I'm back from my 5 weeks based in London, and thought I'd report on the
great lace tour I took to Normandy, at the end of Sept. Here’s what we
did and saw after leaving Portsmouth Harbour on Thurs. on the overnight
sailing to Ouisterham (the port of Caen). After breakfast, we drove to
Bayeux to the Conservatoire de la dentelle, Mylene Salvador’s workshop
and store. She and 4 other lacemakers were working at their pillows,
there was some beautiful Bayeux lace for sale and patterns too. I
bought patterns for 2 Bayeux motifs, but I was quite disappointed
because the lacemakers would not speak to us, except when we were
buying. This wasn’t a question of language since I speak fluent
French. It seems that they’re paid to make lace, not to talk. IMHO, if
that’s the case, they should be in a back room somewhere. Anyway, we
then went next door to Naphtaline, an antique shop which has antique
lace for sale.
Next we headed to Couseulles-sur-mer, where we had an appointment to see
Mme. Le Délézir’s magnificent collection of lace from the Maison
Robert. In the summer, the collection is open to the public on
Thursdays. Since we were there at the end of Sept., she opened it
specially for us and we spent about 2 hours admiring the Bayeux,
Chantilly ombré, gold, silver and Polychrome lace, and the prickings and
sample books. Polychrome was a specialty of the area, as was Chantilly
ombré. In the latter, the shading of petals, etc. was accomplished by
using ground stitch for the lightest parts; half stitch for the medium
shade; and half or whole stitch with extra threads added for the darkest
shade. It was beautiful.
After lunch, we went to Claudette and Michel Bouvot’s home and spent 4
hours looking at her collection of antique lace, newly-made Polychrome,
and having all our questions answered. This was one of only two places
where we could take pictures. After having a Norman tea at the
Bouvot’s, we were off to our B&B, Manoir du hom, in Robehomme, for the
night. This was a fabulous place, owned by Mme. Marie and her husband.
It was originally a moated, tower farmhouse. About half the moat
remains. The tower is completely hidden from the outside by additions
over the centuries. Our rooms were in the tower and were unbelievable.
Mme. is a lacemaker and a collector of everything. I had a very large
bedroom with a huge, high bed with pelmet. Lace was on the bedspread,
covering the dressing table and lampshades, on the walls and there were
600 (a bit of an exaggeration) other things on the walls and every flat
surface, including goldwork - another of my loves. Every other room in
the house was similarly decorated. The ceiling frieze in the living
room was made up of antique lace flounces! It would take days just to
see everything. We also saw some of her collection of antique lace.
The highlight for me was a Chantilly, hooded cape with train, which was
made to wear to the opera. This was the only other place where we could
take photos. I tumbled into bed after a late dinner, with visions of
Chantilly ombré dancing through my head.
Saturday:
After a Norman breakfast at Mme. Marie’s, we left for Alençon. The lace
school has closed but the Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelles has
wonderful lace of all types on display. They show a very good video
about how Alençon lace was/is made. We were very lucky that a special
exhibition, called ‘Froufrous’ had been extended to the end of Sept.
This was a display of lace on Victorian dress. Some of it was
beautiful, some so ugly that it was wonderful, and some was just ugly.
I particularly liked two lovely tops of beaded Torchon. The museum shop
had a good selection of French books on lace and embroidery. I bought
four, thanking my lucky stars that I had paid for an upgrade on Zoom and
had an extra 10 kilos on my luggage allowance.
After lunch, we were off to Argentan, to the Benedictine Convent where
they’ve made Argentan needlelace forever. We saw a 35 minute video
about the history of the lace and how it’s made. Apparently the ground
is not as fine as the Alençon ground, but takes four times longer to
make. There’s no lace on display, but some pretty note cards with
pictures of the lace are for sale. Our ‘fearless leader’ asked if we
could speak to one of the lacemaking nuns. After a phone call, we were
shown into the lacemaking parlour and Mère Collette, the sister in
charge, appeared behind a grill with examples of their lace and
designs. We spent 90 minutes with her. Apparently there are 41 nuns in
the convent, but only 6 make lace. They have an inventory of lace for
sale and will make to order. (There was no hard sell at all - this was
just casually mentioned.) I didn’t ask the price, figuring that if I
had to ask, I couldn’t afford it. They make the lace using traditional
or modern designs. Those didn’t look too modern to me and some of them
were beautiful. However, apparently no one orders the modern designs.
I asked if they have problems getting the fine linen thread, since it’s
no longer being made. They have stock from before W.W.II and Mère
Collette is sure the Lord will provide when their stock runs out.
On the same street as the convent, is the newly opened Maison des
Dentelles. On display are needle, bobbin, machine, and modern laces,
with excellent explanations. They also show a very good DVD about the
history of lace in Argentan. (This was different from the convent’s
video.) The museum shop is very good with books (I bought some more),
lace, and beginners’ kits in Argentan lace for sale.
We spent Sat. night in an acceptable, 3* hotel in Bayeux. The cathedral
is beautiful lit up at night.
Sunday:
We had to catch the noon ferry from Ouisterham, but we had time to see
the Bayeux Tapestry. I hadn’t realized that it is so long - 70 metres!
The embroidery is fabulous, there are all sorts of funny details, and it
was interesting seeing the history of the Conquest as written by the
victor.
Some general comments about the tour:
Everyone bemoaned the fact that most of the museums mentioned in the
book ‘La Route de la dentelle’, have put their laces back in their
reserve collections.
The tour I took was run by Rogers Tours - www.rogers-tours.co.uk - usual
disclaimers. I thought it was great - but it’s not for anyone who wants
5* hotels, fancy printed itineraries, etc. Roger is a re-enactor and
runs tours for reenactment groups, costumers, W.W.I and W.W.II buffs.
(He’s currently putting one together for gardeners.) All the tours are
for a maximum of 6 and a minimum of 5 people, which is great because
small groups can get into private homes. There were only 2 of us - a
costumer and myself- on this tour. It was a first and Roger decided to
run it in return for extensive feedback from us. I have the impression
that if you got a group of 4 together and gave him a choice of dates, he
would run it on a nonscheduled basis. The cost was £275 (C$580)
sharing, and £350 (C$735) single. This covered transportation in a mini
van, cabin on the overnight ferry, hotels, breakfasts, dinners to a
value of 26 Euros (which was plenty for 3 courses and wine), and
entrances. I can highly recommended it.
I'll report later about the lacey things I did in Britain.
Margot Walker in Halifax on the east coast of Canada
Visit the Seaspray Guild of Lacemakers web site:
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/quinbot/seaspray/SeasprayLaceGuild.html
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