Petites Choses Provençales!

Hello dear readers! How is your January going? I've been so busy working {which is trés bon, non?}, training le petit chiot Nicky, and putting the final touches on our Provence trip for Easter (!) that I've barely found time to write, read and comment on all your beautiful blogs. Until I have more time to sit down and really write... some lovely little images for you to enjoy that make my heart sing the song of Provence!

we missed these gorgeous luminaires at the latest

antiques auction in Provence... helas!

the apricot/tangerine color of this house

makes me happy!

tomatoes at the Aix-en-P. market

campanile... bell tower, graceful, lacy and found

all over Provence

my first purchases in Provence:

deco leather club chair and empire chandelier

the pigments found in Rouissillon, the magical

village where they make and celebrate

COLOR!

so pretty from Pierre Frey "Tree of Life"

witty Provençal cocktail table from Roche-Bobois

happy print from Les Olivades

the no-color look of

Coté Bastide

another Les Olivades stripe linen

elegant iron towel rack from Coté Bastide

sumptuous tiled bathroom

Les Olivades toile de juoy in sunny yellow

glasses Coté Bastide

Matisse fabric Les Olivades

I think this gorgeous bedroom is Roche-Bobois, but

not sure!

les Indiennes in cotton

typical country home in Provence

Pierre Frey of course!

desolé! my auction review shows we also missed

this stunning necklace at the Provence sale!

well who else but Roche-Bobois can do Provence like this?

a happy scene in a village square... boules!

ribbons at an outdoor market

sit a while at l'Isle sur la Sorgue... a little rest from

all the fabulous antiquing and brocanting!

silk tent a lå Pierre Frey

the paisley on linen look

this sketch by THE Louis Vuitton in the 19th C. was also at auction!

sunny colors of this Les Olivades fabric

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There's still time to join us...but hurry!

space is limited!

details and brochure download for

Chic Provence Design Tour

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Dreaming of Provence :)

Just barely able to keep up with projects and work after the long and luxurious holidays, I find myself dreaming of Provence. Would you like to join me at our own private, chic little gite in the Luberon hills? Well, we can dream of lovely holidays to come!

Tory Burch espradrilles are perfect for

our Provence escape!

the entrance gates to the compound

in the Luberon hills where we will

find our own private little gite tucked

into the hillside

climbing the stone stairway up to our little haven in the sky!

arriving at our own private courtyard

the poolside seriously beckons to us!

our friends can join us under the shade in the wicker chairs

for a lazy dejeuner

the living room is cool, comfortable and oh so chic!

love these glam lights over the limestone stairway

sleeping with a view of the hills!

the adorable "loft de entertainment" awaits late night movie watching

simple and romantic, light is filtered through organdy canopy

a restful palette of stone, cream and gray with freshly ironed linens

putty painted headboards are the ultimate in rustic simplicity under

the rafters in the grenier

all photos are of La Grange near Beaumes de Venise

And what, you ask, should we pack to wear for such a chic getaway? Toss in a few little things by Tory Burch, bien sür! Ready? Let's go!

here we are, cherie! we look fabulously relaxed beside our piscine

in our perfectly languorous resort wear

getting dressed for a walk in the village

colorful accessories and stripes are the perfect foil for

the limestone and tile surroundings

a little bit Missoni, a little bit Indienne, a little bit Provence... this look

is utterly perfect for our chic little vacance in the Luberon!

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Reserve your Place Now!

A Chic Provence Design Tour

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Jugendstil & Poached Pears Wrapped in Chocolate Mousse :)

In truth, a little Art Nouveau goes a long way. Characterized by organic shapes, curvilinear, sinuous lines and stylized, flowing elegance, the Art Nouveau movement in interior decorating, jewelry, tableware and architecture started in Paris and swept through the world in the late 19th century. Breathing new life into the art world and rejecting the prevailing academic approaches, the movement was dubbed Jungendstil, for "young style" in German.

Today interiors are are simpler, cleaner, perhaps more rustic, sometimes elegant, to say nothing of eclectic. We have moved away from decorative embellishment. The visual shock of an Art Nouveau element might be just what is in order to kick a little life into some of our more predictable rooms. Think of a small wall area covered in a beautiful William Morris wallpaper in an entryway, or an incredible Art Nouveau gilt mirror over an austere concrete or rustic limestone fireplace mantel surround.

I have seen the incredible Art Nouveau architecture all over Paris, and would love to see the Secessionist Building in Vienna. It was built to house the stunning works by the young group of artists who broke ranks with tradition in the 1890's: Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffman, Joseph Maria Olbrich and others. Their beautiful mantra "To every age its art and to art its freedom" is inscribed in stone over the entrance of the Secessionist Building.

Metro gate in Paris, circa 1903, one of hundreds installed

in Paris in the early 20th century, showcases the organic,

curvy, stylized flowing curvilinear lines of Art Nouveau

silver coffee service Vienna fin de siecle, Art Nouveau style

cover of first edition of magazine

of the Jugendstil ("youth-style") period when

Secessionist artists broke away

from traditional academic art and

started the bridge to modernism, 1898

stylized ornamentation found on the side of

the Successionist Building designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich

and built in 1897 for exhibitions of Secessionist art

lettering for "Ver Sacrum" appears on the front of

the Secessionist Building

a sinuous Otto Wagner staircase,

Stiegenhaus, Vienna, 1898

the fanciful "tattoo style" Majolikahaus, designed by

Otto Wagner, Vienna, 1898

a Metro station in Paris today

William Morris Ianthe wallpaper

Poires Pochées (poached pears) au Chocolat Noir

this dessert is elegantly Art Nouveau, non?

the recipe can be found at Les Recettes de Markus Neff blog

(in French... get your French friends involved here!)

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a fin de siecle fish with bubbles drawing

by Koloman Moser 1898

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Happy New Year to You... with Gratitude and a Song!

To all my lovely and brilliant readers and friends, here's wishing you a very happy and grounded 2011. Thank you for your loyalty and the kindness you have shown to me this past year. Listen here to the lovely Sarah MacLachlan sing the Peace Prayer of St. Francis; it seems appropriate for this year that we live conscious, clean and caring lives and try soothe the troubled souls of those less fortunate than we whenever possible.

With lots of love from Kit at Chic Provence.