Le bon dieu est dans le détail ...

... is the theme I've been invited to post on today, joining a group of bloggers in different parts of the world. And since I'm late to the party, and intimidated by my illustrious fellow-posters (see here and here for links), mon dieu, followed by merde! was my initial response. 

But it's an irresistible quote for a detail-lover like me, and after a day at work spent fretting over words for a tedious report, a quick trawl through my photos for visual images that resonated has been a perfectly pleasant antidote. 

This is where the quote took me, without much thought ...

a quiet alcove in the Alcazar, Seville

an arch detail, Seville cathedral

detail of a mural, St George Basilica, Prague

stone carving details on windows at the Alhambra, Granada

ceiling details in the Forbidden City, Beijing

doorway detail of the Sé (cathedral), Lisbon

balcony door, Alfama, Lisbon

door in Beijing

pond reflection and ...

detail of water-courses in the minutely planned gardens of the Generalife, Alhambra, Granada

dancer's feet at an open air concert, Lisbon

espresso in a Lisbon café

child's face in Imizamo Yethu, Cape Town ...

... and in a market-place in Shanghai

a minimalist table set for one in Lourmarin, Provence

detail of my sleeping cat

These were all taken in the course of travelling to favourite places, and this has been fun - thanks for the invitation!

Battersea Antique Fair

Just when I'd finally packed away my summer clothes until next year, hauled out the winter coats and boots ... London is basking in an untimely heatwave this week (see here if you don't believe me)! A mini-Indian-summer in the autumn, in lieu of the actual-summer-that-never-was ...

... (though can it be called an Indian summer? Apparently there are technicalities involved here - who'd have thought? but see here) ... Whatever, nobody's complaining, as bare legs and flip-flops rule the day, however briefly, and these were the scenes in and around Sloane Square yesterday, where even the foliage seemed confused ...

Patisserie Valerie, Duke of York Square - the view from either side of the window.

This was my pit-stop before heading to the Chelsea Embankment, to cross the river to Battersea Park, for the autumn Decorative Antiques Fair ... 

Iron beds and oil painting at D J Green Antiques


And here's one of the fun things about blogging ...

... early this year I posted here about the winter fair, which caught the eye of a former, long-time exhibitor at the Battersea fair, antique dealer Karin Jansky, who now lives in a gorgeous house in the Dordogne ... 

silver-plated hotel champagne buckets at Victoria Harvey @ Deuxieme

... La Pouyette, from where she blogs, always interestingly and entertainingly ... 

Nostalgic at seeing friends and fellow dealers' exhibits, she commented on the post and we've been in contact in various ways ever since. Karin was kind enough to send me an invitation to this autumn fair, via her friend James Jackson.

Katharine Pole's antique textiles

The Battersea fair, as I've said before, is about liveable, relatively more affordable antiques and decorative objects, especially French and Swedish, two styles I love.

close-up of glass ware at Geoffrey Stead Antiques


I noticed that recycled, re-purposed glass was everywhere, from old confiture jars to pharmacy bottles ...

French pharmacy bottles at Patricia Harvey antiques

Russian chemist bottles at A&L Antiques

This is the place to buy chairs of all kinds - I wish I could justify this at the moment!

Chairs from Antiquités de France SARL (left), The Antique French Chair and Sofa Company (right)


A stand I always like to visit is Josephine Ryan ...

Josephine Ryan

... and Lorfords of Tetbury - see here for more ...

I thought this pair of urns was absolutely stunning ...

Lorfords Antiques are based in the Cotswolds village of Tetbury, Gloucestershire

James Jackson's stand was all perfect elegance and style ... James, whose shop is in Fulham's antique area of London, is also a neighbour of Karin's in France, and her post about him here is well worth seeing ...

James Jackson is in Lillie Road, London SW6

One of the nicest things about this fair is the relaxed, laid-back, friendly atmosphere between dealers and visitors. And if you're peckish or just needing a break there's a cosy and stylish café in the foyer ...

... while your dog is sure to be well catered for. Is there a correlation between antique lovers and dog lovers? The number of pampered pooches in and around the fair had the driver of the shuttle-bus from Sloane Square grumbling "it's more like a bleeding dog show than an antique show if you ask me"

English Mastiff and Staffordshire terrier circa early 21st century, with antique chairs and child's ironing board

Vielen dank, Karin, and I hope these pics gave you some pleasure!

English seaside weekend

Posting about Dorset in the late summer here brought back good memories of a very different Dorset experience, on the coast, in February last year. Not perhaps the most obvious choice for a weekend break - who'd go to an English seaside town in mid-winter? - it was intended as a weekend writers' retreat, with a fun but sadly short-lived creative writing group I was part of at the time (the other members departed for other countries soon afterwards).

We were a short drive from the town of Lyme Regis - all steep cobbled streets and quaint historic buildings leading down to the 'Cobb', the harbour wall famously haunted by Meryl Streep shrouded in black cloak as the French Lieutenant's Woman. John Fowles lived in Lyme Regis for 35 years until his death, and understood the romantic appeal of this coastline where the English first engaged with the Spanish Armada in 1558 (remember Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I improbably but memorably striding the cliffs watching the battle in billowing white?). Jane Austen also loved it here and made the Cobb an important setting in Persuasion.

There are wonderful views from the Cobb ... this is the Jurassic Coast, stretching along England's southern shores from Devon to Dorset. Along these cliffs you can see a continuous sequence of rock formations that span 185 million years of the Earth's history.

People scour the beaches here in search of fossils. But author Ian McEwan discovered it's not a good idea to take things away, when he took a couple of pebbles home from nearby Chesil Beach while doing research for his novella On Chesil Beach. A zealous, sharp-eyed conservation officer spotted the pebbles on his desk in a newspaper photo and he was ordered to hand them back!

The Lyme Regis Museum, top left, filled with fossils telling the story of the cliffs' history

A little further down the coast, these are the views from the Golden Cap (below) - the distinctive golden rock outcrop between Bridport and Charmouth, which is the highest point of Britain's south coast. And this golden light was exactly as these unedited photos show - amazing in mid-winter.

These were taken from the Anchor Inn pub where we had a drink (well wrapped up) at the outside tables with a view ... 

... to east and west ...

English beaches tend to be a subject of derision when you've spent time on gorgeous golden African sands. But I thought this stretch of coast had its own special beauty.

In between beach excursions some writing did in fact take place, in front of a huge log fire, with not too much seriousness, a fair amount of red wine and home-cooking in this old rented farmhouse just a few miles inland ...

with views to the sea in front and the rolling hills of Dorset behind ...