angels, try to help the French wood industry. They chose this company created in 2014 by a young couple from Rennes, in Brittany. It creates no nonsense furniture and wooden toys for kids and teenagers. And their best seller this year was a series of playful blackboards which every child needs for home schooling… Of course. They sell only online and keep very tight prices for high quality furniture in beach and other fine woods.Read More
To do and not to do
Two extraordinary auction sales are coming up: one features Charles Aznavour‘s decorated Steinway piano among many pieces of furniture that the singer held in his house outside Paris, the other is the collection of painter Balthus‘ young lover Frédérique Tison, who lived in the painter’s château de Chassy in the Morvan and was given drawings all her life in order to support herself. They are mostly studies for future oil paintings but the advantage is that they are affordable. I also read, a year after its first publication, the 600 page biography of the amazing one armed Zinovi Pechkoff, which just won the Prix de la Biographie de l’Académie française for its author, Guillemette de Sairigné.Read More
Cashmere for your kids? at a fair price exceptionally
Business being what it is a the moment, there are wonderful deals to be made for Xmas and Oscar et Valentine, a company specialized in cashmere for children! is giving an exceptional 40 % discount to all of you who read ParisDiary, whether yo live in Europe or anywhere else in the world. Their collections are just adorable and there is a vast choice for babies and children until 14. Read More
Dreaming about festive times
Guendalina Litta specializes in the planning of grand weddings and balls so now is not exactly the time to launch her new book, but if you look at it, we need more than ever to dream about future happy moments and you might want to read it for simple ideas like matching the food to colored plates or using lights and easy-to-find ferns to decorate a grand space. There is basically no text nor (sadly) any name dropping in this picture book, but your imagination can complete the photos which are mostly taken at parties in Belgium, Italy and France. She works with a team of eleven International staff and can produce any miracle.
Writers love to eat and here are their recipes
Since you are not sending me your recipes I have to rely on Sylvain di Fiore and Angela Assouline-Yagdaroff‘s new book dedicated to famous people’s idea of good food and they are mostly easy and cheap to make so here are some pictures to wet your appetite. Of course the minimal aspect of most dishes is due to chef Benjamin Brial, formerly in Shanghai, Hong Kong and London, who goes with the trend of slimness for all, and runs the Lutetia Hotel restaurants. But you can still adapt the dishes to your taste and, since the author is British, the book is bilingual.
To do and not to do
Auctions are the new sport from your sofa and you should not miss this week the sale by Ader Entreprises et Patrimoine of Palais de la Découverte’s (Museum of Science) old furniture and scientific instruments. It takes place on Saturday, November 21 at 5 pm and 130 lots will be auctioned on Drouot Live where you have to register beforehand. Some pieces have a unique aesthetics, others will be found a treasure by scientists and the photographs of the first steps on the moon are obviously extraordinary.Read More