Cannes + Saint-Tropez

From Nice we drove along the coast stopping in Cannes and Saint-Tropez.

Cannes has the allure of being known for it's famed movie festival, however it was a bit of a disappointment. My friend Julie, who is French, told me it's France's Florida - where all of the old people go.  Perhaps if we were out on a yacht or wanted to "see and be seen" it would have been different, but it was our least favorite stop during the trip.

The cars shipped over from Kuwait in front of the Carlton were a sight and the black lamborghini was beautiful even to someone like myself who's not really into cars. Maybe they were his and hers.

The beach was built up and it seemed to lack character. Even though we were only there for one afternoon it doesn't top my list of places to revisit.

On the way to Saint-Tropez we spotted a field of camels and passed some road side bamboo. Those were certainly unexpected.

Saint-Tropez was a different story. It was clear as soon as we arrived why it was/is such an inspiration for artists like Paul Signac, Matisse, and David Hockney. It is very charming, except for the traffic in and out. Since it's on its own little peninsula the only way to avoid the traffic is by helicopter or yacht. The city's charm left us enamored nonetheless. There were some definite characters at the port lounging on their yachts. Most of them were in their late teens or early 20's and absolutely loved the attention.

The pastel hues decorate the façades with lots of sea foam green and peach. It had characteristics that reminded me of Essaouira, Morocco. Quiet narrow streets and alleyways with water splashing at the edges of buildings.

We picked up some Ladurée macarons (the lemon basil was the best of the mix) and stopped for an afternoon treat while watching a group of older men play pétanque.

One shop we visited was Le Caveau de la Porcelaine Blanche, which has whiteware in a myriad of shapes, sizes, and forms. I loved it. [There are a couple more shops I've found in this area that also have a huge array of porcelaine blanche / whiteware: Antibes + Avignon.]

Next stop: Marseille... for one night.

whites

I have an ever expanding collection of white dishware. A lot of pieces are typical, but then I love the quirky everyday things made ceramic.

These are a couple pieces I picked up recently:

pillow plates - made in Ohio for eleven madison park in New York City

berry punnets - for my love of blueberries

pâtisserie plates - like those in European cafés, for cakes, cookies, and confections.

I love having guests and giving them something a little unexpected in terms of servingware. 

It's the little things.

Auer Dult

Stefan and I went on a bike ride where he reluctantly joined me to the Auer Dult. After last year I was pretty fortunate, but the carney foods always work in my favor to win him over.

There are so many beautiful details hiding amidst the oddities. I love the covers on these old books. They would look beautiful framed or as a large collection.

I know Stefan was counting his blessings again that we took our bikes and couldn't buy any of the whiteware. I'm always impressed by the large variety and how inexpensive things are. The fish saucier was one of my favorites, but I never really make any sauces, so it would be pointless for me to buy it.

Since this is the largest crockery market, I always look for cookie jars for my Grandma that collects them. There are plenty of 'Rumptöpfe' - which are used for making a fruity liquored punch, however it's really difficult to find a cookie jar. There are so many beautiful designs, but I guess I'll have to commission one of the artists if I want a cookie jar.

As we walked around Stefan slowly gained a bit of excitement once he saw the antique maps, which we both love. I searched through the large box and came up with one of the Alps, where Stefan grew up, and another of Mid-West America, where I'm from. They are both from 1862!

I'd like to frame them to make a collage of important places in our lives. It looks like I'll have to track down Iceland and the Maldives as well.

If you're in the Munich area, the Auer Dult runs until the 3rd of May.

There are also the Jakobi-Dult from 25 July - 2 August, and the Kirchweih-Dult from 17-25 October.

All are located at Mariahilfplatz, which you can get to by taking the U2 Frauenhofer / Klenzestraße, Tram 27, Bus 52 or Bus 152.

Vintage skirts

While shopping around and hitting up the antique shops the German professor and I went into a vintage clothing store. I had stopped in a number of times before, but never bought anything. He was on the hunt of a loden style jacket that he saw while at the tourist information office. The shade of green he was after proved to be rather illusive.
I, however, lucked out with 5 skirts. (Yes, 5!) Initially I was only going to purchase two, however as I was buying them I learned they were ridiculously inexpensive thanks to a sale, so I opted to get all of them. A few really remind me of skirts I would see at Anthropologie, but obviously much cheaper and more unique. I never would have guessed I'd be trying on skirts for the professor's opinion, but it was a lot of fun.

I was also happy that Kokon had the dishes that I saw when Lauren was in town. I decided to get two of the bowls for salsa.

Now I'll think about our lovely day when I wear my skirts or enjoy some fresh salsa from the new bowls.

Dream kitchen

As of now, we're definitely making the most of the city life. We live small, we live simply, and we live well below our means. It's really quite nice. It also means we must be very particular about the things we decide to fill our small space with and I am always thinking ahead.

Slowly we've been working on updating our apartment to make it more of our own place. I absolutely love looking at inspirational images and wondering where life will take us. In the meantime I often gather things that are meaningful to me. Some we are able to incorporate now - like our new fridge that arrived this morning!, and other things we'll have to hold off on... like a subway tile back splash in the kitchen.

I also love the fact that Stefan continually is commenting how much he loves our refrigerator.

Not only do I want my dream kitchen to have a subway tile back splash, but I want the entire kitchen to have a very slight subway undertone. I have a cookie jar, à la my Grandma, that my sister gave me a few years ago. It is a London underground sign. She also recently showed me the beautiful Parisian subway dish cloth, which I have added to my wish list.

Isn't it lovely to surround yourself with things you enjoy and to look forward to?

Here are bits of the master plan...

The subway tile kitchen belongs to Genifer Goodman Sohr, who is a well known stylist. I saw these images on her equally talented friend, Sara Hicks Malone's blog Party Perfect, and I can't quit thinking about them. They also match our table and chairs that we recently purchased.


I promise I'm not on a French kick, but I also love the work of antoin + manuel, a French design duo. And continuing on the subway theme, they have a lot of beautiful pieces including one aptly titled RATP (Parisian Metro), Carte Intégrale, 2005. Their website is a real treasure trove for design lovers.

In other things French... I was overjoyed yesterday when I was in town shopping for a few things and found two things I have been dreaming about. Originally I had see them on uncommongoods and the Moma Store, but today I found them here in Munich.

I really love Revol French porcelaine - it's minimal, very resistant, and simply elegant. Some of their pieces are quite classic, while others - like the the things I bought today, are slightly comical. They keep things interesting.

They have an entire line called the Recycled collection. I love the curving ruffle lines of the 'pommes frites' dish - and the crumpled tumbler is just cute and fits so nicely in my hand.

The best design advice is to surround yourself with things that you love and I can really attest it adds to my happiness.

Spring details

Stefan and I decided to spend the weekend enjoying the terrific weather. We went on a bike ride and along the way stopped to admire the flowers, grab some ice cream, visit the Auer Dult festival, and of course, no glorious weekend is complete without visiting a beer garden.


My first year in Munich I was excited to visit the Auer Dult after the ladies from the international women's group raved about it. My initial experience was confusing. I expected loads of antiques, wonderful kitchen items, and the illusive German cookie jar for my Grandmother.

Instead I was surprised to see a lot of dental tools, miracle slicers and cleaners that are hawked on TV, cheap jewelry, ladies under garments, and things made from wood. I did find one vendor selling cookie cutters in every imaginable shape, so it wasn't a lost cause.

The German festival foods and children geared activites are also never in short supply at these events, which makes for a good time for families.


This year I knew what I was getting into and had a better time. I also learned this 9 day festival is the largest crockery market in Europe. Stefan was probably very thankful that we had brought our bikes because one of the crockery stands had a magnificent array of white dishes in nearly every shape and size.


After strolling through the mass humanity of the Auer Dult's last day, we headed to the near by Nockherberg Biergarten for a radler (a helles beer mixed with a sprite type soda).

I am very happy that spring is here and that Stefan and I will have the month of May together while he is studying. I will also be studying since I begin my next 100 hours of German tomorrow. I hope I have some characters in my class like the last couple. One of my favorites was Miltiadis, the older Greek man who worked at a paper factory and would bring me random samples. He lived in Munich for 15 years and was just getting around to mastering the language. Everyone has such a fascinating story.

White Dishes

It's probably jumping the gun a bit to get more dishes and serving ware, after all we don't entertain too often due to having a quaint but sweet apartment. Sometimes I can't resist myself. I love beautifully designed things and dishes are no different -especially if they are white.


When we went to Vienna I even wrote down the dish ware brand at our hotel, the Levante Parliament, because I was that impressed. (If anyone cares they have Alchemy fine china, Mepra silverwear, and Dedon patio furniture... unfortunately I didn't get the maker of the bed + sheets - which were also phenomenal.)

Stefan will be delighted to see I made a few purchases while he was gone. Today I stumbled across a few pieces that compliment my collection... and to think just the other day I was saying 'I think I need some more serving pieces'.

I've developed a new love for the German porcelain brand Kahla. They have some seriously beautiful things that have won quite a few design awards.

Funny how a trip to the post office and bakery can turn into lugging dishes across town. I was also pleased to find a tiny pitcher perfect for coffee creamer (which I don't drink) and milk for tea (another love of mine). It reminded me of being a tiny child and getting the biggest thrill when my mother would fill her tiny pitcher and let us pour milk over our own cereal. Aren't the simple pleasures in life always the best?

Surprises

Stefan and I went to customs yesterday to pick up our package, sent courtesy of my parents. It was a replacement of the beautiful fruit basket that broke in our Christmas package. I was worried we were going to have to explain a lot. We had shredded the address labels, so we no longer had those as proof of the first shipment. My Dad came to the rescue and sent us copies. Now we have a set of three lovely baskets and they are beautifying our apartment. Thanks Mom + Dad!

Brock + Manuel were coming over for dinner, so Stefan requested that I make lettuce wraps, similar to those at the restaurant PF Chang's. (I promise the chicken mix is more appetizing than it looks).

While preparing food, my parents called with another surprise. I was excited to learn that they'd be coming back with me for a visit in March. We'll have nearly 6 weeks together! It makes me so happy to have guests on the agenda for 2008. And hopefully Lauren + Mary Beth will be making it for Oktoberfest.

I'm already thinking of all of the great places that I can't wait to take them... my favorite hot spots in Munich, on a tour of Salzburg - who knows what else is in the cards, but I am sure it will be great.

Brugge

We took the train (an hours ride) from Brussels yesterday. The ride was a nice time, particularly because we enjoyed my birthday cake on the way. It was a rich chocolate mousse and with a hazelnut crust on the bottom.

Once we got to Bruges, we were struck by the old-world charm. It's such a spectacular little place. There are horse carriages, old bricks and architecture, as well as the sweetest little bridges. Again I was sensing that the UK/ Ireland had a love child with France, and this was the product. We checked into our hotel, which was located directly behind the Belfort Tower. We had a short walk to the Markt, where we stopped to try some of the famed 'frites'. If you call them fries, I have heard Belgians get offended. We had them with sauce 'Americain', which was a somewhat spicy tasting sundried tomato mayo sauce.


Around the corner from our hotel was a cute little tea shop where I saw the most beautiful white tea pot, which Stefan bought me for my birthday. Tea reminds me of such a European thing to do, and the longer I am here the more I enjoy it. Stefan is just about as excited as I am to break it in for a proper tea. I also bought our Belgian children's book, with beautiful forms and colors at a shop in the 'Markt'.


After walking around town and around the beautiful waterways, we decided to visit the windmills on the North East edge of the city.

It was a drizzly evening, so we wandered back through town and eventually to a cute little Michelin-starred restaurant. Stefan wanted mussels, and I opted for some shrimp and salmon. Later, we shared our peach beer, which smelled similarly to baby food. It was very fragrant and flavorful. Definitely unique.

Today we woke up at a normal time and decided to climb the Belfort Tower. The day was perfect and clear. We were able to see a lot of the city from over head, which I always love.


We roamed through town, until we made our way to the Snow and Ice Festival, that we intended to visit. It was about -5ºC or 20ºF to preserve the sculptures, which were indoor. There were quite a few visitors, but the beauty was still very apparent. I loved the glowing lights and all of the intricate details.

There was a stunning wall of flowers, a hedge hog, a rabbit, a lot of death themed sculptures, and the end had an ice bar.




One of my favorite touches, which I didn't partake in, was the ice slide. The poor children had to be freezing, but it was fun for them nonetheless.
Belgium has been really good to us. I think it's is due to the fact that we came not knowing what all to expect, so every turn had some kind of surprise. Also it was the perfect birthday weekend.

This week I need to work on getting our photos on the computer, which is easier said than done due to the saga of 10,000 photos. I guess I should say 10,500 after this trip!