Paris 4

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.A MID-AFTERNOON PICNIC OF MIRABELLES, A FRAGRANT PEAR, RAW MILK CHEESES, 

BREAD FROM THE POILANE BAKERY, AND A GLASS OR TWO OF GOOD WINE

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THE SYMPHONIC COLOURS AND SHAPES AT CHARTRES

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The days have slipped by quite languidly in a haze of beauty, discovery, and a very willing submersion dans la bonne vie.  I will return having absorbed many new - and old - ideas, and I have reaffirmed many things that I know to be valuable.

Paris 3

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The obligatory zoom around L'Avenue des Champs Elysees on our rented scooter was thrilling (almost as thrilling as this one).  A whirl up Montmartre to Sacre Coeur was wonderful also - there is a little cafe halfway up the winding tree lined boulevard that serves an excellent salad for lunch with smoked duck, fresh baguettes from the boulangerie adjacent, and their signature kir aperitif.  These things never lose their appeal; this type of meal, enjoyed on a few simple chairs and tables set out on the cobblestones are all one needs for the sense that all is right in the world.

Paris 2

 

CAFE CAMILLE, LE MARAIS

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YVES KEIN

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THE MARKET AT BOULEVARD RASPAIL

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Paris.  What a celebration of delicious food, simple pleasures, complicated pleasures, sumptuous architecture, sartorial tradition, and a richly layered history that is evident in every detail.  At the Tuesday morning farmers' market the women are impeccably dressed and coiffed while selecting their plums, cheeses and white peaches.  Business men riding to work on black bicycles are in crisp suits and horn rimmed spectacles - perfect visions of masculine chic.  The red awnings of the local brasseries extend beguiling invitations to enjoy a small chilled glass of rose or a perfect cafe creme en route.  The urban fabric is enviably dense, vibrant, and a perfectly sensible marriage of all types of layered activities, expertly achieved with a certain nonchalance that seems to say that all of this beauty and cosmopolitanism is effortless.  What can I say, as priviledged visitor, except that Paris is a city that reveals more inspiration and hidden beauty with every visit - what a joy.  Case in point; I just found out that there is a beautiful art deco swimming pool with two mezzanines in the Latin Quarter that is open every evening for night swims, featuring underwater music - genius!  I am glad that I brought a bathing suit; perhaps we shall go after the concert in Saint Julien le Pauvre.

Paris 1

Off to Paris today for a week - very excited!  Its abundance of fantastic restaurants, fashion houses, chic hotels, stores, markets, and iconic examples of architecture and the decorative arts is overwhelming.  It has been years since we were last there, so this will be a great opportunity to revisit favorite places and discover new sources of inspiration.

Niagara Peninsula

A recent trip to Beamsville in the Niagara Peninsula was a breathtaking example of how an idyllic microclimate moments from Toronto can cultivate spectacular local wines, cheeses and produce.  Gems such as the Thirty Bench winery -  a tiny spot that produces a very limited release of bottles every year - are scattered throughout the region.  What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday... wine tastings and then a delicious dinner featuring ingredients that only these farms and wineries could produce.

Conundrum

An intriguing discussion with a friend provokes questions about how - as an architect and designer - the ever-increasing accessibility to information, resources and cultures challenges traditional notions about locality and 'sense of place'.  On one side of the coin is the fear that globalization leads to homogeneity (and yet continued misunderstanding), and on the other it could also be an argument for an exponential opportunity to gain complexity and nuance in the pursuit of meaning and beauty.  During a time sometimes referred to as the 'ego-boom', the questioning of one's world view becomes increasingly important.  During this discussion it was difficult for me - trained for years as an architect to believe in the paramount importance of the specificity of 'place' - to consider that there is also a mutability and commonality within perceived differences that can transform ideas about context and authenticity, placing the onus on the individual to continually clarify one's own position in the world.  It is not a simple subject, and one I haven't fully resolved in my own mind, but it is important to evaluate with every project, no matter where it might be.

Sketchbook 22