Normandy State of Mind Part Deux

Like I said, the best thing to do in Paris in the summer… is leave. For my husband’s 48^th birthday (I think he's 48 but I never really asked), we took a quick 1 hour drive outside of Paris to beautiful Normandy, the little village of Étretat specifically. I wanted to see the famous beautiful cliffs that inspired so many of Claude Monet’s paintings… and that is just what we did. My voice is still weak so I cannot do a long blog so I am just going to let the photos do the talking. If you want to read Normandy State of Mind Part 1 click HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing is for sure, as I looked out to the beautiful Atlantic Ocean my only thought was, “Ahhh, America, land of the free, customer service and Dairy Queen.” My second thought was, “I want to come home.”

 

*Something you don't know about me? I hate the French. More on that later.

Charmant Cerisiers de Monet

 

So, I tend to get a tad bit obsessive over things. Pretty things. Mostly decorative objects. I admit it, I like stuff, but I am extremely particular about what kind of stuff. One of my obsessions is dishes (service, china, dinnerware, tableware, place setting…whatever you want to call it). I get this from my mother and she gets it from her mother. It’s a familial dysfunction. My mother is not the type of woman who has a place setting for 8 or 12. She has a place setting for 30 or more. It’s like we can’t stop until we have every single dish of a particular pattern ever made down to the sauce boat (I don’t use the word gravy boat because that’s disgusting). My current obsession is a particular pattern called Cerisiers de Monet. I won’t stop until I have the complete set… 12 times over.

A little history… The pattern was designed by none other than artist, Claude Monet, himself. He was inspired by his Japanese cherry blossoms, hence the name, Cerisiers de Monet. They were manufactured by the foundry Creil et Montereau in France (the dishes are also known as Creil Montereau Japon). The foundry has been in existence since the 1700s. Monsieur Monet used the set as his everyday dishes, which is what I shall be doing from here on out…

 

 

My obsession started after a visit to Monet’s Garden in Giverney, the gift shop in particular. On display was Monet’s entire Cerisiers reproduction dish set by Havilland Limoges available for purchase. I decided I would take that inspiration one step further and one pocketbook deeper and search for an antique set…obviously. Mission accomplished. A few weeks later I was at the flea market in Paris with my friend, Heather from Habitually Chic. As luck would have it, one of my favorite dealers had a tea set available…circa 1900. Years ago, for our antique shop, we had bought a complete set of 19^th-century French green faience from this particular dealer. More on that tomorrow. I negotiated with the dealer a bit because I’m a professional for God’s sake, and because most of my money has to be allocated to my stupid caregivers who, by the way, try to poison me. More on that tomorrow. I managed to get the price down to a doable price. €300 for a 21 piece tea set, complete with teapot, sugar bowl, creamer, tea cups and saucers and these charming little covered bowls (not sure what they are for).

 

With my OCD in full drive, I searched the flea market for any other dealer with Cerisiers de Monet. The gods were smiling upon me, because right around the corner, I found a set of 98 pieces! Unfortunately, the price was €3300. Guess I’ll have to hold my breath a little bit longer. A couple weeks later, my husband surprised me with a trés chic bracelet. My bitchy response? “Uh, were the dishes not available?” I would rather have these dishes than my expensive ALS medication. I mean that sincerely.

 

Just last week, I watched two French movies from the 70s, about stylish old school French families and in both of the films were those dishes! So, I decided that if I can’t have all of the dishes at once (boo-hoo) then I would slowly build my collection. Luckily, for you and I, this is possible through the magic of eBay. However, you can, if you must, buy a complete brand spanking new set from the Monet gift shop, but I don’t recommend it. There’s something so charming, so unique about having an antique set, even if there are a few blemishes. Don’t you agree?

 

Now that I have opened this Pandora’s box…tomorrow, let’s look at another favorite type of dinnerware service. Hint: “vert.”

Antique Cerisier de Monet/Creil Montereau Japon Here

New Cerisier de Monet/ Creil Montereau Japon Here

A toute!