Monday, July 13, 2009

My 10 Favourite French Things for the last year




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I have given myself the challenge of listing my top 10 favourite French things for the last year. The challenge part is that it cannot include any French design, shop, blog, furniture, decor or interior. That would be too easy.


No 1 - Laguiole cutlery, which I was given for my birthday in March. These are bone handled, with a little silver bee on the top bit where your finger sits. They cut beautifully and have a lovely 'heft'







No 2 - The bistro dining room at Vue de Monde. This is better than the modern formal dining room at Vue de Monde. Truly it is. More down to earth, more intimate, much less shocking when you pay your bill.






and you get to eat on this crockery:




No 3 - Carla Bruni. Loved that purple Christian Dior dress, matching coat, flat ballet shoes and hat and handbag worn on her triumphant tour of the UK last year, and also love this music.





No 4 - Edgar Degas exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. In truth this exhibition was a bit of a disappointment. Too many sketches, not enough paintings and too much emphasis on that one ballerina sculpture. However look at the movement and turquoise in this painting.





No 5 - La Symphonie Pastorale by Andre Gide. Read for French in school and recently revisited. Lovely bittersweet tale of forbidden love between a blind girl and a priest, heavy going maybe but up there with the best.



No 6 - beef fillet cooked by my husband. No neither the beef nor the husband are French but the meal is especially when served with my French fries, dijon mustard and horseradish sauce and a green butter lettuce salad. My favourite meal of all time.




No 7 - embroidered pillow case from Plane Tree Farm. Yes I can embroider too. No I can't do it anything like this well.




No 8 - Delice de Bourgogne. Triple cream cheese. From Burgundy. 75% fat. When I became pregnant I started eating cheese to 'get more calcium'. That is one road you cannot do a U-turn on.






No 9 - William Fevre Petit Chablis. French wine can be expensive in Australia, but we have discovered this and been drinking it regularly. Buttery and oily and divine.




No 10 - okay just one French interior. Christian Lacroix, one of my favourite French designers, put his beautiful Parisian apartment on the market earlier this year.






Happy Bastille Day for 14th July ...










3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, Jane, we need to talk! I could pretty much adopt this list as my own. Seriously. With the exception of #2 (haven't been there) and #6 (I'm vegetarian), these are all my favorites too. Degas? Lacroix? Carla Bruni? Laguiole? Delice de Bourgogne? Love, love, love and I love this post! Happy Bastille Day to you too. :)

Laura said...

You cannot have left Laduree macarons off on purpose! I will assume that was an oversight. You are making my mouth water with all of this talk of delicious food and drink...you are quite the lucky woman to have a husband who can make sure wonderful meat!

Jane said...

Oh vive La France, I would kill to go back for a visit. So much to love.

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