Rural French cafe

We came across this cafe somewhere on the back roads between the Haute Garonne and Aveyron last summer. Believe you me (if you're not a French officianado) it's not easy to find old style cafe interiors in France these days - mostly they've all been done out in textured peach paint with 'contemporary' (think early 90s) metal chairs and lots of pictures of the local rugby team.

So this one was a a very pleasant surprise - just traditional chairs, lots of timber and classic coloured Formica tables.

I think Madame la proprietaire was rather bemused when I asked if I could take some snaps, but anyway, we got chatting and I asked her about all the amazing wood panelling. She explained that her father had been a cabinet maker and that he couldn't resist covering nearly every surface with various all kinds of patterns and coloured woods - see the ceiling above and wall below.  I loved it! And the fact that he had clearly  enjoyed having a public space in which to display his cabinet-making talents.

French cafes often have interesting spaces out the back - not really used for much anymore but great places for plants and cats asleep in boxes (though not sadly here!)

Turquoise cups!!! My favourite, you should see how many I've collected from French flea markets over the years.

I know! - But why not have a fake peacock in the window??

I reckon the tables and chairs go back to the 1940s - love the simple shapes, and I bet they'd last for another 60 years (providing they don't get traded in for 1990s chrome-effect replacements).

Quite a little bucolic scene going on in the window.

I love a French bar - always fascinated by the bottles of lurid syrups which turn Pastis or beer emerald green or bright cerise!

It's great to come across interesting random places and even better to have a blog to deposit all the pictures!

Which reminds me - I realized the other day I now have 99 followers!!! Unbelievable I could have collected all these people to follow my visual ramblings. THANKS y'all!!

And I'm dying to see who the hundredth is going to be - feel I should design a certificate or something!

UPDATE -- 102 FOLLOWERS AS OF TODAY, 2ND MAY!  HURRAH!!

Found Interior: Easter Chocolatier, France

I've been looking forward to Easter so that I can re-visit this wonderful Chocolatier in the Jura mountains, France. 


Nobody seems to make as much effort as the French in creating stunning window dressing and this one is really crazy with all kinds of chocolate wildlife and a plethora of bows.


There are four windows - pink................

green........




blue..................





orange.................... and I love how you can glimpse the town behind - the stripes on the reflected striped awning add to the interest and pattern of the image





and this is one of the 'regular' patisserie windows! Even without extra dressing I think the displays are beautiful and I spend a long time looking at them - not just because the cakes look delicious but because they are so exquisitely made.

I actually view them as sculpture - the shapes are so strong and three-dimensional and the decoration so inventive



I have massive respect for French patissiers who are prepared to create works of art (literally!) on a daily basis - only for them to disappear without trace in the blink of an eye.



I like photographing shop windows because the reflections combined with the interiors make such interesting complex images. (see links at bottom for other posts on shop windows)


This one for example - an intriguing contrast between the 'real' gateaux and the abstract composition of shapes above



Who would think of a triangular cake? That's why I love these shops! Visual ecstasy.



The arcaded streets of Lons le Saunier, Jura - home of the Easter Chocolatier.


Related posts - more shop windows:
Another beautiful French Chocolatier
Architectural models in glass domes

Priory House - extreme interior

(I've had to invent a brand new category for this post! And I'm adding the sub-heading 'Bollywood meets Bohemian Rhapsody' which is the phrase I've finally come up with to describe Priory House (Lincolnshire) following our recent weekend visit there at the kind invitation of Roger and Carole Lee.

It all started with my blog... no, it all started with a post I did on a show of my father Hubert Dalwood's sculpture at Leeds City Art Gallery. A visitor to the show happened to be Roger Lee who was a student of my father's at Hornsea School of Art in the late 1960s. Roger found my blog post, made contact and the rest is.........lots of great comments from Roger on my blog - he's a sculptor so we have lots in common - plus an invite to visit him and his wife Carole at Priory House. 'You must come and see our pile' he said......

- and 'pile' it certainly is. He told me the place was a bit crazy, but I'm afraid that definitely didn't prepare us............!

Priory House is a massive edifice (9 bedrooms I think) mostly Georgian but with earlier and later elements and has huge grounds with many outbuildings. Roger and Carole use some of the downstairs rooms to host weddings and have a couple of bedrooms for B&B but that still leaves an awful lot of space for their respective studios, workshops, storage spaces, living quarters and above all - their MASSIVE, idiosyncratic, collection of STUFF! 

You'll see what I mean...........

About the mannequins: it turned out that Carole had been a very successful fashion designer in the 70s and 80s creating wild and outlandish outfits for the rich and famous. Amazingly she still has an extensive archive of her dresses which, as well as adorning the fabulous (if rather spooky) models throughout the house, languish under polythene wraps in at least 3 of the bedrooms plus in one massive shed outside! Such a shame - we talked a lot about how she should exhibit this wonderful collection.

Purple stair carpet and turquoise walls are the least of it.........

This is the 'The Old Brewhouse' - an Elizabethan Long House next to the main building which they turned into a self contained apartment to rent out to wedding guests and weekenders. Slight change of theme here, maybe more Ann Hathaway meets Out of Africa & The Arabian Nights!

I really loved the mannequins - it was very strange coming across these silent, glamorous creatures lurking behind doors and curtains.

This is the room where you can get married - imagine! Beats the dusty old registry office.

I think this dress gives an idea of Carole's 'signature style' - a fantastical, imaginative creation with lots of different references - who'd think of teaming up a Marie Antoinette bodice with a flower-power tie-dyed skirt? Carole! And it doesn't stop there.

This is the kitchen (very utilitarian and functional as you can see!) and there's Roger kindly frying us eggs for breakfast on the Aga.

Plenty to look at while he grills the toast.

Carole in the 1980s. I was thrilled to find a photo album she had full of shots of their London shop in trendy Chelsea. You can see she had style...........................

(yes - one of my plaster busts - a thank you present)

And she definitely hasn't lost it - here she is at breakfast with her fabulous pink and magenta hair and glamorous Sunday morning (?) outfit.

Without a doubt, someone needs to rediscover Carole Lee ! Come on all you fashionistas out there....

One of the B&B rooms.

Another of Carole's original 80s cool outfits.

Hard to describe the massive number and variety of objets in Priory House - everywhere you look, even under the piano, there's another set piece or still life of unlikely things. But every arrangement is a carefully considered part of the whole.

The back of the house and terrace. Out of picture is a massive rambling garden, beautiful old brick walls and mature trees and many sheds and outbuildings which I'm looking forward to exploring next time! (No pressure Roger and Carole - but I'm afraid one visit to Priory House just whets the appetite!!) And many thanks for the hospitality so far.

But dear reader, don't wait for my next post, why not check out Priory House yourself for a B&B weekend and sample some extreme decor yourself!

Meanwhile check out Roger's sculpture, he mostly works in metal but his drawings are great too.

He's got a bit of scatter gun internet presence but here's some links to get going

Roger's sculpture on Flickr

Links to Roger's work + Priory House and events

(p.s big thanks to Adelina for making sense of this cacophony of images and getting them into some kind of order)