Fabulous shoes

{Image from here}

My new shoes arrived today, I adore them as they look fabulous with jeans and are oh so fun!

They are made from ponyskin and suede. I was originally going to order a plain black plair as mine are a little worn and thought that I should replace them.

I then received a french sole newsletter in my inbox - as if by magic and saw all the new styles and thought that these would be fab for my autumn/winter wardrobe.

The company that makes them is called French Sole, they have been making this style of shoe for the last 20 years. Je adore ca and am already planning on buying another pair, the problem is that there are hundreds of fabulous colours and styles to choose from.

But first I need to find a fabulous handbag to go with them so if anyone knows of a fabulous bag please let me know.

Signed a very happy L x

One of my favourite shops

One of my favourite shops in France is maisons du monde which translates to "houses of the world" as they sell items for the house from all over the world.

I adore this shop as it caters for all styles and tastes.If you are in the mood for something french, there is of course lots of beautiful objects to choose from and the prices are very reasonable.

I adore the new Bohème Thaï collection, the colours are gorgeous.

And the british collection is fabulous if you feel like something exotic, this is France after all....

For lovely images, visit the Maisons du Monde website.

A demain mes amis,

L x

{all images from Maisons du Monde}

Hooked on........

{kiwi girl alias moi in a fabulous 2CV}

....................those adorable little french cars called 2CV's.



I love them and there is something about them that makes me smile everytime that I see one.

{a very happy kiwi girl in a 2CV}

One of our friends recently bought one from an art dealer and it has been lovingly looked after.

He is currently single but ever since he bought the car there has been many a girl young and old that wants to go for a ride.

I call her Dolly and she reminds of a black and white allsort sweet..........

{Dolly et moi}

You can probably guess what I want from Pere Noel this year.....not sure if it will fit in my stocking :-)

Hence you now know what I am hooked on, please visit hooked on houses to read about everyone else's addictions this week.

Bon weekend,


L x

Today I love....

{image from here}

...........this fabulous and oh so french lampshade.

I love this style of lampshade and think that they look great with antique wall sconces.


I am helping Mr FF with the tiling of the shop floor today so had better get to work.

Bonne journée

L x

Painting......

{image from here}

Hope that you all had a great weekend.

We had a very busy one and even managed to find some fabulous items for the shop including another gorgeous chandelier.


Now all we need is to get the shop finished...I am painting (again) and Mr FF is working on the electrics and everything else :-)

A demain

L x

Wishing you a lovely weekend

Wishing you all a fabulous love filled weekend....

L x

ps It is raining here so perfect weather for getting cosy!

A fabulous cadeau for lucky me.....

I simply had to share this fabulous gift with you. Even our french mail man loved the wrapping.....


The gift was from Karen who owns the very fabulous Carvania cards and is also the owner of one of my favourite blogs.

I love the wrapping paper and also the old french postcard with my address on it - what a lovely touch to a lovely package.

It was almost too pretty to open but guess what I found inside.....

Beautiful cards with a french theme. Karen wrote that lunch at the Ritz in Paris was the inspiration for these beautiful cards.

Karen's company "Carvania Cards"also stocks a fabulous range of jewellery, and lots of other fabulous paper based products.

My friend has recently taken over a gift shop in the village here in Eymet and she loves the cards so will be stocking them in her shop.

We are hoping that Karen will also make the cards in french as we are both sure that the locals will love them as much as we do.

Merci beaucoup Karen, vous êtes très gentil.

L x

Take a fabulous chateau and some grapes..

The very fabulous Chateau de Monbazillac

.....and what do you get? A fabulous place to visit that makes some of the best sweet wines in France. Or as it is called in Australia " sticky wine". The locals tend to pair it with foie gras and the end result is magic, one of my favourite meals.

The Chateau is called Chateau de Monbazillac and she sits high on the hill overlooking the fabulous vineyards of Monbazillac.

It is about a 15 minute drive from Maison No. 20 and we adore going there for picnics and also to buy wine as they have a fabulous wine centre where you can taste and purchase wine and the prices are very reasonable.

Another reason for going is the fabulous michelin starrred restaurant La Tour des Vents which sits high on a hill surrounded by vineyards and has an amazing panoramic view over the Dordogne Valley.

The views are spectacular and Marie Rougier (fabulous french woman chef) has a reputation for creating some of the best food in France with an emphasis on fresh local produce.

Enough about food, lets get back to the wine. As promised I am going to share some of the photos that Kees Terberg took of the Monbazillac vineyards, over the course of a year.

Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Harvest

The final product

If you liked the photos, please click here to see many more beautiful photos, reflecting a year in the life of a vineyard.

Santé

L x

A taste of things to come..

{Photo - Kees Teesberg}

It is my favourite time of the year in SW France. The days are still sunny and warm but there is a lovely nip in the air early morning.

It is a busy time of the year as it is grape harvesting time. We have had a fabulous summer and as a result it is forecast to be a good year wine wise.

This area is famous for its wine; reds from Bordeaux and St Emilion, rose from Bergerac, sweet white from Monbazillac and a favourite of mine - sauvignon from Duras.

The savignon is amongst some of the best that I have tasted and I would go as far as saying that it is as good as the kiwi and aussie sauvignon. I think that I had better stop before I get my self in trouble.

Last night we had a fabulous picnic amongst the vines and enjoyed a fabulous bottle of Duras sauvignon which simply oozed gooseberry and elderflower crispness, overlooking the Duras countryside, you cannot get much more local than that!

As you know from my earlier post, I have promised to share some more of Kees's fabulous photos with you so tomorrow I am going to showcase a series of photos that Kees has taken of Monbaziallac through the seasons.

Bon lundi et a demain,

L x

My idea of a perfect saturday..

{image from here}

......is spending the day in bed while listening to the rain and wind outside. Well a girl can dream can't she?

Hope that you all have a fabulous pink Saturday, and enjoy reading all the other lovely pink posts at Beverley's blog.

Bon weekend,

L x

Hooked on..........

{Photo Kees Terberg - isn't it fabulous?}

I have missed participating in "hooked on" Friday's but Friday always seems to be a busy day for me and by the time I remember, it is too late to join in the fun.

I am hooked on Cannelés de Bordeaux. The more I eat of these fabulous cakes, the more I want! I have been known to devour at least 10 of these delicious morsels in one sitting. There is something about them that makes them special and oh so delicious.

Much has been written about the origin of this specialty of Bordeaux.........
Legend has it that the sisters of the Annonciade created the cannelé (meaning "fluted") in the 16th century; their convent was located close to the St. André hospital in Bordeaux. The nuns would collect the flour from the holds of the ships (Bordeaux was a flourishing port at the time) and prepare these little cakes for the city's most underprivileged.

But the truth is certainly otherwise: the cannelé is a relative of the canole, a little cake from the Limousin, which appeared in Bordeaux during the 17th century. They were consumed in such quantities that a canole makers' guild existed with the exclusive right to make this pastry.

Then the cannelé was forgotten until it reappeared in the early 20th century, flavored with rum and vanilla, and baked in copper molds (to promote caramelization) that produced twelve fluted cakes at a time.

The cannelé has a caramelized exterior with a soft tender center. Its appetizing dark brown color and its thin caramelized crust are the result of a long baking time....yum!

You may just have to come and visit us in SW France so that you can see what the fuss is about as I am not sure that they will post too well...

To read about what everyone else is hooked on this week pop over to the very fabulous hooked on houses blog.....

Bon vendredi

L x

Fabulous website......

I have got lots of fabulous things to share with you over the course of the next week or so, including:

• Some more of Kee's lovely photos
• Details of some fabulous french websites and blogs that I have found recently and are now addicted to
• Photos of my friend's adorable and of course french car
• and of course anything that crops up in between which I think is worth sharing.....

But today I really wanted to share this website with you, I adore it and think that you will too.......

La amoire de Camille

Let me know what you think.....

L x

Look what I found....

This morning when I woke up I found this...

.......in my inbox!

Merci beaucoup Kees, j'adore mon cadeau!

L x

ps as most already know from my previous posts, Kees is a very talented photographer who lives not far from us and I promise to show you more of his work later in the week!

Let them eat cake

Photo: Let them eat cake

Since Friday, I have not been feeling myself as I have been a little poorly. I had something in one of my eyes which made it very sore and very red - not in the least bit fabulous. There was a french part though as I have had to make two trips to see my very french doctor who thinks that it is just an excuse to improve my french vocabulary.

I am pleased to report that my eye is improving slowly but this is normal as the doctor told me when I went back for the 2nd time. Like all things it France it happens slowly :-)

Hence when I saw this photo for the new Chanel makeup collection Venise which is inspired by Coco Chanel’s love of Venice - the make up palette “reflects a city that has many faces”; I thought perfect!

This is what I need for my poorly eye which incidentally has seen little in terms of eye makeup so the sunglasses have been on when ever I venture outside the front door.

Fabulous and of course, french!

Bon lundi et a demain,

L x

Happy Fathers Day Dad xx

Dear Dad,

Thanks for being the best dad that a girl could ever wish for. Hope that you have a fabulous day, wish that we were there to share it with you.

Lots of love

Leeann & Trent xx

Vendredi Fleurs..

I have lots to do today hence this petit post!

Have a fabulous weekend,

L x

J'aime papier peint.....

Photo: Monsoon home

As most of you already know, I have a thing about wallpaper (papier peint in french) and have used in in one of the bedrooms at maison No. 20 and also lined the wardrobes at No. 20 with it, which looks fabulous and is a nice surprise when guests open the doors and find pretty paper starting back at them.

I am currently thinking about using wallpaper in my wee shop but more as a feature and having pieces in frames. I have a couple of weeks to decide as the plasterers have just finished plastering and it will be a week before I can paint so will revisit the wallpaper idea then.

Monsoon, a fabulous shop in the UK have just released a wallpaper range and it is so pretty and looks fabulous with french furniture.

Photo: Monsoon Home

I love the colours in this photo and think that the wallpaper is the finishing touch. I also love the birdcage as I am still obsessed with these at present but have not yet found one that I want to call my own.

Photo: Monsoon Home

What is not to like in the above photo, it is all so pretty.I love the slightly shabby cabinet with the orchid and lovely glassware.

Photo: Monsoon home

I love the couch in the photo above and think that the combination of textures and colours works so well - those cushions are stunning.

Photo: Monsoon Home

I also discovered that they stock the most fabulous range of curtains......this could be dangerous but I have a feeling that the postage cost to France could be a little on the high side, note to self, must ask about postage cost!

On that note I must fly as our lovely Australian family have just left and are on their way to Provence to stay with Nathalie and Jean-Bernard, antique dealers who own the fabulous La Madone and I have more guests arriving early tomorrow. La Madone deserves a separate post but that will have to wait for another day as Cinders has housework to do....

A bientot,

L x

French beds love travelling

Photo: Beadboard up Country, Texas

I think that I told you that last week I received a couple of lovely emails from readers, I have already told you about one from from Jane who is going to Paris in October.

The other one was from Maryanne who has a fabulous shop in Texas. Maryanne wrote to tell me that she has a bed like the one in the photo that I shared with you last week. You can see it in the photo above and the one below.

Photo: Beadboard Up Country, Texas

The shop is gorgeous and full of beautiful things, I really love it. The bed is very similar to the one that we have in the Chambre Bleue at Maison de Poitiers.

Photo: Chambre Bleue, Maison de Poitiers

Merci beaucoup to Maryanne for sending the lovely photos of her shop and fabulous french bed and if anyone else feels that they have a fabulous french bed that they would like to share, please email me.

Vous souhaitant un bon mardi et a demain,

L x

ps the vide grenier was just okay, I managed to find a chandelier but did not come home laden with goodies as planned, maybe next weekend!