Berth-place

Via here

"Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon"

A ghostly, milky white, lit as if only by moonlight, casts it's hue upon this Parisian apartment belonging to designers Gilles & Boissier...

Via Afflante (Quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet)

Spiegelsaal in Clärchen's Ballhaus

Tod Saniert, if literally translated, means rehabilitated to death, that is... overly renovated. Happily, this is not the case in the mind-bogglingly beautiful Mirror Hall (or Spiegelsaal) in the Clärchen's Ballhaus in Berlin. The walls, ceilings and mirrors have been left untouched as a testament to the passage of time and evidence of war...

Via here, here, here, here and here 

The Right Ingredients...

The kitchen in Franca Sozzani's Marrakech house, photographed by Ivan Terestchenko... 

Via here (Published in AD Spain, June 2011)

A Cocktail in her hand and Confetti in her Hair

Learning how to be a young lady... 

Via Life and BourbonandPearls

Trompe L'oeil

The dazzlingly gorgeous dining room at Villa Malaspina. Don't you love the painting of the dog in the fireplace? This and more splendour to be found in the book, Villas of Tuscany, by Carlo Cresti and photographed by Massimo Listri (who I have written about here)...

Via here

Golden Lining

Appartement de Madame Victoire, Versailles...

Via here

The Anne Wagner Book of Friendship

Anne Wagner’s friendship chronicle contains entries made between 1795 and 1834. The handcrafted cover includes its creator’s name and the book’s title: Memorials of Friendship. So beautiful - a fine example of the sweet sentimentality that is Victorian scrap-booking...

Willow-Grove, Oct. 6th, 1795. Madonna del Altana (artist)

Collages

Consecrated to Anteros by Carmenta

Friendship is the Joy of Reason

Alpha & Omega! (Elizabeth, Willow-Grove, August 16th, 1795) 

The striken Deer will weep

Mrs. A. Hemans

Memorials of Friendship. (cover page)

Via here

Shedding

Cabinets of Wonder

I came across these beautiful images (via Itswhatiminto) during a much needed blog blitz. From a sumptuous (scrumptious) new book aptly named Cabinets of Wonder, written by Christine Davenne and photographed by Christine Fleurent. Monica Kempsurov wrote this about the book:

That whole taxidermy thing hit hard — stuffed deer heads suddenly becoming the de facto symbol for a style movement dedicated to the return to nature, the embracing of all things old-fashioned, and in many cases, the compulsion to dress like a bearded woodsman... (the book) is a full-color romp through the world of natural oddities, memento mori, and other dark artifacts...

Via here and here

Looking up

The Musée des Arts et Métiers (housed in a deconsecrated priory in the 3rd arrondissement) hosts a vast collection of scientific objects and inventions. Among them is this bat-shaped flying machine built in the 1890s by Clément Ader. Via here

Cerulean

Via here

Quagga

Simply calling Quagga a bookshop is trivialising its notability. I don't think there are sufficient adjectives in the thesaurus to adequately describe its worth. I have waxed on previously here. Put it this way, all I would need is a decent bed, and I could move in quite happily...

Photos by moi (Quagga: 86 Main Road, Kalk Bay, 7975 South Africa)

Robert Polidori

Montreal-born photographer Robert Polidori is best known for his architectural studies, in particular interpreting rooms as 'memory theatres'. He is a staff photographer for The New Yorker and his book, After the Flood (portraying images of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina) caused much controversy, as one photograph showed a deceased person in a bed. However, it was these magnificent large-scale color images - shot in Versailles - that caught my eye... 

Salle de Crimée Sud, (99) Salles de l’Afrique, Aile du Nord, Château de Versailles, France

Salle de l'Afrique, Portrait Achille Bazaine 1867, 2007

Via here and here

The last couple of weeks in pictures

One cannot photograph Babylonstoren enough... THE most beautiful farm, garden, buildings, donkeys, turkeys, geese... the list is endless. It is just a severe case of jaw-drop-ation around every corner...

Charcuterie and fromagerie

The Green House

Beautiful tiles in the Farm Shop

One of the outbuildings, the farm dates back to 1690

Just a fraction of the exquisite gardens...

Giant twig-twine balls

Then it was off to Hermanus for a seaside holiday. Touted as the best shore-based whale watching area in the world, it is one of our favourite homes-away-from-home. First stop before arrival... the Bot Rivier Kroeg (pub) - front and center of the village. Surprisingly stylish and old school... almost as if Ralph Lauren himself, had styled a corner or two.

Bar

Ties, cricket bats, rugby and horns

Once in Hermanus, we met a very entitled parrot, who was quite at home with his master's bull whips. Cackling in delight every time a demonstration was carried out...

Romantiques Bygones and Collectibles

Love these... read some of the product descriptions 

Collection of sailor caps

Mannequins and trunks

Die Kelders (famous for caves in sandstone cliffs)

Hermanus from the Old Harbour

Hermanus from the New Harbour