Cherub Spotting in Paris - La chasse cherubins a Paris!

I went to Paris for a short break a few weeks ago and came back with stashes and stashes of beautiful old things! I hunt wherever I travel to, but Paris may have become my favourite hunting ground! I’ve been to Paris just twice before – one of which was a flying visit for work, and I reckon on the other I was far too young to appreciate anything! My eyes were well and truly open this time. So within a few hours of getting there I saw this wonderful doorway cherub, and ofcourse I spent the rest of my time cherub spotting – and they are literally everywhere. I might have to move to Paris for a few months (who can leave lovely English weather for any longer?) just to live in an apartment with a cherub on the doorway!

The very first!

 

So between visits to beautiful old churches (La Madeleine is my favourite – I could sit there for hours), sitting by fountains and walking for several miles a day just to avoid the Metro (it really does smell), I managed to vist a 'Vide Grenier' (literally empty your attic/granary!), an antiques market, a retro & handmade fair, and Rue du Temple. The antiques market was full of beautiful and unaffordable things – how many chairs can I bring back on Eurostar? Rue du Temple is full of wholesale jewellery sellers with a lot of things that made me sigh out loud. There were however, a couple of shops there with jewellery components made from old tooling or they’ve turned vintage basically through sitting in the shop for several years. Also, my many years of learning French finally came in handy, as it just seemed to spurt out when I spotted something I had to have!

It's all in the details!

So here’s a piece inspired by my fleeting Parisian visit. This is a brooch with a cherub perching on some clockwork, much the same as I wish one would on my doorway some day.

Cherub perched on some clockwork, much the same as I wish one would on my doorway some day...