Hi all! Lots of irons in the fire right now but, for now, I must tell you about our amazing weekend in France!  I would have been fine with a short day trip to Metz, about an hour’s drive from us, but it turns out my husband had plans to spoil us both. He even endured hours of art appreciation just to make me happy – more on that later! 🙂

Unbeknownst to me, Mike booked us in La Citadelle, a posh yet reasonably-priced hotel inside a converted sixteenth-century military garrison. Turns out, the hotel belongs to an acclaimed chef, Christophe Dufossé, who has put both the hotel and the Les Magasin Aux Vivres restaurant on the map. Mike thought we should check it out.

Dufossé is known for deconstructing regional specialties such as Quiche Lorraine and using the best seasonal ingredients available in the area. Our meal added up to a seven-course exploration of the heavenly Lorraine culinary experience, perfectly paired with a regional wine suggested by our sommelier.  Even the palette-cleanser – coffee-flavored shaved ice with cream – was a spiritual experience. There is one thing the French take seriously above all else and that thing is food.

Another highlight of our trip was visiting the  in3Arts contemporary gallery, where I discovered an artist whose work I love. Her name is Sarah Teulet and she is a local painter and graphic artist. Sarah calls her recent series her “Réseaugraphie.” In other words, her “network-ographie,” studying the links and relationships – both real and imagined – between her and all the people with whom she shares connections. I found her work disarming, tender, humorous, and just a little edgy.  At any rate, I fell in love with this one and had to take it home with me.

The next day, we went to the Centre Pomidou de Metz – the still very new modern art museum in the city. Especially fascinating were Sol Lewitt’s huge wall drawings, which take up an entire floor. The drawings were executed by a team of Americans and 63 local French artists according the Lewitt’s written instructions.

Here are a few more pictures from the trip. As you can see, it was a gorgeous weekend. We will come back here!!

Be sure to look for my next post, a partial review of the Pre-Raphealites at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and the book, Effie: The Passionate Lives of  Effie Gray, John Ruskin, and John Everett Maillais. 

Until then, XO ~ Heather