"A light hearted and humorous account of 'ma vie' as a brocanteuse, experiences from my life in France and my love of antiques, all things vintage, period interiors and 'les trucs' (eclectic thingamybobs)"

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

Enamoured with Enamel

One kind of truc that I never seem to tire of is enamelware.  Via my Etsy shop I have sold many of these pieces, picked up from brocante markets and vide greniers, to people all over the world.

They invariably have a few little chips here and there giving them their trademark rustic shabby chic appearance. Here are some favourites that I have had the pleasure of owning if only for a short time:-

A gorgeous 1950's kettle in a pale duck egg blue 

This lovely enamel box originally made for storing matches

This sunny yellow coffee pot with filter

I wish I had kept this stunning little jug but it sold so fast I didn't
 withdraw it from my shop on time

A 1950s industrial style alarm clock

One of many trivets I've sold - an enduring and popular item

Another favourite of mine - a delightful 1950s desk lamp

My stock is still on the low side at the moment which will hopefully be remedied by my long awaited visit to Angleterre next month.  However I do still have a lovely red trivet and a beautiful enamelled soap dish for sale although I don't expect they will hang around for long.

Click on photo to view on my Etsy Shop

Click on photo to view on my Etsy Shop

Roll on the Spring when the brocante season in France really begins and here's hoping I come across more of these enamelled gems.

Friday, 23 January 2015

Fenêtregate

In my view one of the most important aspects of a house is it's windows, especially when the house in question is a period property.  The difficulty with new getting windows right is weighing up the ascetics against the ecological properties.

Our new house in Cognac dates from the mid to late 1800's and some of the original single glazed windows are still in place but the majority have been changed at one time or another for less sympathetic windows so the decision to replace all the windows in the house wasn't difficult.

The horrible windows we have now that will be transformed into lovely
French doors onto the balcony

The ugly window in our living room (this was taken before we moved in)

What was difficult was finding an ascetically pleasing wooden double glazed option that would be made to look as authentic as possible.  Personally I would rather freeze, run up massive heating bills and ruin the ozone layer before placing Lego plastic windows in my house but I realise that I am in the minority there so I'll do the decent thing and shut up about it.

Before we made appointments with any menuisiers (French artisans specialising in windows and doors) I made-up a file with photos of the style of windows I would like for the house.  One remaining original window in the house I particularly like is in my office so this was to be my example or template for all the others.

The window in my office that I would like recreated with double glazing

Having interviewed various people who also made the dreaded plastic versions it became clear that the wooden windows they could provide were not what I was after at all.  The glazing bars that I wanted at the top of each window (like many town houses in France) were flimsy bits of beading stuck on the glass (or even worse between the two pains of glass for ease of cleaning... yuk... sorry!) and having visited one workshop in particular I left feeling incredibly depressed at the quality of workmanship on offer.

It was after that visit that we remembered someone we had used before to make authentic windows for a large old property we owned previously in the Vienne region of France. We didn't really think he would come this far south because he seems to have lots of work but in view of the fact that we were offering such a big job he did come to do a quote.

Our old house with his authentically made wooden windows

The lovely window he made for our kitchen

After a week or so they e-mailed over the quote and as expected for 13 windows it was very expensive but surprisingly it came in considerably lower the disappointing workshop we had visited earlier.

Having visited his workshop and discussed the finer details further with him and his wife just before Christmas we came to an accord  that they would come to fit the first three windows in the New Year.  So last Friday the living room window at the front of the house and two attic bedroom windows at the back arrived.  As I peeked in the van the construction looked authentic and the colour I had chosen for the exterior side of the windows (a very dark grey - no it's not black just very very very dark grey) seemed OK so we left them to it.

After an hour or so I heard them trudge up the stairs past my office so I decided to take a look at the window they had fitted in the living room but as soon as I saw it I knew it wasn't right - the bar at the top was too low.  I quickly nipped out of the front door feeling flushed and crossed the road to look at it from the outside and there was no getting away from it... it was wrong!

I know you're possibly thinking that I'm being very fussy but if the glazing bars
were higher the window would appear to be more elongated and elegant.   

I called Spike to see what he thought and to my immense relief he agreed that the window looked a bit odd and wasn't made to the right proportion.  After this shock we then tentatively went up the two flights of stairs to see the attic window they had now begun to fit. My heart sank as it had exactly the same problem, in fact it also had the unfortunate side effect that the glazing bar was set at my eye line so that when I stood at the window to enjoy the view all I could see was wood!

My view out of the attic bedroom window

The view I was hoping to have without having to bend my knees 

We measured the window in my office and concluded that the glazing bar was set a quarter of the way down the glass but the windows he had made had the glazing bar set at a third of a way down. Of course if I had gone for the stick-on a flimsy bit of beading option this problem could have been easily remedied but with me being an extremely fussy person and insisting on having windows made by authentic construction the problem was not so easy to solve.

To make matters worse when I asked if they had made any more of the windows he said that he had made all but four (luckily they hadn't yet made the French doors to the balcony so that was a small comfort)

The top window doesn't look too terrible from the outside but the window below
 (our bedroom) made to the same proportions being larger would look worse 

I withdrew with Spike as calmly as I could from the attic room and after a hushed conversation over a soothing cup of tea we agreed that we would go to the workshop to see how bad the other windows looked. The poor guy looked a bit stressed when we suggested this as I think he was hoping that we would let it go - I noticed that his eyebrows seemed to be standing on end as if the tension had made them pointy (he must be an eyebrow twiddler when stressed).

OK I may not have live in a beautiful Parisian building but I was
at least hoping to have the same style windows 

So early Monday morning we set off to visit his wife who runs the administrative side of the business to see if we could sort the mess out.  We were very nervous because having tried to live with the windows over the weekend we knew that if we compromised we would always be disappointed with them (which is particularly bad news as I am not planning to move from here... ever... honestly!).

Thankfully faced with the irrefutable 'evidence' contained within my trusty folder (years of being a legal secretary were not a waste of time after all) she agreed to reorder the glass and have all the windows altered to our specification which will unfortunately cut into their profit but they would have lost a lot more if we had decided to take our business elsewhere. As I couldn't find an 'elsewhere' I must confess I'm very relieved she agreed to change them.

So touch wood (no pun intended) the 'Fenêtregate' crisis is over and our lovely old house is back on track to get the gorgeous elegant windows it truly deserves.

Friday, 16 January 2015

Retail Therapy

It seems like ages since I've had a chance to buy some new trucs for my Etsy shop and with my stock being so low we decided to visit one of the first brocantes of the year.  The town of Bourcefranc le Chapus is about an hour and half from Cognac so it was a bit of risk that the market wouldn't be very good (or even worse cancelled) but because it was a sunny day and close to the lovely Ile d'Oleron we thought it would make a great day out anyway.  

We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the brocante because although not the largest flea market we've ever been to it was nevertheless packed with goodies.  

Approaching the market things were looking promising
We bought a couple of things from this stall and I think it's safe to say that
the vendor was very happy

I always find it hard to get my eye in when I haven't been hunting for trucs for a while but in the end we managed to truffle out a few interesting items before heading off to the Ile d'Oleron to find somewhere for lunch.

Just when you think you have seen it all you come across a
phone with a velour fitted cover

We were lucky that we bumped into a some neighbours from when we lived in our previous house in the countryside because not only was it lovely to see them and catch up but they also pointed us in the direction of Chateau d'Oleron on the island as a good lunchtime destination.

When we arrived we headed for centre ville and came across a super little place that had a lovely vintage vibe called 'Le Drugstore'.  The food was great and the ambiance was really my truc and not far off from the feel I would like for our future plan of a coffee shop/brocante.  It was encouraging that Le Drugstore had a constant stream of customers and seemed to be doing very well.

A lovely traditional shop front really sets the scene
I love the eclectic interior especially the industrial clocks and gilt mirror 
A welcoming atmosphere and a relaxed vintage feel
The food is as good as it looks (I had a baked cheesecake for dessert
but it seemed to disappear before I had a chance to take a photo!!!)

After lunch we drove past some rustic little shacks selling sea salt and oysters, both farmed on the Ile d'Oleron, and made a promise to ourselves that we would definitely visit this charming little island again in the summer to have a good explore and to get to know it better.    

A traditional oyster hut and oyster bed

Friday, 9 January 2015

Le Truc to Overcoming French Bureaucracy

Today's post I'm afraid is not very positive.  Having resolved to build on my little Etsy shop in 2015 the mean old French Post Office have cancelled their small package postal service leaving only one alternative of a much more expensive option.  The only packages that can be sent at a reasonable postal rate must be under 3cm in thickness.  

I thought I had found a way around the problem by sending the packages by another method that doesn't have a 3cm limit to the thickness of the package but this has been changed to documents only.  I'm not sure what La Poste are trying to achieve by cutting these services but I'm not a happy bunny. 

These changes will of course disrupt many small businesses in France that send merchandise abroad. There is an online petition against this rather unjust situation and I ask that you click on the link and add your name to help people with small businesses, like myself, to earn a meagre living. 

Anyway, moan over, I will have to adjust the trucs I source and sell to accommodate this new regime and hope that the Post Office sees sense over the coming months and reinstates the old service.

As far as life in general goes all is well in the good old town of Cognac and things are progressing with the renovation of the house.  

Me looking glamorous and ready to hit the town...
OK ready to insulate the attic

I'm also planning a trip to England next month so that's really something to look forward to as it's been about three years now since my last visit.

A beautiful sea view in Hastings taken on my last visit to England

One of many interesting antique and bric-a-brac shops
around the south coast of England

So it looks like I will be spending a while today pulling some of the stock off my website that isn't viable with the new postal rates and changing the postage to the rest.  Let's hope that my customers will not be too put off by these changes and that this whole situation is just a storm in a vintage teacup. 

Sunday, 4 January 2015

Résolutions

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  After a couple of weeks overindulging and lots of time to think I have decided to make several resolutions for 2015.  I confess that I have fallen off the cheesy nibbles wagon several times times lately and unfortunately landed in the treacherous sea of unusually abundant chocolate. So the woman sitting at the computer typing does sadly look as though she is storing food in her cheeks and would probably pass an audition for the Godfather.

The only thing that has been working in my favour is the adrenalin that has been coursing through my veins since I found out, to my cost, that the French Post Office have decided to pull the plug on the postal service I rely on most for my Etsy Shop.

So after a couple of anxiety ridden days attempting to decrypt the website of La Poste (which I think the Enigma machine might have struggled with) to find an alternative option I think I may have shed a little of that apres Noel weight.

I couldn't help thinking that it was not the most auspicious start to the year as I carefully altered the postal rates of all my stock (thankfully my stock is very low after the Christmas season so it didn't take too long) but now it is done I am back in business and ready to go shopping.

So much to buy and so little time

So my New Year's Resolutions are as follows:-

Buy, buy, buy and expand the stock of my Etsy shop to an all time high (hooray)

Stop faffing about and watching Hitchcock films and start working on the renovation of the house with something that resembles discipline (I did do a couple of days of wallpaper stripping which unfortunately gave me a terrific appetite which leads on neatly to my next resolution).

Stop eating everything that doesn't move (that includes our latest little indulgences the muffle (English muffin with scrambled eggs and truffles) and the Panperttone (a panettone pain perdu... I'm salivating at the thought of it which doesn't bode well).

To get back to England for a visit (and a shopping spree) as I have planned at least three times over the last couple of years but have always scuppered by something coming up, going wrong, breaking down etc.

To patiently wade through the red tape that will inevitably be involved in setting up the long held dream of a vintage café/brocante in the centre of Cognac with my husband Spike (this one may take some time).

So having awoken this morning to a beautiful sunrise over the rooftops of Cognac I am more than ready to implement my carefully laid plans - well I will be after a muffle or two for breakfast!