Cecile David-Weill

 

Are you a newyorker now? How important is NY for you?

 

J’habite à New York depuis 8 ans,  et cette ville a toujours été importante pour moi.  J’y suis née, j’y ai vécu les 7 premières années de ma vie, et j’y suis retournée très régulièrement car mon père y a vécu la plus grande partie de sa vie. Maintenant je m’y sens vraiment chez moi, au point que mon dernier livre publié en France chez Grasset, Chroniques de New York,  regroupe une série de chroniques que j’ai écrit sur la ville pour le magazine français Le Point. (http://www.lepoint.fr/invites-du-point/cecile-david-weill/)

 

 

Did you have a glittering childhood?

Mon enfance mêlait le glamour et l’austérité. C’était glamour car les maisons de mes parents étaient grandes, belles, et bourrées d’œuvres d’art. Que le personnel y était nombreux, et les invités, élégants. Et que nous nous déplacions en première classe ou en voiture avec chauffeur. Mais c’était austère car ma vie d’enfant était dépourvue de fantaisie, d’imprévu et parfois même de joie car elle était régie par des règles de discipline d’autant plus strictes qu’il était hors de question  pour mes parents que mon milieu privilégié fasse de moi une enfant gâtée.

 

How was your childhood as a cosmopolite upper class girl ? What means now to be an upper class woman?

Je crois que le fait d’avoir été élevée dans ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler la haute société fait que je ne suis pas intimidée par la culture, et que je n’ai pas honte des lacunes que je peux avoir en la matière. D’autre part, les gens riches ou qualifiés d’important ne m’impressionnent pas en tant que tels, car je sais par expérience que cela ne les empêche en rien d’être des gens tout à fait normaux, et parfois même des gens qui se sentent assez seuls, surtout lorsqu’ils sont également célèbres. Mais cela ne m’empêche pas d’être éblouie par des gens que je juge remarquables, humainement ou intellectuellement, et qui font d’ailleurs assez rarement partie de la haute société.

En revanche j’ai l’impression que le fait d’être née dans ce milieu ne m’a pas préparée à aller de façon naturelle vers les gens de tous les milieux, et qu’à ce titre, c’est un peu un ghetto dont il est essentiel d’apprendre à sortir.

 

When you decide that you want to write? How was this regarded in your family?

J’ai toujours voulu écrire, et j’ai commencé très tôt à écrire des histoires et à faire des portraits des invités de mes parents que je gardais pour moi. Mais j’ai mis mes parents à rude épreuve avec mon premier roman, qui était érotique, et je dois dire qu’ils ont fait preuve de beaucoup d’élégance et qu’ils m’ont soutenu. Mais je pense qu’ils ont trouvé beaucoup plus impudique mon dernier roman Les Prétendants. Et il est vrai  qu’il s’agissait de ma part d’une transgression car c’est une comédie de mœurs qui lève un voile sur une façon de vivre qui a vocation à rester, non pas secrète, mais discrète, voire confidentielle.

 

Did you have a nanny? Do your children have one ?

Oui, j’ai eu une nanny, vieille et anglaise, qui faisait son travail sans affect, c’est à dire sans amour, ni méchanceté. Et si j’ai, moi aussi, eu recours à des au pair pour mes enfants, j’ai essayé d’en engager des plus jeunes et des plus enthousiastes, et de passer le plus de temps possible avec mes enfants.

 

Did you raise your child in the same you were rise?

How important is the family in the development of a child?

Je crois en effet que la famille est essentielle au développement d’une enfant. D’ailleurs, le sujet de l’éducation des enfants me passionne. Au point que je suis en train d’écrire un livre sur le sujet sur l’influence de l’éducation qu’on a reçue sur celle que l’on donne à ses enfants.

 

 

What you thought in your childhood that your way in life will be?

Petite, je savais déjà que j’écrirais et que je serais très maternelle envers mes enfants. Sur ces deux points au moins, je ne me suis pas trompée. Pour le reste, la vie est très inventive, et donc inattendue.

 

You were always surrendered to art. The best way to develop an addiction? A hobby? Anyway a very good taste. Do you still collect and buy art, or borough from family collections ?

Le fait d’être baignée dans l’art depuis l’enfance est une chance car c’est cette familiarité qui me permet de reconnaître la qualité d’une œuvre sans effort. Et si aujourd’hui je me tiens au courant, et que je visite des expositions, je me sens néanmoins formée à l’art par cette fréquentation précoce et assidue, d’enfant issue d’une famille de collectionneurs.

Et je vois bien la différence avec la musique, qui n’a pas curieusement pas fait partie de mon éducation, et dont la familiarité me fait défaut pour comprendre la grammaire et la qualité de la musique, et que j’ai maintenant décidé d’acquérir en apprenant le solfège et en écoutant beaucoup de musique et d’opéra.

 

Your book The Suitors is a bestseller. Do you think that putting something very autobiographical with sincerity is the key to success?

 

Oui, je crois que les lecteurs ressentent l’énergie que l’on met à écrire quelque chose de sincère, de personnel, ou de douloureux, et que c’est cela qui les touche, qui crée l’émotion de la lecture.

 

 

Did you ever travel in Romania ? Or you just love Brancusi ?

 

Je n’ai jamais été en Roumanie, mais j’aimerais y aller, et oui, en effet, j’admire beaucoup Brancusi, et je vais souvent à l’atelier Brancusi reconstruit au centre Pompidou à Paris.

 

Favorite places in NY

-The Cloisters

-The Frick Collection

-The High Line

-The Neue Galerie

 

 

Favorite places in Paris, of course.

 

-Place  Furstenberg

-Pont des Arts

-Cour carrée du Louvre

-Jardin du Palais Royal

 

-Do you take breakfast at home or in town?

 

Je prends mon petit déjeuner chez moi, mais quand je le prends dehors à Paris, c’est souvent au café de Flore (www.cafedeflore.fr/)

et à New York,  au Regency Bar and Grill (http://www.regencybarandgrill.com)

 

 

-Which are your favorite restaurants

 

À NEW YORK

 

-CARBONE, pour son ambiance de restaurant confidentiel pour mafieux italien, et sa cuisine populaire mais néanmoins sophistiquée

( http://carbonenewyork.com)

 

-MAREA, parce que c’est le meilleur restaurant de poisson de New York, (http://www.marea-nyc.com )

 

-MILOS, plus bruyant, et moins sophistiqué que Maréa, le néanmoins formidable restaurant grec (http://milos.ca/restaurants/new-york)

 

-THE FOUR SEASONS RESTAURANT, parce que c’est un lieu de design mythique à New York. (http://www.fourseasonsrestaurant.com)

 

À PARIS

 

 

-LE STRESA, pour ses pâtes, et son ambiance happy few

(http://www.lestresa.com)

 

 

-LE JARDIN FRANCAIS DE L’HOTEL BRISTOL, pour ses clubs sandwichs (http://www.lebristolparis.com/eng/gastronomy/le-jardin-francais/)

 

 

 

-Which is the best grocery? Patisserie? Cakes?

 

À NEW YORK

 

-SANT AMBROEUS, pour sa miche de pain aux graines, ses sorbets, ses sandwiches et ses sablés (http://www.santambroeus.com/products.html)

 

- DOMINIQUE ANSEL pour ses cronuts, contraction de croissant et de doughnut (http://dominiqueansel.com

 

 

À PARIS

 

-FOUQUET, pour leurs thés, leurs confitures, leurs moutardes, leurs caramels, et les plus chics des boites de chocolat à offrir quand on est invité chez des gens, car ce sont des coffrets composés de petits pots de verre à remplir de différentes confiseries de toutes les formes et les couleurs. (http://www.fouquet.fr/la-maison-fouquet)

 

-LA PATISSERIE DES RĒVES, pour leur carrousel de pâtisseries, qui sont à perdre la tête, et de loin supérieures à toutes celles des chaines, genre Dalloyau, ou La Durée (http://lapatisseriedesreves.com)

 

-ANGELINA, pour son incroyable Mont-Blanc aux marrons (http://www.angelina-paris.fr/fr/)

 

 

- And shopping? Shoes, clothes, bags, gloves, or things for house, antiquities?

 

Je ne suis pas très intéressée par la mode et je n’aime pas beaucoup acheter des vêtements.

Mais j’aime les antiquaires, surtout la Galerie KUGEL à Paris

http://www.galeriekugel.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?lg=fr

 

et le marché aux Puces, le weekend

http://www.marcheauxpuces-saintouen.com/1.aspx

 

Stafford Kempinski Londra

http://ralix.ro/craciun-la-londra/ 

Londra este un oraş minunat care are ceva de oferit fiecăruia, cosmopolit, multicultural şi totuşi atît de britanic. Zona St. James este cea mai potrivită pentru un sejur  londonez :  este aproape de Buckingham Palace şi poţi vedea gărzile călare, trăsurile în mişcare, schimbarea gărzilor, toate doar la doar doi paşi, pe Mall. Aproape este şi Fortnum & Mason, Piccadilly cu Royal Academy of Arts, ba chiar şi Rachel Trevor-Morgan, daca ai nevoie de o pălărie  precum cele purtate de Regina Elisabeta  a II-a.

În spatele palatului St. James, hotelul Stafford este cea mai potrivită alegere, un hotel de lux, dar low key, fără să fie orbitor, oriental. Intri ca în locuinţa unui aristocrat englez, proprietate a familiei de secole, cu salonul de la intrare mobilat cu piese cumpărate de generaţiile succesive care au locuit-o, minunat aranjate, lux, calm şi voluptate. Afli povestea motanului Lucky, care atunci cînd se rătăcea prin Londra era adus de cîte un taximetrist sigur că va fi generos răsplătit.

Hotelul este esenţa cuvîntului discret, designul interior fiind o combinaţie reuşită între tradiţional şi contemporan. Totul este chic şi totuşi familiar, este confortabil, totul este la îndemînă, multe oglinzi (şi cît de necesare ne sînt ele !), multe lămpi, măsuţa de toaletă  dotată cu tot ce trebuie pentru o demachiere  corectă. Calm, discreţie, confort. Pentru fragilele noastre rochii umeraşele sînt îmbrăcate în mătase în dulapul Ei, iar în al Lui sînt multe  pentru pantaloni.

 Băile sînt spaţioase, elegante, cu cadă şi duş, cu oglinzi în care să ne facem un machiaj perfect, geluri şi şampon, săpunuri şi creme de corp, cască de baie, prosoape moi şi multe, senzaţia de răsfăţ.

După  ce ieşi din baie poţi comanda ceva delicios în cameră, dar mai bine cobori pentru un Afternoon Tea cu tot dichisul în restaurantul Lyttelton, care arată ca salonul unei contese tocmai pentru că a fost cel al Lordului Lyttelton. Argintul străluceşte discret, albeaţa damascului ţti ia ochii, iarporţelanul este plăcut la atingere. Meniul îţi oferă ceai ori cafea, sandwiches cu somon şi brînză, brioşe calde servite cu gemuri de sezon şi marmelade, prăjituri englezeşti, toate proaspăt ieşite de laboratoarele talentatului Chef Brendan Fyldes  . E de preferat să mergeţi însoţiţi ca să puteţi birui abundenţa « ceaiului ».

În restaurant poţi mînca la orice oră, de la micul dejun pînă la cină. Se fac rezervări pentru mesele de Crăciun. La cina din Ajunul Crăciunului se promit cinci feluri, scoici, porceluş de lapte, raţă ( Chef’s home  made Terrine ; Roast Scallops, Suckling Pig, Celetiac & Apple ; Roast Reggie Johnson’s Corn fed Duck, with Mulled Winter Fruits ; the Lyttelton Festive Tart, Whiskey Custard ; Coffee & Chocolates), după care este recomandată o scurtă plimbare la lumina torţelor pînă la Guard’s Chapel ca să vă reculegeţi la mesa de Crăciun. Cît despre prînzul de Crăciun, numai veşti bune :  somon scoţian, curcanul tradiţional, Christmas Pudding (Ballotine of Scottish salmon, Creme Fraiche, Soft Herbs and Caviar ; Officers Mulligatawny, Crab & Coconut Rice ; Toast Goosnargh Turkey, Quince, Walnut and Foie Gras Stuffing, Traditional Vegetables and Potatoes, Cranberry Relish ; Home made Christmas Pudding, brandy sauce ; Coffee, Chocolates & mini mince pies ), cu obligatoria vizionare a mesajului de Crăciun al Reginei.

Nu ocoliţi Barul American unde puteţi bea un cocktail alături de Prinţul William sau de Prinţul Harry, veniţi în vecini, clienţi fideli ai locului după cum mi-a mărturisit  graţioasa Ursula von Platen , PR manager.  Puteţi alege  oricare dintre toate mărcile produse în toată lumea, orice ar fi : şampanie, vin alb sau roşu, cocktail, gin, vodcă, tequila, calvados, rom, Armagnac, coniac, grappa, eau de vie, porto, malt whiskey, Irish whiskey, bourbon, rye whiskey, vermut, sherry, bere, cidru, apă minerală, sucuri sau…trabucuri. Pentru că se fumează la Barul American, într-o atmosferă de film…hollywoodian. 

Colecţia de vinuri se păstrează în pivniţa în care vă puteţi şi căsătorii dacă farmecul locului funcţionează şi dacă nu aţi făcut deja pasul, pentru că au licenţă pentru aşa ceva. Dacă deja sînteţi căsătoriţi, faceţi totuşi o vizită. Veţi avea ocazia să vedeţi cum arată o pivniţă cu vinuri de colecţie, cu praful zecilor de ani netulburat, şi faceţi diferenţa dintre ce vedeţi şi oroarea de crama a prietenului care îşi zice cunoscător . În primul rind e construită în urmă cu 350 de ani, apoi are aproape 800 de vinuri, în valoare de peste un million de dolari, astfel că Stafford se laudă cu una dintre cele mai complete colecţii de vinuri din Londra. Puteţi să experimentaţi o degustare doar pentru voi, la care să oficieze  însuşi Master Sommelier, Gino Nardella. Va fi o  amintire de neşters.

Dacă încă mai aveţi energie şi vă pasionează gătitul, vă puteţi înscrie la un curs  unde profesor este însuşi Brendan Fyldes, Executive Chef. La 8 dimineaţa trebuie să fiţi în bucătărie unde după o scurtă introducere în timp ce vă beţi cafeaua , vă veţi lua în primire şorţul personal şi cartea de bucate, învăţînd cum să faceţi pîine şi un prînz cu aperitiv, fel principal şi desert. Vă trageţi sufletul la Barul American cu un pahar de şampanie şi cîteva canapés, după care luaţi un prînz consistent la The Lyttelton însoţit de vinurile despre care tocmai am pomenit. Giftuiţi, încercaţi să vă căraţi pînă în cameră sacoşa cu cartea de bucate Kempinski, şorţul  Lyttelton, Lyttelton coaster şi  homemade chutneys şi biscuţi. Uşurat va fi doar portofelul dumneavoastră căci acest curs nu e tocmai ieftin. Dar  nimic nu este ieftin, după cum bine ştim : lucrurile bune au un preţ. Doar că o experienţă în acest loc merită fiecare pound, chiar şi cel pe care îl arată cîntarul în plus.  

                                                                         

Furniture/Meuble

“Yvonne Printemps on the Sofa”: Edouard Vuillard – 1919-1921

Louis XV bishop’s-crook bed

Le Divorce - James Ivory

Travels with my Valentine - part three

Travels with my Valentine - part two

Travels with my Valentine - part one

Afternoon Tea at Chatsworth

Manhattan Apartment - Nina Griscom

Sursa : Architectural Digest - Feb. 2012

Wish list

André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) Bureau plat, 1715 Marqueterie Boulle - 198 x 93 cm Jean-Baptiste Limonne Table de bibliothèque, 1786 Acajou, bronze doré - 390 x 185 cm

Zile si nopti - februarie

I wish to be Queen 's guest

Each couple arrives between six and seven o’clock, to be greeted by an equerry and lady-in-waiting and escorted to their suite in the Lancaster, York, or King Edward III tower. The customary accommodation includes two large bedrooms and bathrooms, a ladies’ dressing room and commodious sitting room furnished with desks equipped with writing paper and pens, tables laden with mineral water, decanters of whisky, sherry, and gin, cornucopias of fruit, bowls of peppermint candies, jars of biscuits, and vases of fresh flowers. ... She assigns a footman and housemaid to serve as each guest’s valet or ladies’ maid Their job is to unpack the suitcases, fold underwear in gauzy organza bags, line up cosmetics and perfume bottles in perfect order, whisk away clothing for washing and ironing (“better than any dry cleaner in London,” said the wife of a Commonwealth diplomat), draw the bath at the guest’s requested temperature, drape a large a towel over a nearby chair, lay out clothes, and before departure time repack everything with tissue paper. Sally Bedell Smith "Elizabeth the Queen; The Life of a Modern Monarch ".

De citit neaparat (7): Christine Gräfin von Brühl

Parisian Christmas

Posh Christmas

Christmas Shopping (1)

Count Guy TYREL de POIX, founder of S.E.R.V.E. and creator of Vinul Cavalerului and Terra Romana, has prepared for stomatology which he gave up to deal with the 50 hectares of vineyards inherited in Corsica. He came for the first time in Romania in 1993 and in 1994 founded S.E.R.V.E. (Societatea Euro-Romana de Vinuri de Exceptie) which is the producer of two of the most popular range of wines on the Romanian market: Terra Romana and Vinul Cavalerului. This was the beginning of the "Romanian adventure", adventure which made him fall in love with this country. You can find them here http://www.serve.ro/

Christmas dinner (1)

Highclere Castle

Chatsworth

Patrick Leigh Fermor

Better a Hero Than a Celebrity Remembrance Better a Hero Than a Celebrity by Taki July 04, 2011 Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor I first met Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor in the summer of 1977 in Corfu. I was onboard Gianni Agnelli’s boat, and the charismatic Fiat chairman asked me to go ashore and bring “a very smart Englishman whose ancient Greek is much better than yours.” I knew “Paddy,” as everyone called him, by sight, because among us Greeks he was on a par with our ancient heroes. Leigh Fermor was not only famous for his books on Greece—Mani and Roumeli—he was renowned for his incredible heroics in a guerrilla operation in Crete in May 1944. Having spent two years disguised as a Cretan shepherd in the island’s rough mountains harassing German troops, Paddy dressed as a German police officer and stopped a car carrying General Karl Kreipe, the island commander. Having killed the general’s chauffeur, Leigh Fermor proceeded to wear the general’s hat and managed to bluff his way through Heraklion and 22 subsequent checkpoints. Kreipe was stuffed under the backseat while Leigh Fermor’s bat man and three hefty Greek rebels sat on him. For three weeks the group managed to evade frantic German search parties, finally marching the general over Mount Ida, the mythical post-birth hiding ground of Zeus. “Heroics aside, Leigh Fermor was often compared to Lord Byron for being both a man of action and learning.” One moonlit night high up, Fermor was guarding the general when Kreipe, gazing up at the snowy peak, recited the first line of Horace’s ode, Vides ut alta stet nive candidum…—“ You see how [Mount] Soracte stands out white with deep snow.…” Leigh Fermor then continued the poem in perfect Latin until the end. The two men stared at each other, realizing, as Paddy later wrote, that they had “drunk at the same fountain.” The German and the Englishman then made a pact. Kreipe gave his word as an officer that he would not try and escape; in return, Leigh Fermor never turned Kreipe over to the firing squad. What follows came straight from Paddy to me in Corfu. Six months after Kreipe’s kidnapping, Leigh Fermor landed yet again on the island to celebrate its liberation. He was taken behind Heraklion’s main square, where the general who succeeded Kreipe was about to be shot. Paddy was aghast because the German was cool as ice and when Paddy introduced himself, the condemned said: “Ah, Leigh Fermor, you were lucky. Kreipe was an intellectual, a softie; I would have killed you on the spot.” When Paddy asked him if there was anything he could do for him, the German asked for one last cigarette, thanked him, smoked it while inhaling rather deeply, then said goodbye and went off and got shot ramrod-straight. Heroics aside, Leigh Fermor was often compared to Lord Byron for being both a man of action and learning. His very good friend, Robert Byron (no relation), was a travel writer who greatly influenced Paddy, whose most celebrated book, A Time of Gifts, told the story of his walk across Europe from Rotterdam to Constantinople at age 18. Leigh Fermor continued writing travel books, and they stood out for rendering the past visible, for their evocation of youthful exuberance, and for the joy one felt reading them. He was a very good-looking man, an Anglo-Irishman whose adventures in Crete were made into a film back in 1957, Ill Met by Moonlight. The irony was that he was played by Dirk Bogarde, an outrageous homosexual whose greatest talent was spreading terrible rumors about others. Leigh Fermor was 96 when he died but lived vigorously until the end. Three years ago his correspondence with the last surviving Mitford Girl, Deborah, dowager Duchess of Devonshire, was published to great acclaim. What a cast of characters in that book. Norman Douglas—another great influence—Steven Runciman, Osbert Lancaster, Cyril Connolly, Bruce Chatwin, and many others rich and famous and literate. Paddy was a hell of a ladies’ man, although he married only once—to Joan Rayner, who was his close and understanding companion until her death in 2003. The word ‘understanding’ is key. He also wrote the script for John Huston’s The Roots of Heaven, a vastly underrated film in which Errol Flynn made a comeback by playing a has-been of sorts, a character Flynn repeated successfully to the end. One of Leigh Fermor’s great regrets was that while cleaning his weapon in the mountains of Crete it accidentally went off and killed his trusted guide. He told George Seferis, Greece’s first Nobel Prize winner for Literature, that this death was probably his life’s lowest point. Leigh and his wife designed and built a beautiful but very simple house in Kardamyli, deep in the Peloponnese and overlooking the sea, and they lived there for most of his adult life. I was lucky to have met him, and now that I am of a certain age I realize how much better it must have been to have lived during heroic times—no matter whose side one was on—than today’s empty, horrible celebrity culture. Paddy, Rest in Peace.