Passage Paradis

Sunday, February 17, 2013

I Found It! Huntington Gardens (Revisited, Part One)

On February 3, 2013, I found spring.

At Huntington Gardens.

To be honest, what I was really looking for was something different.

I was hankering for my old friends from England and New Jersey:

the cool exhalations of narcissi, snowdrops, hyacinths, daffodils......

And if not necessarily them, then the stalwarts of the English winter: hellebores and bergenias. And OK, yes, maybe some swathes of naturalizing crocus?

I went straight to where I thought they might be found, but instead, a fairly confusing scene presented itself.

The roses were still in their sharply pruned state and deeply bank with mulch. (Though roses are blooming in my neighborhood.) The camellias had mostly finished, their blooms curled and yellowing on the trees and ground.

There were stands of stocks, and delphiniums, the latter looking a little desultory (when they should have been jubilant and regal - but aren't they - summer flowers?)..........Some straggling iris from the late fall blooming season.

And parterres of Icelandic poppies. (But no primulas. Sad face.)

You could not call it a cohesive display of blossom....or statement of season....to someone who is accustomed to more definite ones. And not remotely a profusion. Which is what I sought. (Very big on profusion, moi.)

I am a very spoiled person. For two years I lived 10 minutes from Kew Gardens in West London.

And I was able to visit it in all seasons. And always find there inspiration.....

in form. Texture. Color. Harmony. Drama. Balance.

Wonder. And Profusion.

Solace.

Life.

At the Huntington, on February 3, all these were to be found. AND Spring. In the DESERT GARDEN.

Since I am in Southern California, I guess I really should not have been surprised.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Spring is Coming, Spring is Coming.......

(via the NYTimes; photo: Stefania Yarhi - Textstyles)

So say the Fashionistas. Will you be ready?

Suzy Menkes remarked that attendees of Fashion Week no longer look like black crows. I think it's a wonderful thing. Now, wearing my swimming costume to the runway shows.....maybe not so much!

How was your Valentine's Day? Romantic, I hope! Happy Weekend!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Pasadena Flea - Part 3, For the Francophile

Let's start with the reminder that "ANTIQUES" is a French word.

I'm not so sure about the origins of "bric-a-brac" but I know the French use it. Anyone?

Wine bottle racks? Who else but les French!

SUCH a CRUSH I have always had for these pincushioney things that little French Catholic girls used to put together for First Communion, Confirmation, Sweet Sixteens and such. And the faux bamboo coat hooks? Equally passionate, moi. I've brought home at least two modern repro versions from my trips to Mr. Bricolage (on peut compter sur lui)............

Mr. Paradis hates 'em!

French enamel "lunch boxes"? Did Mr. Russo-Belge-y "Departs"- dieu carry one of these to the mines with him in "Germinal"?

Look at that! Did some "costaude" French lady in the Hautes Alpes Savoyardes use that curvy bread board on her baking days? Why couldn't you?

Are you going to argue with me that the French did NOT invent industrial chic? (Because they did!) Can you spell T-O-L-I-X?????? (Now you can!)

OK, this stuff makes my heart pitter patter too. It will wear like iron and last forever. But it will be no fun to wash.....

And even less pleasant to wear. Can we keep it real and officially acknowledge RIGHT NOW that for many, it was not so much always Lavender-and-Lace in the golden olds! Imagine your days and nights in scratchy, stiff, coarse, shapeless shifts made of grain-sack. (La vie maybe NOT so belle for some.)

But I would still buy one of these and hang it on my wall and pin lots of pretty things to it. Since I live in the HEREANDNOW. And I'm in the position to choose.

It's possible that one of the lavender and lacey girls might have found a finely tooled handbag pleasing to wear with her espadrilles. On a sunny spring day in Paris.

And I see her also in this stripey sunhat.....and carrying a nice little basket full of fruits rouges or tin of biscuits for her Grand'mere.....

They say that the life of a brocante can be a little bit "louche". But if you ask me, as long as the sun is shining, and we're sitting at a table of "plats chauds", nattering with our neighbors as the punters float by....I'm TOTALLY buying it. Where do I sign up?????? To spend my life as a Francophile at the Pasadena Flea??????

You???? Coming along? Vous y serez les tres bienvenues! Promis!

(This is my Valentine to France. Hope you all have a lovely Valentine's Day wherever you are.)

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Gung Hee Fat Choy!

It's the lunar New Year.

Some New York Chinese are saying

that the blizzard on this weekend of celebration was propitious. i.e., somehow lots of snow equates with lots of money and luck!? Hmmmmmmmm

(What a happy, cute, little fan, no?) Anyway, it is the year of the Snake.

Anybody out there like snakes? Not me, much, either.

I do like old Chinese stuff, though.

An interesting Leonard Lopate/WNYC radio interview with Singapore-based scholar Kishore Mabubhani (here) has him saying that as the Asian world becomes more middle class and more educated over the next several years, it will revisit its own cultures and move them forward.

In other words, he says to expect a cultural renaissance from both China and India.

I really look forward to that! Especially if it means nouvelle Cantonese food trucks on the streets of Los Angeles. Gourmet eggrolls, anyone?

All these pictures come from a year 2001 (also a year of the Snake) desk diary I've had hanging around the house. It was designed by Reed Darmon and published by Chronicle Books, San Francisco. (Available on Ebay here.) It was a spinoff of Mr. Darmon's book also called, "Made in China" that is still available here.

Thanks Reed! Wherever you are!