Part 1: The Bloody French in London

So What do the bloody French have to do with London? Well, a lot monsieur et madame. During the eighteenth Century many French aristocrats were exiled in England. They choose in Twickenham and Richmond for their hiding place. The Duke of Orleans lived in Orleans House in Twickenham which now a public museum. I will write more on the Bloody French in London Part 2. In the meanwhile, most recently, I went to the Wallace Collection, I saw some of my favorite eighteenth Century French painters, Fragonard along side his teacher,Boucher .

Fragonard's, The Swing

Take a Good look at this painting. The story behind it is that the man is looking up at the ladies dress and she doesn't even have any knickers on. How Cheeky !The Swing is Fragonard's best-known painting, encapsulating for many the finesse, humour and joie de vivre of the Rococo. No other work better demonstrates his ability to combine erotic licence with a visionary feeling for nature. According to the poet Collé, the history painter Doyen was commissioned by an unnamed ‘gentleman of the Court’ to paint his young mistress on a swing, pushed by a bishop with himself admiring her legs from below.

Boucher - Venus and Cupid

The setting of Venus and Cupid is suitably ethereal, with Cupid handing his cloud-borne mother a golden apple, the prize she had won from the shepherd Paris.


Venus was the Roman goddess of love and fertility, and often symbolised visual beauty. Beauty and desire were central concerns of eighteenth-century French art. Venus often appears in decorative painting of the period, sometimes accompanied by her son, Cupid, and with her attributes, which include a pair of doves or swans, roses, dolphins, a scallop shell, and flaming torches.

Boucher- Daphne and Chloe

Boucher- Spring

The Wallace Collection is a national museum which displays the wonderful works of art collected in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace, the son of the 4th Marquess. It was bequeathed to the British nation by Sir Richard's widow, Lady Wallace, in 1897.Most famous for our old master paintings and 18th century French porcelain and furniture, the collection also includes one of the finest collection of princely arms and armor in Britain as well as gold boxes, miniatures, sculpture and Medieval and Renaissance.

In addition,I saw Marie Antoinette furniture that she used in her apartment at Versailles.

Claude-Jean Pitoin (active between: c. 1778)
Gilt bronze and blue enamel

Chest-of-drawers- René Dubois (1737 - 1798). France c. 1765
Brecciated Sarrancolin marble; oak veneered with Japanese lacquer, purplewood stained black and mahogany stained black (on the legs); gilt bronze; silk, paper and gimp (lining drawers)

A Portrait of Marie Antoinette

Perfume Burner-Attributed to Pierre Gouthière (1732 - 1813),Jasper and gilt bronze

Commentary:

I know Marie Antoinette or Queen Deficit, as the French called her
wasn't the most exemplary or virtuous Queen, but on the other hand
she was just a horny teenager when she came to rule France.
I don't think her nor Louis Qatorze knew what the hell they were doing
and it's not fair to judge otherwise. It is, what it is.
But, the face of France has never been the same since her.
Queen Deficit contributed much to French History with her
love of macaroons and her tall outrageous hair.(They used to hide their
fortunes and jewels in there).
She will always be known as a fashion icon,if nothing else.

Modern Video of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette .
The scene where she is driving to Versailles at dawn in her horse drawn carriage is majestic.Immediately, I am transported to the aristocratic court of 18th Century France,with it's glamorous balls and masquerade parties.

Public Tours

Wallace Collection Public Tours
The Wallace Collection
Hertford House
Manchester Square London
W1U 3BN United Kingdom
Telephone +44 (0)207 563 9500
Fax +44 (0) 207 224 2155
visiting@wallacecollection.org

Take Bond Street Tube.

More Tales and Adventures in Sabrina's London Diaries

PLEASE HELP THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

The 7.0 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti has left an enormous
mess, but not only that according to the United Nations, 300,000
people have been displaced. And, last I checked 35 English
are missing.


Please help in anyway possible.We are all strugling and have
our own financial responsiblities, but I am asking everyone, including
myself to dig in thier pockets and give even if it means to sacrifice
not drinking a latte or seeing a movie this week.




Every bit helps and here below are some charities that are taking donations.

Please read this article from ehow.com, to see HOW you can help the HAITIAN VICTIMS!!


http://www.ehow.com/how_2315068_donate-haiti-earthquake-victims.html

Read further to find out what the RED CROSS IS DOING.

This was taken from www.redcross.co.uk
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What we are doing
In the aftermath of the disaster, local Red Cross staff and volunteers were on the scene and continue to assist the injured and support hospitals struggling. Red Cross worker carries injured child

Drawing on resources around the world the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement responded immediately and is carrying out a huge emergency response operation. Pre-positioned relief goods were released immediately within Haiti and from other warehouses in the region. These consist of kitchen kits, shelter kits, personal hygiene kits, blankets and containers for storing drinking water.

As part of the Disasters Emergency Committee – which brings together 13 leading UK aid agencies at times of major crises – we are appealing for funds.

Red Cross action

* Five Red Cross flights have arrived in Port-au-Prince and three in Santo Domingo with 117 tonnes of Red Cross aid. The goods that have landed in Santo Domingo are en route via road to quake-ravaged Haiti. Further flights are scheduled to arrive over the coming days.
* Pre-positioned relief kits have been distributed to 3,500 families, consisting of kitchen supplies, personal hygiene kits, blankets, tarpaulins and containers for storing drinking water.
* The Red Cross has distributed more than 220,000 litres of water to approximately 24,000 people across six settlements, including some hospitals, over the weekend. Latrines have been built for 1,000 people.
* Red Cross emergency health kits for 30,000 people have been distributed between the central hospital in Port-au-Prince and volunteers from the Haitian and Dominican Red Cross are providing first aid.
* The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has supplied medical kits for 2,000 patients and is providing medical aid for survivors. Hundreds of blankets and plastic sheets have also been distributed and a further shipment of seven truckloads of medical supplies will arrive soon. The ICRC is also engaged in recovering and identifying the dead.
* Thousands of people within Haiti and abroad have lost contact with their loved ones and the ICRC has set up a special website to help them get in touch with each other.
* A Red Cross rapid deployment hospital has arrived in Port-au-Prince and has started treating patients outside the hospital and arranging triage for surgery, while the main hospital infrastructure is being put up.
* Sixteen specialist emergency response units (ERUs) have been deployed from around the world, including experts in water and sanitation, logistics, IT and telecommunication infrastructure, health facilities and medical aid.
* In total more than 400 Red Cross aid workers have been deployed to Haiti from around the world to help with the relief effort and are working alongside thousands of Haitian Red Cross staff and volunteers who have been responding since the earthquake struck.
* As the airport in Port-au-Prince is unable to receive all the humanitarian aid being flown in, the British Red Cross logistics ERU is based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic where they are receiving aid and trucking it in to Haiti.
* The British Red Cross has raised over £2m for its appeal and has released £1.6m to support the emergency response. It also released £200,000 from its Disaster Fund to support the relief effort in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.
* The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has revised the target for its Haiti appeal upwards, and is now calling for £63 million to assist 300,000 people for three years.

Security situation

Red Cross teams are focusing their efforts on reaching the most vulnerable first. This means identifying who they are and providing relief in a manner that ensures their safety and doesn’t exacerbate their situation. There are clearly many more in need than those we are currently reaching – we are scaling up our response constantly and the more funds we get the more we are able to do. Woman carrying child

We are closely monitoring the security situation in Haiti and based on current information, the arrival and distribution of vital Red Cross relief items has not been affected.

In the aftermath of a large-scale natural disaster there are always challenges, as roads, bridges and other infrastructure can be damaged. The main road to Port-au-Prince is open, but we are still conducting aerial assessment of outlying rural areas, which may have suffered more damage, and could potentially be more cut off. However, the Red Cross is experienced in responding to natural disasters, and by using experienced logistics staff we will reach the people who need our help.

In the event that we raise more money than can be reasonably and efficiently spent, any surplus funds will be used to help us prepare for and respond to other humanitarian disasters either overseas or here in the UK.

Last updated 19 January 2010

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Thank you for reading this!


Peace,
Sabrina

Part 4: Fashion, So, what is style?

Taken from the tube.

And sometimes, all you ever need to have style is a big huge Cheshire cat smile that beguiles, that alone can speak volumes. The poise. The humor. The ability to laugh at ourselves.The joyfulness we bring out into the world. Our spirit of sharing and compassion.The generosity. The friendliness to strangers. The good manners. These small things that we take for granted these are the best accessory of them all. The cheerful way we greet others in the morning even if we haven't even woken up yet. To hold our tongues when we really want to curse. The courage we show to be our best in spite of not always having things go our way or being millionaires. The small acts of kindness and forgiveness when people aren't behaving their best with us, maybe because they are stressed out or they are feeling low themselves.And, the words I am sorry to others when we behave inappropriately or not our best. And, of course, thank you. To me, this is what makes style, otherwise, fashion and the myriad ways women go about preening and primping themselves,it's all just mere vanity and ever so shallow and silly. What does it all mean if in the end we can't be nice and happy

More in Sabrina's London Diaries

Pubs in Brighton

These photos were taken in my trip to Brighton. The Pubs are much nicer down in Brighton than in London. Many have a roaring fir place and big huge sofas to sit around. The prices are less expensive out of London too. But, what's special about them is this nice old Victorian quality and the coziness. Everyone is very friendly in the pubs, I guess you wold be too if you drank a pint or two of Guinness.

The Victory Inn. I saw this pub and I just had to go in.

I just loved this fireplace and the entire decor of the pub was so charming,
with a undertated elegant old world feel. I decided to stay a bit. Most pubs in London are crowded and filled with drunk or pissed (not pissed off) Londoners, all talking very loudly (which I deplore) and which makes me avoid them like the plague.But, this pub had a friendly atmosphere,yet it was very quiet and relaxed,so when you chat with someone you can actually hear what the hell they are saying.

I met these two really cute and very friendly English girls and had a pint with them and talked about the Queen and the Victorian corset shop down the lane. Apparently, Brighton has the best bespoke Victorian corsets on the planet.
They fit you and they look like you come out of a period movie, but all this period glamour comes with a price. They run about 100 quid.

The Sussex

These lovers can't keep their hands off each other.Whoever said they English were cold.It's not true they're just very reserved until you get to know them. I have to defend them because they have this reptutation of being passionless and cool, but it's not always true. We have to try to defy these stereotypical myths that we create. Although, that whole thing about keeping a stiff upper lip is true, you'll seldom see an English person loosing their temper or showing a lot of emotions in public. I went to the Brompton Oratory for Christmas Carol service, I was so moved by the service and angelic music from on high that I started balling. When I looked around I noticed I was the only one crying. I noticed that people were subtly staring at me. Slightly embarassed I hid my face behind the program. But, once they feel comfortable with you they can be the nicest, most open and warm people I ever met.

I love the kitschey feel of this pub, and all the charming tea cups.

This is Rudolph!




This is what a typical English Victorian pub looks like. I especially
liked The Sussex.

I loved the decor in this pub, it was a bit cluttery, but it worked. It had
a lot of character and charm.




I met a nice English bloke, but we didn't snog or anything like that.






Two English blokes just hanging out.Pubs are great for hanging out,
and catching up with old friends.

Here's another pub, close to the Ocean shore and right next to some hostel,
which I can't remember the name of.I just liked the decor, it was fun.

Wherever, you go in England, the Pubs are almost always downstairs. And, another good thing, if you really have to use one,the staff is really friendly
about letting you use it, even if you aren't a patron.

The word "pub", is short for "public house".The pubs are there for the community.

More About THE HISTORY OF THE PUBS IN THE COMING BLOGS