MaiTai's Picture Book

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Spring in London and Southern France

Just before Easter, I went to London for a few days.

The weather could not have been better—sunny, bright, and beautiful. I walked everywhere, up to 17 km a day!

Tea at Number Sixteen in the gorgeous Tall Trees china.

My first stop in London is usually the Chelsea Harbour Design Centre, where all major interior design showrooms are located in one place. I love browsing the latest fabric and wallpaper collections, and am always looking for new designs for my inserts. And there is generally so much inspiration to be found.

The flower arrangements at Number Sixteen are beautiful complements to the artworks, wallpapers, fabrics, and design elements around them.

A delicious Middle Eastern feast at Bubala with DS (more dishes kept coming)

Girls' lunch with DS's GF at Daphne's

The drawing room at Number Sixteen is such a cosy and lovely place to relax after a busy day.

How gorgeous are these embroidered silk panels at Mekams on the Fulham Road?

Back home in Southern France, spring has almost turned into summer.

We had a lot of rain this year, so the wild asparagus has grown abundantly. I'd pick a big bunch when walking the dogs and steam them in the evening. I'd sprinkle them with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, parmesan shavings, ground pepper, and sea salt, and add soft-boiled eggs cut in half. Utterly delicious!

Our little lemon trees have done incredibly well and brought us a fantastic harvest in their first year.

Peony season is here again!

A new fabric for my inserts: Liberty of London Petit Fleurs, available here for most bag sizes

I am still slightly obsessed with making appliqué flowers; the latest two are in their finishing stages.

Have a wonderful remaining spring everyone xx

The places/products mentioned above (no affiliations)

Bubala

Chelsea Harbour Design Centre

Daphne's

MaiTai Collection Liberty of London Petits Fleurs inserts

Mekhan

Number Sixteen

Tall Trees

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Postcard from Paris

Autumn is still in full swing and a true feast for the eyes. Overall, it has been a fun fall season as I got to go to London first and then twice to Paris, which was such a wonderful treat. The first trip to Paris was with DS's girlfriend (who lives in London), and the second was a couple of weeks later with my friend Jerrine (well-known to all swans) from the States.

Between the two visits, we had breakfast at Cafe Flore and Pierre Hermé, went to the Dior Museum, visited Hermes and Chanel, walked everywhere, did a little shopping, had drinks at the Costes, Ralph's, and l'Hôtel and coffee breaks in little cafés, and went for dinner to la Société and the Armani restaurant in St Germain.

The Galerie Dior has been absolutely fabulous and is well worth the visit. It covers Christian Dior's family history, early childhood, entire career, his creations, and those of his successors.

DS's girlfriend and I had so much fun together, and I hope we can repeat the trip one day soon.

L'Hôtel

We stayed in Saint Germain, so inevitably, you walk past the Eglise St-Germain-de-Prés at least a couple of times a day. I never miss going inside at least once, as I love looking up to the ceiling where gold stars are painted on a deep blue background. The other paintwork is absolutely beautiful, too; it is such a colourful and joyous place to be. You would never guess this from the rather stark and plain outside of the church.

The ceiling also reminds me of my La Reale scarf.

My favourite Hermes store in Paris is the Rue de Sèvres. Seeing the latest Petit H creations is always fun and inspiring, and most of them can't be found elsewhere or on the H website. The Sèvres store also has the most extensive home wear line selection, a lovely café (where we had lunch), and is wonderfully spacious, so nothing feels cramped. To my absolute delight, I discovered that Hermes has embraced embroidery, which has been applied to throws, scarves, shawls, and even bracelets.

A Petit H photo album; what a great idea to repurpose a scarf!

It is so lovely that some of the bags are not behind glass but sitting on shelves throughout the store.

Exquisite bead embroidery on Silk Twill

I've been looking for a Mini Evelyne for a while, but on my first trip, the only one available was in gold toile. Two weeks later, I was spoilt for choice and decided on a Rouge H with Palladium hardware.

An embroidered Brides de Gala CSGM

Another brilliant idea for scarf recycling

Jerrine arrived from the States on Election Day. The next day, we went to the beach for lunch and then headed to Paris the day after.

Fun at Chanel's Rue Cambon store

The staircase leading up to Coco Chanel's apartment.

This "flap phone holder with chain" is another little gem that came back home with me. It's such a practical little bag. I wear it crossbody or under a coat in a city to be safe from pickpocketers. Back home, it is often all I need to go out ... with the the phone, there is no more need to carry car keys or a wallet.