Catherine Deneuve & Château de Primard

Catherine Deneuve listed her Parisian countryside estate with Sotheby's several months ago. The French actress, YSL's muse and global style icon, listed her eight bedroom chateau known as Château de Primard, for €3.99M ($5.5M). The grounds were landscaped by Belgium based Jacques Wirtz (who sculpted he hedges of the French president, among other notorious gardens). There is no denying that this property is beautiful, but frankly, I'd get Jacques back for a little face-lift of the grounds, in addition to a little sprucing of the interior (see here). Interestingly, the listing has vanished from the Sotheby's site since the last time I checked, so I wonder if someone has already transacted!

'A Tuscan Dream' indeed.

The desktop on my work computer has for years, always been a lustrous scene at Il Pellicano, one of my dream destinations. In fact, one of my first C&C posts was on this tuscan gem (see here). I love the history behind its inception, the magical romance it never ceases to illustrate in both words and illustration, and the modern day allure it continues to exude despite being a fixture of the 60's jet-set culture. I was so pleased to see it featured in the WSJ Magazine. Slip into the lens of Marie-Louise Sciò, the hotel's Creative Director, by reading here.

Salty's Got Game

Sometimes when you see your parents or grandparents in their mature ages, you forget that at one point in their lives, they were young, vivacious, athletically ambitious and fierce. They were, to a degree, versions of your current self in what might feel like a distant lifetime ago. Living in the Newport area, it's no surprise when you visit friends' and neighbors' homes that they are dusted with some sort of silver dish or plaque from a sailing regatta in our local waters. My house is no different. Silver, pewter and various shades of mahogany and teak are scattered around our house that remind us of my Father's triumphs on the water. From champagne buckets to punch bowls, to catch-alls and odd figures and frames, they truly come in all forms. I've even smuggled a few of these out to San Francisco with me.

Over the holiday, my Father and I pulled out boxes upon boxes of his sailing trophies to reminisce on his glory days. As my Dad enthusiastically rattled on about the time his J-24 was on the cover of Sail Magazine in '79 and the week he spent with Dennis Connor and the Freedom team tuning up before the America's Cup in '74, I was reminded that my Father had it all happening. In my opinion, the best part of his adventures on the race course back in the day, was his ability to reflect on them in the present, 30 years later with his daughter he taught how to sail.

Above: A quick snapshot of some of Salty's trophies in all shapes and sizes, including signature beer cans from the 1974 America's Cup in Newport, Rhode Island.

The Grandest

Mothers are the grandest and mine does not fall short by any measure. Happy Birthday to you, Mom! Love you to the moon and back! xx