French Impressions IV

 Now this is how I love the winter season. A crisp cold day with a beautiful blue sky, a visit to the Château de Vincennes in the Bois de Vincennes east of Paris where we are practically the only people around (go on a weekday if you can!) and a quick trip to the Parc Florale next door.

 Parc Florale

All photos: European Chic

(Please ask for permission before copying my photos & link back)

Guest post: How do Europeans perceive American style in 6 brief observations

Brigitte of the blog Covet Chicago and myself have been blogger friends for a while now. I first contacted Brigitte when I visited her beloved Chicago in September 2010 and asked her for some advice about where to find cool design stuff in Chicago. Her advice invalueable and I am now officially in love with Chicago. We stayed in touch and the other day we got talking about American vs. European style and she kindly offered that I may share my thoughts on American style in six brief observations on her blog. With globalisation style and interior design has become increasingly uniform across countries - for better or for worse - but there are things that are very different (in my humble opinion). I share some photos below but if you want to read the post you have to hop over to Covet Chicago.

 Photos: Living etc.

Photo: Veranda magazine

Photo: Lonny Magazine

Photo: Rue Magazine

Photo: Veranda magazine

 Photo: House Beautiful

 Photo: House Beautiful

Photo: House Beautiful

Photo: boatmangeller.com

Photo: Style at Home

The perfect sofa

Photo: Bolig Magazine DK

Good morning everyone! Don't you wish you could curl up on this darling sofa, too, reading your favourite book? The clock pillows leaning against the wall are quite genius, don't you think?

Talking about reading on the sofa: What are you reading? I always like to read several books at the same time and at the moment I read three books set in very different parts of the world:
Il gattopardo by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa (Italy)
Le lièvre de Vatanen by Arto Paasilinna (Finnland)
Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap (Thailand)
Check them out. They are all worth reading.

Stealing beauty

Do you remember Bernardo Bertolucci's film 'Stealing Beauty'? It was the film that established Liv Tyler as a movie star. The film was set among bohemian expats in Tuscany. Well, this Tuscan villa reminds me somehow of this film. The villa is perfect, simple and rustic yet cosy. If I was to live there I would change nothing at all (rare, usually there are always small things I would change).

 

All photos: Marie Claire Maison France

Masculine chic

Happy Sunday! Hope the weather is better where you live. We had lots of rain last night but I think once I posted this I will go out and walk in the Jardin de Luxembourg decked out in rain boots en cas ou.

A European Chic reader, K., from South Korea (how cool is that !?) asked of I could show some more 'masculine' interiors and I was too happy to oblige.

I love this 60 squarementer Danish flat for its bold use of charcoal black shiny floors, Scandinavian minimalism which is married with Asian accent such as the vases and the dragon hanging in the bedroom. Very unusual.

All photos: Bolig Magazine Denmark

Swiss Impressions II

More photos from Geneva, Switzerland. This time from a European Chic reader, E. from Canada, who went to Switzerland at around the same time I did but with a much better camera.

 ...and goodbye Switzerland!