Day 3, Part I: Maison & Objet, Paris

Notice its Day 3, Part I, because this was such a huge day that I had to divide it in half! We were in high gear by today, and we worked several buildings at the show (there are 7 buildings in total) by 7:00 PM.

Just to be make sure we saw the last building before the show ends, we started in the farthest building, building 7. First off we saw these great looking outdoor dining and side tables. We loved the shapes and the styling of these designs, and all are available in over 20 colors.

We saw foam covered furniture, below, which was innovative and interesting enough to feature today, but not interesting enough to buy.

The Finish company, Marimekko, was present and looked fresh this year. Their booth featured huge swaths of their two newest fabric designs which were dramatically hung from the ceiling rafters.  "Clouds", made of more Marimekko patterns, hovered high above the display.

 

 

Across the aisle we found these portable tables, below, that are so light weight and are shipped flat packed that you can put them in your car (most cars) and take your purchase home with you.

 

The shape of a horse makes for an interesting console, with two drawers, in black

 

 

Dog, above, was the inspiration for these tables painted in Yves Klein Blue

 

 

 

An Ostrich, above,  has some kick in a rich red finish, with neck and head made into a lamp!

 

 

We loved the Yacht furniture (below), built by a yacht designer. Shown here in natural teak with white white silicone spacers, just like the deck of a yacht. 

 

 

 

 

Interesting lighting fixtures at graypants, an innovative group of young partners working in a sustainable manner. Featured, below, is a 6 ft. diameter cardboard globe lighting fixture.

 

 

 

 

 

Next door, Le Deun Luminaries, featured these circular table top lamps with LED, below.

 

 

 

 

 

The Finnish lighting designers under the label Secto, featured their signature light wood, veneered and bent into perfectly proportioned shapes.

 

 

 

 

 

 Design Heure showed contemporary styled lighting, but particularly interesting were the individual fixtures grouped together like to form one large chandelier, which were "floating" beside each other with no visual means of support, shown below.

 

 

Also from Design Heure were these wall sconces with hardback shades trimmed in Black, shown below.

 

There was a speaker clad in solid marble... big whoop, right? Heck yeah, because its done in the round! Really fabulous and great sound. Super cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mirror and picture Frames, and even a chandelier were executed in rope. Interesting, indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another lighting vendor featured pendants that were half enameled and half finished metal, shown below:

 

 

 

 

Hanging fixtures in groups or in clusters, as shown above and below, is a big thing both in residential and commercial adaptions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw the much talked about, Belgium made, Tabata Tables, the See & Touch, multi-touch table that can be used as a business kiosk, or better yet, customized for adults with multi touch Poker, Hockey or virtually any other game, as well as using it for interactive programs such as financial planning or running the equipment and systems in your home. Create one for your children which can be designed at any level and change the programming anytime: daily, weekly monthly or yearly to keep up with your child's changing education or entertainment needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 A couple of notable displays, below, both garden/landscape oriented but created indoors:

 

 

 

And a funny! New and already beaten up Luggage branded as, "Handle Without Care"

 

 

 

 

 

And even though this is a two part post, I am not going to make you wait until pat II to see "Worst in Show", as we saw plenty of candidate during the first half of our day:

 

 

A very long wiener is cut in half and upholstered on two chair backs, $6400 retail for the pair of French chairs, including the wiener.

Some of you  may wish to own this chair and wonder how this chair could possibly been deemed worthy as a candidate for WIS. Right!

A very unusual candidate from the shores of India. Made entirely of Corian (yes that Corian of old). The chairs are meant to keep you conscious and aware of the food you are eating because the centered, singular back rest presses against the middle of your spine while you dine! The tree branch will accommodate a strand of lights of your choice (no included). Table and seven chairs (yes 7, not 6, and not 8, but 7) can be yours for $12,000, pus freight.

 

 

The green, eco thing is going a bit far: This armless chair is made of stacks of discarded clothing. Ask them if they cleaned the garments before stacking them and you may hear, "I don't know"!

Yuk!

 

 

All for now.

 

 

 

Good night moon



Day 2: Maison & Objet, Paris

Part of our trip includes shopping the stores, walking the streets, and visiting the Paris Flea market. This is the information part of the trip: What the European community is buying, what they're wearing and seeing what they are embracing beyond the pages of American Vogue and Elle Décor magazines.

We are saying between the Elysee Palace off the Faubourg-Saint-Honoré (rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré) and the Madeline Church (L'église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine), the Roman Catholic church in the 8th arrondissement. The Madeleine Church was designed in its present form as a temple to the glory of Napoleon's army. To its south lies the Place de la Concorde, to the east is the Place Vendôme, and to the west L'église Saint-Augustin.

A fabulous French townhouse

As we walk the streets on the way to the Metro at le Madeleine, I am snapping pictures like a foreign tourist! Haha!! I love the architecture, all of it! The imposing closed doors that open to a lucky few who live behind them, when open reveal a way of French beyond the street.

 

 

 

Beautiful over sized doors, above, open to courtyards and to rarely seen private residence's

 

 

 

 

Beautiful, large knockers are frequently seen in Paris

 

 

A stores elaborate flower display lures us in, only to find it is actually a florist that sells only silk flowers. So real that yes, we had to touch them too!

 

 

 

Flowers at the store, SIA

 

 

 

 

Chocolates at one of the many Paris confectioners, beautifully presented, above, and a Gorilla made of chocolate, but this one with the itchy middle finger, below.

 

 

 

 

 

Paris window shopping is like no other city. What we see here isn't seen in the US for many months, or in some cases, years. Below are some of those most notable windows.

 

 

 

House of Dior 

 

Gucci, may we never see this come to pass for American men!

 

 



Kenzo, lion and animal print pants for him and her.

 

 

 

 

Pearl trimmed shorty boots at Chanel

 

 

 

Flowers at Lalique

 

 

We took the metro out to Porte de Clignancourt on the Northwest side of Paris, to the Paris flea (Les Puces), officially known as Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, originated in the 18th-century when chiffoniers or rag-and-bone men resold goods and clothing found in aristocrats’ rubbish bins, setting up just outside the gates of Paris to avoid fees and taxes incurred within city walls.

 

 

 

 

Considered the largest flea market in the world, it is actually a series of many mostly adjoining, separate flea markets, "in an labyrinth of 2500 stalls and 17 kilometres of alleyways spread over 6 hectares, not to mention the task of navigating the 70,000 bargain hunters that visit every week".

 

 

 

Silver by the pound!

 

Brocante (junk)

 

 

Fine antiques and paintings

 

One of the nicer alleys

Great planter at one of the shops that specialize in garden furnishings

 

 

And an abundance of..., er...,ah... street fashion?

 

 

There are several websites you can visit, here is one of them:  http://www.marcheauxpuces-saintouen.com/1.aspx

 

 

Dinner at L'Endroit (the Spot), 67 Place du Doctuere Felix Lobligeois, in the 17th. A bit of a ways out, but I your a hipster and want the most fabulous gourmet hamburger in Paris, this is the place. If you can get by this Russian doorman, you're "in" (just kidding, he's the owner and very cool).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A street fare across the street from L'Endroit gets lively with a band singing. "it's only rock'n roll" in French, with dancing children being led by a clown In white coat), not sure if he was professional or just a passerby.

 

 

 

 

 

la Madeleine at night

 

We hurried back from dinner to our "hood", for a concert at la Madeleine. A string  concert with vocalist singing Vivladi. In that venue, it was truly magnificent, we were so lucky to have experienced that.

 

 

Yikes I'm out of here! I just heard on the news that Secretary John Kerry is on his way here to see the French President and Arab League Ministers to drum up support for attacking Syria. I remind you that we are less than 50 feet from the Elysee Palace, the official resident of the French President!

 

All for now in haste to the Maison & Objet show for the day.

 

 

Good night moon.