French Finds

We’ve been in France on a holiday. AirBnB'ing ourselves down the country and then back up again. At one point I found myself sitting in a café in La Rochelle. There was a flea market over the road, and I sat watching the people at the market as I sipped my café au lait and ate my crêpe with sugar and lemon – the people just rifling through the boxes of tat. I hoped that I’d be able to finish my coffee and walk about to the market discovering jade animals, Fabergé eggs and Ming vases that the locals hadn’t realised were priceless. I wandered over the road full of naïve optimism and discovered plastic Dora the Explorer, broken cigarette lighters and loads of chipped china. Lots of ming but no Ming if you get my drift. My poor disappointed inner magpie. We wandered slowly on the cobbles. I was thinking of docks and ships and pirates. “Imagine what it would have been like 250 years ago,” I said to the 12-year-old. “They’d have killed us mum.” He’s probably right. On a cheerier note the fresh blues and greens of La Rochelle were definitely something I’ve been thinking about ever since and will be using them when I design the fabric for next season’s collection.

At the moment the Summer Sale is still live. It won’t be on forever. Our women’s Chelsea Flower and Paisley Circus collections are currently half-price, while the Kabloom and Flower Bed range (which I love) are 60% off. They are the prettiest prints in the freshest cotton, and available in our lovely nightshirt collection. Definitely get in there while you still can. There’s free UK delivery on orders over £100 too!