Paris
Jan 19
I’m putting the cart before the horse a little bit and telling you about my honeymoon before I tell you about the wedding! I should have the official wedding pictures sometime next week, so I can show you more detailed photos of my dress (along with lots of other crafts I made) then. For now, here’s a little preview, because many people have told me they’ve been checking the site specifically to see the dress…This one’s from my final fitting.
We went to Paris for our honeymoon and anyone who knows me knows that you can’t keep me away from crafts, even on my honeymoon! Before we left I read this fabulous book called Paris: Made by Hand by Pia Jane Bijkerk that Jane Brocket recommended somewhere in one of her books. I didn’t want to spend the entire honeymoon dragging Jeff around to craft stores, so I carefully selected my top two choices: Le Bonheur des Dames and La Droguerie (a Jane Brocket favorite). It would be a huge understatement to say that I was not disappointed. They were both super-inspiring. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who doesn’t mind visiting these types of places with me even though they aren’t your typical romantic Paris honeymoon-type spots (just like I don’t mind going to La Maison du Whisky with him. Yes, that is a real place; I’m not making it up).
Le Bonheur des Dames
This very aptly-named store (the name means “the happiness of women”, “women’s happiness”, or along those lines and is the titular department store in an Emile Zola novel) is an emporium of embroidery, primarily counted cross-stitch. Now, before you start thinking musty, dusty, old-lady crafts, look at this:
They gave me a catalog that I’ve been drooling over ever since I got home. I spent a lot of money there and yet I’m already planning another order.
The store is in Le Viaduc des Arts in the Bastille neighborhood. It’s this cool elevated stone train track (viaduct) that has arts and crafts shops in each arch underneath.
Inside the shop is a wonderland of patterns, kits, and linen by the yard. They also have a loft space upstairs where they give classes and workshops. I could have stayed here for hours looking through patterns, examining the embroidered tablecloths on display, and picking out fancy embroidery scissors and hoops.
I bought a tablecloth kit (which will most likely take me about 5 years to complete!) and an embroidered hand-sewing kit (to motivate me). Their tablecloth kits are divine. They are so French and they make wonderful heirlooms. They are counted-thread cross-stitch on linen and you can get all different colors of borders. I wanted three or four, but I figured I would start with one and see how far I get!
La Droguerie
La Droguerie is a knitting/fabric/notions store. It’s so narrow and tall that I didn’t get too many good photos, but I loved wandering around in there. They carry their own yarn line with many weights and fiber combos in beautiful colors. Their fabrics seem to be exclusively Liberty prints, which are beautiful and perfect for Frenchy clothes, but I can get those much more cheaply in the US so I didn’t purchase any fabric. The notions (beads, buttons, flowers) are displayed in giant jars like in a drugstore (hence the name, I guess) and they have just about anything you could want–half the store is devoted to notions. But the thing that interested me most was their store line of sewing patterns and pattern books. They apparently have stores in Japan as well as in France, and their patterns are a delightful blend of French and Japanese styles. The children’s patterns are especially adorable but they were out of the ones I wanted. Here’s what I got:
Versailles
One other thing we did (actually, my favorite thing) was visit Versailles. It’s obviously not a craft store, but everything there is handmade and completely inspiring. If you go to Paris, you have to go there; you will not regret it. It’s mind-blowing. I grew up looking at photos of Versailles and learning about it in French classes, and although everything really does look just like it does in the photos, it somehow feels different–grander, more inspiring, more real–when you see it in person. For some reason, it also made me want to redecorate my house. Not in the style of Versailles–I guess it was just inspiring to see so much effort, labor, and care put into one residence. It did take, like, 100 years to build though. I’m aiming high. Here were some of my favorite rooms (clearly most of them involve rich fabrics).
The Petit Trianon was my favorite part. You’d never call it “petit” if you weren’t seeing it in contrast to the Chateau. But comparatively, it’s adorable.
Here are some small details from the Chateau that really impressed me. All the doors had gilded details and were this sophisticated grey/gold color combo. And the door latch is just a tiny piece of metal that the french door hooks into to keep it open. I can’t believe how much thought and artistry went into even the smallest functional piece of the house! It really makes you want to pay attention to the level of quality and beauty of each item you put in your home.
I hope you enjoyed my crafty tour of Paris! I definitely did. There are about 40 more places I need to go the next time I visit. If you have any tips on other stores or sources of inspiration in Paris, please share! And I’ll be posting wedding crafts soon, I promise.
