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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

French Flowers Today

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Beautiful white, pink, mauve, and blue 
fleurs 
are the ones that I love the most.
French colored flowers...



Ever have a day that, for no reason, you bring home flowers?
Today was that day for me.
Today at the grocery store the deep pink Star Gazer lilies 
were on special...at such a good price that the cashier thought they 
were mispriced.  But they were not.  Hurrah!




Then I spied the mauve mums also at a great price.  
The white alstromeria are usually the same good price as today. 
With no planning ahead, no special occasion, 
no reason to buy flowers, 
I bought beautiful flowers to create a French flowers bouquet. 
(Total price of flowers bought for this arrangement...$17+tax)




Blooming in the yard is a huge purple-hued vitex tree/shrub, 
just the complementary color and contrasting texture to add to the 
grocery store flowers. 




My professional florist sister helped me create 
this arrangement in a white oval stoneware bowl.  
Using white florist tape, she taped together 
the styrofoam and oasis into which the flowers are anchored. 
Then she criss-crossed taped across the 
top of the stoneware bowl to create a "frog" to help
 hold the flowers in place in addition to sticking them 
into the styrofoam and oasis. 




She's a good teacher because she directed, 
did not do the actual arranging, 
and let me place the flowers. 
She did the boring work required to hold the flowers in place and
 let me do the fun work of placing and arranging them. 
Tips from her,"Beginners often place the oasis too deeply 
into the vase.  The oasis should rise above the rim of the vase. 
Water should touch the oasis to keep it and 
the flowers hydrated." 




I placed the Star Gazer lilies first, spacing them 
around the container with one in the center. 
Then I placed the mums, following my sister's advice to place 
some near the bottom of the arrangement to give 
visual weight at the bottom.  
Next came the vitex branches with blooms 
from the backyard tree. I made sure to place some of them 
so that they gracefully draped over the bottom edge of the vase. 
Then I placed the alstromeria stems with multiple blooms per stem. 




I love how the vitex fronds gently curve downward. 




Each white alstromeria has several blooms per stem, 
which have mauve stripes in their throats, just the perfect color 
to complement the mums and lilies. 




The wire semicircular table on the deck is a perfect place 
to place the arrangement to take photos in natural daylight. 




The Star Gazer lilies have several buds on each stem which 
will open to fill out the arrangement even more. 




Both the mum and the vitex blossoms will also open even more 
over the next several days. 









Beautiful French flowers today for no reason other than 
they make my heart sing and my eyes "clap their hands." 

Savoring moments in the present 
to find joy everyday... 

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MONDAY

TUESDAY

Blue Doors in France

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Summer is the time 
to complete exterior projects on our houses.
Warm weather and long hours of sunlight to finish the job
provide the atmosphere to tackle those projects.

Are you looking at doors for inspiration to find just 
the right color to paint your front door this summer?

Where did I find inspiration for my front door?
 France, of course!

 Over the years I've snapped photo
after photo of doors in France that made me pause...
made me linger awhile to take in their beauty and details...
There has never been a shortage of beautiful doors,
only a shortage of time in which to linger.
Sigh...

 The French have had a love affair with 
portes bleues
 for centuries.
Portes Bleues
 come in all shades of blue
 and in all styles.
#21 is in Paris and 
has beautiful round windows 
with leaf scrolls around them.

#61 doors are in Paris, also.
These look plain after seeing #21 above. 
Comparing one to the other 
makes us lose sight of the beauty of these. 
Much like comparing ourselves with others... 
We lose sight of our own good qualities. 

A close-up view 
without the distracting doors on either side,
plus better lighting that highlights the
rich glossy paint, 
accentuates their beauty.

Who lives(d) at this Paris address?
Diana, Darcy, Danette, Danielle? 
Devereaux, Dubois, Delacroix? 
The monogram above the door hints at a double D. 

Another Paris address with 
blue scrolled grill inset doors and
beautiful stonework surrounding the doors...
Is the white stonework above the door from 
La Belle Époque?

The elaborate stone carving above the medieval doors 
in Sarlat, France is enhanced by the deep blue of the doors.
 More views of these doors are at Real French Doors In Sarlat.

Less ornate than doors in Paris, 
this door in Sarlat, France is still a beautiful door 
with a curved raised panel and cut stone header.
 This is French Country style 
in its truest sense of the phrase. 
The paint could be an Annie Sloan Chalkpaint!

A different style raised curve panel door 
and semicircular window are surrounded by 
massive cut stones. 
Blue wooden shutters, blue window pane dividers, and 
double wire gates all recede to the background 
as we gaze at the doors. 
Then we take in all their beauty, too. 

 Found in a small town in the Dordogne region, 
the door style is a blend of the elaborate Parisian doors and 
the French Country ones. 
The rivets harken back to medieval and Gothic doors, 
and the ogee-edged panels remind us of French royalty carved doors. 

Even a rustic arched Gothic door topped with an ancient stone header 
down a narrow pea-gravel walkway is inviting in its vibrant blue.
Located just a few doors down from the previous door, 
it's in the same small Dordogne town.

The Domme, France La Poste (post office) welcomes 
customers with its cheery blue.

From Paris, France 
comes inspiration.

Welcome to my blue front door.
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MONDAY

TUESDAY
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French Country Style Deck

Thursday, June 6, 2013

The merry month of 
May
has been exceptionally
mild-mannered in temperatures
this spring.

The temperatures stayed 
in the 80s or lower
and 
humidity played along.

The hostas bloomed on delicate stems
 above their greenery and the garden fairy bell. 


Cool breezes blew from the north across the east deck. 

In the afternoon the deck was a shady place to sit 
for a while in the French-style chairs to enjoy the 
unusual balmy May temperatures.

French-style topiaries kept inside 
during the winter months enjoyed regrowth 
outside during May.

The French semi-circular wire table holding 
rejuvenating ivy on the bottom shelf is perfect for outdoors.

Olive tree topiaries, a ball ivy topiary, and a large conical ivy topiary 
surround the old redwood bench that 
holds a blue ceramic bowl that provides water 
for birds, cats, and wildlife that live in the woods around our house.

I love looking out a living room window past the deck 
to the garden shed with a French-style blue roof in the east yard.
 This May the view was especially lush with green plants and trees.

The French-style urn on the south deck holds 
a white Shasta daisy plant. 

The other pots around the ivy topiary hold 
white lantana, blue lobelia, blue sage,  
lavender, and pink snapdragons.

What is it about French Country style gardens 
that appeals to me?

I think I now know one of the reasons.
Vibrant colors of red, yellow, and orange
flowers weren't brought to Europe until 1730.

The colors I love...white, pink, blue, and mauve... 
were the only colors available in the 
17th century when French Formal gardens 
were created.

Merry May 2013 was 
a month long reminder of 
French summer weather that 
nurtures white, pink, blue, and mauve
 flowers amidst sculpted topiaries.
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The French-style wooden folding chairs are 
from HomeGoods.
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Favorite Paris Restaurant

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

My favorite restaurant in 
Paris, France 
is in the
Museé D'Orsay.

Source:Museé D'Orsay official site
The restaurant on the first floor
(second floor to Americans)
of the Museé D'Orsay
was renovated sometime after 2006.

The style is now a combination of the original restaurant in
the Hôtel D'Orsay and an industrial modern style.
The beautiful chandeliers, parquet flooring, gilding,
and mural-painted ceiling are all from the
original Hôtel D'Orsay restaurant.
The sleek white metal tables, chairs, and
service counters are new since 2006.

The Museé D'Orsay is across the Seine River
from the Jardin de Tuileries and the Louvre.

The Tuileries Garden is filled with statues, broad lawns,
flowers, and park chairs on gravel walkways.
Oh, to sit in the chairs and gaze above the blue flowers
to the roofline of the Museé D'Orsay is pure heaven.
Parisians as well as tourists fill the park
to soak up the sun and beauty.

Inside the museum one can look 
through the massive clocks across the Seine
and see the Tuileries Garden and Louvre.

Museé D'Orsay contains my favorite art style,
impressionism, in a renovated train station
that brought visitors downtown to
the 1900 World's Fair in Paris.

Seeing the structure of the magnificent train station 
is as much a part of the museum exhibits 
as the art housed therein.

The first floor Museé D'Orsay restaurant 
was originally the restaurant in the Hôtel D'Orsay
 attached to the train station. 
The two other restaurants in the 
museum are on the ground floor, 
but a true "I am in Paris" experience 
is to eat in the elegant restaurant on the first floor.

I first had lunch here in the 1980s while 
chaperoning high school students to France.
(Now, are you envious of a high school teacher 
for the first time?)

Fortunately, I was able to revisit the museum and
eat in the restaurant many times during the 80s and 90s.
At that time, there were always
huge fresh floral arrangements and
sculpture art throughout the dining area.
Such elegance truly made one feel the
experience of being in Paris.

Here I am, with a big smile, thrilled to be having lunch in the 
Museé D'Orsay restaurant in 2004,
without high school students.
The semi-circular topped windows on the left 
open onto a balcony that overlooks the 
Seine River.
See the large potted plants?
The light green wicker chairs? 
Those along with the fresh floral arrangements 
are sadly no longer part of the restaurant ambience.
When I was there in 2011, 
those fabulous wicker chairs were 
in one of the two other lighter-fare restaurants,  
and this restaurant had the 
white metal industrial-style chairs. 
I missed the wicker chairs, potted plants, 
and fresh flowers.

The ornately painted ceiling and 
the glass chandeliers still exude luxury.
The menu is still a French meal for a (relatively) small price. 
All this is located in my favorite museum. 
Yes, this is my favorite Parisian restaurant.
Having lunch here makes me feel like 
I really am in Paris, France.

Even the online menu is elegant.


There is still a choice of just the Plate or a two-course Menu.
The dessert selection is to-die-for!
The Today's Menu is a great price 
for a meal in Paris.

Oh, yes, the Museé D'Orsay Restaurant 
is my favorite restaurant in Paris.
I forgive them for not having fresh flowers 
or the green wicker chairs.
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Pink Snapdragons Say Paris

Friday, May 31, 2013

Pink Snapdragons
jumped into my grocery cart.

What can I say?
So cheerful, go with my house colors, need a spring pick-me-up,
powder room needs fresh look, the price is right ....
Okay, you can go home with me.

Just a handful of flowers in the clear water pitcher...
No need for florist foam, frogs, filler flowers...

The flowers say it all.

Perfect complement to the wallpaper...

Graceful fronds...

Multi-hued pinks, creams, greens...

Each individual bloom so perfect...

Pink hand-made Paris ribbon complements the snapdragons and stems...
And makes me remember Paris florists...



The first fallen petal is still beautiful even in its demise...
Brown edges enhance the pink petal and reflect the ribbon's colors.

The spent bloom creates a still-life
that draws attention to it instead of the arrangement.

Is that not what happens in France?
Unexpected vignettes capture your attention
and captivate your eyes and heart.
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