Hillary Davis Travels's Blog

A Day At The Louvre

Hello Everyone!

Sit back. Relax. Today I am taking you to Paris for a visit to the Louvre!

This is a view from one of the windows of the Louvre. Loved the gray sky so heavy and low above the delicate green gardens.

Today I am taking you to Napoleon III's apartment in the Louvre. I saw this bed and it looked so comfortable I wanted to climb in!

The apartment wall coverings were a deep luscious red accented by glowing gold everywhere.

The chandeliers throughout the apartment were amazing. Absolutely exquisite.

Look at this one! With candles to illuminate the painting above! Can't imagine how they lit them. But the illumination must have been dreamy.

The furniture was well restored......

Embellished wood paneling................

I really loved these sofas. They could only look this good in this kind of space though.

Intriguing spiral staircase seen from below......

Ohhhhhhh, the painted ceilings!

This threesome chair made me think it was not very sociable! Or was it??

Isn't this fabulous? A crystal dressing table!

 

A formal really long dining table with huge ornaments down the middle.

As I left to walk in the rain in Paris, I was reminded of the beauty of simple lines.  I was standing under the pyramid looking up. Rain coming down but not touching me. I love Paris. I love the Louvre. I love the diversity of style and design and tone and color found there. All in one day in the Louvre, in Paris.

Travel Guide Review: Paris Made By Hand

 

Oh, you are so going to love this little paperback guide called Paris: Made by Hand: 50 Shops Where Decorators and Stylists Source the Chic & Unique.

This wonderful book is written by Australian stylist, Pia Jane Bijkerk. As a stylist, she is constantly searching for the unusual or beautiful. Paris Made By Hand is her personal treasure trove of shops and workshops she found in Paris that still make things by hand. Or of shops that stock antique hand made items. 

Even if you have traveled to Paris for years, or have lived there, you still may not know most of the artisan boutiques she conveniently lists by arrondissement. With lush photography and evocative prose, Pia totally communicates the wonder of finding these places.

   These are her words describing Le Petit Atelier De Paris,"There is a common theme among the delicate, organic-shaped vases, the glossy, free-form tartlet dishes, the tiny house sculptures, and the little alphabet letters that fill the shop-each item is made by hand on the premises."

"As a lover of flea markets, this is where I come when there is not a flea market to be found in the city---the items are unassuming, rustic, and affordable, with little chairs and tables starting at 30 euros, and bigger items, like desks and dining tables, steady at around 400 euros."

I can't wait to go back to Paris to visit these extraordinary boutiques. Thank you Pia for sharing!

Paris: Made by Hand: 50 Shops Where Decorators and Stylists Source the Chic & Unique by Pia Jane Bijkerk

 

Love Locks

For all the walking, for all the years, I had never seen this until recently. I was crossing the Seine heading towards the Ile de la Cite and found these love locks along the Pont de l'Archeveche.

Mais oui! I was in the city of love! Lovers find their way here, clip their padlock onto the fence of the bridge, and throw away the key---declaring their eternal love.

Was the little pink heart lock put there by a young female who also tied a pretty pink ribbon to it? Was the largest one on the fence put there by a biker? Was there one there, locked firmly in place, by someone wishing for love?

And if I held one and said a prayer, would it bring me luck in love? Already my heart was reveling in all the love on this bridge.

Paris Luxembourg Gardens

You would think that a garden would be at its most beautiful in the summer. Yet, for me, this fall, the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris seemed to evoke another kind of beauty than achieved in the summer when it is filled with a riot of blossoms. It was a beauty composed of stillness and sweeping lines. 

 

Yes, the leaves had fallen. But in their place were graceful tree limbs. 

I strolled over to the Medici Fountain and found a seat where I watched the ducks play and splash and meditated on the reflecting pool. 

Marie de Medici, one of my favorite historical personages, was responsible for building the Luxembourg Palace and the gardens in the 1600's. She requested the gardener to design a garden that would remind her of the formal gardens from her native Florence. 

Do you see in this picture how the flowers in the large urns so perfectly cascade down?

I discovered the secret. Look closely at the next picture and you should just be able to see a green plastic trainer that holds the stems from underneath so that they grow in a graceful curve downward. 

I find myself totally revived after a long walk here. Others stop a bit longer and perhaps have a bite to eat.

 

And many many others find a chair and totally unwind.