Cathy's French Connection

Mont St. Michel, my spiritual home

I love France! In March I spent my last morning in Paris sitting on a bench at Square Viviani watching the sun rise against the backdrop of Notre Dame and munching on my final croissant before heading to the airport...... but I plan to return again next spring.

All three of my children have studied in France and over the years I have managed to travel there myself even though I speak little French. I have found the people of France to be welcoming and now have many friends and places to visit each year when I return.

A Bayeux Tapestry scene - showing Mont St. Michel

For 4 years one or the other of my daughters was living and studying in Paris, France. So what's a Mother to do? I had to visit them once in awhile, and each spring I began to travel to Paris to see them, the wonderful city of Paris and also to teach a class or two at Le Rouvray, the little quilt shop on the left bank. very near to Notre Dame.

However, for the past two years - all my children are back in the United States and I am still traveling to France. The truth is I am in love with the food, lifestyle, the architecture and just having time to enjoy myself in a culture that values much of what I love.

Teaching at Le Rouvray gives me a great opportunity to meet French quilters and to enjoy new friendships. I also get to shop for the wonderful French fabrics from Provance & the toile's that are popular here. I have made some good friends on my trips to France and visited many museums, churches and sites where fabric, embroidery or design give me new ideas for my quilts.

Beyond Paris, I also like to travel by train to my beloved Mont Saint Michel for a few days of peace at the Mouton Blanc, my favorite island auberge or pilgrim hotel. One year as a gift I made them a piece with a white sheep worked in silk ribbon French knots. For hundreds of years, people have made pilgrimage to Mont Saint Michel and today they still come -- as tourists. The grande rue winds its way up to the doors of the abbey past the trinket shops but the peace of the gardens and the wonder of watching the tides rise around the island twice a day without fail keep me returning there for renewal and rest.

You can easily arrange your trains to stop by the wonderful Normandy town of Bayeux famous for the Bayeux Tapestry. I have been to visit it three times now and each time I marvel and this wonderful piece of medieval embroidery. It is both a work of art and a record (with spin of course) of the events leading up to and through the battle of Hastings and the mighty conquest of England by the Norman warrior William the Conqueror. I wander slowly along its length (220 feet) looking at the colors, the detail, the carefully mended linen background and feel that history has come alive. There are narrow borders above and below the main action full of scenes of medieval life, mythical birds, griffins and other animals separated by graceful design elements. The main action moves dramatically through multiple stories ending with the fierce battle that changed the course of European history.

Dining room at "Mouton Blanc" on Mont St. Michel

Places to visit for those who love needlework & handcrafted art

o Cluny Museum (Musee de Moyen Age) -- Here you can see the famous lady and the Unicorn tapestries. There are bits of illunimated manuscripts, wonderful decorative wrought iron, a whole room of linen and embroidered silk clothing and even remnants with exquisite handwork.

o Le Rouvray - 3 rue de la buchiere, left bank very near to Notre Dame. Diane Obaldia has a lovely quilt shop near to Notre Dame on the left bank. Here you will find wonderful Provance fabrics, the Le Rouvray fabric collection, a variety of small French antiques -- and American fabrics! I love to visit the shop and to teach downstairs in the "cave" typical Paris cellar which is just large enough to hold our classes. (picture below)

o Mokuba, 18 rue Montmartre, Paris. Another shop with nothing but ribbons, all kinds of silk and decorative ribbons -- crazy quilters will love it. Remember that French shops often close for an extended time at noon and this shop is closed from 12-2.

o Musee Le Secq des Tournelles, rue Jacques-Villon, Rouen. This is a museum of wrought iron work housed in a lovely old church. Downstairs there are metal worked signs from shops hung everywhere -- their inticate curves and graceful lines are a marvel. In cases are all types of iron implements going back centuries and beautifully arranged. On one wall I found an arc or antique scissors with their matching scissor cases nearby. This museum in Rouen is about an hour by train from Paris and an easy walk from the gare (train station).

Cathy (profesor) & students at Le Rouvray

Bread & Pastry See my bread page for more about why I love France!

Reenactors are people who never tired of playing dress-up!