Ladies and gentlemen, it is official: spring has sprung in
Paris. 23 degrees this Sunday, and gloriously sunny. And while the temperature
and glare had faded somewhat by Monday morning, it hasn't rained since and –
call me ridiculously optimistic – I think the clement weather might be here to
stay!
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| Dress - Vintage Blazer - H+M Shoes - Marks&Spencers Earrings and Sunglasses - H+M |
You don't want to be inside on days like these (especially
when they come so rarely!) so I kitted up, triumphantly donned my sunglasses,
and headed to the Jardin des Tuileries.
The Jardin des Tuileries was
created in 1564 by Catherine de' Medici (you remember her, right? She was the
one who brought macaroons over to France – quelle
babe!) She set it up as the private garden for the Palais de Tuileries and modelled
it on those of her native Florence. A hundred years later, celebrated landscape
architect, André Le Nôtre, – the grandson of one of Catherine's gardeners, and
the man who did the gardens at Versailles – was commissioned to re-design the
whole garden. He transformed it into the formal garden "à la française"
that it is today.
It was the first royal garden to
be open to the public and, after Louis XVI was removed from power in the 1790s,
it became a "Jardin National”. In 1859 Louis Napoleon III (nephew to
Bonaparte) constructed twin pavilions, the Jeu de Paume and the Orangerie at
one end of the garden, and these (one of which I'll talk more about further
down) are still standing, despite the Tuileries Palace being burnt down by the
Paris Communards in 1870.
Although you are more likely to
find long, tree-lined boulevards and statues in this garden, there is a flower
or two as well and so I decided it was time to get a bit floral. Florals are,
unsurprisingly, a big thing for Spring-Summer 2013, but they're florals with a
twist. Prada, Antonio Marras, and Moschino all used flower motifs in their
collections, but these are not your average, twee English roses- these are big,
bold, colourful, graphic blooms. Very 1960s and very over the top.
I, however, am not quite brave
enough to go that far just yet and decided to ease myself in gently by taking
some inspiration from one of my favourite museums in all of Paris: the
Orangerie.
Built in 1859 to shelter the
garden's orange trees, the Orangerie now houses a wonderful collection of
Impressionist and Post- Impressionist art (including works by Cézanne, Matisse,
Renoir, Modigliani, Picasso and Soutine. Most famously, however, it is the home
of 8 of Claude Monet's water lily murals (the Nymphéas). Monet decided to donate these to the French government
in 1922 as a monument to the end of the First World War. Ironically, these same
panels were nearly destroyed during the Second World War, 22 years later, when
5 shells fell on the rooms where the Nymphéas
were kept, during the liberation of Paris.
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| One of Monet's Nymphéas NOT MY PHOTO - wikipedia.com |
I can truly say that this is one
of the most peaceful places I have found in Paris. Something about the hushed
atmosphere, the white oval-shaped rooms and these serenely beautiful pictures
has a real calming effect. One which contrasts sharply with the lively hustle
and bustle of the garden itself!
If you are in Paris I would
strongly urge you to give the Orangerie a visit and - if you go on the first
Sunday of the month – it's free! Huzzah!
Anyway, I let the soft colours of
Monet's water lilies, and my new penchant for pastels, lead this week's outfit.
My main problem with florals is that they don't leave you very much to play
with. As an incorrigible accessoriser (accessorologist? Accessoreuse?) I tend
to prefer simple colours or patterns so that I can add as many pretty baubles
as possible to make it more "me". With florals, and patterns in
general, you either have to be very brave and pile on clashing garments, or you
have to let the one busy item be your centrepiece and tone down everything else.
Thankfully, this vintage 70s dress of my mother's is so beautiful, and the
colours are so fun, that I didn't mind.
I also took some inspiration from
what may be my favourite Spring-Summer 2013 collection. Holly Fulton's
Spring-Summer 2013 line pairs light pastel colours, with fun graphic prints and
tomboy tailoring, taking inspiration from road-trips through America and 60s
skater girl Patti McGee.
I didn't quite manage to capture
the carefree insouciance of her models, but I did (I think!) make the outfit a
little more relaxed, and a little less girly, by pairing it with a blazer,
sunglasses, big earrings, messy hair and a slouch. Would have loved to have
added my beloved (if very ratty) espadrilles but I left them in the wrong
country. Sad times. I suppose I'll have to invest in some more...
Something about the water lily
pictures combined with my newly-dyed red hair made me come over all Ophelia so
we headed to one of the garden's many fountains to get in the way of the small
boys playing with sail boats. I will leave you with that idyllic image and go
start working on another one to present you with next week. Because I’m nice
like that.
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