London and Paris redux + Berlin
March 2013 snow in London
LONDON
This is the way Londonlooked when we arrived on March 22! One year before on March 22, the temperature was 70 degrees! We never go in late March to Europe, but this year there were several reasons for this early spring trip. First, we headed to London where I have been re-decorating a townhouse formerly owned by interior designer, Jane Churchill. It is in Belgravia and my wonderful friends and clients, Lauren and Jeremy King moved in the first of this year. We had just finished a flat for them last year before their wedding in June, and within 3 months, this delightful townhouse became available. So, we had the fun task of starting over!
Lauren King and I before dinner
Lauren and Jeremy gave the first dinner party in their new house honoring Jim and me---the table was beautifuland the guests and food were fabulous. For the second time in less than a year, my dinner partner was Tim Taylor. He owns an art gallery in Mayfair---when in London, you must visit the Timothy Taylor Gallery.www.timothytaylorgallery.com
Timothy Taylor Gallery
Colbert
Jeremy owns The Wolseley, The Delaunay, Colbert, Brasserie Zedel---all iconic restaurants with good food and each with its own special ambience. His restaurants are inviting and always always full! We are eager for his new hotel, The Beaumont, to open next year in Mayfair.
PARIS
There were two reasons for Paris to be on our itinerary---first, a major shopping trip for my showroom in the Dallas Design District, and our anniversary which was on April 1. We shopped for 4 days and then had 2 days to celebrate and enjoy the city. We also timed the trip to be in Paris for PAD (Pavillon des Arts et du Design) Show held in the Tuilleries Gardens directly across the street from our hotel, Le Meurice.
Modernity Gallery of Stockholm at PAD
Porcelain sculptures by Sandra Davolio
A fabulous 60’s sofa at PAD
A FEW IMAGES OF PIECES WE PURCHASED IN PARIS
Here are 5 of over 160 lots we purchased for my showroom on this trip:
Italian mirror and gold leaf console, c. 1940-also bought the lamps
Green Empoli glass vases made near Florence, c. 1940
(these were from the collection of Catherine Deneuve)
Murano Veronese chandelier with bronze, c. 1970
Gold leaf eglomise top coffee table on metal base with lion feet design, c. 1940
Pair of gold plated and turquoise lamps in the style of Bagues, c. 1950
EASTER SUNDAY IN PARIS
Our breakfast table on Easter morning
Easter Sunday was sunny and bright. We were finished with shopping so we strolled around all of our favorite places in Paris and had lunch at Brasserie Lipp where Jim always has to have his choucroute fix.
Palais Royale
Shop in the Palais
Finally- a sign of spring!
Bocce Ball in Palais
STROLLING AND WINDOW SHOPPING AT NIGHT IN PARIS
In the arcade on Castiglione
Giant chocolate Easter eggs
More chocolates!
New all white Lacoste bicycle
ANNIVERSARY
A ravenvisited us often during our stay at Le Meurice---not sure what Jim had to do to get this photo!
L’Arpege
An anniversary dinner at Arpege was incredible. Alain Passard’s specialty is vegetables (the most deliciously fresh ones that he produces himself). Heaven!
View from our suite at Le Meurice
Au Revoir Paris!
LEADERS OF DESIGN COUNCIL IN BERLIN
Hotel De Rome, Berlin
Our last stop was Berlin---a city we had never visited before. I was there for the LDC Conference. LEADERS OF DESIGN COUNCIL is really a think tank (think TED conferences ted.com) about design. My dear friend and agent, Keith Granet and Meg Touborg simply did an outstanding job of gathering talented interior designers and architects from all over the U.S. and Europe to hear inspiring and thought provoking talks for this 2 day event. To learn more about LDC go to this link: http://www.pressking.com/press-releases/The-Leaders-of-Design-Council-Toasts-Its-First-Year-At-Signature-Event-057406
Meg and Keith at the LDC Gala
The Gala held the last night of the conference at the I.M. Pei designed German Historical Museum was beautiful and magical.
Jim and I had a free day in Berlin before our return to Dallas. Our art advisor and good friend, John Runyon, along with Arturo Herrera who lives and works in Berlin, made arrangements for us to see two private collections. The Boros Collection is housed in a bunker built during WWII above ground. The collection is stunning and the building was historically very interesting.
The Boros Collection
In the afternoon, we visited the Hoffmann Collection and got to meet and visit with Erika Hoffmann. This is not a museum, but a private collection of works that Mrs. Hoffmann and her late husband started collecting in thelate 1960’s.She curates her collection and has a wonderful library in the old sewing machine factory that they converted into their private art gallery. It is only open for tours on Saturdays, so be sure to make a reservation well in advance if you are going to Berlin.
Hoffmann Collection
Here are a few other images of Berlin:
Galerie Volker Diehl
A group of us from LDC were invited to have dinner in this gallery one night---it was delightful and the show featured the works of Christian Megert “Light and Reflection”.
Door next to Galerie Diehl
Paris Bar in Berlin
Paris Bar is iconic---food is good, but the people watching is even better. The day before we were there, George Clooney and Matt Damon and had taken over the bar to film a scene for their new film, The Monuments Men, which is all being filmed in Berlin. I was a bit sorry that we missed them!
German Museum of History
This I.M. Pei designed/restored museum is where the LDC Gala was held the final night of the conference. So many buildings in Berlin were either completely or partially destroyed---many have been restored or redesigned as this one has.
Back to Dallas---Sweetie was ready for us to come home and we were ready to see her!
I would love to hear about experiences some of you have had in these cities as well as your favorite places to eat and shop, as well as your favorite museums andgalleries. To make a comment, please go to our website www.janshowers.com
