Paris When It Sizzles

Paris is beautiful any time of the year; when it rains, when it sizzles, when it changes mood from sunny to subdued. I've lingered in Paris so often I've come to think of it as my second home. In saying that, I'm having a torrid affair with New York at the moment so I'm actually cheating on the City of Love, I'm afraid to say. I do hope Paris lets me come back when I've had enough of Manhattan's wicked ways.

Here, in a travel tribute to Valentine's Day, are some of my favourite scenes, images and inspirations from what is still the most beautiful, most romantic, most spectacularly lovely place in the world. (Sorry, Buenos Aires.)   {Above image via the official Diana Vreeland website – dianavreeland.com – another woman who was mad for Paris.}

Audrey Hepburn as Gaby in Paris When It Sizzles (1964).

Filming Paris When It Sizzles atop a rooftop terrace with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Look at those gentlemen looking bored. How could you be bored going to work with a view like this  everyday? Pick yourselves up people!

Audrey in a promotional still from Funny Face. (This was the hat she went fishing in the Seine with. Isn't it gorgeous? I wish my fishing hat looked as glamorous.)

Pink peonies at the Rue Cler street market.

A deliciously pink patisserie in the 5th arrondissement.

Mrs Haris Goes To Paris. Apparently this book is delightful. As is the movie. I just adore the cover. And the whimsical title. Has anybody read it or see the film? Is it as really good as they say?

Schiaparelli pink walls at the Musee Nissim Camondo, Paris.

A hot pink door in the Left Bank. Who knew hot pink could look so sophisticated in a front door?

Chantal Thomass' French home, dressed in her signature pink. {Via Madame magazine, October 2009}

The gorgeously ornate facade of Chantal Thomass' Paris boutique. I'm not a fan of the lingerie but I'll take the architecture any day...

A scene from Vogue's fabulous shoot on French haute couture, wittily entitled A Handmade's Tale. This was taken in the Givenchy atelier.

Pale pink walls and panelling with two black-and-white striped chaises. Very Parisian! I love this image. It may not be Paris but it's clearly taking a leaf out of the place. From the book A Passion for Collecting.

The perfect handbag to have in Paris. By Kate Spade.

Another scene from Vogue's story on Parisian haute couture.

Sarah Jessica Parker dressed in Dior. Photographed by Mario Testino for American Vogue. Have you ever seen such a sumptuously beautiful gown?

Two of the designs created in a collaboration with Taillardat, a manufacturer specializing in luxurious high-quality reproductions of 18th century furniture including Marie Antoinette, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Empire, and Directoire styles. The company invited five key figures in the design and fashion worlds to create pieces of furniture that embodied the luxury of the 18th century style that they are known for. These two pieces were by Chantal Thomass. The top image is a glamorous pouf made of black varnished beechwood and nickel plated nails, with fabric by Pierre Frey. The image below it is a smoking chair with a cigarette box, made of black varnished beechwood and nickel plated nails, also featuring fabric by Pierre Frey. Too, too beautiful to sit on!

Fauchon department store, one of the most wildly colourful interiors in all of Paris. And the food is fabulous too. (Tip: Head here for a light lunch or a picnic-to-go: their takeaway meals are so exquisite, you'll have a difficult time deciding what to get.) {Via lesbonsbonsdesraisons.wordpress.com}

The Eiffel Suite of the Plaza Athénée, Paris. (The hotel Carried stayed in during the Sex and the City episodes shot in Paris.) Look at that view. {Via Plaza Athénée}

A lovely piece fom an old Balenciaga collection. Love the dress, the setting, the glorious glamour of it all...

Did you know there's actually a paint colour called 'Pink Chanel Suit'?

The islands of Paris, which are at their most beautiful at dusk.

A dress from the latest Dior collection. I'm so in love with this frock!

And one last image to end the Parisian fantasy... It's rare to see pink cafe chairs in Paris. How cute are the tables? {Source unknown}

Heart Gardens

Just because it's Valentine's Day...

Don't you love a garden with a (horticultural) heart?

The astonishing Knot Garden at Villandry Chateau, Loire Valley, France. One of my all-time favourite gardens. {Image by Janelle McCulloch; this is my pathetic attempt at copyright but you're all more than welcome to forward these images if you link back and credit.}

The charming kitchen garden at Lady Bamford's Daylesford Organic estate, Gloucestershire (The Cotswolds), England. {Image by Janelle McCulloch}

The magnificent Prieuré d'Orsan Garden (the Medieval-inspired Priory Garden), in the Berry region of France. {Images by Janelle McCulloch}

The enchanting Van Buuren Museum and Gardens in Brussels. {Via the fantastic photographer known as Dan@94. www.flickriver.com/photos/93340}

A beautiful heart-shaped gate at Petersham Nurseries, in Richmond, London. {Images by Janelle McCulloch}

A delightfully simple heart-shaped gate in the USA. {Via themagictutu.typepad.com}

A lovely plan of a country house garden, complete with heart-shaped beds for tea roses. Designed by the magnificently named The Hon. Frances Wolseley, Principal of the Glynde School for Lady Gardeners in Sussex. Drawings by Miss M. G. Campion. {Via the book Every Woman's Encyclopaedia and chestofbooks.com}

Tricia Guild's sublime townhouse garden in London, with its square of pleached limes. The heart-shaped leaves of limes (tilia cordata in particular) are so pretty in spring, it's no wonder it's one of my favourite trees. Paul Bangay loves this tree as well. Good man. {Via telegraph.co.uk}

Rather fond of this little garden. Wish I knew where it was. {Credit source unknown. Please notify me if you know the credit.}

The Heart Garden, a great story of art patron Sunday Reed and her famous garden at Heide. Interestingly, the gardeners at Heide recently uncovered a heart-shaped garden that she had created for her lover, the artist Sidney Nolan, which was hidden under lawn for years. I think it perhaps should have stayed there, as Sunday and Sidney's secret. (NB I love the name Sunday, and was so pleased when Nicole Kidman chose it for her daughter – a decision inspired by the life of Sunday Reed.)

A heart-shaped trowel. How I love this. Be still my beating heart! {Via thegardeningwebsite.co.uk}

Better get back to writing books now or my fiercely disciplined, whip-wielding readers will have something to say.

Dining by Design: 10 Beautiful Brasserie Interiors

Have you ever made a reservation at a bar or brasserie just to see the interior design? Me too. Sometimes I don't even notice the food. I'm too busy looking at the font on the menus. Or the serif writing they've used on the vintage gilt mirrors over the bar. Shallow, I know, but I'm sure there are many of us who are more curious about the decor than what's in the cassoulet. It's dining by design.

This subject has come to the table (watch the pun there) because on Sunday my lovely man took me to Bistro Guillaume for my birthday, just so I could see the ballgown light shades that everyone's been talking about for years. While he was tucking into his French poulet I kept saying thing like: "Do you think they're custom-made?" Poor man. It can't have made for an interesting conversation.

So here, as a little 'belated Birthday Post', are my Top 10 Bistro Interiors. Places to go when you need inspiration for your kitchen, your butler's pantry, your outdoor terrace, your own restaurant project or just want a little more design sauciness with your duck parmentier. Oh! The pun(s) we could have! And yes, I swiped the paper menu from under my plate so I could archive that particular shade of green. Not as bad as Diana Vreeland pinching a piece of wall for its pink paint. But almost. {All images via the respective dining establishments' websites. Credit for top image is uncertain, so please notify me if it is yours or you know the source.}

NB These are all casual brasseries and bars. A round-up of beautiful restaurant interiors will come in a later post.

BISTRO GUILLAUME

I've said enough about this sexy Melbourne brasserie. I'll let you be the judge of that geranium-green bar and those gorgeous ballgown lampshades. (I did comment that they would be cuter with pairs of Moulin Rouge-style legs and tiny Manolo shoes dangling out of them, but I don't think Mr Guillaume Brahimi would have thought that was quite fitting.) Whiteman Street, Southbank, Melbourne, Australia. www.bistroguillaume.com.au  {Images via The Age and Miettas.com}

PEELS

The staff at John Derian recommended this place. Great find guys. (It's right next door to Derian's Dry Goods store.) New York magazine said it offered one of the best places for brunch in the city. Tall call, but I'll accept it. The menu is fab, but the decor is even more fantastic. (See? I told you green was IN.) 325 Bowery, New York. peelsnyc.com {Photos by me; please don't copy without a credit or link.}

BALTHAZAR

Still one of the best places for a design perve, even after all these years. Keith McNally: you do it to me every time. I always, always come here whenever I'm in New York. (Tip: Come for brunch; it's easier to get a table.) {Photos by me: that's why they're not great. I think I might have had a G&T or three?} 80 Spring Street, SoHo, New York. balthazarny.com

THE LOCAL TAPHOUSE BAR AND RESTAURANT

Designed by Gardener & Marks (the 'Gardener' is Lyn Gardener of Empire Vintage and The White House fame), the Local Taphouse incorporates 110-year-old tram seats, framed vintage posters, factory lights, enamel signage and even fish traps. A little piece of Parisian wit and cosiness mixed with a Melbourne sensibility.There's also a Sydney version. 184 Carlisle Street, St Kilda East, Melbourne, Australia. thelocal.com.au

THE EUROPEAN

I've got a soft spot for The European. It's where I first met my lovely man. He was wearing a smart black suit and a crisp white shirt. I'm a sucker for black and white. Throw in The European and I was smitten from the first cheap rosé. The City Wine Shop bar next door (as part of the establishment) is just as elegant, and The Melbourne Supper Club and rooftop bar upstairs are two of the best for a drink in the city. I've known men who have seduced their dates (yes, right down to the, er, final gasp) right on the leather club chairs. That's how dim and sexy it is. (Although I never wanted to know which chairs they were in.) 161 Spring Street, Melbourne, Australia. theeuropean.com.au 

COMME

I love Comme. I mean, Comme on! (As Leyton would say.) How could you not? It's glamour in a glass! For those not familiar with it, it's the old Mietta's, redressed for a good time. Black, white, sexy as all hell. Just seeing the staircase makes my heart beat faster. 7 Alfred Place, Melbourne, Australia. comme.com.au 

JK PLACE

Okay, so it's a hotel bar/breakfast space, rather than a stand-alone brasserie, but look at that design! Don't you just want to rip the entire thing out, fittings and all, and take it home? 7 Piazza Santa Maria Novella, Florence. jkplace.com

THE BLUE BAR, THE BERKELEY

Still one of my all-time favourite interiors. Look at that Lutyens Blue! Created by London-based design meister David Collins, it incorporates a white onyx bar and a black crocodile print leather floor. Incredible. If I were single and meeting an incredibly nice man, I'd arrange to meet him here. Or The Connaught Bar in Mayfair. Another gorgeous hideaway. Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London. www.the-berkeley.co.uk {Images via The Berkeley}

THE MILLSWYN

Designed by star-chitects Hecker Guthrie and inspired by Keith McNally's New York brasseries Pastis and Balthazar, Melbourne's new Millswyn brasserie is a little piece of Sweden, a hint of Shaker simplicity, and a whole lotta understated glamour. It's almost a pared-down Parisian interior: the Left Bank without the cigarette smoke. It feels like it should be on a beach somewhere – St Barts, Sorrento or Shelter Islands. But for a Saturday brunch after a walk/run around the Botanic Gardens, nothing beats it. 131 Domain Road, South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia. themillswyn.com.au

THE SIP SHOPPE, NAPA VALLEY

First spotted on Slim Paley's blog, The Sip Shoppe is one part circus stripes and one part whimsy. This is how the owners describe it: "At first we called the room the Cirque, in reference to its 'bigtop' feel and French Quarter/New Orleans roots. As the space took on a mind of its own, we began referring to it as the 'Candystore for Adults'." Space, design, taste and style. I'd make the trek to Napa just to see those stripes. Napa Valley, California. www.sipshoppe.com