Hameau de la Reine....

Our day at Versailles was wonderful!! I don't think any one would argue that Versailles is not absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! The "hall of mirrors" is breath taking... the wall panelling, paintings, furnishings, chandeliers ,.etc.etc.. words cannot describe......BUT!!!!

The Queen's Hamlet..."Hameau de la Reine" was I believe the best of all, I loved every part of this beautiful little place. The Queen's Hamlet was built as a retreat for Marie-Antionette, and it is situated in a private area at Versailles.

The 'petite hameau' is meant to evoke a peasant village, created in 1783 it was complete with a farmhouse, dairy and a mill. It was so pleasant to walk through this area, while Versailles was 'packed' with people we basicly had the hameau all to our selves....might have something to do with the long walk to get there....but well worth every step!

Now, don't get me wrong Versailles itself is wonderful, the beautiful gilded fountains, the gardens etc...but this little hameau had a bit of "magic' about it....and it's always nice to find a little magic.

Finally!!!....

Finally....I think I can say I have the main bedroom finished!!! All the wall paneling is made, painted and fitted into place....a bit tricky when you have a window to work around... This room has taken me a "lot" of time, frustration and finally satisfaction!!!

Behind the bedroom is a little sitting room....this too has its own wall paneling & a beautiful little fire place I bought several years ago.

I made aprox. 300 individual floor tiles, after sanding, painting, sanding(again) then glueing them to graph paper before fitting into place, then ofcourse finishing the room with ceiling cornice and skirting (base) boards.

The two rooms are fitted with a total of six lights...2 lights are hidden in the little sitting room, the bedroom has a 3 light crystal chandelier, 2 crystal wall sconces and a bed side lamp. Now it's time to work on putting furniture etc. into place....the fun stuff!!

Mont Saint Michel & Honfleur....

Mont Saint Michel was a place that I always wanted to visit & once there I wasn't disapointed....it's narrow cobblestone streets lead you to the very top of the abbey for the most spectacular views...such a magical place!!!

We stayed in Honfleur, in beautiful 14th century accommodation. This is such a picturesque town with its old fishing port and this beautiful yacht harbour. I believe they have wonderful markets most days of the week....just not the day we were there!!!

I love this photo of the crystal chandelier with the reflection of the town...

Walking around Honfleur we came upon "La Maison de Lucie".... it looked as though it was straight out of a French magazine, so very very pretty!!

I had to add this photo because every time I see it, it makes me smile. My daughter and I stopped to look at this house and the beautiful garden, when the cutest little dog appeared around the corner, we remarked to one another how sweet and cute it looked, the dog stood and looked at us for a while....then he let out the biggest bark we had ever heard in such a little dog...needless to say we took off up the road very quickly having quite a good laugh.....the size of the dog does not determine the size of the bark!!!!

I've Got Mail.....

Today I received this most beatuiful gift from Kim Saulter, I am thrilled to pieces with them!! Kim's scones and biscuits look so real, they are such a delight. Thank you so very much Kim!!! As I'm sure you all probably know, you can see Kim's work at "It's a Miniature Life" .....
http://kimsminiatures.blogspot.com

A Work In Progress....

Today I am painting floor tiles (miniature floor tiles of course)...... these I am getting ready for the main bedroom and little sitting room.......there are aprox. 300 of them!!!

I have some of the furniture ready for these rooms, they may still need a little work, bit more paint or a bit of 'aging', but on the whole I think I'm getting there.

Once again the furniture is made from kits, 'small pleasures' and 'house works', the brass & iron double bed, as well as the balloon back chair are "Pheonix Kits". I have made wall panelling for this room, that is completed and ready to be installed...just waiting on the floor....so had better go and do it.

Kitchen....

Welcome to my little kitchen.....all the furniture is made from kits. I love the kitchen table and the little cupboard on the right of the photo, these are "small pleasures" kits, which I unhappily add are no longer available. I made each individual floor tile, never thought I would finish, but was happy with the result when I finally did!

While the kitchen cupboards are once again kits,(I love the finished look), the hood above the cooktop I designed and made from a photo I saw in a magazine. I have added lighting inside the hood and the little cupboard over the sink, I like how the lighting brings the copper ware to life.

The kitchen table is set for a 'light lunch', 4 of the 5 cakes on the glass stand are from"English Kitchen", the ham sandwich I bought via mail-order from the "UK", I made the little book & the pot of daisys I bought from a miniature fair in Sydney.......you can see through to my 'garden room'.....

...I bought the broom from Paris last year...... I made the bird house & the box on top of the dresser is made by Lea Frisoni.....

The kitchen dresser is filled with "spode" dinnerware....this I made from a Spode catalogue and paper plates. A little Laduree bag sits on the dresser with a lovely little teapot, hand made by a lady here in Tasmania. My favorite magazine "Victoria" sits on the chair waiting to be read!

On the little food cupboard sits some little treasures I have collected over the years. I enjoyed making the cupboard, but I went against the 'instructions' and I added organdy ribbon to the cupboard fronts instead of the (plastic) mess that was provided.

Finished Garden Room....

This is my little garden room which comes off the kitchen, the flooring is flagstone paving which I made using basswood stripwood, all cut individually, sanded, painted, then glued to graph paper before being fitted in the room.

...this picture just shows you a slightly different angle....

I like the little hand-made bird which I came across in a miniature shop in Queensland, sadly the maker is no longer with us.

I think the small flower cart gives it that 'french' feel that I strive so hard to achieve.

The Little Garden Room....

The next room I worked on was what I call the "little garden room". This room is an extension off the kitchen and I have it full of plants. These hydrangeas and daffodils are made from kits. The little bird house was one of the first miniatures I ever made!!

I love these little daffodils, they are "Bonnie Lavish Kits", so easy to make and relatively inexpensive, but I think the effect they give is priceless!!

I'm thinking my house must be a 'spring' house as I lean towards daffodills, clematis and roses etc...

The garden table is supported by a pair of elegant swans, this I purchased from "Sue Cook Miniatures" while in England.....she is a very talented miniaturist....The table was lightly painted to give an aged weathered look, the birds nest I bought at "SIMP" last year. The flower kits are available from; http://www.fineflowersinminiature.co.uk/

Welcome to Chinon....

Doesn't this make your head spin with wonderful ideas of how to do the roof on your doll house?....well it did for me any-way! I love how 'neat' it all looks and the fact that on one little roof there are two different style windows....it's funny what fascinates me!!

This is the local Brocante/Antique shop, it really hurt to go in there as you see all the lovely french things that you would die to take home, but know that if you do, you have to carry them around for the rest of your holiday......I had learnt the hard way!!

Don't you just love the beautiful roses up the side of the building?

This is our lovely hotel "Best Western Hotel de France" situated on Place du General De Gaulle, Chinon.....it was a magic little scene, lots of little shops and restuarants all facing into the town square, (you can see the little antique shop to the left).

Every-where we went in Chinon the roses were out in bloom, but the funny thing was it was only the one type of rose through-out the whole town, the perfume was lovely. No one could tell me the name of the rose,but I would just about put money on it being "Pierre de Ronsard".

Jardin du Luxembourg....

The Luxembourg Garden has to be one of my favorite places in Paris.....on several occasions we would have our "pique-nique" there. We would stop by at "Le Bon Marche"...they have a wonderful food-hall, I would buy my 'pink lemonade' and what ever took my fancy for lunch that day and head-off for the gardens.....wonderful to sit under the shade of the trees, or watch the most adorable little sail boats on the pond...or just relax the poor tired feet before heading off to explore more of what Paris has to offer....