Love is...curiously French

The other weekend I was lost in France, when I forgot to take my camera. Okay, I wasn’t actually ‘lost’, it’s just that I’m so used to having a camera with me when I travel, I felt curiously lost in Paris without it. Good job I took plenty of photos on my previous trip, which I’ve just found - so at least I can write this post, about how curious it is that we identify France with love – and love with France…

France has always rated highly in terms of style, and not just for couture and cuisine. As well as being world renowned for its fashion, France is known for its lovers – perhaps even for its love of love. And France isn’t just famous for its culinary artists either, but also for all manner of talented artists and creative types – and, if you've any other additions to this list, just let me know.





However, I’ve noticed that, in recent years, that Paris has rather lost its edge in the culinary stakes. You’d think that Paris, the French capital of love and romance would be producing the most imaginative and desirable dishes in the world, but in most places, you’ll find the menu consists of three main ingredients: jambon et fromage (ham and cheese) – plus that curiously un-optional extra: du pain.





What I find amusing when I go to Paris is that the hotels invariably offer rather strange and soggy croissants, sometimes dusted in sugar or even, (sacre bleu!) icing sugar, for breakfast - along with a selection of sub-standard, pre-packaged cheeses, hams and the obligatory crusty (crunch your fillings variety) bread rolls. Or am I simply staying in the wrong places? Oh, and lunch is usually a super-sized and over-filled baguette - your choice of jambon, ou fromage... or jambon et fromage.



How refreshing, then, to stumble upon a small local restaurant - close to where I was staying, near the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre - serving les produits de la region (no, not the Paris region, but the South West of France). A lovely couple called Sebastien (a sort of Gallic Gordon Ramsay) and Emeline (the gaminely flirty French waitress), set up the restaurant a few years ago.







I’ve now visited a few times and, what always surprises me, is that I find myself sitting amongst familiar, returning customers on every occasion, the majority of whom are actually French. This has to be the tell tale sign of a good restaurant, or at least a welcome culinary oasis in the midst of a foodie desert.

By the way, Sebastien and Emeline come from the Isle d’Oleron, so are very proud of their Marennes oysters and fresh seafood dishes, which is right up my street.





I’ve noticed another odd thing about French cooking is the curious lack of greenery. If you’re used to Italian-style cuisine, with large dollops of spinach and Mediterranean vegetables, you’ll always feel a little less than satisfied in Paris, where there’s simply no respite from the platefuls of creamy coloured food and sauces, with only the occasional token sprig of parsley… or the odd tomato garnish here and there.





Anyway, if you’re unfortunate enough to be staying in the area, I can highly recommend Saveur et Plaisir as one of the few decent restaurants around – and, in addition to daily specials, they usefully offer two menus: the ‘saveur’ being more basic, and the ‘plaisir’, purely for pleasure (though possibly a little less pleasing on the wallet).

And now on to the plaisir d’amour, sadly, unsampled during my brief visit to the so-called 'city of love', but hopefully more varied and imaginative than the cuisine.







If you’re searching for unusual gifts for your loved one for Valentine’s Day, you might be interested in some amusing 1950s and ‘60s books for lovers by French author/cartoonist, Raymond Peynet. These beautifully illustrated, vintage collectors’ editions, available at ShopCurious, make highly original, quirky Valentine gifts.









In fact, rather than rushing off for a romantic weekend of jambon et fromage in Paris, I’d suggest you stay at home and enjoy a good giggle over Peynet’s charming, witty … and curiously French… approach to love.

Will you?

Gents only

How about some quirky Valentine gifts that are just for men?

Talking of ‘Men Only’, I was just listening to the news and heard that WH Smith is withdrawing its Playboy stationery range from shops in the UK – I'm not at all surprised that the Agent Provocateur meets Clinton Cards mass market offering of an iconic brand was deemed to be unsuitable for schoolgirls. And just look at that seedy old Hugh Hefner – is he still alive or in cryogenic suspension? Okay, so lounging around in pyjamas is rather fashionable these days, but pleeeeze … (don't take that for ‘yes please’ by the way).







Wasn't Penthouse Magazine so much more classy and stylish than Playboy? Just look at these early editions, available at ShopCurious, in all their splendid and unique glory with some amazing original photo shoots from the 1960s, featuring real people, without plastic surgery, and wearing some seriously hip and groovy retro clothing.








If the fashions of the day aren’t enough to capture your attention, just look at the bodies. All perfectly healthy and human and unadjusted by the surgeon’s knife. And they don’t look unhappy about it either.



Now I’m going to be even more controversial here and suggest that one of these magazines might make a rather amusing Valentine's Day gift for your beloved, or even an unusual gift for you, because:



1) It’s not serious – and we all know that men don’t like to get too heavy,
2) It’s perfectly tame and not at all like the hard porn that most 13 year olds are looking at every day on the internet,
3) The beautiful vintage 'girlies' are reassuringly normal looking,








4) This magazine is being ‘recycled’ and is hopefully going to be reused many, many more times,
5) It only costs £20 and is a collectors' item … plus you can nab it afterwards to refer to as a style guide for seasons to come.

Now I think that’s good value. And these stylish gents look happy too.

Are you?

Love is in the air

It's that time of year when 'lurve' is in the air and restaurants all over town (probably all over the world) are looking forward to upping their prices for that one special night - when most of us will be sitting indoors wishing we were out enjoying ourselves with the partner of our dreams and the rest will be arguing over the bill for dinner, or something far more trivial.

Meantime, to airline crew, 'love is in the air' isn't just a song by John Paul Young, but a rather appropriately named dating website. What fun - unlike the St Valentine's Day Massacre - a nasty gangland conflict in Chicago during the Prohibition Era in 1929 (and nothing to do with Ronald Reagan's first major film role in the 1937 feature, Love is in the Air).

Anyway, enough curious facts: I've decided to devote a few blogs to the universally celebrated institution that is Valentine's Day. I'd like to start by mentioning that ShopCurious is the perfect place to find a truly unique Valentine gift for the love of your life - in fact we've got some very romantic gift ideas in store for you over the next week or so.

To wet your appetite, here are a couple of items of jewellery that you might like to request as a special present for being so nice - or even to present to yourself for being so special:



These stylish vintage 1960s dangly clip on earrings are adorably cute and would work really well with any outfit from jeans to a jumpsuit to a little black cocktail number. They'd make an unusual gift too - and you can even create a little heart shape by putting them together as shown in this pic (ahhhh, how sweet!)





Or add a dash of romance to your life with this quirky-but-classic sterling silver lucky elephant charm necklace. It's incredibly wearable, yet also something of a collectors' item that will never cease to stun with its eclectic colour combination of beautiful semi-precious gemstones.




You might just decide to forget about the meal for two in future and invest in timeless and unique accessories instead.

Will you?

Plucked from the earth

In keeping with our nature theme, here are some natural materials in
the form of stone pendants, available at ShopCurious, photographed against tropical palm trees that curiously now grow rather well in central London. This one is an ammonite fossil - a stylish one of a kind piece that's a limited edition once in a lifetime find and a collectors' item.






To the right is a natural mixed wood sculpture, the sort of thing you can expect to pay oodles of money to have on display alongside your furniture in a stylish modern eclectic home. But if you simply go for a walk in the woods, or along the coast, you can appreciate the natural beauty of nature without paying a fortune - and you'll probably see all sorts of unique and fascinating curiosities.


Depending on which part of the world you're in, you might stumble upon labradorite - it's really unusual and rather overlooked - which means that it's not yet as expensive as some other stones. We have some extraordinary pendants made from this remarkably beautiful mineral - each an individually handcrafted work of art.




Labradorite was discovered in the late 18th century in Labrador in Canada and is sometimes called opaline feldspar, because depending on its type, it resemebles opal or moonstone in the way it reflects an array of colours: blue, green grey, purple occasionally even yellow and bronze. This unique iridescence is known as 'labradoresence'.

Labradorite is thought to have fallen from the Aurora Borealis. Eskimos believed that the Northern Lights were trapped in the rocks off the coast of Labrador, but were set free by their ancestors, who broke off the rocks with spears - however, some of the lights remained trapped in the stone (as labradorite). Labradorite is believed to be a protective stone and is said to help one 'hear the message of spirit guides'. It's also said to be able to help the wearer to realise and achieve his/her destiny. Whatever its properties, there's no doubt that this special rock has a very captivating appearance - and when fashioned into original jewellery pieces, the stone looks both stylish and highly individual.












As do these one of a kind natural wooden sculptures. You'd need to splash out quite a bit to have one of these in your sitting room. Alternatively, you could just camp out in the forest... and go and see what you can find.

Will you?