The Silver LiningLa tour Eiffel
Posted on June 6, 2013
Wearing – Sessun dress, Tintoretto stockings, Madewell boots, Freckle & co earrings
One of my absolute favourite cold weather colours is mustard. I just love the way it works so well with other earthy tones as well as a great red lipstick. I’d been dying to wear this cute little Sessun number since I bought it in New York last year! I waited and waited through the Australian spring and summer only to find out that work was sending me to the Kimberley for six months, the land of eternal summers! There went all my dreams of styling my 50kg of NYC-acquired clothing…Yeah, first world problems, I know! So I jumped at the chance to bring some of it halfway across the globe to France with us on our recent holiday. 🙂
These amazing suede tassel earrings were handmade by none other than my super-talented sis-in-law Rachel from Freckle & co. Be sure to take a look at her other equally pretty creations on her Etsy site, the perfect destination to find that special and unique gift!
Photos by Jinn
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Jardin des Tuileries
Posted on June 5, 2013
Wearing – Madewell shirt, Comptoir des Cotonniers jacket, Orla Kiely trousers, Camper shoes, Kate Spade necklace
The French people have seriously got the whole “aesthetically pleasing” thing down pat. Take this incredible Tuileries Garden which is so perfectly symmetrical that it’s hard to believe that these are trees and not some manmade structure! We wandered here after spending an amazing day at Musee d’Orsay which houses a vast collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art (the largest in the world in fact!) including paintings by Monet, Cezanne, Degas and Van Gogh just to namedrop a few.
I absolutely had to have this Chanel-esque boucle jacket. I had so much fun shopping at Comptoir des Cotonniers where I found it! The shopping attendant was so amazing, if I even simply lingered on a piece of clothing for a moment, I’d turn around to find he’d already put it in the change room for me – and in the correct size! Impressive!
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The green green grass
Posted on May 31, 2013
The beauty of the Breton countryside completely took my breath away during our drive from Pointe Saint-Mathieu to Paimpol. The allure of the lush greenery and meandering hills were such a vast contrast to the sunbaked ochre desert plains my eyes are currently accustomed to. Once we’d stopped freaking out about driving on the “wrong side of the road” we really began to enjoy the peaceful scenery. Occasional golden canola fields punctuated the endless green with their surprising pops of happy yellow, and tiny towns whizzed by on the way to our destination.
I have to mention that our experience with our GPS was very hit-and-miss. We were on more than one occasion led down a lane that was clearly through someone’s private albeit very pretty farm and also had to very scarily reverse out an unbelievably narrow street when we directed straight into a dead end. Good one GPS. I wasn’t aware there was a “scenic route” option!
That aside, I would highly recommend staying at Pondervann, a lovely family-owned bread-&-breakfast in Paimpol. The hotel is situated on a large plot of land with its own stream, vegie patch, and friendly dog! Make sure you have a good set of muscles if you’re staying on the top floor as, like many French hotels, there is no elevator! (Thanks Jinn, my muscle man!) Interestingly we found a tiny piece of home in the B&B’s garden – a gum tree! See if you can spot it in the pictures…
Photos by Jinn
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What a beautiful day
Posted on May 30, 2013
Yes, yes it was. Such a beautiful day. One of my dearest and best friends recently got married and the happiness, love and spontaneity that flowed throughout the day was just unbelievable – it felt like everyone was simply swept up in it and then ran with it! The ceremony was held in the amazing Notre-Dame de Bonne-Nouvelle cathedral in Paimpol. I had the absolute honour and pleasure of singing for the service, and to be honest I just didn’t want to stop! The acoustics were incredible and made my voice resonate and soar high above the people, almost weightless.
Don’t you love how there seems to be a castle or manor just about on every corner in France? Well, the beautiful ceremony was followed up by a righteous shindig at the Manoir de la Noe Verte, where we partied on down til the early hours of the morning. The reception was a great mix of Chinese and French cultures. Once the champagne was flowing and the dance floor warmed up, there took place a number of quaint French folk dances amidst a lot of raucous yuuuuuum-SENGing! For those of you who are not familiar with it, “Yum seng!” essentially means “Cheers!”, and the aim of the game is for your table to yell it for longer and louder than any of the other tables. It has something to do with more prosperity, longevity and fertility for the bride and groom, and of course the pride and glory of being the all-conquering winner. Asians love anything to do with competition.
Other highlights? The real-life croquembouche wedding cake that arrived via paddle boat (I kid you not), Danielle and Yann’s steamy salsa wedding dance, and the impromptu crazy karaoke which deteriorated so much that a certain wedding guest may or may not have lost all his clothing by the end of it!
It was the wedding of the century! A beautiful bride and groom, great food, great company, dancing galore, all in the presence of beloved family and friends.
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Pointe Saint-Mathieu
Posted on May 29, 2013
Wearing – Karen Walker t-shirt (on sale at Anthropologie!), ASOS overalls, Madewell sunglasses, Fossil bangle (similar), Donelli shoes (similar)
What he’s wearing – Urban Outfitters jumper and jeans
Our first destination in France was the incredibly picturesque and tiny little village, Pointe Saint-Mathieu, perched right atop part of the spectacular coastline of Brittany. It gets its name from an old abbey in the centre of the village (sixth century according to legend) which was said to have housed the skull of the apostle Matthew until it was lost in the ocean off the point. After the icy cold of Glasgow it was nice to get out into some sunshine. Look! No coat!
The Silver Lining 