| Within the abbey, the light was diffused by the stained-glass windows, each of which was a demonstration of refined moderation. Their overlapping circles appeared familiar, but it wasn\'t until the guide started talking about free games another resident of the orphanage that I discovered why: Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel\'s well-known emblem may have been inspired by the windows of her poverty-stricken childhood home in order to pay homage to the institution where she spent her formative years.
Since the year 600, the village of Aubusson has been renowned for the quality of its tapestries; the Cit� Internationale de la Tapisserie, located there, displays a great collection of these works of art. I strolled through the years, beginning with a representation from the 16th century that showed sharp-toothed creatures feeding on tranquil prey among whirling foliage and ending with works by contemporary artists, such as Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque, whose "T�te Noire," a hauntingly beautiful woman\'s head, was one of my favorites. I went to another area where I saw two artisans weaving a scene from Hayao Miyazaki\'s movie "Princess Mononoke." This massive sculpture, titled "Ashitaka Soothes His Demonic Wound," would take them a whole year to finish.
I thought I saw another tapestry hanging over our bed at La Creuzette, a wonderfully proportioned house in the town of Boussac that South African expatriates Hardy Olivier and Louis Jansen van Vuuren refurbished 20 years ago. La Creuzette is located in the region of Boussac in France. In point of fact, upon closer observation, the young guy with the artistically positioned drapes was painted. Olivier said that it was a cartoon from the 19th century and that it was one of the designs from which tapestries are replicated. Olivier had the cartoon restored. The pair, who still handle the day-to-day operations of the business despite having sold the property to an investor, were the perfect hosts. When we were in the mood to socialize, they served champagne and shared tales about the process of buying the house, such as how they found a tree growing in one of the rooms after they had already purchased it. Olivier brought wine to our room, but when we didn\'t accept it, he left without saying anything. Van Vuuren is a skilled artist as well as a chef, and he hosts painting retreats. He is also capable of preparing delectable feasts.
It may seem strange that such sophisticated people would want to live in Boussac, but they are not the first city dwellers to fall in love with this hilltop community. George Sand often visited the area and would stay at the adjacent Chateau de Boussac. It was there that she came upon the medieval tapestries known as "The Lady and the Unicorn," which are now housed in the Cluny Museum in Paris. The tapestries were saved because she showed them to her boyfriend Prosper M�rim�e, who happened to be the author of the novella Carmen as well as France\'s inspector general of historical monuments at the time. This was the key to their successful preservation.
However, Sand, who was born Aurore Dupin, was much more important in the community of Crozant, which is located almost an hour to the west. She travelled there with a number of different partners, and the vivid descriptions in her book "The Sin of Monsieur Antoine," which she published in 1845, would later attract painters such as Francis Picabia and Claude Monet. |
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