Paris Pied-À-Terre

This Parisian apartment's facade took my breath away when it came up on my screen.  The architectural detail aged to a beautiful patina. . .the weathered louvered shutters and the dark  wrought iron railings. . .I wouldn't change a thing.   

"Paris Pied-À-Terre" from Restoration Hardware is one of seven recently released features showcasing their latest home furnishings and fixtures in scaled down sizes for smaller spaces:

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Please click the link below to see additional items from the "Paris Pied-À-Terre" collection and to peruse other new and beautiful offerings in a Victorian in San Francisco; -a farmhouse in Napa;  -a London townhouse;  -a loft in New York; -a brownstone in Boston and a bungalow in Los Angeles.   I'm headed back for a more thorough investigation myself.  

Enjoy!

                         

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"Big Style Small Spaces"
RESTORATION HARDWARE

P.S.  I just noticed there is a 15% discount running now through May 1st.   xo~L

Deconstructed Roll Arm Chair

                                 

all images via RESTORATION HARDWARE

Please visit their website 
for specifications and pricing. 

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"One of my earliest memories of living in Paris...

...is entering the local bistro as a three-year-old, being greeted by the courtly waiter, and then being charmed by a dish that immediately caught my eye:  escargots on display in a glass case..."-excerpt, Olives and Oranges, page 209.

Recipe:  Roasted Scallops with "Snail Butter" and Mâche 

(quick cook recipe - makes 4 main course servings or 6 small plates)

Snail Butter

1 1/4 cups loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Grated zest of 1/2 lemon

Scallops

4 ounces field-grown mâche, baby spinach or watercress

2 pounds dry-packed medium scallops

Medium-coarse sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 Tablespoons)

Crusty bread, sliced and toasted

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

FOR SNAIL BUTTER:  Finely chop parsley and garlic together.  Place in a bowl, add butter and zest and mash together with a fork until well combined. 

Place mâche in a large bowl.  Set aside.

FOR SCALLOPS:  Generously season scallops with salt and pepper.  Heat a large cast-iron pan over high heat until quite hot.  Add oil and then scallops, slowly feeding them into the pan, being careful not to crowd pan or lower the temperature of it.  As scallops form a crusty brown sear on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes, move them on top of each other and add more to the pan.  When all scallops are browned on one side, remove pan from heat and dot scallops with snail butter.

Place skillet in oven for 5 minutes to melt butter and cook scallops through.

Transfer scallops and butter to bowl with mâche, add lemon juice, toss and serve immediately, with crusty bread to sop up buttery juices.

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Olives and Oranges

Recipes and Flavor Secrets from 

Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Beyond

by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox

Photographs by Alan Richardson

click to order in these countries:

(us) ~ (fr) ~ (uk) ~ (ca) ~ (de) ~ (it)~ (es)

One of my favorites! ~

  More cookbooks in Cooking and Wine
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L'Amoureuse

View:  Carla Bruni's LÁmoureuse music video

Enjoy!  ~

From the album: 

Comme Si De Rien N'Etait

linen & lavender

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Source Sharing: Anne Becker - Paris

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Anne Becker - Paris

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About the designer

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Rose Tarlow and The Private House

Though The Private House was published some 9 years ago, it remains one of my favorite design books and I still enjoy perusing its pages. That said, I just realized yesterday that I had never sat and read more than just a few lines of text from the book. I'm an avid reader by any standard, so I'm still confounded by this oversight as I have haunted my library shelves at midnight many-a-night looking for something to read —or even re-read.  Not to mention the many times I have scoured my design books to ascertain specific source information.   Why not this one?

The only plausible explanation I can come to is that I was so enthralled by the imagery, -so pulled in to her roomscapes- that I never got around to anything else. –And this must have happened each time (of the dozens of times) I picked up this book! 

In any case, some sort of aligning-of-the-stars must have finally occurred and I became immersed in its pages today; reading it from cover-to-cover. Now, on top of admiring her design acumen, I feel a special bond with this woman whom I have never met.

Though it's not a large book, it has a wealth of design advice from color and light to space planning; however, it doesn't read like a text book.  The practical advice is interspersed with enchanting memories of her childhood home "Windrift" and inspiration garnered from the green fields of Ireland to antiquing jaunts in the heart of Paris.  From the very first chapter "A Window Inside," I recognized a kindred spirit in her:

"I live inside my head, often oblivious to the world outside myself. I see only what I wish to see.  Everything else is obliterated by a convenient discerning device, a window inside-a window that, in an instant, will open and record the vision of a single blade of grass reflected in a raindrop, a gift to store in the recesses of my mind..."

–And then in chapter 3, "The Perfect Puzzle" she describes how she happily immerses herself for many hours on a plane from Marseilles to Manhattan working and reworking the floor plan of a farmhouse she had seen in Provence (Oh, how I can identify with this!):

"The small stone-floored entry hall was enormously charming just as it was, suggesting the comfort and pleasure promised within. In the center, I could picture a round hall table with a big glazed bowl filled with lovely fragrant lavender. Maybe a worn white-and-gray-blue linen rug would sit under the table, along-side a chipped, chalky, painted bench, heaped with finely woven baskets for gathering flowers, voluptuous straw bonnets, and a stack of soft cotton quilts for picnics on the grass...In my mind's eye, I could picture a big, cozy kitchen: see the sunlight filter in through the panes of the window; smell the scent of drying herbs and baking bread; taste the pear-and-almond tart prepared for afternoon tea on the heavy wooden table in front of the centuries-old stone fireplace..."

I've extracted a few images, a few of my favorite elements here...but these are just a few. This book is well-worth the purchase price if it is not in your collection already. It's been almost ten years and as is clearly evident here, I'm still finding inspiration in its pages.              Thanks, Rose! 

 all images, The Private House

linenandlavender.blogspot.com



The Private House

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Visit her website:

Rose Tarlow-Melrose House

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Paris is mad!

English:  Post Card
French:  Carte Postale
Spanish:  Tarjeta Postal
Italian:  Cartolina

Today I ran across some old postcards I purchased several years ago.  I don't have an extensive collection, but as I thumbed through them, I was thinking how interesting it is that we human beings like to collect things.  From the bizarre to the mundane...Why are we drawn to certain things?

I'm not a big collector just for the sake of collecting and displaying items.  If I do own more than one of something, it is most likely going to be something that is functional, -such as my collection of pitchers.

I have no idea why I am drawn to them, all I can tell you is that I am inexplicably happy to see them on the shelf in my kitchen:  glass, pewter, stainless steel and porcelain.  Fortunately, they happen to meet my criteria and are functional as well as beautiful.  (Thus my rationale for the 15 I own and my guilt-free plans for more.)

My fascination with vintage postcards is probably easier for most people to identify with simply because they are a bit of history.  They reflect the lifestyles of the era and even world events of historical significance. 

Postcards are intriguing to me because people are confined to such a limited space for their message.  Much like when you know very little of another's language and are reduced to just the basics.  You are forced to reduce your communication -everything you wish to express to another person- to just a few lines of text.  This snippet, this brief peek into another person's life makes for a bit of a mystery leaving one much room for musing... 

What was their story?  Were they young or old?  Were they in love and pining for the other?  ...Maybe taking the opportunity while afar to express feelings not as easily conveyed in person? 

Were they away from home for school?...Visiting relatives?...Exploring the world for the first time? 

What was their relationship to the recipient?...Friend?...Lover?...Parent?...Child?

Some of the old cards I have date back to the times -the early 1900's- when it was just a penny to send across the country and a mere 1 penny more to send across an ocean.  The addresses tell a story too.  -Or should I say--the lack thereof.  Often, the earlier cards have just the name of the person and their city.  No street address required when the local postal clerk knows every resident in town!

True to form, I didn't want to collect just for the sake of collecting.  I wanted to come up with some way to use them.  One day it occurred to me I could make colored copies of the originals and construct beautiful unique gift cards. 

With that concept in mind, I was thrilled when I ran across some vintage Christmas postcards with wonderful coloration and charming homespun sentiments; --perfect gift tags!

I copied the Christmas postcards on to various colors of card stock and then with a simple hole punch and a bit of rustic twine, they became little treasures-  A personalized touch for virtually pennies.

Vintage cards have such interesting history to them, but I also like to buy new postcards.  Occasionally, I do actually use them for their intended purpose and I'll drop them in the mail here there as I'm traveling.  However, when I come across postcards with coloration I love or interesting art or architecture, I buy multiples of them to have on hand.  I find they add a wonderful artistic touch to the top of any package.  No need for an envelope or even elaborate gift-wrap.  --Just simple brown kraft paper, ribbon and perhaps a lovely "Venus" gracing the top.

I am inspired each time I look at the art and architecture captured on a few select cards I have posted on my memo board here at my writing desk and framed and sitting on my bedroom dresser.

One of the best places to find beautiful postcards is the gift shop of an art museum.  My inaugural post for linen and lavender showcased the work of Luis Melendez.  I purchased postcards of his amazing still life work at the Museo Nacional del Prado (Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain.)

I find the glorious colors of the food and drink exquisitely captured by Melendez to be perfect gift tags for complimenting a house-warming basket of goodies or attached to a bottle of wine for a dinner host.

Each time I'm in Firenze (Florence, Italy) I make sure to replenish my supply of some of my favorite postcards found in the Uffizi Museum and sold just outside at the Piazza della Signoria

The likes of Raphael, Michelangelo and Botticelli...

...and anything by Leonardo always ranks high with my daughter and me... 

Just looking at these postcards now re-ignites my enthusiasm for Signor Da Vinci and his work.  (Hmm.  Perhaps a future feature on this Renaissance man? --I'll save any further accolades 'til then.)

Over the years,  small flea markets in France --places like LÍsle-sur-la-Sorgue and other little villages and towns- have offered many opportunities for sifting through boxes and boxes of vintage postcards. 

Sometimes I become a little melancholy as I read about the life and times of the people who have long since passed.  But mostly, I find the cards enchanting.  They take me away to a time when life was much more simple and carefree...dancing the night away in the streets of Paris or discussing philosophy 'til the wee hours at Café de la Rotonde...

Okay.  I know that's only a romantic notion.  -A fantasy I've spun from a scene out of an old movie.  I know that these people had their trials and tribulations and "real life" too.  It wasn't all parties and late-night cafés with famous authors and artists at every other table.   But still.  Doesn't it sound fun?  Just a little time travel back to 1952? 

I'd love to see what prompted Bob to dash off the message to Mary:

(ahh!)--Wish I was there!

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