On the table, there sits a rose...

I've been quite obsessed with this Diana Ross song for a while now; maybe because it resonates with my domestic (read interior decorator's) instincts or just because it's super catchy and positive (well, that also).

I love having flowers and plants around - you probably already noticed all the arrangements in the shop photos.

My approach is pretty instictive - I don't follow any aranging rules and try and use seasonal plants; I also use vintage glasswear and improvise with jars a lot. I'd love to do something a little more professional with this one day.

Lately I've been trying to document them better, especially since I got my proper film camera back.

So here are a few summer bouquets I shot with this gorgeous warm August light.

Can't wait to get my new rolls back from the lab! 

I might just turn this into a regular thing :)

White Magic - Jardin Albert Kahn

The Jardin Albert Kahn is probably one of those infamous Parisian hidden spots you keep hearing about; sure, we all love Bois de Vincennes, Buttes Chaumont and Jardin des Plantes, but this little garden is really something special. Or maybe less so as more and more French bloggers started using it as a backdrop for outfit photos.

It's a story of a romantic banker who wanted to travel the world but instead he sponsored other people to do it , strongly believing that knowing other cultures would lead to peace and understanding among people.

The garden comprises six carefully planned regional environments, from a Vosgian forest (the guy actually had boulders and rocks transported from the actual mountain for authenticity!), a Japanese garden buiolt under the supervision of a real stone mason from Japan, complete with koi pond and an English rose garden.

It is pretty much pure Victorian eccentricity, only a few decades later.

It is a very quiet and nice spot, not to mention complete with an entire museum celebrating his life and work that displays an impressive number of autochromes.

Autochromes are like a gateway drug - they're super pretty and show Edwardian fashions in color and David Hamilton hues, so they appeal to the fashion geeks but the process is also super freaky and fascinating ( colored potato peel dust anyone??) so the tech/photography geeks are all over it.

For some reason the contemporary art world remains skeptical; maybe it's because ''beauty'' has been a pretty unpopular concept for the last two centuries.

This late '20s-early 30s eyelet dress complete with my 30s boater hat seems like the perfect outfit for my first garden visit; it was just one of those places I've been planning to go to for over 2 years now but alas it only happened this year. I like to believe I've been waiting for the right outfit.

And seeing the photos on this film roll, I like to believe I did.

The dress is very old but in perfect condition and it will be in the shop next week; I think it would make a wonderful bridal dress!

Also for some reason they let me in for free with my student card, so I should be all the more motivated to return!

You can read more about the fascinating story of Albert Kath here.

The English version is pretty poor unfortunately, but I will try to write more about it, especially since I have another batch of photos to post.

Enjoy!

Photo Diary : Normandy Part II

more photos from the Filmgarden weekend in Normandy, see the rest here

There's no news in stating that weather is deceiving... When it comes to Paris and close by regions, it's downright ironic.

Latest example? Having to deal with a week of full on heatwave in the city (about 30C/86F ), after having the rainiest weekend during the sole nature escapade of the summer!

Now I can only look at these and imagine how cool it would be to be there in nice weather...

Of course, it's not as bad as Bucharest/Romania but the metro is unbearable (I'm sorry, I'm too bad of a cyclist+live too far to adopt that lifestyle) and the only places that have AC around here are cinemas and the frozen goods supermarket sections (Picard anyone?)

In typical Parisian fashion everyone is picnicking by Buttes Chaumont and the Canal Saint Martin, but I find those places too crowded and beer-drenched. Unfortunately the Bois de Vincennes is too far to escape to every day...

Either way, I kinda need to take advantage of this week and shoot the mid-summer look book for the shop (I have a bunch of new summer dresses, some from my personal wardrobe), as I know the summer here can't last for more than 10 days straight.

There's gonna be a Bastille Day (14th of July) sale over the weekend and new stuff next week, unless I my brain gets too fried from the heat (I do need to buy a fan asap!), I'm already getting the dreaded summer nausea.

Anyhow, I can't believe how dreamy those slide film shots can look! I need to get in the habit of getting my rolls developed more often...