Weekend Reading - The Complete Claudine

For some reason, I'm not sure why, I've never seemed to get around to reading anything by Colette.
So, I recently started reading Claudine at School, the first book in The Complete Claudine.
Unfortunately I find every character in the book, and most importantly the main character Claudine,  totally unsympathetic.  In spite of the fact that I'm not enjoying the read, I will slog through the book because I find 19th Century and Belle Epoque history interesting.
As for Colette herself, I would like to read a well written biography. Can anyone suggest one?  Ms. Cavendish perhaps? Forget the lesbian affairs, what I would really like to know is why she seduced her 16 year old step son when she was 40 and continued the affair for 5 years.  Yes I know, how very French.

If Only - En Vacance à Villeneuve-les-Avignon

Something strange always happens at this time of year...my personal space-time continuum seems to go into warp speed.
I have so much to do to get ready for the Antique and Estate Jewelry Show in Las Vegas, which is coming up in a matter of days, yet my mind keeps lingering on the idea of getting away from it all and relaxing in a peaceful pretty place.

And then there is the matter of the Euro. Will it finally fall enough against the dollar so that I can start planning a summer vacation in France?


Because I would like to visit the Fort Saint Andre in Villeneuve-les-Avignon

Because the history of Avignon is fascinating

and because Vicky Archer posted these enticing photos on her beautiful blog French Essence

which of course I have shamelessly stolen and posted here

Yes I know that wisteria and iris season will be long over by summer, but the green in this garden will still evoke a serene oasis, the perfect antidote to a busy business life.

OK...enough of the dream...Vicky has already monopolized it at her Mas de Berard which I enjoy vicariously through her blog...and back to the reality of current projects at Beladora.

Weekend Reading - A Recommendation

A week before I saw the film 'The Young Victoria' I read, or rather listened to, Paul Johnson's Napoleon: A Life on my ipod.

There was such a contrast between the two most influential leaders of the 19th Century. The legacy left by Victoria was one of an Empire of economic growth and stability. The legacy left by Napoleon was one of an Empire lost. In spite of his 21 years of war, from his participation in First Coalition in 1793 to his final defeat at Waterloo in 1815, the net gain from Napoleon's leadership was negligible. In fact, after years of famous battles, some brilliantly won like Austerlitz and some terribly lost like his tragic Russian campaign, Napoleon's wars led to the unification of the German States and to their growing belligerence and military capability.

Without Napoleon, there couldn't have been a Hitler.

But I won't go into all of that here.

Napoleon: A Life by Paul Johnson

Let's just say that Napoleon was a fascinating yet deeply flawed man and I recommend Paul Johnson's book. (Actually I recommend all of Paul Johnson's books)

Napoleon Crossing The Alps by Jacques-Louis David

My interest in Napoleon was sparked by this cameo. From the book I learned that there was a huge amount of Napoleonic memorabilia created in the 19th Century and this cameo is part of that memorabilia.

Vintage "Napoleon Crossing The Alps" Cameo from Beladora.com $1250

If straight history isn't for you, I recommend instead these two books by William Dietrich. They are historical thrillers, if you will, Da Vinci Code-like stories that are set in the midst of Napoleon's military campaigns in Egypt and the Levant.

Napoleon's Pyramids by William Dietrich

One of the most interesting things about Napoleon's Egyptian campaign is the fact that he was accompanied by 167 members of the French Academy who studied everything from ancient science and mathematics to history and language. Among their discoveries was the Rosetta Stone.

These Academy members play an important part in these books along with the main character, an pragmatic American, who gets drawn into intrigue, eventually solving a mystery that began over a card game and a murder in post revolution Paris.

Other historical characters who appear in the book are Admiral Nelson and British super spy Sydney Smith.

The Rosetta Key by William Dietrich

These books, are generously sprinkled with both actual history and utter nonsense, and they are very amusing. In fact they would make great films...*hint Ron Howard hint*

So if it is raining or snowing where you are this weekend, I suggest staying home with a cup of tea and one of these books.

NY Recap - The Morgan Library & Museum

Fortunately NY wasn't all about business. I managed to fit in a little culture, fine dining, a film and some shopping.

For some reason I had never before visited the Morgan Library & Museum. Whenever I had tried in the past, it always seemed out of the way or my plans always got changed, so finally on this trip I made it to the Morgan.

I love small museums like the Frick in New York and the Jacquemart-André in Paris because they don't overwhelm like the Met and the Louvre. Also being created in private residences from private collections, these museums give you an incredible view into the architecture, interior design and lifestyle of a significant family within their historical period.



And the Morgan Library certainly did not disappoint with its elegant Italianate portico

and over the top library designed by Charles Mckim

and the juxtaposition of the open and airy steel and glass structure connecting the original building and the annex by Renzo Piano
very cool.

While the architecture alone was worth the trip, I also enjoyed viewing two of the current exhibitions

Rococo and Revolution: Eighteenth-Century French Drawings

and

William Blake's World: "A New Heaven Is Begun"

The dix-huitième drawings by Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, Prud'hon were beautiful and I'm sorry that I will miss this week's lecture Glamour and Guillotine: Fashion, Theater and Decorative Arts in Eighteenth-Century France

The Blake works were incredible too. Does anyone else find all those floating figures in Blake to be an artistic precursor to those by later artists such as Chagall and Matisse?

The exhibit that I missed at the Morgan was A Woman's Wit: Jane Austin's Life and Legacy.

Miss Cavendish, if you have an upcoming trip to NY, it will be on display through March 14th.

Around Town - Culture and Conflict

Or perhaps a better name for this post would be
Gardens and Gulags
because I was fortunate to attend two interesting but very different lectures yesterday.

The first was a presentation sponsored by the Friends of Virgina Robinson Gardens
by Erik Haskell, Professor of French Literature
and author of The Gardens of Brécy: A Lasting Landscape
The gardens of the Château du Brécy in Normandy, are one of the finest examples of 17th Century garden design in France. You are of course familiar with the vast gardens designed by Le Nôtre at Vaux-le-Vicomte and Versailles. Unlike those in terms of scale, the gardens at Brécy are a petit 4 acres. After decades in ruin, they were painstakingly recreated by the current owners of the Château, Didier and Barbara Wirth, and are now a little bijoux on a human scale of the cultural heritage of France.

Note: Even if you are not particularly interested in French History or Landscape Design, if you have an opportunity to attend a lecture by Professor Haskell, do go. He is fabulous speaker and charming man. And of course, buy his book!

Then last night I attended a speech by Kjell Magne Bondevik, the former Prime Minister of Norway, and the founder of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights.

The speech, sponsored by PEN and The Beverly Hills Women's Club, was well attended not only by the BHWC members and their husbands, but by diplomats from Switzerland, Uruguay, Belgium and of course Norway.
The Oslo Center's mission is to promote dialogue, democracy and human rights, which is all awesome.
But with a focus on Eritrea, North Korea, and Burma...I'm not sure that "dialogue" does really any more good than singing a rousing chorus of Kumbaya. But I admire any organization that focuses attention on the North Korean gulag and mistreatment of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.