From New York, Paris, Malibu, Santa Barbara, St. Tropez,
Mallorca to Charleston, Dallas, San Francisco, the Hamptons, Beverly Hills,
Italy, Switzerland etc., I have seen more than my fair share of houses. Most of
these houses are big, expensive, fancy and…horrendous. When my friends are showing
me through their houses I politely nod my head and say, “Lovely. Your house is
lovely.” But guess what? I don’t mean it; I’m just being courteous but in
actuality I am dying on the inside. I have had to endure hundreds of thousands
of square feet of faux Tuscan, faux château, faux Spanish, faux Mediterranean,
faux barn, faux Provence, faux midcentury modern, faux Swedish, faux
antebellum… blah blah blah. The whole time in my head this is what I’m truly thinking…
“Your decorator should be shot.”
“Your 66,000 ft.² house isn’t big enough for your ego.”
“At what point did you think a round Chicago Bears rug in
your faux Santa Barbara château was a good idea?”
“Well, you obviously cannot buy class.”
“How is it possible that you have so much money and so
little style?”
“Filling your Connecticut mansion with Ballard Design
furniture is just rude.”
“Could you please
stop parading me through your enormous closet because I really just came for
the food.”
“Those 12 brand-new statues of Neptune around your pool do
not make your house Architectural Digest worthy.”
My friend, Jennifer Hale Smith (editor of the chic Santa Barbara Magazine and C Magazine) wanted to introduce me to her friends in
Paris. I immediately agreed because I trust anything Jennifer suggests (People,
Houses, Travel, Fashion) because she is the epitome of style. A few days later
I received an email from a woman named Sally Perrin inviting me over to her
apartment in Paris for petit déjeuner Monday morning.
They had me at the entry. Sally is as chic as she is
gobsmackingly gorgeous with an air of laid-back elegance. I barely got to speak
with her endearingly demure husband, Michel, because my husband was basically
swallowing him with conversation. As you know, my husband basically hates
everyone. In my husband’s mind, you are guilty until proven innocent. In other
words, he will consider you a douche bag until you prove otherwise. No
exceptions. My husband took to Sally’s husband like a moth to a flame. I
thought my husband was going to make out with him. Then there was Chloe, the
23-year-old daughter (their other daughter, Emma, lives in New York). If you
ever imagine having the perfect daughter who is educated, well spoken, fluent
in French and English, polite, helpful, lighthearted, cultured, beautiful,
dignified with a joie de vivre… Well, look no further. It is Chloé Perrin.
(When I got home, I called my daughter, Grace, and told her she better up her
game.) I kept thinking to myself, “Who is this family and where did they come
from? My God! They are fabulous!”
See! Throw away your stupid Birkin bags ladies because it’s
all about the clutch. The glove clutch. (Actually just store away your Birkin
bags for a day in the future when the nouveau celebrities have moved on to
something else and then your Birkin will be acceptable again.) Perrin Paris has
shops in Los Angeles and New York and a showroom in Paris. In the vein of
luxury leather, Perrin Paris also offers the most hip gloves you’ve ever seen.
Check out PerrinParis.com. for all of the details.
So there you have it. My morning with the chicest family in
Paris. Now that I’ve seen the best, it’s all downhill from here on out and,
most likely, I will have to unfortunately go back to courteously faking my way
through another train wreck of a house.
But thank you Perrin family for the reprieve.
The FAMILY is GORGEOUS as are the handbags!TO think you got my visit right after meeting these lovely people!Love the fact they used the colors from the SEINE!AND..........are you ready for this..........my BEST BUDDY well her name is JENNY TOO!
ReplyDeleteOnly you my dear would say what a lot of us think. I am so over all these faux french "things" everywhere. Where have you EVER seen ceramic roosters up the wazoo in a french home? They have real real poultry running around their farm and thats it folks! The Paris apt. is amazing, the colors, furniture, herringbone wood floors, windows etc are total eye candy. Love you Ellie for all your beautiful posts and despite your ALS you are able to live life to the fullest. Thanks for sharing!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou made me laugh about the roosters..........SO OVER DONE!SO TRUE!
DeleteNow every home you have visited in the past decade will have the owners wondering if their place falls into the "f" and "f" category- oh well, too bad.
ReplyDeleteWhat a spectacular post in all ways; beautiful, inspiring, and funny. Sigh! We are so lucky to have you:)….but I guess Jenny got first dibs;) Happy Saturday.xob
ReplyDeleteI'm back I had to read it AGAIN!Can we get a photo of your JENNY..........and where does she live?XX
ReplyDeleteI never ever read an entire blog especially long ones...you are the exception. I love it and I can not stop laughing. Thank you for the smile on my face today. You may even have me step out of my comfort zone and purchase more than one perfume and spend some time in the cemetery...maybe.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is so full of wonderful places and beautiful colors, plus interesting places and things. You have a hilarious sense of humor, which I so enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI just HAD to share this.......so I'm back home in California and I open my C MAGAZINE for October and who do I spy or I should say what did I spy but the PERRIN handbag being held by Chloe and Sally Perrin at LOTUSLAND!IT is so SMART that clutch!XOXO
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! Love the chic Perrins, and what a fabulous idea to marry the clutch and the glove. Missed reading your last two posts due to son's wedding. Am back and particularly grateful for your astute eye and wickedly funny sense of humor:)
ReplyDeletehi hi, so so funny, Contessa was spot on, I love your site and tell it like it really is….I am as anonymous as I can't get the sign on correct here, I'll figure it out…..my name is suzanna….I am having great fun reading and the humor is simply cracking me up…..I love loving non pretentious souls….with class and taste…money doesn't give either…ha ha ha, Love the Perrin bags and I "am" a glove freak….have all my mom's….:-))) xo
ReplyDeleteOh la la. I first read this post back in the day when I was zooming through your blog. Now, I dole out a taste of the archives like Joël Durand chocolates for rainy days such as today. Everything, everything about this home is sublime and I am so thrilled that you were able to see it in person. That the family is so lovely too? Well, that just makes it all the better doesn't it?
ReplyDeletePS. Do you think that they would mind if I moved into that tiny vestibule with the massive chandelier? I would be discreet, I promise. ;)