Travelling in France

A recent trip to France allowed for a well needed break! Staying in Northern France, my Family and I toured around various towns and cities and absorbed ourselves in French life (even if my GCSE French is incredibly poor!)

A few of the key highlights for me...

We stayed close to Granville which is where the Musee Christian Dior is located. The house was bought by Christian Diors parents in 1905 as is affectionately terms 'Les Rhumbs'; 'a seafaring term referring to two-thirds of the compass rose' (Musee Christian Dior).

The house displays a rotation of exhibitions over the year, the current showing being the Dior garments worn by Grace Kelly, the Princess of Monaco. The three floors boasts hundreds of gowns, ready to wear separates, accessories, photographs, magazines and drawings of the Princess' close relationship with the House of Dior. Although not all of her garments are on show as many are still kept at the Palace in Monaco, a large selection are available to view here; some of which are easily recognisable from the covers of Vogue, Elle and Paris Match. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit here; its lovely to see a collection so beautifully preserved. The grounds are also wonderful to walk through on a nice day and the property overlooks the beach below. Take a look at some of the photos below. I'll post more very soon!

You can find out more about the museum on their website.


We also took a trip to Bayeux to see the Tapestry. I visited as a school child over 20 years ago and didn't appreciate the work and craftsmanship that went into creating this nearly 1000 year old piece. The embroidered length of fabric depicts the lead up and events of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The scenes are hand stitched using Point de Tige (stem stitch) and Le Point de Bayeux (Bayeux point) which consists of Point Lance (launching point), Barettes (strips) and Les Picots (pimples). I've bought a french embroidery book and kit to try and have a go at this myself, and you can read more about the process on the Bayeux Broderie website.
Unfortunately, you cant take photos of the actual piece due to its preservation conditions, but there is a large exhibition space with photos and exhibits that you can document. Take a look below.


I may have also got a little bit carried away in an amazing craft and haberdashery shop in Granville. Un Peu de Ci, Un Peu de Ca had some wonderful things; i could have have easily bought everything to bring home with me! Thankfully, I managed to restrain myself from purchasing everything and settled for some half metre lengths of cotton fabric and a pattern from Aime Comme Marie.

You can follow them on instagram, or check out their website here.

And lastly, following on from my stitching and making theme for this holiday, a visit to Mont St Michel led me to buy this lovely woven piece of the monastery. The island of Mont St Michel is located roughly 1km from the mouth of the Couesnon river and the town of Avranches. The island itself is very small and is only 988 acres. I found this woven piece in a shop on the island; I think it will look lovely framed on the wall.