Salon
After the French Révolution and the Terror, French intellectual women wished to return to a more exhuberant way of life. They were the Merveilleuses. Setting up Salons at home where they would gather intellectuals, scientists, philosophers, politicians and the military to discuss ideas and try to create a new society out the ashes of the Ancien Régime.
This page is an hommage to these women. Here you'll find links to our favourite websites and blogs which ideas and views we share and support.
18th century
Et à part ça, stunning French lifestyle blog & photography http://www.etapartca.canalblog.com
Ladurée, Parisian cult pâtisserie http://www.laduree.fr
Angela Flanders, Columbia Road's master parfumer http://www.angelaflanders-perfumer.com
words
Modern Toss, antisocial humour http://www.moderntoss.com
Poet in the City, poet charity and events http://www.poetinthecity.co.uk
Truisms, add your own to Jenny Holzer's project http://www.adaweb.walkerart.org/project/holzer/cgi/pcb.cgi
campaigns
War on Want, no to fashion sweatshops http://waronwant.org/lovefashionhatesweatshops
Tescopoly, before Tesco takes over the world http://www.tescopoly.org
Fishfight, no to fish discard http://www.fishfight.net
Kids Company, the other Camilla-the-useful-one's charity http://www.kidspeaceofmind.org
Ellen Macarthur Trust, taking young people sailing to recovery from cancer http://www.ellenmacarthurtrust.org
Riders, Ross Noble's cause for healthcare in Africa http://www.riders.org
British reparations, post-Empire angst http://www.britishreparations.org/facts.php
politics
An Phoblacht, Republican news http://www.aprnonline.com
craft
Finecellwork, prisoners' charity http://www.finecellwork.co.uk
fashion
FTM, London academy and museum for fashion, textile and jewelry http://www.ftmlondon.org
L'Officiel, French fashion magazine, archives and much more http://www.jalougallery.com
Agnès b, French fashion pioneer, art lover and campaigner http://www.europe.agnesb.com/en
design
Nathalie Lété, French naïve designer http://www.nathalie-lete.com/index.php
Hemingway Design, Wayne's world http://www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk
Welcome Home, where Barbie meets Mad Men http://www.maryannroy.com
GALLERY
Ink---d, anarchist art in Brighton http://www.ink-d.co.uk
The Wapping Project, impressive industrial space and food http://www.thewappingproject.com/
music
Gertrude, all-girl post-punk DIY scene veterans (if you like The Raincoats) http://www.myspace.com/gertruderock + Gert-rude on Facebook
Wetdog, all-girl angular post-punk noise (if you like Kleenex) http://www.myspace.com/wetdogthebest + Wetdog on Facebook
Books - Films - Places
Venezia Food and Dreams, Dangerous Liaisons, Le Mystère de la rue Saint-Nicaise, Jane Austen's Persuasion, Bob Richardson Photography, Banksy's War and Piece, Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, Ridley Scott's The Duellists, Jane Campion's The Piano and Bright Star, Derek Jarman's Jubilee, Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette, The British Museum's 18th Century Enlightenment Gallery, The Wallace Collection, Columbia Road, Elizabeth Street, Wellington's Apsley House, Brighton, le Château de Versailles, Napoléon's Château de Malmaison.