Yesterday’s Balmoral scarf was a little dull, but it was quite fitting that you should read my blog on H.M’s official birthday with a reduced Trooping of the Colour at Windsor instead of Horse Guards Parade. Today I have chosen a light-hearted, very delicate scarf by Lasserre of Paris in subtle shades of pale egg yolk, candy pink and oatmeal. Sounds as if I should be baking biscuits today, instead of writing!
How easily I go off at a tangent and jump from humble cookies to one of the top restaurants in Paris, La Lasserre. I did eat there once with my husband at a business lunch. Our host insisted on ordering the specialities of the house for me. I remember the main course, a tiny bird which apparently had just migrated north from Africa. Our host indicated that one ate the whole carcass, head, bones and all. I feigned lack of appetite. Maybe it prepared me for culinary surprises in Hong Kong and China later in life! Never have I eaten so little, costing so much!
No, my Lasserre scarf has nothing to do with the restaurant apart from sharing the name. It is now vintage....I bought it new in the Seventies in Wanstead, London, E18. I liked its Art Nouveau style and it has travelled around the world with me.
One associates Tiffany with this art movement and I was once asked a very peculiar question in the middle of the night. I was on night duty as a Samaritan at a crisis prevention centre in California, alone with a new trainee. One would have expected questions about how to react to a suicide call, but no, out of the blue, he asked whether I had any old Tiffany lamps! After the shift, I was asked to give a report on the new volunteer to the call centre psychiatrist. Months later, I learned my co-worker that night was a petty burglar and he was doing voluntary service instead of a prison sentence. Fortunately, I don’t collect antiques!
And now, we will jump to the Art Deco period. I would like to share with you a memorable visit I had to Lille a couple of winters ago. We took the train from Lille to Roubaix, a poor industrial area to visit La Piscine museum. The building itself is an Art Deco architectural work of art, formerly a swimming pool which was opened as a museum in 2000 and refurbished in 2018 just before my visit. There were great exhibits from both art movements. My friend took this photo which shows the wonderful windows representing the rising and setting suns which reflect magically on the waters of the swimming pool. What a background for the exhibited sculptures! When I selected my scarf today, I thought immediately about one of the glass panels there, lit from behind, showing a naked child amongst foliage similar to my scarf.......but I cannot find the photo. I believe my photographer friend reads the blog, so she may add it with a comment.
Now, having talked about baking cookies, I will investigate which ingredients I have lying around.....there are three overripe bananas....maybe a loaf?
Busy Bee, Scarf Face!
Blog 80.
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