January 10, 2010

Safe Landing

Our arrival in France this morning was met with six inches of snow already on the ground. A magical blanket of white covers the French landscape on this sleepy Sunday.

Our first task upon arrival this morning was to fulfill the wish list of French Metro’s restoration team. Waxes, polishes, stains, and other secret potions of the woodworker can be found in a generations-old shop, Produits Dugay, in the heart of the Paris flea market. The owners greet us by name since our custom for the past eleven years has been to stop here directly from the airport at the beginning of each buying trip.

After loading the car with boxes of woodworking supplies, we head to the apartment of some old friends who live in Paris’ sixteenth arrondissement, around the corner from the Arc de Triomphe. We fortify ourselves with French coffee and conversation surrounded by Empire and Louis XVI period antiques in their 19th century salon.

Finally, it’s time to get down to real business, and we head out for the hunt. We arrive at our first appointment outside of Chartres, where the famous Gothic cathedral rises out of the landscape like a ship on the sea. Our first stop is fruitful, but jetlag is catching up with us.

As we settle into our bed and breakfast tonight, we’re pleased with our first finds of the trip – a fabulous Napoleon III box inlaid with ivory and exotic woods, a large-scale bronze hunting dog signed by the artist, and a charming chandelier with gilded leaves that we envision in an elegant bathroom or entryway…or even over a dining room table.

Off to sleep! Bonne nuit!