I Heart Lyon

An Apple a Day

2012-01-12T20:24:00.001+01:00

Last night, Halliday and I went to our local health food store, L'eau Vive, to stock up on organic produce—a new year's resolution. I stooped down to fill a brown bag with crisp, sweet apples and turned my squinty, need-to-have-my-prescription-changed gaze towards a tall man a few yards away. Perhaps I hesitated, perhaps I frowned, perhaps my blank gaze lingered too long in his remote direction because... suddenly this stranger was in my face, pointing a finger and asking, "il y a un probleme madame, tu as un probleme avec moi?" Flustered, bewildered, I just said "Non, non, pas de probleme." Hallie and I had one of those what-was-that-all-about moments and escaped unscathed to our next destination.

Lady Fitness is one of those female-only circuit gyms, like Curves, and I belonged a few years ago and got into really great shape. Two knee problems later, I have resolved to renew my membership and you would think that would be a simple thing. A week ago, I stopped by to get a ballpark price and the manager (who might just as well be a mattress or used car salesman) offered to renew my membership for 29.95 euros per month, subject to confirmation by his boss. He subsequently told me his entire life story, details of his love life and stellar career, while avowing to his "correct" and honest business nature. He said he'd call me that afternoon. He never called me back.

The entry of Lady Fitness is filled with non-sportive-looking, heavily-made-up young girls, who seem to be employed there but who rapidly disappear if you attempt to engage them. I am left once again with the "manager" (ahem, mattress salesman) who seems to have no recollection of our previous conversation. He can't find the form he filled out for me, nor remember the price he proposed, and suddenly, his best price for me and only for me, only today, is 53 euros...and only if Halliday joins too, for the next 6 months. He puts his sweaty hand on mine, while reflecting on what special deal he can make for us, but when I suggest we think things over and come back the next morning, he raises and eyebrow and looks at me like I am some kind of sketchie character, refuses to give me a copy of the offer he has written down on paper and moves on.

People are edgy these days, it seems to me. I retreat to "ma cuisine" to prepare sauteed apples—just sliced apples, water and a bit of salt. My friend Ashleigh says to eat them at night instead of a heavy meal, as a diet starter. I vow to lift weights and follow vintage Jane Fonda videos on Youtube. Lady Fitness another fine day, when the stars align.

Today I had an Epiphany!

2012-01-08T20:26:00.000+01:00

Happy Fête des Rois!

A Most Wonderful New Year

2012-01-03T12:45:00.001+01:00

2011 has been a wonderful gift, a year that breathed new life into Basic French. I am so thrilled to have such amazing clients and friends that follow our French adventures, that write us cheery and encouraging words and that share their own favorites French anecdotes each day. Cheers to all of you and to an exciting 2012. Meilleurs Vœux!

Inspiration

2011-12-31T09:15:00.000+01:00

by Robert & Kathleen Photographers, NYC

I am looking for inspiration. Normally, I find that the best way to get inspired is to wander around antique stores or listen to music and pour through design magazines. But these days, I am looking for inner inspiration. I am never at a loss for ideas, but I think for me, 2011 has been a year where I have not had enough time to myself and have been oriented towards others and their voices. My own voice has been but a soft murmur and my inspiration, fleeting.

I want to go back and start over, weed through what I perceive in the design world as a lot of noise. I want to go back and simplify and refind/refine my roots, my basic style. Real dreamy wanderlust.

Christmas in Lyon

2011-12-25T15:27:00.000+01:00

Wishing you all a Very Merry.

The Real Thing + Organic Karma!

2011-12-09T17:32:00.001+01:00


Raglan Sleeve Pullover, Organic by John Patrick

For as long as I can remember, John Patrick has been a loyal fan of Basic French, back when we were just a blossoming little boutique in the Hudson Valley. And not just loyal, he's been my cheerleader. He sends me words of encouragement from out in cyberspace, that keep me going for months. When someone validates your point of view, it makes it all worthwhile.

Jane Webb's interview in Eco-Chic.com really encapsulates JP's style, process and raison d'être—his artistry. And this video from Lexus, that he very modestly sent me just for fun, his recognition as a leader in the "sustainable/green fashion industry."

John Patrick has been doing "organic" long before organic, DIY and handmade were trendy, and his new collection at ORGANIC, is beautiful, wearable, perfect.

Mood Boards in My Head

2011-11-28T16:28:00.001+01:00

It's Pinteresting that people now create collages, virtual mood boards, online rather than in their actual physical space and with active intent, rather than by accident. I don't know, I guess I am getting old but all of the real artsy people that I know (like my pal Wanda,) live a mood board. Their world and their imagination is their canvas. So again, I find I am out of sync with this new effort to render everyone an artist with something fabulous to share with the world. We are so public these days. Seeking approval?

To me this is the sign of things about to go in reverse. Technology has rendered things too accessible and taken the special out of collage, genericized it, just the way the advent of the non-professional desk top publishing software made every computer user think they were actually a graphic designer. Seriously. That's when I stopped wanting to be a graphic designer. It was too discouraging to see a field that I had so revered become so burdened with crappy typography and clip art. We always do this to ourselves. We want everyone to be able to do everything. We are trying to keep ourselves busy I think.

I like the idea of specializing, of people being different, which does not mean you have to do the same thing all your life or be pigeon-holed. Careers cross over, life leads you in many different directions. We meander. I apologize, I really am ranting a bit these days, first about people trying to be too perfect, and now about this. But I am getting annoyed. Instead of joining in (I am very social but I have never been a joiner,) I am just going to continue to do what I have always done and create little periodic transient vignettes in my head and around, and then move on.

Round and round

2011-11-26T17:09:00.001+01:00

Here are some things that I am collecting these days: vintage arm chairs that need to be reupholstered, vintage linen or hemp sheets with monograms, anything having to do with quinces (love the color) or animals, and sets of 19th and 20th century French china, especially black transfer ware. I have come full circle.

Today I am Grateful

2011-11-24T17:32:00.001+01:00

for all the wonderful friends that I have, for my girls and my dogs, for my parents and sister, for all the amazing experiences I have had in my life, for our time in France, for all the folks who help out with Basic French (Debi, Ka, Barb + Bob and Jenn + Preston ) for finding clarity in life, for my adventuresome spirit which never goes away, for cozy hand-knit socks, for discovering beautiful talents and products like these notary candlesticks, for my health and the health of all those I love. I am so lucky and today, Thanksgiving, I give thanks for all of it!

Wishing you all the a wonderful day filled with love and good food!

Notary candlesticks by Jeff Patterson for lovely Sarah Van Raden

Bon Point = You are Good!

2011-11-22T20:50:00.001+01:00

I found this pencil case at the marché aux puces and I thought to myself, "I would've been happy to go to school and open this up every day, sweet olive case with little plaid interior, a bon point (for good behavior) and the little cut out of the boy and his sheepy."

We all deserve a bon point these days just for being good people. Times have been pretty tough in the states and things are looking pretty grim here in France, sadly for the French. We are all good people and we need to remember that everyday. That is enough.

O My Halliday

2011-11-21T09:03:00.001+01:00

I am so proud of my girls and not bashful to show it. Halliday, who is a senior in an international public lycée is an amazing, diligent student with a sweet heart, creative talent and a great fashion sense (amongst other things.) Her outfit this morning...

Comfort Food

2011-11-14T15:25:00.001+01:00

I am not a Winter person, so the moment the sun begins to set earlier and rise later, and we fall back clockwise, I am nostalgic for summer and seek comfort anywhere I can find it. These days, based on my waistline, that seems to be in the way of food.

At the shore this summer, I cooked almost every meal and while I am not a fancy chef, I do like to think that I can make something tasty out of whatever is left in the frig. In any case, I am very poor at following recipes and have even given up on myself in this department. Yet, when I stumbled upon SweetFineDay the blog of Brooklyn-based designer Jenna and her pastry chef partner Mark of Whimsy and Spice, I found instant comfort and inspiration.

Well among other things, I was compelled to cook chicken pot pie for the girls which basically took me all day on Saturday because I had to shop for the ingredients (frig empty) and try to make do with what I had (no cream cheese, no chicken stock, turkey instead of chicken, no celery because it's the one food I hate and must be allergic to.) I managed to cobble together what resembled turkey pot pie and a mache salad with, of course, Henry's vinaigrette (I am the salad dressing protegée of my friend Pamela's husband, fabulous painter Henry Finkelstein, since we spent two recent weeks kibitzing and cooking together in Brooklyn.)

In Jenna's personal blog The Mixed Race Project I was touched by something she said. In essence, she said that she wanted to show in her photographs how people really live and not show a fantasy of how people pretend to live. I echo this thought. I have been feeling really exasperated and rebellious recently, as I tacitly though erratically follow blogs with tasteful feminine Pinterest mood boards and perfectly art directed and lit photos of carefully culled "objets." I am a bit sick of all the DIY makeovers and everyone being so damn crafty. I know I sound jaded, but really let's face it, not everyone has something interesting to say, something the world needs to hear. Even what I have have to say, is maybe not that interesting, really. My rebellious side wants to go in the opposite direction and like Jenna, I want to show people as they are with unmade beds and messy hair and imperfections. I wish we could all embrace our imperfections more and love real life instead of always trying to make real life look perfect. I think real life is far more interesting, far more touching. But that's me, and I have messy hair and an apartment that's crammed with packing supplies, a desk piled high with papers I dread filing, books I'll never read despite my good intentions, a "to do" list that makes me panic and a dog named Clementine that ate the remaining half of my carefully crafted turkey pot pie off the counter.

Isn't it more comforting to us all to know that we are in the same boat?

Down the Shore!

2011-11-13T14:25:00.000+01:00

Oh Donna, a Retrospective

2011-11-12T11:30:00.000+01:00

We spent the summer on Long Beach Island, my preferred summer destination since September of 1960 when, as the story goes, my cousin Douglas and I were passed out the bedroom window during a fierce hurricane named Donna. We were 2 months old. The girls and I had all missed the Jersey shore and all it's indigenous treasures over the last few years because we have spent our summers in France or somewhere straddled between charitable relatives and friends.

With not a cloud in the sky all summer long, we hung out our laundry on the blowy clothesline each morning, took meandering bike rides to our favorite island cafe, ate fresh, juicy tomatoes, herbs and lettuce from Bowdie's garden, husked and gobbled sweet Jersey corn, relished soft-shelled crabs and lobster and savored slices of home-made chocolate cake from the Holiday Snack Bar. It was a perfect summer, in retrospect.

My Darling Clementine

2011-11-07T22:27:00.000+01:00

I know, I know, dog stories are boring, but my little Clementine is the cutest thing on the planet and strolling around Lyon with her on a Fall day is the best thing in the world. And, can you believe that even the leaf bags are basic French chic. Oh la la those crazy French.

Les Ados

2011-10-13T23:30:00.004+02:00

Hallie has some wonderful friends, all multi-lingual, smart-as-whip teens who love to have fun and be silly. It is amazing what my girls have created for themselves in the last four years...very full lives. Lyon has been an incredible place to raise young girls—safe and sure, comforting and culturally rich. How were we so blessed to touch down, however briefly, in this beautiful city?

Depots Vente

2011-10-06T16:31:00.000+02:00

Being the ardent, avid, yardsaler, antiquer, picker that I am and have always been, I have managed to track down many of best the consignment stores (depots vente) in Lyon. But the one that I like the best, that I have bought the most memorable things in is actually on my street, rue de Remparts D'ainay. Drawing from my rather conservative, hidden wealthy catholic neighborhood, the merchandise can be just amazing (18th century portraits for 80 euros) or not so interesting.

Like all good second-hand or antique stores, you just have to go on a regular basis, which is what I try to do. I have always found great solace and inspiration in looking at old stuff and even when I was a graphic designer, I used browsing second-hand stores and antique stores as a way of making aesthetic connections and coming up with fresh and vital concepts. That and cleaning have always been really good ways for me to spend my time and conceptually work things through. Quirky, I know.

These days however, I am not buying much because I have a house and apartment full of stuff and the prospect of emptying them both and moving back to New York ahead of me. Yes, the decision has been made. We are officially moving back in July. So very excited to be back in the city after this incredible one year adventure that turned into 5. Wow, time flies.

Infectious Happiness

2011-09-30T15:00:00.000+02:00

It's the Fig's Fault

2011-09-29T12:30:00.000+02:00

It all started with a fig. And a recipe I saw on design*sponge. It sounded so yummy, and cozy and it's Indian Summer and it's going to be cold soon.

Anyone that really knows me can testify to the fact that I can not for the life of me follow a recipe. Maybe it's the early influence of chef Andy Schloss, who took me under his wing in the kitchen at Philadelphia's renaissance restaurant In Season and taught my naive recently-graduated-from-Miss-Porter's-School-lily-white-ass a few things about life and how to get my hands dirty. Lessons having nothing to do with following a recipe. Maybe I am a rebel that does not like to comply with anything.

Plus, I am getting really sick of seeing everything so perfectly styled and unreal. I mean when I cook I make a mess and it involves dishes and the licking of spoons and drips on the silk dress I should've taken off. I mean, cooking is messy, like life is messy. Houses get messy too and I am sick of seeing perfectly styled houses too, and then the ones that are supposed to be imperfectly messy, but are over- styled as well. It's all too Perfect Home Perfect Life for me.

I am deviating...so the figs and design*sponge and my quest to follow a recipe all coalesced in my tiny little very messy kitchen and then Hallie got home, tired and ravenously hungry, so I thought, hmm, steak would be good. At the end of the day here is what I served for dinner. It didn't look chic after I cooked it, but it sure tasted good. And best of all, I got props from my peeps!

courge soup with shallots and creme fraîche

figs roasted with rosemary in honey and maple syrup

Roquefort

Nairns mini oatcakes

steak, medium rare with salt and pepper

Rhone tap water

The Usual Haul

2011-09-28T13:00:00.000+02:00

No seriously, this is just the usual haul from our favorite country grocery store.

flax bread
greens
apples
strawberries
duck paté
pork and herb sausage
chevre
sauccisson
mini vache aperitif cheeses
yogurt drinks
local rosé
hand pressed juice
honey yogurt
plain yogurt
sheep's yogurt
homemade raspberry preserve

I realize that we eat very simple clean food, and I am now so used to it, I practically have a heart attack when I go into an American grocery store. So many options, so little un-packaged truly fresh food. It doesn't make sense. In France, even those of modest means can eat well (if they choose to) as there is a market in almost every village or city. I love the states, but I sure would be happier there if I could easily and affordably continue to eat like this. I know you can eat well in New York, but easily and affordably? I am not sure.

Support your local farmer today!!

Sirop du Liege

2011-09-27T13:00:00.000+02:00


The most delicious fruit spread to put on your tartines!

I am so tempted to start Basic Belgium because I have fallen madly in love with this very basic product that is like a jam or rather a delicious fruit paste. Oh my god, it is amazing. A combination of pears, apples and dates, it is absolutely awe-inspiring on fresh flax (lin) bread from our local boulangerie with chèvre of any kind. Not a jam, not a jelly, but rather a hearty, not-too-sweet fruit spread. Very Basic Belgium. Sirop du liege + hearty bread + chevre = absolute heaven

Thanks Joann!

2011-09-26T12:30:00.000+02:00

I knew this would come in handy some day. I have carried this yardage chart from Joann Fabrics in Kingston, NY to Red Hook where it sat on my desk for 15 years, overseas to Balmont where it aged like a fine wine in a folder to Lyon where it almost got tossed out like an old t-shirt. Now, since I have decided to become Madamoiselle Expert Upholsterer in my mature years, it has a prominent place in my...shoot it's on my desk again.

Bakker made with love

2011-09-25T13:00:00.000+02:00

The first time I saw one of these "cartable" an updated French book bag by Bakker made with love, a St. Etienne-based design duo who are smitten with Bali, I almost flipped. I was so happy to discover them at Maison et Objets shortly thereafter and immediately placed an order. That was last year sometime. Well, I never heard from them for months, and then more months, and most recently they contacted me that our shipment was ready to deliver. It was so naively charming when they informed me that my shipment would be arriving in Detroit and that I was welcome to stop by and pick it up at any time. I guess they imagined me swinging by from New York on my lunch break. Anyhow, when I opened the package that finally cleared customs, I knew they were a vendor worth my patience. Great quality, amazing workmanship and just the funnest, happiest products.

Courtesy of Bakker made with love

And I think their name is funny. It is true, I believe, the products are seemingly made with love, but what's funny is that they have almost gone out of their way to not appear French, to anglicize themselves. What they don't know is that, Americans at least, love French products (usually.) Anyway, all this to say, yay for France and yay for new products made with love in Bali by cute French designers from the capital of passementerie.

The Stuff to Remember

2011-09-24T09:00:00.000+02:00


Assemblage, Norman Hasselriis' gallery, by Dana Gallagher

I just stumbled upon the work of New York photographer, Dana Gallagher, and I love it. Also her blog is amazing and short and sweet. I was really captivated by the post about Assemblage the Catskill's gallery and legacy of artist, Norman Hasselriis. Inspiring.

Les Puces du Canal

2011-09-23T08:42:00.000+02:00

Going to the marché aux puces is probably my favorite thing in the world to do. Sometimes, I wonder how I got into importing new products (though I love that too!) I like to find the diamond in the rough. I love to buy along a particular theme which manifests itself at the end of the day. It's as if I have little imagistic scenarios dancing in my head and like during a good therapy session, you exorcise them and you move on (or not.) I am always working on an aesthetic theme, passing from one forming visual collage to another.

These days, I am really into upholstered furniture and fabric and I will tell you why. I am taking upholstery class (my fantasy depuis très longtemps,) and I am going to become a master upholsterer (un maître tapissier)...haha, that is before I leave this planet!

Tapissier par Teleformation-Savoirs

A Great Blog, Worth Reading, and I don't say that often...

2011-06-19T16:13:00.000+02:00

If you are not a follower of Joanna Goddard's blog "A Cup of Joe" you should be. Every time I read it, I want to repost things that she has posted. She is so spot on and funny, genuine and fun and positive. Here's what made me laugh today. How true how true. And my personal style favorite, TOMBOY style also from Joanna...

Cocobohème

2011-05-27T19:32:00.027+02:00

Beech wood piggy cutting board

I first met Catherine Fouchard, créatrice behind Cocobohème, at Maison et Objet 4 years ago. Her innovative designs and truly ecological production were cutting edge then and still are now. I was so inspired by all of the new products this season that I ordered practically the whole collection, some of which has arrived at BF and some of which will be arriving in the weeks before summer. Let me know what you think!

Retro butcher paper place mat

Here is how Cocobohème describes themselves {and they couldn't be more basic French}:

"We specialize in decoration and accessories, that we create and edit. Cocobohème is a soft mixture of craftiness, whim, aesthetics, and poetry with a practical side, accessible, and a strong ethics, with a large range of eco-design products 100% made in France.

Our added value is the exploration of innovative materials, in particular sustainable materials. Cocobohème was the first one to create chalkboard stickers and eco-design bibs made of potato starch, waterproof, reusable and biodegradable; we conceived the first static decals for windows; we produced the first poetic creatures on adhesive textile – these are reflective, so that you can be seen at night; we reinvented the garlands of flags with phosphorescent inks"

Doggie hangar, on corrugated cardboard

eco-design lobster bib, of potato starch

Beechwood tray printed with white doily {much cooler in person than in photo}

Au (Oh) Calm

2011-05-27T17:21:00.001+02:00

I am really trying not to be a workaholic. Recently (that means since I got back from New York) I have been feeling as though I was on "the rack," being pulled in so many directions that I want to scream, but not being able to move. Saturday morning I was paralyzed by all the "work" I had to do. I couldn't do anything but look at my list and freak out.

So, I packed up a folder, my computer (ugh, the main culprit,) a night gown, my toiletries kit, the girls the dogs, and fled to les monts du lyonnais. Along the way, at a rond point (traffic circle—something France is famous for!) we stopped at Uniferme, a country collective of local organic farm products, all produced by small farms in the country outside of Lyon.

It was so great when we got to our house. It was quiet. I could hear all the unique sounds that make up the country symphony—the crickets' chirp, the waving hay, the random bee buzzing by, the lizard slither, the sweet birds. The separation of the sound was amazing, soothing and I felt I could even hear myself again. The whir and whirl of city life, my own burn-out since my return from the states, coupled with the ridiculous schedule that I alone have committed to, had gotten the best of me.

Dinner on the grass terrace looking out at a thousamd acres of unspoiled farm land, a rousing game of progressive rummy and a good night's sleep, changed my perspective on everything.

I have asked myself, "why am I doing this? Why have I always worked so hard and rested so little?" It is literally impossible for me to sit down and read a book for an hour. I feel too guilty, like I am not entitled, am wasting time.

Solutions
1) write down 3 most important things to do the next day before I go to bed. Do ONLY those three things, nothing else before those are accomplished

2) cancel all extraneous plans until further notice

3) hug my dogs and children more (I already do this a lot!)

4) go to the country on the weekends

5) stay connected to the people I really love, get disconnected from those I don't

6) remember that this too shall pass

7) check email less often

Back from New York

2011-05-12T21:22:00.001+02:00

We had a fabulous trip to the states for Spring Break.

Dick Annegarn

2011-04-17T21:19:00.000+02:00

Bowdie and Tish

2011-04-16T23:10:00.002+02:00

My parents are about to achieve a milestone that I find so incredibly impressive—60 years of marriage. My sister and I are throwing them a party in Bucks County, where they live and we have been looking through old photographs of their wedding day, the 5th of May, 1951. I love the formal black and white pictures that were taken, so evocative of the times and their very proper east coast families.

I am envious of those who weather the storm of a long marriage. I had always dreamed of being married to one person all my life, even though I was actually afraid of marriage, having watched my parents mid-life struggles from the eyes of a critical teen. I wanted lots of children too, the big family.

It is so sweet to see them now, knowing each other so well, moving slowly and quietly through life, tolerating each other with love and compassion. I envy that, having someone to grow old with, that you were once young with. Someone who knows your whole story. It's incredibly touching.

Bang Bang!

2011-04-15T22:40:00.000+02:00

I have been in one of my romantic dreamy modes and these are always underwritten by music of some kind or another. I love the floating sound of this young French singer, Stéphanie Lapointe.

Urban Beauty

2011-04-10T10:50:00.002+02:00

Poppy, 16, by Halliday

We had an absolutely fantastic day yesterday. It doesn't get any better in Lyon weather-wise than it has been this past week. Sunny, blue skies, dry and 78 degrees.

Abbie and I decided to do some shopping. Her 14th birthday is coming up so I am fishing for ideas for presents (apart from a plane ticket to California this summer to visit her best friend, Ellyse.) We ended up at Sephora and spent an hour trying on make up (which is so unlike me.) Here's what we ended up buying. A gold eye pencil by Makeup Forever and this absolutely crazy beautiful bronze liquid eyeliner by Urban Decay. This is Poppy (Hallie's bf from Cité Scolaire Internationale and my favorite of Hallie's friends) wearing the two products. She's magnificent!

Bon'home de Monde

2011-04-03T22:42:00.005+02:00

I instantly fell in love with these amazing creatures at Maison et Objet. I guess you either love them or you think they are weird. They are like the Petit Collin baby lamps we use to carry, that horrified some people and were coveted by others (like me!)

But these bon'home (a play on the French word "bonhomme," which means good man or gentleman and the English word "home") are simply divine. The colors are amazing, the fabric is beautiful and you just want one to cuddle with (I know that sounds queer.) Very soft and fuzzy pillows that are both comforting and comfortable and made by France's most famous peluche (stuffed animal) maker.

Anyway, we are going to be the first company in the US to carry them and it's terribly exciting because they are all the rage in Paris. Click here to get your own bon'home.

Cute Easter Pillows

2011-04-03T21:34:00.000+02:00

I wish I could say that I had these in stock at Basic French in time for Easter. These pillows by Teo Jasmin are so darn cute and I would love to carry them, but I just discovered them today! Next season! What I do have this season is just as cute though, so check out our New Arrivals!

Childhood

2011-03-30T22:43:00.000+02:00

It would be good to give much thought, before
you try to find words for something so lost,
for those long childhood afternoons you knew
that vanished so completely -and why?

We're still reminded-: sometimes by a rain,
but we can no longer say what it means;
life was never again so filled with meeting,
with reunion and with passing on

as back then, when nothing happened to us
except what happens to things and creatures:
we lived their world as something human,
and became filled to the brim with figures.

And became as lonely as a sheperd
and as overburdened by vast distances,
and summoned and stirred as from far away,
and slowly, like a long new thread,
introduced into that picture-sequence
where now having to go on bewilders us.

by Rainer Maria Rilke

Quiet Country

2011-03-29T08:48:00.002+02:00

My make-shift mailbox with no mail

We spent a really quiet weekend in the country. It was the first warmish weekend and I wanted to check on the house and make sure there were no leaks. It was so deeply peaceful there that I was able to start reading a 746-page daunting tomb, Proust by Ghislain de Diesbach that my friend George put me up to reading. George, was so alarmed that I had not read Proust in my college days and that I in fact thought Proust was a German writer (based on his Germanic-sounding name and my ignorance,) that he proposed I read Proust's autobiography before reading his work. Easier said than done. But in the country, at least it is quiet enough that I can concentrate. At least natures' noises replace the buzzing of the refrigerator and the swirling of the washing machine and the hum of the ever-illuminated Macintosh.

My Friend Isabelle

2011-03-20T19:02:00.021+01:00

Isabelle's counter

If there is any one person I can credit for my move to France it would be Isabelle Grange. We met in the summer of 2000, before everything changed in the Hudson Valley, before 9/11. Isabelle an amazing painter was living at that time in a beautiful and funky house on the Hudson river, south of Rhinebeck. She had been peering through the Basic French store windows that were covered with white paper, waiting for our grand opening. That summer, Isabelle was working for my friends Steve Abeles and Ray Anastasio, at their beautiful antique store, Balsamo, in Pine Plains. They assured us we'd be friends.

When the doors to Basic French finally opened in August, Isabelle was one of my first customers. We immediately hit it off. I was awed by her talent and her sweet and gentle temperament. Over the years our friendship blossomed even after she moved back to les Monts du lyonnais to be near her family and friends. I often visited her hometown of Larajasse and on 9/11, when I was stuck in Paris during Maison et Objet with no flights scheduled to the US for four days, I called her and stayed with her family. The next summer, I rented a house in Perigord, and during the worst summer deluge, the girls and I drove across France, in 9 1/2 hours, by way of the Massif Central to visit Isabelle. While walking in the country near her family home, we spotted an old stone farm house high on a hill, neglected, savage but beautiful. I said "If that house ever comes on the market, let me know." Three years later I bought that same house, my basic French getaway, one kilometer from where Isabelle grew up.

Isabelle's kitchen

A brilliant artist who studied at l'ecole d'Arts Appliqués in Lyon, then later worked in New York for Raymond Waites as design director, Isabelle has a unique, personal painting style that has greatly evolved over the years. What never changes however, is her attention to detail and her amazing craftsmanship. She can paint anything. Her background as a decorative painter has landed her international projects for wallpaper manufacturers, publishers and high-end decorative design firms. She has exhibited her travel portraits widely and while her personal work is so different from her decorative work, both are highly collectible.

Isabelle's urn prints in her salon

We are thrilled to be carrying some of Isabelle's decorative prints at Basic French, a business collaboration following years of great friendship. To see more of Isabelle's personal work, click here.
To see her decorative work for Objet de Curiosité, click here.

Isabelle Grange, painter

Thoughts on London...

2011-03-09T12:34:00.001+01:00

The girls and I hopped on an Easy Jet in Lyon and landed an hour later at Gatwick airport in London. Hard to believe, but it's time to look for colleges for Halliday and aside from looking in New York and Philadelphia this Spring, we are checking out England. Because, you never know and ya gotta keep your options open.

A bit of window shopping therapy was in order after a long dreary Winter in Lyon, which seemed lacking in fashion stimulation. It did not take us long to get really excited about design and clothes and stuff. London is filled with funky, fun places to go and it made me realize how conservative the French are, even if they have great taste. There is an element of not taking risks which exists in all aspects of French culture and while elegant and understated always works in fashion at least, I have been craving pattern, texture and color, feeling like I want to step out of the mold that the French are so good at staying in.

Winter Break

2011-02-28T20:42:00.004+01:00

The girls are on vacation for the next two weeks and I must say, a much needed vacation. I am not sure whether it is the dreary Winter we are having or the extreme amount of pressure they have at school, but they are exhausted.

The dogs and I went to the country to check on our house, make sure we had enough oil to heat the stone foundation before we spend a few days of vacation there freezing our butts off. We were out of oil, oops. Thank God I checked. Mr. Salignant a local beverage deliveryman and the only old timer equipped with an oil delivery truck in our region, agreed to meet me on a dryish day. Our house is at the end of a farmer's path one that is extremely muddy at this time of year. He delivered 500 litres of oil for .87 euros per litre. Won't last long, but will get us through the Spring since we won't spend much time in the house until it warms up and the sun shines down on les monts du lyonnais. After all my years in the Hudson Valley, I just cannot bear the cold of Winter and being stuck inside because of bad weather. I guess I shoveled my walkway one too many times and lost my romantic view of it all.

Mr. Salignant is a man of few words and those that he speaks I can hardly understand because of his very thick local accent. There is a patois in this region and when they speak quickly, I have no clue what they are saying. He is a bit too curious about my life. I must be such an anomaly to him, to just about everyone in these parts. I can't imagine what they think of me. I am just super friendly and have learned not to talk too much, not to reveal much about my life. Better to remain mysterious and unknown.

I was struck by the calm of the country compared to the bustling city I live in, Lyon. I wondered why I don't spend more time in the country, why I don't allow more silent space in my head, because I miss it. I thought about how much more connected to myself I feel in the country. I wanted to write, and jot things down. I wanted to just sit and breathe, something I never feel able to do in the city, always have to be moving, accomplishing something. I felt good. I made a plan to come back later this week, just for a few days, before we go off to London to look at Universities for Hallie. God time flies.

De cet amour ardent je reste émerveillée

2011-02-14T20:05:00.002+01:00

Je reste émerveillée

Du clapotis de l’eau

Des oiseaux gazouilleurs

Ces bonheurs de la terre

Je reste émerveillée

D’un amour

Invincible

Toujours présent

Je reste émerveillée

De cet amour

Ardent

Qui ne craint

Ni le torrent du temps

Ni l’hécatombe

Des jours accumulés

Dans mon miroir

Défraîchi

Je me souris encore

Je reste émerveillée

Rien n’y fait

L’amour s’est implanté

Une fois

Pour toutes.

De cet amour ardent je reste émerveillée.

Andrée Chedid, Printemps des poètes 2007

Vicomte Arthur

2011-02-12T00:50:00.003+01:00

If you really want to understand the French version of preppy, check out Vicomte Arthur. Halliday is a big fan and swoons over the new collection. I love the packaging and the really fun aspect of their design and their free spirit.

My Boy Vincent

2011-02-09T11:03:00.003+01:00

Vincent Delerm

I am having the most terrible time making time to write in my blog. I have so much going through my head. I have taken tons of photos and videos and I don't know what happens each day. I can't seem to sit down and post things, even though j'ai envie. Then today I realized that I have been so busy I have not even been listening to music, and I am so passionate about music that we know something's crazy here. So this is what I can do today. Post a song by one of my favorite French singers, adorable Vincent Delerm and then make a promise to myself to write and post more VERY SOON!!

Do you want to rent my house this summer?

2011-02-01T08:50:00.000+01:00

I am serious. I have the most wonderful authentic simple country house imaginable in France, near Lyon and I am hoping to rent it this summer either for the full summer or for 2 separate months. I usually rent it by the week, but because I personally am going to be in New York and Yay! at Brooklyn Flea on the weekends for July and August, I will not be able to be in France to meet and greet my renters every week.

Here is a tour of the outside of my house and the first floor. There is a beautiful second floor with master bedroom (king size bed) and reading nook, a third bedroom (2 twin beds) and a bathroom + WC. Click here to see the Sneak Peek in Design Sponge! I would also consider trading houses or apartments with someone who lives in Brooklyn! Serious inquiries only please! carol@basicfrenchonline.com

Interactive Window Display

2011-01-22T20:23:00.004+01:00

Interactive Display Window from Marcus Wallander on Vimeo.
I love this idea, a link I saw on Design Sponge. I can imagine a Basic French window and cute French models on Parisian backgrounds interacting with people in the street. I think it would be so fun to create. This is the amazing work of Stockholm-based designer Marcus Wallander at Hyper Island. Very cool. And thanks Grace! Click here to see the interactive window displays.

The Best Grandmother Ever!

2011-01-10T13:54:00.003+01:00

Before the holidays, we got an order at Basic French from one of our favorite clients, Ginger. She wanted to find something special for her very accomplished granddaughter. She's very proud of her!

We were so excited when Tal herself (beautiful and bronze in her marinière dress,) sent us this amazing picture, taken in December by her boyfriend in Aruba. Wow, I wish I had a grandmother that cool! Yay Ginger! You win the best grandmother of the year award!

Happy Deux Mille Onze from New York!

2011-01-01T17:19:00.028+01:00

Lucia and Abbie in Prospect Heights by Halliday

It's hard to believe that 2010 is over! This has been such an inspiring year at Basic French, despite the sluggish economy—full of exciting changes to our product offerings, structure and vision for Basic French. I have more inspiration in France and video possibilities of our offbeat life in Lyon than I can possibly contain in my blog. And my New Year's resolution is to write more and share more with those who are interested! A good jumping off point!

Most of all, I want to thank you, our loyal customers, for shopping at Basic French and for sticking with us through our growing pains. You are my real inspiration and the reason I want to make Basic French the best French website in the States. Without you all, it would just be me shopping and shipping and talking about my life to myself. We thank you so much for your support and hope that you will keep following us in the coming year as we add regular columns to our blog, take on a site redesign, host some exciting pop-up store shopping opportunities and become regulars at Brooklyn Flea this summer. Yay!

The girls and I are flying back to Lyon tonight after a wonderful East Coast work/vacation/holiday/family time. We had a fabulous New Year's in Pamela's perfectly styled Brooklyn apartment, ate Henri's amazing annual carbonara and a had a killer view of Prospect Park's fireworks—trop bien! A great and necessary break. Now I'm back to work and onto Maison et Objet in Paris at the end of the month to buy for Spring/Summer 2011!

All of us at Basic French wish you a happy and healthy New Year. Très Bonne Année Deux Mille Onze!

Fireworks in Prospect Park by Halliday

Brooklyn Rocks!

2010-12-31T17:23:00.001+01:00

Brooklyn is such a cool place. I know this is nothing new, but I am just having such a fun experience here. Today, New Years Eve Day, Hen and I went for a slushy trek all over Park Slope and it was better than fun.


Fabulous Painter Henry Finklestein, in deep thought...

We started at the groovy food coop, moseyed onto the bodega which was absolutely jammed to the brim and ended up at an Italian deli/épicerie so Henry could buy pancetta for his famous New Year's
specialty: wholewheat carbonara.YUM!

Happy Saint Sylvestre! Happy Réveillon!

Doing the Brooklyn Thing

2010-12-18T00:09:00.001+01:00

It's been two days now that we've had our first Brooklyn-based pop up store at One Hanson Place. Everyone seemed to know about Brooklyn flea but me, and it is amazing. Setting up was stressful and I would say that today, we are starting to feel at home, as if things are a bit under control. We've got some fabulous neighbors. Across the aisle is "dAN's Parent's House," a funky collection of Star Wars action figures, block and tackle pulleys, old letterpress type, vintage gum ball machines, and a poodle decanter with six shot glasses. He plays Vampire Weekend, one of our favorite New York bands, and the girls and I dance around.

Right next to us is Twig, that's Katy and Michelle, the amazing terrarium makers. Tomorrow morning, they are doing a special terrarium-making event with Grace from design*sponge.

Today I did a little shopping myself (I think I've spent more $$ than I've earned) and I bought two gorgeous hand-block printed notebooks and a set of colorful note cards–all one of a kind from Beau Ideal Editions.

Anyway, it's been so fun and I'm learning a lot. The girls have helped me so much. Here are some pics that Hallie took with her new camera. Stay tuned...

Buns are Fun!

2010-12-07T08:00:00.002+01:00

Here's what you do when you are supposed to be putting new products online and packing. You make a bun and then break out the old Polaroid. There are always lots of fabulous ways to procrastinate! And I am a pro!

Dans les Valises

2010-12-06T23:16:00.001+01:00

Actually I wish I could actually say that I was "dans les valises," busy packing my bags. That always seems to be a last minute event for me, 2 in the morning kind of thing. Thank God I am a light packer. This trip my bags are going to be filled with merchandise for the market in Brooklyn, exciting stuff that I hope arrives before I leave Lyon. Yikes it's a tight squeeze. And I still have 3 cartons + to send—one a day, that's my motto.

Anyway, the weather is turning balmy after some mighty snowy days. And since Abbie and I are so rarely pictured together, I thought I would pop this photo on. Time for me to get some new glasses. The nerdy look is getting a bit old!

Reproduction by Arnaud Fleurent-Didier

2010-12-03T14:39:00.003+01:00

I am a little big stuck in a music mind today. Not getting a lot done. But, this guy is absolutely fabulous!

Oh Yikes!!!

2010-12-03T12:28:00.000+01:00

My friend Ka just sent me a photo he took in the New York subway yesterday . A poster for Brooklyn Flea's Holiday Market "Gifted." Now this is a big deal. I sure hope you will all come and visit me. I just made the best mix of new French music and we are going to rock this show!!!!!

Thoughts on Christmas

2010-12-03T11:57:00.013+01:00

Christmas is a funny time. Not funny haha, but strange.

I love the idea of abundant food, cozy and warm, bright shiny lights, snow, the smell of pine, ornaments, candles, a fire, inspiring church services, Christmas carols, a creche, happy children and one big happy family. I love it all. I love shopping and cooking and thinking about presents for my friends and family, I love buying (we all know that.) I like less receiving, but I like buying for myself (who doesn't?)

That's it, I love the idea of Christmas. Eat, pray, love. It's the reality that I am not too fond of. I'm sorry. I have to be honest. Christmas is just wildly stressful and I dream of the moment when I can actually have a life where I am able to enjoy the holidays and not dread the monumental task of traveling overseas, working up until the final hour, sleeping in a strange bed, leaving my dogs behind, rushing, fearing bad weather, feeling un-entitled and guilty, burntout and disappointed. Each year I try to manage my expectations and this year for example, I am again very excited about the idea of the upcoming holidays.

Here's what I have going on. Between now and December 8th I am an absolutely crazy maniac, packing cartons, managing family life with 2 teenagers and 2 dogs, trying to see friends and loved ones, packing suitcases, dealing with Basic French and pre-holiday retail madness, writing my blog, answering emails, twittering, facebooking and taking HD festive holiday videos. The 7th I drive Clementine to the country where she will board with all her Weimeraner pals at a cost of 16 euros per day. I can't move the car on the 8th because it is Les Fetes des Lumieres here, the absolute busiest day of the year in Lyon when no one can park and all the roads are blocked off. Hundreds of thousands of people descend on Lyon for a week of illuminated frenzy. The 9th we leave from Lyon, fly to Paris, arrive at JFK at 9:15pm, drive to Red Hook, and then the fun begins around midnight! This is the holidays.

God bless Barb and Barb, who welcome me, now that I don't own a house in the Hudson Valley, into their lovely amazingly cozy and fabulously festively decorated home, a place that feels like home to me, the way home should feel. You can paddle around in your pjs and slippers, mumble to each other in the morning until the coffee kicks in, then go independently your own way during the day only to regroup at the end of the day for a home-cooked meal by chef Bob. It truly does not get any better than this!

I will be in Red Hook for 4 whirlwind days preparing for the Brooklyn Flea Holiday Market "Gifted" and trying to fit in visits with all my friends, not to mention numerous doctor's appointments. The show goes from the 15th until the night of the 22nd, or at least that is when I pack up my stuff, race back to Red Hook, unload the van, pack my bags and hightail it to Bucks County, PA to see my parents. Am I enjoying the holidays yet?

Let me pause. It is usually at about this time that I have a complete change of mind and a wave of grace passes through me. It is about now that I begin to be tired of all the spending and excesses that this holiday engenders. I hate to be Scrooge and kiss a good festive moment goodbye, but I must look at the big picture. At this time of year, I start worrying about the homeless people in my neighborhood. It's cold, they are outside all day, and Christmas is going to be an unfun day for them, like all the rest of the unfun days. I begin to pray for them and pray for peace in the world. I remind my girls how fortunate we really are, that getting stuff is nice, but a thoughtful gesture, however small, brings far greater joy to the world. So we bake cookies for the lovely old ladies in our building who thrill at the chance to share a lyonnaise story with us in the hallway as we dash away, dash away, dash away all. I try to smile more and say nice things to people who look lonely. I go to St. Martin D'ainay, the 13th century abbey next to my house, and cry for all the sadness in the world...then I feel better. The bells ring, the low golden sun bursts through the cool gray clouds.

Christmas, for me, is love, pray, eat {in that order}. . . and on this 3rd of December, 22 days BC, I want to remember why I am here on this earth and embrace the true Christmas spirit! It's time to put on Ella Fitzgerald, hug my kids, be grateful, bake more cookies and sing!

Beyond the Silence PART B : life of Carthusian monks revealed

2010-12-02T09:00:00.000+01:00

Beyond the Silence PART A : life of Carthusian monks revealed

2010-12-02T08:00:00.000+01:00

The Joys of Teenagers

2010-11-17T23:53:00.001+01:00

I still cannot believe that I am the mother of teenagers, but each day that I spend with the lovely creatures stretches me beyond my boundaries and makes me a more flexible person, helps me make peace with my own teenage self. All this, in a good way, of course!

Emily Thompson Wreaths for Christmas

2010-11-17T10:23:00.000+01:00

I just love these wreaths by Brooklyn-based aritisan florist Emily Thompson. A must for the holidays!

Gris-Bleu

2010-11-09T13:25:00.000+01:00

I love the enigmatic mood of this young Parisian blogger, illustrator, photographer. The ephemeral quality of his work and his beautiful writing are 100% old world creativity— Gris-Bleu

We love Lalé!

2010-11-08T20:21:00.002+01:00

Lalé, wonderful Parisian designer

I am so excited about this amazingly fresh and vibrant company that I found at Maison et Objet. Their products are so beautiful and colorful and fun and we have ordered tons of things for the holidays and for the exciting preholiday show at Brooklyn Flea's "Gifted." from the 15th to the 23rd . For all of you city folks and Brooklynites, we hope you will come visit us because we will have all new and all French fun-like-crazy stuff, like Lalé. I can't wait!

colorful fabric suitcases, too cute!

So Basic French, but Ever so British

2010-11-06T22:44:00.000+01:00

This image from Jak&Jil blog is absolutely the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks?

2010-10-26T23:46:00.184+02:00

Tuesday the 19th of October. The girls school had been canceled (again) because of a student strike (blocus) in support of the workers strike (grève) about raising the minimum retirement age from 59.4 to 62. The actual average retirement age in France is higher than this because you have to have worked a certain number of years to be entitled to "full retirement" and the Sarkozy government is proposing to raise the national retirement age overall. Like all countries experiencing a growing aging population (social security recipients now living to 85 instead of 65,) France is trying to figure out how to pay for those additional 20 years, when they are already presently in debt.

Anyway, this is the not the story I want to tell. The story I want to tell is this: I opened my window to a big commotion outside, police helicopters circling above our apartment building, people yelling, in flight. I grabbed my flip video to record the sudden chaos in my normally calm bourgeois neighborhood. A group of teenagers started running down rue Victor Hugo. I had no idea what I was filming, who these people were, why they were running, so I just filmed. Seconds later, riot police followed, police cars ensued. Here's what I filmed.

Later that evening, after posting my video on Youtube, I googled the day's events and found another video, filmed simultaneously to mine (or a few minutes before) from 5 blocks away and a different vantage point.

One hour after posting my video, I began receiving hate mail on my Youtube page, I mean venomous comments directed personally at me. I was shocked. The rage that was expressed in these comments frightened me. Now I am not that shielded or naive, and I suppose after owning a store and being in the public eye for many years I should be a bit more thick-skinned, but as these comments rolled in, I was really upset. There was also frightening racist hate mail being exchanged between the viewers, people that I consider to be extreme on both sides. Is this my beloved France, I wondered? I decided to write a defense and address my critics and both extremes:

"I do realize that these are not the "strikers," that they are just young, angry kids. I am actually sympathetic to their situation, just not supportive of how they show their frustration. For those of you who are anti-American, anti-Maghreb, anti-immigrant or anti-children of immigrants, expand your horizons and get to know the people behind the stereotypes. Ignorance has always been the biggest threat to mankind. Compassion + kindness is what we all need to get through these times."

More hate mail, more comments about how stupid I am and how I should just go home to the states. Nice. Scary.

The week unfolded: more violence, hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to innocent store and car owners, bystanders pushed to the ground and trampled, helicopters circling overhead, CRS police with machine guns patrolling the streets. It was surreal, like a scene from a movie, dramatic. And the crescendo was Friday night, when hundreds of "extreme right" youths descended into the streets, all dressed in black, covered with black masks, to confront the young disenfranchised looters (casseurs,) filmed in the video. They chanted la Marseillaise, France's national anthem and were then loaded into buses by the armed CRS. It all seemed so ironic, this random extreme patriotism mixed with random violence and hatred. It made me think of this prewar scene in Casablanca. Yikes. I am worried for mankind.

English Designer Alex MacArthur

2010-10-26T16:16:00.003+02:00

I stumbled upon the site of Alex Mac Arthur, thanks to my adorable friend Yves, commercial director at Couleur Chanvre and fabulously talented stylist and creative person. MacArthur's style reminds me a lot of the style of Objet de Curiosité and infact of my own style a bit. Super eclectic and in a state of permanent flux.

Saturday Night

2010-10-23T22:13:00.001+02:00

After a very long week that I will tell you about tomorrow, we were relaxing at home in our safe little apartment when this song came on. It's so infectious, we had to dance! Yolanda Be Cool and Dcup from New South Wales, Australia

Dream Dresser: Before + After

2010-10-20T22:49:00.001+02:00

So for three years now, I have been looking for the perfect dresser, and it has proved to be a very difficult task. Once, about 2 years ago at the Puces du Canal in Lyon, I spotted my dresser. It was already sold and I wanted to cry. I guess I had given up hope and was resigned to buying something modern and incredibly expensive. My budget was $150.

But no, amazingly enough after 3 years, my dream dresser found me. Unsuspecting, shyly, it presented itself in this quirky depot vente (second hand store) and was delivered today. Only 99 Euros, a little elbow grease, a roll of paper towels and beeswax wipes! And, yay!

Sweet Sixteen a la Francaise

2010-10-18T23:47:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was Hallie's 16th birthday and of course I am just floored that someone as young as I has a 16 year old. I never imagined having teenagers. I definitely thought a lot about having babies, and toddlers crossed my mind, but in my early maternal fantasies, I never pictured me with adolescent children. I can tell you though, it is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me, having my girls. Better than any fantasy of my youth. And Hallie at 16 is just divine!

My Idea of Beautiful

2010-10-18T23:31:00.001+02:00

Lovely and natural. I think this photo from the Sartorialist is the most beautiful thing in the world.

Go Brooklyn and the National!

2010-10-17T13:36:00.001+02:00

I saw these guys in concert this year and they were absolutely amazing. They were playing back up to Vampire Weekend at Fourviere, a Roman Amphitheater. Anyway, I kind of forgot about them until I reheard this song this week. I listened to it about 20 times in a row at the gym and I'm not sick of it yet.

Rubens-esque Industrial Design!

2010-10-11T10:56:00.001+02:00

I am wondering if it is me or if all kitchen products worldwide are as curvaceous as French products. I was just minding my own business, washing my little French dishes with Mir peaux sensibles aloe vera dish soap, using my super flash sponge and smelling my intoxicating Roi Soleil Cire Trudon candle when it dawned on me that all the products I use in the kitchen have a voluptuous form. Now I ask you, is this me or is this very clever, subliminal industrial design/marketing on behalf of the French? Are the industrial designers here secretly all rebellious feminists, trying to get men to spend more time in the kitchen or make those of us who do feel at home? At least this is one place where you don't have to be 6' 2" and 110 lbs. Any thoughts?

Imprint

2010-10-07T09:00:00.001+02:00

I have to add another thing to my list of things I am obsessed with: typography and graphic design. And while I don't agree with the idea that everyone is a designer in terms of graphic design, I do agree that we are all good at something and designing our own lives, is a good idea. Design is "a good idea."

Anyhow, stumbling across Print Magazine's online blog, once again, I am filled with ideas about making pretty things, designing clever postcards for the "Gifted" sale at Brooklyn Flea this December, tees or stationery for BF. I just want to make things. Pretty things.

The Princess Climbs the Stairs

2010-10-06T00:01:00.001+02:00

We rent a small apartment (by American standards) in one of the best neighborhoods in Lyon. It's sunny, on the top and 5th floor of an elevator building, very central and very quiet. We have two bedrooms, a small office, a combination livingroom/diningroom, a small bathroom and one very small, very ugly kitchen. I feel very safe in this apartment. It is easy to clean, I have a decent landlord and a handyman named Omar who fixes things when they break.

Recently however, a beautiful huge apartment became available on the second floor of my building (which I love by the way.) I started having fantasies about moving into this grand, palatial space, each room with a marble fireplace, original details, hidden built-in closets. The girls started dreaming about having their own rooms (Hallie's pictured above), their own huge bathroom, a grand salon to entertain their teenage friends in grand style. It is a corner apartment with a view on a square, 15 foot ceilings and the most beautiful light you have every seen at any time of day. In Lyon, the lower your floor, the higher your social class because when this building was built in the 1900s, for example, there was no elevator as there is now. The wealthy and aristocratic only walked up two flights of stairs to their grand apartments with fabulously high ceilings, while the servant class (who lived in our apartment) walked up five to their low ceiling-ed apartments. The height of the ceilings also diminishes as you ascend in floors, and descend in social class.

Anyway, so I was having a moment there, dreaming of grandeur. I took great pains to write a perfect French letter to the management company (la régie) expressing my desire to be the first in line for this potentially coveted apartment. Long, long long story short: La régie was absolutely impossible and rude and while they were very interested in my proposal to renovate the apartment in exchange for really cheap rent, they took 6 months to move forward with the project, and barely returned my phone calls and emails.

I had a change of heart, while Bob and Barb were here. We talked a lot about all the responsibilities I already have—a demanding business, two thriving adolescents, two aging dogs, a big, old house in les monts du lyonnais, family and friends all over the planet that I try to keep up with. I am a bit maxed out quite frankly. And while the fantasy princess me wanted to project myself into this life, the actual practical me kept thinking "No, no, this is too much. You are going to be exhausted. It's going to cost a fortune. It's too hard to clean." One day of utter despair and self-doubt, where I cried hysterically for almost 4 hours just thinking about all that I had on my plate, I finally made the decision not to pursue the apartment. It was so obvious a decision and I have felt elated every since, free as bird, no regrets, more in love and appreciative of my little working class apartment (haha) than ever before.

Now here's the challenge: how to transform our present apartment into the perfect place for at least the next two years on a budget of less than $1,000? Stay tuned for the before and afters.

Big Concept for Small People

2010-10-05T15:35:00.004+02:00

images courtesy of www.smallable.com

I am absolutely in love with the online concept store "Smallable" for kids which regroups wonderful products from all over the world. A great resource for those with little folks and for others who just need inspiration!

Germain in the Berkshires

2010-10-04T13:23:00.004+02:00

I inadvertently stumbled across the website of Germain and then discovered that Elena Letteron's French-inspired-modern boutique is actually in Great Barrington, MA. For all of you upstaters and city folk thinking about planning a foliage weekend upstate, looks like crossing the border is definitely worth doing!

Germain 635 Main Street Great Barrington, MA 01230 413.644.8868 (back building)

Flea Market in Chazelles-sur-Lyon

2010-10-03T09:47:00.000+02:00

Chazelles-sur Lyon is the felt hat capital of France with the most amazing hat-making museum, le musée du chapeau and it is a lovely medium-sized town about 30 minutes from my house in the country. Addicted yard-saler that I am, I couldn't resist going to Chazelle's annual "vide grenier" (empty attic) with Barb and Bob and visiting my great friend, the most talented painter, Isabelle Grange. We found lots of treasures for Basic French. Yay!

Love this Song by The XX

2010-10-02T22:09:00.000+02:00

French Farmer Chic

2010-10-01T12:01:00.000+02:00

Saturday morning in the country and I am not joking, they really look like this the little country farmers, in their worker blues (kind of like the equivalent to Carhartt.) with berets and baguettes. They are incredibly costaud (strong) and macho but they are also incredibly short in general. They may have spent all their lives milking cows, but they certainly didn't drink the milk themselves!

Fine Little Day

2010-09-30T09:19:00.002+02:00

As much as I love children and my own lovely daughters, I often find it annoying when people implicate their children in their professional activities. But, I stumbled across this website/blog with wall paper and fabric designed by children (among other things) and it is amazing and simple and just not at all self-serving. Check out Fine Little Day

Fall Finds from France

2010-09-28T10:42:00.020+02:00

I have been obsessed with two things all my life. The obvious one, France, has become so integral to my being that I dream in French, I wear French clothes (and have since the age of 17,) I eat French food, drink French wine and I breathe French air everyday. Enough said!

My other secret obsession is dogs. My family is a dog family. My father's family who were from Winchester, Massachusetts raised (for fun) springer spaniels. So on my 10th birthday, I got a springer spaniel, who I aptly named Freckles (by the way, these were the Nixon years and my father is a conservative Republican who still to this day defends Nixon, post mortem.) Anyway, fast forward to my immediate family and our small apartment in Lyon and voilà Clementine and Daisy: Daisy, adorable bichon frisé adopted from a family in Red Hook a week before Christmas 8 years ago, and Clemmie, gorgeous field pointer, who wandered onto our farm as a 6 week old puppy on the hottest August afternoon, 9 years ago.

When I go away to non-dog-friendly places, I am forced to find a happy home for Clementine (Daisy I can usually hide in a bag.) My friend Claire, turned me on to le Domaine des Brevonnes, a 4**** pension for large dogs and a top breeder of Weimaraners. It takes 50 minutes to drive to the little town of Monthieux, in the department de L'ain (a place that for some wacky reason reminds me of the Jersey shore, even though it has no beach,) but it's well worth it.

I had to pick Clem up this morning and you know she had a good weekend cavorting outside with all her handsome Weimaraner pals. She was absolutely giddy.

But the best Fall Find of all was what I found in the front yard. More than the Agnes B tweed jacket, more than the Heschung men's shoes, more than the Loft Design By cashmere sweater, I NEED one of these.

Halliday Chic

2010-09-27T20:07:00.001+02:00

I love Halliday's natural style—very Halliday!

Loving the Contrast

2010-09-20T18:40:00.004+02:00

We were all so happy to get back to Lyon after the craziness (and expensiveness of Paris.) Really and truly, Paris is too busy for me.

I am essentially half country girl/half city girl, equally comfortable in the two environments. And after such a crazy trip, we all needed to recuperate in the country.

We lounged all weekend and the weather was perfect. We ate every meal outside (except the first night when we had to light a fire to heat up our 200 year old stone house,) toured around a bit, shopped the amazing farmers market in St Symphorien sur Coise, passed by the butcher and boulangerie, made very authentic meals, star gazed, chatted outside in the field which we call our patio, saw our lovely neighbors Zizou and Joseph and went to a yard sale to visit my good friend Isabelle Grange, a fabulous painter.

Such a perfect weekend that Bob wanted to stay, and I was tempted too. But it's back to reality we go. Whoppee!

Oh Mercy Beaucoup

2010-09-13T21:47:00.000+02:00

Ok, I am officially in love with this band, Oh Mercy, Alexander Gow and Thomas Savage, the soulful duo from Melboure, Australia. Please come to Lyon! Ecoutez: http://www.myspace.com/ohmercyband

Our Great Parisian Adventure

2010-09-10T17:54:00.000+02:00

Barb and Bob are like family to us. We have known them since Halliday was 9 months old, when Barb (just barely one toe into retirement,) answered an ad I had placed in the local "Register Star" for a full-time babysitter. Those were the days of I & Company, my busy graphic design studio and I was whizzing in and out of Manhattan trying to be supermom and have my cake and eat it to. Basic French was just a glimmer in my eye and Barb signed on for the long-haul when she picked up that phone. I thought it was Mary Poppins on the line, she was so nice and lovely and professional that I nearly cried.

So, here we are 15 years later: Barb, (now retired from years of manning the Basic French store in Red Hook, always smiling and making our customers feel special and important—something she is so good at, in all facets of her life) is finally free to travel!!!!

I had always wanted her to see Maison et Objet and so we all made a plan to meet in Paris and spend 2 incredibly busy days doing our version of Paris, before heading back to Lyon. I take some things for granted in France I think—the way things are different from the US, the simplicity of shapes, the smells, the architecture. You know when you live somewhere you half stop seeing things, so having her at the show with me was great and fun and incredibly helpful.

We sped around the 7 immense halls (like at the Jacob Javits Center in New York) taking in all the trends, new colors and products, placing orders with some tried-and-true suppliers and discovering some fantastic new ones too. Great pajamas and boxers, X-mas decorations, lots of dog stuff, children's tees and aprons, organic (bio) toiletries and home cleaning products that smell divine. Can't wait for our holiday shipment to arrive, but let's not think about Christmas just yet. I am savoring the Indian summer that has set in here. Vive le soleil!

To Combi or not to Combi?

2010-09-06T10:19:00.000+02:00

I know the summer is over but the weather is still temperate here in Lyon and it seems that les lyonnaises are trying to get the most out of their summer outfits and most notably, their combi-shorts. Ok, I know I am not 5'8", 110 lbs and a size 4, and perhaps if I was I would have a different take on the combi, but truly, it is one fashion style that I just don't understand. This summer it was all the rage: combi-shorts, combi-pants, combi-pedalpushers, in liberty, in silk, belted, cinched, you name it, the combi was there. I guess they just remind me of a play suit, a romper, a jumper, a jump suit and they seem to infantalize the women wearing them. Since I am someone who likes to be taken seriously, probably to a flaw I might add, I could never be caught dead in a combi. Perhaps it's a take on femininity that I just don't appreciate? What do you think?

The Combi by clemendaisy featuring topshop rompers

Blue by Glamorous Floral Playsuit
25 GBP - republic.co.uk
Rompers »

polka dot playsuit
$48 - warehouse.co.uk
Rompers »

Black Denim Playsuit
$70 - topshop.com
TopShop rompers »

Green Ditsy Playsuit
35 GBP - missselfridge.com
Miss Selfridge rompers »

OBEY 63850 BLACK COTTON HIGH AND DRY/STRIPED ROMPER
37 GBP - farfetch.com
Obey rompers »

"Made in France" label for firms

2010-09-06T07:57:00.006+02:00

Reprinted courtesy of 'The Connexion'

A PLAN to create a ‘Made in France’ label to emphasize the Frenchness of products has been met with mixed reactions from business people.

The idea, being pushed by former Overseas Minister Yves Jégo, was labeled “xenophobic” by one businessman, while others said it was ecological or good for the image of their goods.

Mr Jégo says France should capitalize more on its national brand image. According to the Nation Brands Index, it is second only to the USA in terms of attractiveness when associated with goods (Germany is third, Britain fourth).

The country should create a recognizable “Made in France” brand, he says. The logo could be accompanied by a star-rating to show if a product was French at all of the stages from concept to sale.

Mr Jégo has asked that a law proposal be drawn up this year.

He also wants France to lobby the EU to make identifying country of origin obligatory for all goods (it is only required for those from outside the union). Garden accessory manufacturer Nigel Gubb of JMH French Solutions in the Vendée said quality counted more than origin.

“You could be encouraged to buy something because it’s French when it is rubbish and not as good as a product from somewhere else.

“It sounds xenophobic and not in the spirit of the EU.” He added: “If something is from the EU all that matters is quality and price.”

Mr Gubb, whose products are all made in France from French materials, said if anything he prefers to emphasize a local angle.

“We sometimes put the Vendée heart on them,” he said. He added: “A star-rating would be impractical for small firms – how would they check?

“Would someone come out to inspect how French my products are?”

Sophie Hicks of La Boucherie à la Ferme in the Corrèze said Frenchness was important to the image of their meat products. “The French are proud of their country and to integrate successfully you have to embrace their ways. The reason we came to France is because we enjoy its Frenchness and it should maintain that.”

She added: “We already put ‘Made in France’ on the products, as we use meat from our own animals. We source some spices abroad, but it’s not a significant percentage. Also, by law, we must use at least 60% of our own produce in everything or we become a commerce instead of a farm.

“We are also going to start selling in a farmers’ market which will involve having special bags and badges showing the produce is ours.

“So, in way the fact that we use local French ingredients is already apparent, but an extra logo could be a good idea. As for a star-rating, it would depend how strict the rules were. Would the ingredients have to be 100% French?”

She added that while French branding would add value for food, because of France’s culinary reputation, “we’re not so impressed with some other things made here, like washing machines.”

Claire Morris of Ty Skol, who makes stained glass items in Brittany, said individual artistry was more importance then Frenchness, however the branding might attract tourists wanting French-made souvenirs. “Buying French also makes good ecological sense in terms of air miles,” she said.

She mainly uses French suppliers. Although some of them source some of their glass abroad, there are some very good French manufacturers, like Saint-Just glass from Saint-Etienne, she said.

Would you trust a Made in France brand? For which products? Do you market your goods as being French? Email contact@connexionfrance.com mentioning “Made in France” in the email title.

La Rentrée (Back to School)

2010-09-02T17:34:00.000+02:00

We are suffering from la Rentrée Blues.

This back-to-school schedule of getting up at 6:15 am and racing around, filling out form after form, making appointments, getting insurance, doing homework, going to bed early is always soooooooooooooooo hard to adjust to.

This weekend we are headed to Paris to meet our lovely friends Barb and Bob, who arrive from New York for their first European vacation. Barb (who worked in our Red Hook store for years) and I are going to Maison et Objet, the Paris home fashion show to buy great stuff for Basic French for the holidays. Yay!!!

Les Vestiges de L'été

2010-08-21T13:45:00.016+02:00

I can't believe that summer is almost over. Blink of an eye and poof. I am feeling nostalgic for the summer I didn't experience. I almost cried about it this morning driving back from les monts du lyonnais, one more house rental complete, more dirty laundry to wash...I am regretting the ears of corn, fresh tomatoes and soft shells that I did not eat at the Jersey shore. This is the first summer of my life that I was not at least in the US for a few weeks. It feels weird.

But what I did do here in France was amazing. Early summer days in les monts du lyonnais (my house was rented out a lot but I still managed to squeeze in a few days,) fun but brief road trip with Ka to Le Tarn et Garonne, fabulous Vampire Weekend concert at beautiful Fourviere, my birthday celebration at le Bistrot du Boulevard and two weekends in Paris.

The funnest thing about this summer though was the flea markets and the daily search for new products—my passion. Every weekend there was a local vide grenier or brocante within driving distance and I did my share of scouting and buying for Basic French (haha.)

The vestiges of this summer will not be memories of Jersey Shore meals, the sound of sea gulls or a good tan (I am so pale that I am going to get some of that progressive tanning cream, here in mid-August.) The vestiges of this summer will be delicately painted virgin relics, lots of dog walking, funky 50s plaid tablecloths, late-night meals in les bouchons lyonnais, never-used vintage linen dishtowels, a pyrogene (porcelain bistrot matchstriker,) getting to know Ka (who I have worked with for 8 years but only seen twice,) retro teapots and pitchers, wildly colorful foutas, espadrilles and market baskets from the Pyrenées and a new appreciation for what I have experienced and evidently taken for granted all my life...Long Beach Island, New Jersey.

I Love My Town

2010-07-30T15:43:00.023+02:00

One hot summer day, I thought about this. Aside from Manhattan, I have never felt as passionate about a city as I do about Lyon . For me, it is a perfect city—not too big, not too much traffic, profound culture and history, ethnic diversity, an easy metro and fab urban bike system, magnificent architecture, cute guys, easy access to the south of France, the Rhone wine country, skiing in the Alpes and Paris by high speed train. But what I love most about Lyon is the near perfect (pour moi au moins) urban quality of life.

It's such big love between me and Lyon that I had to design a t-shirt for Basic French. Dan Baxter, my good friend and the most talented illustrator and animal portrait artist I know, is pictured here sporting his. Go Dan!!!

Crushing on your home town and need to wear a Basic French J'aime ma ville t-shirt?

Great Quote

2010-07-24T06:34:00.000+02:00

"I don't know what I'm capable of doing, but, by God, I have genius--I know too well to blush behind it." --Thomas Wolfe

Justice Dancing in Times Square

2010-07-23T10:02:00.007+02:00

Camp Simcha is a camp for kids with childhood illnesses and my friend Jayne's son, an amazing boy (the trooper of all troopers) was part of this fabulous celebration in the middle of Times Square—counselors and campers celebrating life and having a blast! Justice is the short one in the middle. Check out Chai Lifeline, the incredible non-profit organization behind this life-affirming event on Facebook, whose mission is to "bring joy to seriously ill children and hope to their families."

Promenade in Time

2010-06-21T00:00:00.005+02:00

We left our country house after a few quiet days. About half a mile down the one-lane road, Halliday rolled down the window after we'd passed a local farmer and took this shot. Les monts du lyonnais is so unspoiled and beautiful, the farmers so rugged and hard-working. France has somehow managed in certain parts to be frozen in time. And that's why I live here.

Jeune Fille Chic

2010-06-17T15:26:00.007+02:00

Just like in the US, French teenage girls are constantly under intense fashion pressure. My girls know far more about brand names and chic stores that I ever did at their age. However, I have been incredibly opinionated about clothes all my life and drove my mother and sister (who were not shoppers or fashion victims) absolutely mad with my peripatetic searches for the perfect back-to-school shoes, the ones I had pictured in my head but never actually seen—yet. I always had my own distinct style and from the age of five, I slept with my favorite new clothes I loved them so much.

I am counting my blessings that my two resident teens are not among the EMO-dressing, body-piercing, tatoo-sporting crowd here in Lyon. They are plutôt BCBG {bon chic bon genre} or preppy with class. Thank God. And this season, BCBG = the classic marinière or sailor shirt from Brittany. I chased Abigail around our new and empty apartment in her summer Bensimons and marinière dress {from guess where,} hoping to capture the essence of jeune lyonnaise style. Et voila!

Where I hang out (when I hang out in the day time, which is rare)

2010-06-16T15:27:00.001+02:00

Family Ties

2010-05-26T21:34:00.000+02:00

So Very British!

2010-04-26T21:32:00.001+02:00

Average Pierre?

2010-03-26T19:01:00.004+01:00

I keep reading all this things on the internet and in American magazines about how the French are so chic and they all dress well and they all have great manners and they're all this and ALL THAT. Now that I lived here for two years, I have had to completely unpack the closet of myths I had amassed over the years, despite all my visits here. So, I need to get a few things straight. The French are many things. Some French people are chic, some are well-dressed and a few have great manners.

I went to a shareholders' party for a local bank with my friend Ogbia, and I was struck by how average everyone was. I know, I know, I sound like a huge snob, but I really was. And in light of the fact that I have been reading all these perpetuated myths about the French, I thought I would share this video.

So let's get this straight. Not all American men wear white tube socks and running shoes. And the French guy in the pink sweater sure can do "the medicine."

Good Weekend!

2010-03-14T22:42:00.004+01:00

We tend to forget that
happiness doesn't come
as a result of getting
something we don't have,
but rather of recognizing
and appreciating
what we do have.

FREDRICK KOEING

The Dog Days of Winter

2010-03-08T22:08:00.002+01:00

I never knew what the dog days of summer were, but surely these must be the dog days of winter!

What the heck!

2010-03-07T21:39:00.001+01:00

Les Puces du Canal : Gloria Loves to Dance

2010-02-28T19:41:00.002+01:00

One beautiful, unseasonably warm winter day, an american, a french/german, an italian, a greek and a serbian/greek ex-Parisian go to the marché aux puces in Lyon. That's me and my friends.

The flea market is not that inspiring. I find a funky pitcher, 2 benetiers and a faience madonna to add to my collection. I am really looking for the perfect commode, a dresser that will fit in the bedroom. I have been looking for 2 years. The sun peeks in and out as we walk around. It feels like almost Spring and voices are high with excitement. We all want to break out.

I keep wondering why I have never managed to live in a warm place. I wonder why I never moved to Marseille or Nice. Lyon, an improvement over New York by far, is still too cold for me. And yet here, this prematurely warm sunny day, I feel intoxicated. We sit in a local café as everyone begins to pack up their wares. We eat poorly, drink a few glasses of unmemorable wine, laugh, tease. Music seeps out of a café nearby and we are like snakes in the sun—immobile, lazy, slow, content. I feel drugged and so good, soaking up those rays, forgetting the long list of tasks I have lined up the week ahead of me. We follow the music and end up inside the local café/bar where the antique dealers wrap up their day. They all seem to know each other. It's a mixed crowd but we still stand out a bit, not locals. The music plays and we can't help but be drawn into the swirl. It's a springtime drug. I'm addicted.

The Language of Love...Basic French

2010-02-11T18:27:00.003+01:00

BY DEBORAH P. SOBELOFF

That was the year Josh and I decided to argue
in French, a language we didn't know
enough of to lie in. We only knew the present
tense, the infinitives. There was no
conjugation--we or I. No decisions
to be made--her or me.
I could say table, bed,
but not ask what happened--a relief
not to know or to know my fears
correct. We loved the conversation
that could go on and on with two words:
Ça va. He sang the Marseillaise to me in bed.
It gave me goose bumps.
Our meals became prayers
hastened with bon apetit, the fear of bon voyage.
In English, I could make the whole
room spin around one word, make an hour
of tears over the inflection of one syllable. In French,
it was obvious we were ridiculous,
fallible, together. We were back in school.