Trip report – Paris and mystery destination

I recently went to Paris to visit l’Aiguille en Fête, which is a big, annual craft show, not unlike the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair that I exhibit at each year. I arranged for my sister Prue, who lives in Germany, to join me for my few days in Paris. She’s an embroidery designer too, so it was fun to visit the fair with her, and do some textiley things in Paris.

We spent a day at the fete, with Anne Nicolas-Whitney, a French embroidery designer and teacher. It was lovely to have her as our guide and companion. She also had one of her students, Renée, join us.

As well as the booths for the needlework shops and businesses, there was a large exhibition of whitework. It included lace, crochet, weaving, boutis and other forms of embroidery, such as kantha. It was an excellent display, and one of the reasons I really wanted to be there at this year’s fair. Anne introduced me to a number of very talented embroiderers.

Being inside at the fete meant that we missed a heavy snowfall outside. In the days preceding our arrival into Paris, there had been very heavy snowfalls, so much so that roads and train lines were cut. Fortunately this did not hamper our plans! However, it did mean that for this Australian (who rarely experiences snow) it was a little big magical (and cold)!

Our second full day in Paris was for textile sightseeing. We went to a number of needlework and textile shops. We each bought some fabric, and I bought some embroidery threads/yarns. We particularly enjoyed the fabric district near Montmartre, where there are many fabric shops.

I said goodbye to Prue, who did a little touristy sightseeing around Paris then headed back to her little corner of Germany.

I went on my merry way to mystery destination (also in Europe) to do some research for my next book (not the one I’m currently finishing off, but the one after that). I spent a fabulous two days at a museum depot with a very generous curator who had a wonderful selection of my chosen style of embroidery for me to look at. I knew there was going to be a lot in this chosen style, but the many examples I saw convinced me that it very likely won’t all fit into one book, but will probably have to be two. What a great problem to have!

I’d like to say a public thanks to the curator and the museum who hosted me. I was so grateful for your generosity in sharing your time and expertise with me. It was a wonderful few days, and your collection is fantastic! A couple of other people need to be thanked: the two lovely women who first suggested to me that I should write a book on a style of embroidery that was precious to them. I am very grateful for the introduction! (You’ll note that I’m not giving *anything* away in terms of clues about what I studied, and I’ve been very careful to make sure there’s no useful metadata included with the cobblestones image!)

I then headed home to my family in Australia, who had missed me very much, particularly because during my transit from Australia to Paris, The Reader had been taken to hospital for emergency surgery. I arrived in Paris to find a message from The Gymnast saying “Has anyone told you what has happened?” I thought to myself, “I don’t think she means the earthquake in Taiwan.” So then I had to wait some hours until they woke up and could tell me what had happened. While I slept that first night, The Reader was operated on. I was wondering whether I should go home (its these occasions that one has travel insurance for!), but when I got a message on Facebook from The Reader saying “Have fun in Paris, Mum!”, I decided it was ok to stay. She came home from hospital after a few days, was well cared for by hospital staff, my husband and extended family. A huge thank you to them all! She is recovering well. It just wasn’t what any of us expected or wanted to happen during my absence!

As usual, I travelled with cabin luggage only, meaning that I was restricted to only 7kg of luggage. Many people were concerned that I wouldn’t have warm enough clothing. I was fine, thank you, and very warm. 🙂 You just have to pack very judiciously. One of my triumphs, in terms of clothing, was my possum merino jumper (sweater). Possum fibre is hollow, so it is light and insulates well. It is ideal for travel to cold places because it is light and warm. I bought the possum wool in New Zealand at the beginning of 2017, when I was on my teaching tour. I finished my jumper in the weeks before my trip, and was very glad of it.