If you haven’t heard, France is experiencing quite a cold snap at the moment. Siberia-like temperatures have overtaken the country (and much of Europe) for the last several days. Today, the high in Paris was 29 degrees and Provence only reached a high of 32 degrees.
While the winter weather has been pretty mild in Texas so far, I still found myself last week wishing for summer sun and all the fruits of its labors. Including figs for some reason. One of my favorite summer pastimes in southern France is to take long walks in the countryside and pick figs from the wild fig trees that grow by the side of the road.
The other perfectly good alternative is to buy une barquette of French figs at the open-air market. They are so sweet and juicy that it’s hard to resist eating them on the spot.
In the spirit of bringing French figs to the ‘off-season,’ I proceeded to pull out a lovely French tablecloth covered with the colorful fruit and put it on the breakfast room table. It was instant summer inside my house, and the figs were a welcome sight after weeks of Christmas holiday decor.
Figs aren’t the only way to bring the outdoors in. Various French tablecloth makers have been putting the French countryside, flowers and other nature motifs on their linens for quite some time. You can find their wares in shops in Provence, at some Provence markets, in Paris, and in this era of the internet, online as well.
I picked up my fig nappe et serviettes (tablecloth and napkins) in Provence village near St. Rémy a few years ago. They are designed by the French company Couleur Nature and its creative genius Bruno Lamy. I once had the opportunity to meet Monsieur Lamy at the immense French home decor tradeshow in Paris. He was quiet and soft-spoken, yet passionate about putting the beauties of French nature on display.
Another company that captures the spirit of Provence in its linens is Souleiado. They began putting the sun and colors of southern France on tablecloths in Tarascon, France, nearly 200 years ago. Now with boutiques all over Provence and even one in Paris near the Luxembourg Gardens, Souleiado is synonymous with beautiful linens and other items for the home. They also have a museum in Tarascon which displays the history of Provençal linens and how they were made.
One other French linen maker that I particularly like is Le Jacquard Francais. A little ‘dressier’ than Couleur Nature or Souleiado, LJF has been around since 1888 and takes great pride in the quality of its linens and its special ‘jacquard’ technique which allows the design motif to be seen on both sides of the cloth. If you are in Paris, they have a shop on the Left Bank and also a wonderful collection of their linens at the department store Le Bon Marché (also on the Left Bank).
If this has inspired you to pull out or obtain some French linens of your own, here are a few key French words to facilitate the process:
La nappe – the tablecloth
La serviette – the napkin
Le set de table – the placemat
Le chemin de table – the tablerunner
Le linge de table – table linens
Of course, it will be quite some time before I can find good fresh figs to go along with my fig tablecloth. But for now, the sight of French figs in winter–in whatever form–is welcome indeed.
French Take-Out ~ La France à emporter
Today’s “French Take-Out” has several things to offer…
To purchase some of the French table linens mentioned above and bring some France linen countryside into your own home, click on the links here… Couleur nature , Souleiado , Le Jacquard français.
You may have heard about the new book about French parents’ superior parenting skills. It’s called “Bringing up bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting”. It seems that French parents’ ability to say ‘no’ with firmness results in French children who are above average on the well-behaved scale. And it allows French parents to have their own adult life as well. Click here for a recent French Affaires’ posting on children and their behavior in France.
Last but not least, music lovers in Dallas, Texas, will want to catch the upcoming performance of Chamber Music and Dance from Versailles and London by the Dallas Bach Society and The New York Baroque Dance Company. It will take place on February 12 at 7pm at SMU’s Caruth Auditorium. For tickets and more information, click here.