Townmouse

Children's wear shopping in Paris

Looking back over all my photos, I realise I never posted as intended about rue Vavin in the 6th arrondissement.

Rue Vavin can be found adjacent to the Jardin du Luxembourg.  The street is a mecca for shoppers of children's wear.  Many well known French children's wear brands can be found in this single street.

Unlike the craft shopping itinerary I posted, this children's wear list can be covered in one short stroll.  Within walking distance is the flagship Bonpoint store I posted about previously.  I would suggest including this in the same outing - and you can enjoy a stroll through the beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg on the way to rue Vavin.

Then you can ponder, like I did, about who lives or once lived here inside the perimeter of the garden:

A little online shopping

Taking a break from building my own website today, I enjoyed browsing through a catalogue that arrived in the mail this week from one of my favourite French children's wear brands.

I find this little winter dress adorable.  And I love it with the knee high socks too. 

But for Adelaide next winter, I think grey rib tights, Henri's hand me down Chocolate brown Sonnet Mary Janes, a grey cable knit cardi or Henri's pre-loved chocolate cashmere coat and she will be good to go.

When she grows out of that one, she could wear this one.  Definitely with these shoes and a red coat.

What I love about these dresses is they are wool.  Which means they are warm for Melbourne winters.  And machine washable to boot.  What's not to love.

On the subject of shopping, Adelaide got her first pair of proper shoes today.  She has been walking for about a month.  I can hear her coming now - tap, tap on the floorboards.  So cute.

The good stitch

There are many beautiful shops in Paris.  My hands down favourite, without a doubt, is the Bonpoint flagship store in rue de Tournon.  As luck would have it, it was just around the corner from our sweet hotel in the 6th.

This stunning store is located in a former 18th century residence.  Room after room prettily displays the high-end children's wear.

The loveliest feature of the store is the amazing garden.  Many of the rooms look out onto the prettiest courtyard garden, with verdant lawns and mature trees.  It was enchanting.

The garden is enclosed by the buildings around it, making it a serene little oasis in the middle of Paris.

I enjoyed my Bonpoint store visit so much I dragged Will there on our last day in Paris.  There is a tea room in the basement (possibly the original kitchen?).  We had a perfect light lunch there.  Like everything else in the store, it was expensive, but oh so desirable.

Quilting time

Lately a lot of modern style quilts have made their way into my Flickr faves.  And I've found some wonderful new blogs to follow.  Namely:

• Red Pepper Quilts
• Film in the Fridge
• Handmade by Alissa

These impressive quilters turn out a surprising number of finished projects.  I was so taken by this quilt by Red Pepper Quilts that I felt inpsired to pull together fabrics in the same blue, green, yellow colourway.

I decided to make blocks in the style of this quilt. I started with fabric pieces of 5 1/2" x 8 1/2".  I then spread them out (as seen above) so that when I cut them through, each one would be slightly different.

I then did the same with the middle section, so that the white centre of each block was in a different horizontal and vertical position.

A few blocks later, and this is the result.

Rather than put them together in a checkerboard pattern, I think I'll piece them like this, with white sashing between each block.

This is one of too many half finished projects in my studio at present.  I hope to be able to show you progress on this project.  So far I like it quite a lot.

Happy coincidence

By happy coincidence we were in Montsoreau on the one day of the month that the town hosts a lovely little antique market on the banks of the Loire River.  Fortunately for us it was the 20th anniversary of this market, so the turnout was particularly strong and there was a lot of lovely "junk" to admire.

If only it was acceptable to take wardrobes and library ladders and boxes of jam jars home on the plane...

There were so many beautiful pieces, and it was all displayed so prettily.  The atmosphere was very relaxed and it was the perfect way to spend Sunday morning.

These two lovely gentlemen saw me taking photos of their wares.  When I said I liked the way the stuff looked they suggested they looked pretty good and I should snap them too; so I did.

There was also a farmers market.  This takes place every Sunday in the town square.  Local produce such as mushrooms, foie gras, fruits and vegetables were on offer.  And they looked fabulous.

I have posted some more photos in a flickr set here.

If you're travelling to France and want to stumble upon such a market, you might find this sight helpful.  

I didn't buy an armoire or anything bulky, but I did purchase a few metres of vintage braid, which I will photograph in the light of day.

Le Marais

First day in Paris.  While Will was busy at his conference, I caught up with Penny, a university friend who moved to Paris last year with her husband and 4 children.  We met in the Marais - an area I have stayed in once before, but haven't really been back to often.

We met at a gorgeous shop that is accessed through a courtyard.  This little display greeted shoppers as they came through the portico.

On the other side of the courtyard was this mobile garden.  Inside they sold the porous bags for carrying pots of herbs.  Quite handy if you need to move your plants out of the sun or into the rain.  I love the big metal door frames. 

The shop is called Merci and can be found at 111 avenue Beaumarchais.  It is a mix of eclectic homewares, stationery, fashion and childrenswear (as well as Liberty fabric sold by the metre) - all round - my kind of store.

Oscars eye candy

Did you watch the Oscars?

I always enjoy the post-Oscar commentary on the fashion.  And I particularly enjoy the biting wit of the writers of Go Fug Yourself.

My pick: Demi Moore. 

Who was your favourite in the fashion stakes?  Who was your least fave?  I really didn't like Sarah Jessica Parker's dress.

Tricky-woo

Men are hard to buy for.  I have no idea what to get Will for Christmas.  I would love to hear any readers' suggestions for great men's presents.  And it's not just Will.  I find my brother and father equally tricky.

We have some friends coming for dinner tonight to celebrate Will's birthday (which was on Monday).  Our best man, or Big Tom, as he's known in our house, also had a birthday recently.  He's a keen surfer, so when I spied this book in a bookstore, the choice for his gift was easy.

Here are some of the images from the book.  Look at all those great cars.

Tom recently built a beach house at our favourite seaside town of Flinders, so I think this will be a nice addition to his bookshelf.

Tom likes to ride long boards, so he will appreciate the many great images in this book.

Including the ones of the pretty, bikini-clad girls, no doubt.  (Clearly melanoma wasn't a concept people bothered with back then - everyone is so tanned.)

Too good

I think this fabric range was designed just for me.  Yesterday I dropped in to Amitie and found myself face to face with a very pretty range of fabrics in a perfect French red and naturals.

Adelaide, I think you're going to need a red coat next winter.  The top fabric I think I will make into something smocked with red thread.  The others, well I'm not sure yet.

I spent at least 30 minutes looking over the fabrics.  It was too hard to decide which ones I liked best - they were all so lovely.  The only thing to do in such a situation is buy a fat quarter of all the other favourites - which I did.

I wasn't planning on it, but it seems now I'm making another quilt.  So tonight when the house is quiet I think I'll pull out all my quilting books and look for a pattern.

But for now, I'd better get back to work to pay for my fabric purchases.

The bowerbird's nest

I've been coming across lots of interesting stuff on the net lately.  One lovely find is My Bower Bird.  Therese (a Townmouse customer) is behind the idea.  She has been busy colating information about amazing products and websites, and has put it all together on her site.

I'm sure her home is a real nest of treasures.  My favourite find from My Bower Bird is this yummy stationery.

Doorway puppet theatre

Too cute!

Found here.

Red shoes

I look forward to the time when I can buy Adelaide a pair of little Mary Jane Sonnet shoes in red.  I love red shoes.  I always have a pair in my wardrobe.  They lift my mood when I wear them.

And I particularly love this English brand of shoes.  All our children have had a first pair of shoes like this.  Max and Tom had them in navy.  Henri had a divine chocolate pair that I bought in New York.  They looked particularly sweet when worn with his chocolate cashmere Townmouse coat.  (Yes, I know they are girl's shoes, but if they're good enough for the Princes of Wales...)

This floral fabric will make a sweet dress to accompany the future pair of shoes.  Maybe in a style similar to this.  Or maybe with a collar - something like this.