French la Vie https://www.frenchlavie.com French la Vie Sat, 31 Oct 2026 07:53:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://www.frenchlavie.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/poppy-1-150x150.png French la Vie https://www.frenchlavie.com 32 32 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/10/31/halloween-all-saints-all-souls-and-all-everything/ Halloween, All Saints, All Souls and all everything https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972146651/0/tongueincheek~Halloween-All-Saints-All-Souls-and-all-everything/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972146651/0/tongueincheek~Halloween-All-Saints-All-Souls-and-all-everything/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2026 11:00:58 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=87024 ]]>
]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972146651/0/tongueincheek~Halloween-All-Saints-All-Souls-and-all-everything/feed/ 1 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/10/30/french-toile-de-jouy-2/ French Toile de Jouy https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972129806/0/tongueincheek~French-Toile-de-Jouy/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972129806/0/tongueincheek~French-Toile-de-Jouy/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2026 11:00:49 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=87009 Looking through a box at an antique textile shop that I love — a shop that has been around for as long as I’ve lived in France — my eyes caught an aubergine toile de Jouy. It was in a very tattered state, but I was immediately smitten. You could say it’s my Chanel. Many […]]]>

Looking through a box at an antique textile shop that I love — a shop that has been around for as long as I’ve lived in France — my eyes caught an aubergine toile de Jouy. It was in a very tattered state, but I was immediately smitten. You could say it’s my Chanel.

Many textile collectors know that old quilts can hold extraordinary secrets. Like finding a painting beneath a painting, uncovering these fabrics is a painstaking process, carefully removing each layer to reveal a beauty preserved within.

In France, old quilts often carry a much longer history. People didn’t throw things away; when new materials were difficult to find, they used what they had, repairing and adding layers of fabrics to preserve what they had and needed.

This quilt had many layers, and someone had carefully picked it back, revealing this beautiful fragment — worn, fragile, and full of history. A quilt that kept warm generations as they slept. I wonder if anyone ever traced the image with their fingers, creating stories in their minds before drifting off.

I plan to hang it on a wall, although I don’t actually have a house with any space left on the walls. I have a feeling I’ll be covering my doors next.

Photo – Francine a textile collector who has had an incredible shop for over thirty with her family in Isle sur la Sorgue. I have visited their shop for years cxx

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972129806/0/tongueincheek~French-Toile-de-Jouy/feed/ 2 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/10/29/untangled-2/ Untangled https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972102386/0/tongueincheek~Untangled/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972102386/0/tongueincheek~Untangled/#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2026 11:00:59 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=87006 The branches aren’t the story. They’re what stands between us and seeing each other. May we never mistake the tangle for the truth.]]>

The branches aren’t the story.

They’re what stands between us and seeing each other.

May we never mistake the tangle for the truth.

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972102386/0/tongueincheek~Untangled/feed/ 3 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/10/28/the-last-group-of-the-year-2/ The Last Group of the Year https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972067919/0/tongueincheek~The-Last-Group-of-the-Year/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972067919/0/tongueincheek~The-Last-Group-of-the-Year/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2026 11:00:47 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=86984 ]]>
]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972067919/0/tongueincheek~The-Last-Group-of-the-Year/feed/ 3 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/10/27/autumn-days-2/ Autumn Days https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972034100/0/tongueincheek~Autumn-Days/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972034100/0/tongueincheek~Autumn-Days/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2026 11:00:15 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=86979 Fields.Harvest wrapped in a golden hue.Branches releasing what they held.Earth offering its abundance. Grateful.]]>

Fields.
Harvest wrapped in a golden hue.
Branches releasing what they held.
Earth offering its abundance.

Grateful.

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972034100/0/tongueincheek~Autumn-Days/feed/ 5 https://www.frenchlavie.com/2026/10/26/antiquing-in-carpentras/ Antiquing in Carpentras https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972002531/0/tongueincheek~Antiquing-in-Carpentras/ https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972002531/0/tongueincheek~Antiquing-in-Carpentras/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.frenchlavie.com/?p=86973 If you’ve never been to the brocante in Carpentras, imagine stepping into a place where every object is looking for a home, and you wonder how you can take most of it home for a song. Every Sunday 9-2. The market unfolds with rows of stalls There are no polished showroom displays here. Instead, treasures […]]]>

If you’ve never been to the brocante in Carpentras, imagine stepping into a place where every object is looking for a home, and you wonder how you can take most of it home for a song. Every Sunday 9-2.

The market unfolds with rows of stalls There are no polished showroom displays here. Instead, treasures are stacked on old wooden tables, tucked into wicker baskets, or leaning on stone walls.

As you wander, your eyes dart from one discovery to the next: weathered farmhouse tables worn smooth by generations of family meals, enamel pitchers, copper pots that have lost none of their character, and French Provencal pottery. One stall glitters with crystal chandeliers and silver candlesticks; the next overflows with vintage postcards, antique maps, and faded photographs of strangers whose stories are left to your imagination.

Unlike a modern antique store, there is no perfect order. That’s part of the magic. You might have to look beneath a pile of old quilts to find a set of hand-painted ceramic plates or notice a beautifully carved mirror hidden behind a collection of wooden shutters. 

The dealers are often as interesting as their collections. Many know the history of every piece they sell and are happy to explain where it came from—a château, a village farmhouse, or perhaps a monastery tucked away in the hills of Provence. Conversations drift easily between French and English, punctuated by smiles, gestures, and the shared excitement of finding something special.

What makes Carpentras different is that it still feels authentic. 

Even if you buy nothing, the experience feels like walking through a living museum where touching is encouraged, bargaining is expected, and every object invites the same question: “Where has this been?”

]]> https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/972002531/0/tongueincheek~Antiquing-in-Carpentras/feed/ 3