(this post has been in my drafts since July 2022 due to life circumstances. I'm just going to write just a little and then just show some photos)
My friend worked on a Superyacht for many years and through this connection was offered a friends and family deal on a river cruise in Europe. It was a deal too good to miss even though it wouldn't have been a first choice for me for a holiday. She had done this trip before but during the winter taking in the Christmas markets. We were going in June 2022. We decided to have 5 nights in Paris (where I'd been 5 times before) and 2 nights in Amsterdam where my friend lived for 2 years in her youth.
We flew into Frankfurt... not because we wanted to but because these were the only flights we could get but we worked with it. Remember great deal! So ok, a short (5hr), fast ride on the ICE/TGV trains got us to Paris eventually (one was late which missed the connection to the earlier TGV but there was one a bit after). We knew that we'd be tired after our long plane journey and decided we couldn't feel any worse if we just kept going by train to get to Paris; because
in Paris! We arrived very late and by the time we got to our accommodation it was after 1am.
Our accommodation was a villa just on the outskirts of the major city arrondissements in St Cloud. It was charming, with an indoor pool (used every morning), spa (not used) and steam room (used after the pool). We would get up in the morning, have a swim then steam, have breakfast and leave at the crack of 11am. We would get back about midnight so we used our day and nights well. The owner is an artist. The place only has 7 rooms that are quite different and eclectic, some would call strange but it was delightful and when you have been a number of time to a place, it's nice to stay somewhere different. It's also very close to Versailles and the train station was literally 3 houses away (but it was not noisy!).
I did a bit of fabric shopping and bought 3 pieces.. not photographed so I can't show you but they are lovely and as yet unused. I went to YSL's workroom museum which was really amazing. I have tens of photos but I've just put up some of the sketching of the Mondrian dress. He kept everything! All drawings, toiles, samples, hat forms etc so it was a really practical insight into the work involved. I really loved it and even my friend was suitably impressed.
We also saw a Jeans school in Amsterdam (which wasn't open at the time but you sign up for a year and do a full making jeans course). I also went to Kantjboord, the famous bra making supplies shop. I bought lots but as yet haven't made a bra, but I will! It was very reasonably priced and so much stock. A bit of a journey but worth it if you want bra making stuff.
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Amazing smelling rose from the garden.
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| Owner's artwork.. all plants from the garden. |
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| Breakfast room |
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| Parisian cat and smoker hanging out near the fabric district. |
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| Market shopping |
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| View from our room |
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| Indoor pool! |
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| Villa garden. |
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| Room in Versailles. |
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| More artwork. (I really loved these) |
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| Villa entrance. |
Of course we made it to the fabric area. My friend was very patient with me and I came home with 3 fabrics which at this stage, I haven't used yet.
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| Treats on every corner! |
We went to Versailles for a day, stopped at a fantastic market just in the village and enjoyed the palace. One the way back to the station, we ran into lots of people going in for a concert in the garden that evening. There was lots of people in costumes and we asked this trio for a photo. They told us they made their costumes.
I'm sorry I didn't get this done long before. I have been to Europe and Paris again this year but although I saw lots of wonderful fabric, I didn't buy any in Paris. I did buy some in Athens and I'll do another post and have photos of all my fabrics. We had glorious weather, ate amazing food and had a great time. I've tried to put photos of my self made clothes. We decided that we would take anything sparkly to wear on the boat for a bit of fun. We had a ball! Since then we've been to South Korea and I did buy some fabric there too. Hope you get through all this. More soon.
I did a bit of fabric shopping and bought 3 pieces.. not photographed so I can't show you but they are lovely and as yet unused. I went to YSL's workroom museum which was really amazing. I have tens of photos but I've just put up some of the sketching of the Mondrian dress. He kept everything! All drawings, toiles, samples, hat forms etc so it was a really practical insight into the work involved. I really loved it and even my friend was suitably impressed. 
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