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Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Picasso problemo!

Just had to share this one with you -

A French couple have come forward with 271 works by Pablo Picasso.

A retired French electrician and his wife have come forward with 271 undocumented, never-before-seen works by Pablo Picasso estimated to be worth at least 60 million euro ($A82.79 million), an administrator of the artist's estate said on Monday.  The electrician, who once worked for Picasso, and his wife for years squirreled away the staggering trove - which is believed to be authentic - inside a trunk in the garage of their home on the French Riviera.

The cache, dating from the artist's most creative period from 1900 to 1932, includes lithographs, portraits, watercolours, and sketches - plus nine Cubist collages said to be worth 40 million ($A55.2 million) alone, according to French daily Liberation, which first reported the discovery on Monday.

Pierre Le Guennec, a 71-year-old former electrician, and his wife showed many of the works to Picasso's son Claude and other estate administrators in Paris in September, seeking to have the works authenticated, Picasso Administration lawyer Jean-Jacques Neuer.  Shortly after that meeting, Neuer filed suit on behalf of Picasso's heirs for alleged illegal receipt of the works. Police investigators are looking into how Le Guennec and his wife, Danielle, came by the pictures.  "This was a gift," Danielle Le Guennec told The Associated Press by phone from their home in the town of Mouans-Sartoux, near the tourist Riviera hotspot of Antibes. "We aren't thieves. We didn't do anything wrong."  The works, which were kept in a trunk, didn't appear to be much to her untrained eye, she said: "But even if this was a little jot of the pencil, it did come from the master."

Claude Picasso, quoted in Liberation, noted that his father was known for his generosity - but that he always dedicated, dated and signed his gifts, as he knew that some recipients might try to sell the works one day.  "To give away such a large quantity, that's unheard-of. It doesn't hold water," Claude Picasso was quoted in Liberation as saying. "This was part of his life."

Danielle Le Guennec said the couple didn't intend to sell the art. She also said the couple decided to come forward with the works this year because they were getting on in years, and "didn't want to leave any headaches to our children" with their own estate.

Aren’t these comments at odds with one another? You decide …

Also, I love the idea of these two "squirreling" away the artworks for years.  They knew they were on a good wicket ... !

Credits to NineMSN journalist Jamey Keaten for the story.  View the full story here.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

It's beginning to look a lot like ...



The official lighting ceremony of holiday decorations along the famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris took place on the evening of 22 November.   The Avenue is now awash with Christmas lights and flashing LED lights have been hung on the trees to create a "snowflake" effect.


French actress Mélanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds) was this year's guest to illuminate the Champs-Elysées.  She was accompanied by Bertrand Delanoë, the Mayor of Paris.

So pretty!  (And, wish I was there ...)



Photos courtesy of Zimbio.com

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Serge Bastarde - Brocanteur

Read this book! A hilarious account of the popular trading of French (and some not-so-French) antiques in France -



Serge Bastarde Ate My Baguette - On the Road in the Real Rural France

'I found Serge's advice mostly useful and it would have been churlish to have refused his invitation to accompany him on a trip out in the country to 'forage for hidden treasures'. If the truth be known, I secretly couldn't resist the novelty of passing time with a bloke called Serge Bastarde'.

"When ex-blues drummer John Dummer decamps to France to start up as an antiques dealer and live the simple life, he doesn't count on meeting Serge Bastarde. The lovable (if improbably named) rogue and brocanteur offers to teach John the tricks of the trade in return for his help in a series of breathtakingly unscrupulous schemes. As the pair trawl through antiques markets and old farmhouses looking for hidden treasure, they get into more than their fair share of scrapes: whether they're conning hearty lunches from unsuspecting old peasants, secretly manufacturing priceless collectibles or losing a Stradivarius to gypsies. A hilarious romp through the real rural France, filled with eccentric characters, high jinks and unlikely adventures."

Ironically, having just finished the book, I stumbled across the wonderful website "My French Country Brocante" which gives francophiles like me who live so far from France an opportunity to flex the credit card muscles and deck out their own little French Country Homes.

An expensive hobby yes, but so worth it! (I tend to say that phrase a lot in my posts ...!)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Le Mont St Michel

One of the most intruiging places on earth and also one of the most photographed, Le Mont St Michel rises into view across surrounding paddocks. Accessed by a causeway only at low tide, the Mont is home of approximately 40 inhabitants and visited by millions of tourists.




The abbey at the top of the mount is well worth the hike, especially so considering the monks who built it (starting in the 8th century) also had to contend with the fickle tides.














But, don't forget to check out the shops and restaurants along the way on both sides of the narrow steep alleys on the way up to the Abbey!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Castelnou



Ranked as one of France’s “les plus beaux villages” (most beautiful villages), Castelnou is located close to the Spanish border, approximately 20 kms southwest of Perpignan.

The village’s design is dictated by the sheer, jagged ridges of the rock on which it was built - set against the stunning backdrop of the Canigou, the Catalans’ mythical mountain. It is guarded by Château du Vicomtal, which originated in the 10th century and which over the centuries has been destroyed and restored twice. Ramparts were built in the middle of the 14th century to protect the village. They feature eight towers and you access the village between two of them.





Cars are not allowed inside the village at all (there is a car park outside the walls), you can’t see a single electrical cable, all the streets are still cobbled, and building is prohibited with any renovation work strictly regulated to stay faithful to the original materials and techniques. Here, you can truly pretend to live in the Middle Ages.



The local community is so small (only 70 regular inhabitants). Houses in the village are sought after and about half are second homes, mostly belonging to wealthy Parisians. Castelnou is a draw card for artists and artisans too, including jewellery-makers and potters who take their inspiration from the beauty of the village and surrounds.

Images courtesy of Trekearth and Les Plus Beaux Villages de France

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Chocolat ...



Debauve & Gallais ... French chocolatiers ... mmm!

Sulpice Debauve, pharmacist to King Louis XVI and official purveyor to the French royal court, opened his first chocolate and tea shop on the left bank of Paris in 1800. In 1819 the company received the royal warrant as purveyors to the French court and was the official chocolate supplier of Kings Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis Philippe. The company adopted their current name after Debauve’s nephew Antoine Gallais joined the company in 1823.


Introduced by Debauve, this range of chocolate "coins" was first developed for Queen Marie Antoinette in order to ease her distate for taking medicines. She was so delighted with them that Monsieur Debauve was commissioned to create an entire collection called the Pistoles de Marie Antoinette.


















Their range of “Bonbons” – equally delectable! The bonbon assortments are encased in Debauve & Gallais' official trademark blue, gray, and gold embossed box and were handmade exclusively for royalty before finally becoming available to the public in 1913.





For the extreme chocolate fan, “The Louis XVI” is for you at just $900 USD (=$1,025 AUD). The Louis contains the Royal 70 assorted bonbons, Pistoles de Marie Antoinette collection, Les Annes Folles, as well as an assortment of bouchees, Carres, and Mini-Tablettes.


Don’t forget what else is on offer – Tea, which, according to their website, the Debauve & Gallais teamaster sources by “traversing continents, crossing oceans, and braving mountains to bring you only the rarest and the finest in your cup”…




Thé Marie Antoinette - Combination of a delicate China White Tea and White Chocolate


Images courtesy of Debauve & Gallais

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Love at first sight ...



Does anyone have a spare $3 mill (AUD)? If so, this beautiful piece of French countryside, located near magnificent Carcassonne in France's south, can be yours. Or mine, if you buy it for me.



A "Beautifully preserved chateau (1860) in excellent condition inside and out, having conserved all original elements, situated on a private perfectly maintained park of 2.65 hectares (6.5 acres), with large pool, pool house and garages".



... and room for a pony.



ChateauxProperty.com.

Ahhh ... Another day I'll blog about Carcassonne.

Images courtesy of ChateauxProperty.com. Warning - images may make you drool!
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