Antiquing with our Parisienne

 

"Champs de Mars" oil on board by Nancy Franke

It was a freezing cold, drizzly Monday but that didn’t deter us.  Nancy Franke and I had one thing in mind, and that was the drippingly decadent sandwich au jambon that we knew was waiting for us at the Chatou Foire a  la Brocante et Jambon, my favorite antiques market in the world.  I had just flown in that morning and couldn’t wait to catch up with our dynamic, effervescent and energetic Nancy Franke, who was spending a month-long sejour in an adorable artist’s garret overlooking the roofs of Paris (and with a magical view of the Eiffel Tower),  getting inspired for her upcoming show at Huff Harrington Fine Art. 

The artist, in her Parisian pied-a-terre

Over the past month, we had been getting titillating tidbits of Nancy’s life a la Parisienne.   There were images of the view from the apartment, of Nancy with easel in hand, of paintings drying on the floor, of favorite bottles of wine, of Nancy’s husband, Michael, whom we lovingly call “Monsieur,” and peppered throughout,  little jewels painted by Nancy that had us oophing and aahing with every email.  How convenient that her sojourn overlapped with my favorite shopping excursion in Paris!

 The view from her window

At the Chatou fair, held twice a year on the outskirts of Paris, we were enchanted by every antique and objet, the funnier and most intriguing, the better, ever mindful of the upcoming container heading to Huff Harrington Home  later this month.  Of course, we can’t leak it all in advance but there were some finds we couldn’t resist:

Gorgeous sconces hanging on shutters

 

French Bistrot tables that we can't live without

 

A Louis XVI chest that smiled longingly at me

A little Louis XV with the greatest looking legs

 

A beautiful painting by an artist we've been coveting

 Don't tell Meg, but we thought there was an uncanny little resemblance here!

 

And a perfectly charming gentleman we were just dying to kidnap

 Not exactly a style icon...but happy as a clam

Nancy’s nickname at the gallery is “Sunshine” because of her naturally glowing aura – so we never let the gloomy, drizzly weather interfere with our fun.   And on this occasion in Chatou, after a fun day of dodging puddles and rain drops, the real sun shone on us for about five minutes for the piece de resistance: the most delicious ham sandwich in the world, loaded with veggies, dripping with taste, cut right of the bone and served with our favorite beverage, in little plastic cups.  It was heaven for a minute … and when it started raining again, it didn’t matter one bit.   I was with Nancy!

 

The 'Piece de Resistance'

Ta ta,
HH

PS: Stay tuned for more about “Franke in France” as we unveil some of the little treasures Nancy has painted during her inspiring trip.

Did we really eat all that?