St Tropez Christmas windows

 

Saint Tropez Christmas 2012 shops windows

 

This blog is my Christmas cards to all my friends and readers

 

 

 

Joyeux noel et bonne annee a tous

Merry Christmas and happy new year to all

 

Minouche and had had a very special mother daughter evening in St Tropez, the shop windows were pretty, the Christmas market was on at Place des Lices



I drank the glue wine to warm my heart...as the park displayed a miniature St Tropez village surrounded by pine trees covered with fake snow

an ice ring was set up in the park as well, it was a lovely sight looking at the children and not so young sliding thru the ice....

It just felt nearly like a white Christmas

The window settings are just magic !... so much thoughts went into some of them, love them!!..

The tow scenes below was one of Place des Lices display

A miniature St Tropez village filled with santons de Provence

JOYEUX NOEL
WITH LOVE
FRANCOISE XXX

Where will home be next ???

Saint Remy de Provence to where now ????
They sold the house after I made it nicer...simple but cosy!!.



I arrived in Provence 2nd May 2011 with my suitcase for 3 months visit in France.....I went front place to place tagging along my suitcase, added a pushbike, added some vintage linen and other collectibles shipped that lot to Australia in trunks, went for a visit to OZ, came back after 9 weeks decided to rent a house in Saint Remy and was delighted to find the above little cottage furnished with very poor taste...

 

....all red and white plastic !...so after a rush into some local depots vente , vide greniers and brocante, I set up to make myself "un petit nid chaleureux"..

 

This is what the living became, I did not remove anything from the house except the red plastic chairs, just disguised the red and or plastic with some lovely linen, re-arrange the lay out and added my French touch....The French Linen Armoire got raided !!! 

 

 

 

 

note the Brittany hand towel, had to have a bit of my Brittany here as well!!..

 

 

 

In the process I started a collection of Provencal yellowy earthenware dishes, terrines, salt pots, Sarregemines fish plates as well as brass candle holders and wall sconces

this large mirror was plain old boring brown, so i patined it...

 

The main bedroom below had a comfortable bed, it needed new linen, so Ikea provided me with a cheap doona cover featuring a blue French Toile de Jouy, but I have to sleep with vintage embroidered linen sheet....

the long red plastic stool in the living room became the linen covered bench at the end of my bed

 

But the bedroom looked pretty miserable as it was presented to me
so my french touch was added.

  

second bedroom from left to right
before and after..



 

The second bedroom was so dreadful i had to get rid of these red blanket the minute the house keys were in my hands , 2 folding beds !!!..one ended up in the loft the other one under the bed in the main bedroom .

I had a guess coming a week after i moved in, so managed to buy this old wooden bed at a vide grenier, a young couple had moved their grand ma into retirement home and were selling the content of her house..they delivered it for me and again i patined it...( 11 hours of hard enjoyable work..)
one day I will do a post on French/Provencal "patine"....keep posted..

 

 

And with Christmas on its way, my daughter is flying to me from Sydney , the tree is ready ,we will enjoy the time together in my little nest which i will have to leave in February
Does anyone know of another little house i could add my French touch to, a little house I could call home for one year, somewhere near Saint Remy or on the coast...if you do please contact me by email

 

French asparagus plates

 

Chaque assiette a sa specialite....

 

Lucky me, see what i found at Grimaud brocante today... a full set of  French Majolica asparagus plates by Saline as well as the platter or should i call it a boat ?

I am going to admire them for a while and then i will offer them for sale on my blog..

I discovered only recently while in Provence about the asparagus plates,they come all white often, as well as with a dual purpose of asparagus and artichoke, but my favourite are the coloured ones,

 

 

Look how beautifully they are shaped, each individually..
 the colour varies with each plate making each of every one of those plates unique !..

 

 

 

                                     

 




I held this magnificent asparagus boat in Isle sur la Sorgues antique fair in august, that is actually where i found quite a collection of them, but both none as if i bought ONE then, I would have had to come home with a COLLECTION of them.... 

below, this gorgeous pastel colour plate is for dual purpose: asparagus & artichoke 

 

I used to only like plain things, plain mirrors, plain all white plates, all matching.....now I think "how boring is that ??" when out there foraging thru the vide greniers and brocante there is such an array of unusual beautiful items, they don't have to match always, they all tell a different story...of a different time..of a different place...

The one below was to die for....if only i was an asparagus..can you imagine serving your asparagus on such a beauty...

 

Mirrors..Mirrors...

Mirror...mirror which is the prettiest ??....

 

 

 I used to only like plain mirrors, now i love them ornate

 

tell me which is your favorite of these

Christmas red is everywhere

Christmas RED is everywhere 

Noel ...Noel

In the home....

...in the fields...

But i believe that although we all try hard, nature still does it best..... 

My one and only daughter is coming from Sydney to visit me for Christmas, I am under strict instructions from her to put up a Christmas tree and some decorations...

I don't real get "into Christmas" until the very last minute usually and then, I think it was a whole lot of fuss...too commercialised for my liking...
 Christmas is meant to be for family togetherness, but too often this "togetherness is forced upon some, and causes stress and disharmony...

For me the Christmas "togetherness" is about being with whom you really want to be with, for they can be family, or friends or new acquaintances...it MUST be peaceful and all gathered must really wish to be present... 

I see Christmas mostly for children, when they believe in Santa, for the excitement in their eyes, their anticipations for the presents, for the chocolates and other special goodies to eat, for the playing with other children's, for the spoilt from their grand-parents.....

I am waiting for Christmas with my grand-children one day...., with their noises, their naiveness about Santa... all the make believe about Christmas which goes only with children around...I am "in waiting".....Christmas makes me sad...
 

In the meantime I am really looking forward for  MY GIRL to come and visit her maman, and
 for my girl  I have put a little Christmas tree up all in gold and red , spread some more red and gold baubles around  and even laid a tiny nativity scene..baby Jesus is not in the crib yet...not until Christmas eve..
for my girl I will get some oysters,
for my girl and I, I will bake 2 poussins  with all the roasted vegetables AND the chestnuts just the way she likes it, just the way I have made it since  she was a little girl, the way I made it when we were a united  family of 4... back in Australia

But it will be different this year, we used to have Christmas in the heat of Sydney and there... I used to try to bring a bit of France in it...this time we WILL be in France together : our first Christmas in Europe together and she is 32...beautiful thought !....

So we will have a "pre- Christmas" dinner just the two of us when she arrives in 2 weeks and on Christmas day we will have a big English Christmas feast near Cambridge with our adopted family with the very same "grown up " children we used to share Christmas in Sydney...long time ago....there two UK grand children will be there...another to be born soon...
We will miss our dogs to dress up in their Santa suits...but will have a nice thought for them..

This writing has brought melancolic tears to my eyes...silly sod!...
If you have a happy or a sad Christmas story to share, please fill in the comment space
namaste ...