The Kissing Dilemma in France :) Explained

You can only imagine the fluster the uninitiated among us might feel on Valentine's Day in France...where kissing is already confusing!

is this one of those "air" kisses?

Whom do you kiss, and where? on the lips? the cheek? cheeks? hand? The opportunities for embarrassment are many. Here, then, is your guide to just how many kisses are expected depending on who the kisser and the kissee are, their ages, sex and social status, and finally, just where you are located in France.

The map is color-keyed to give the proper number of kisses depending on the departmente you are visiting, in order to avoid acute humiliation! The links will give you much more in-depth guidance to navigating these social waters in le Hexe!

French friends and readers, please feel free to weigh in with advice!!

link to: Combien de Bises? The Kissing Map of France

then there's the Chinese girl who wanted to kiss 100 men in Paris,

and did it...pictures on her blog

(where she got 220,000 hits in one day!)

sources: Frogsmoke, The Times Online

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in 2010, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Valentine & Awards

Just a little Valentine wish for all my beautiful readers and

fellow bloggers who give me so much encouragement and

support as we navigate this blogosphere together!

Thanks the captivating Simone of The Romantic Query 

for bestowing the Lovely Blog Award on Chic Provence. 

Be sure to read her searing post "Funny How a Broken Heart..."

on Feb. 12, 2010...it will catch your breath. 

the lovely award given to me by

Simone I pass along to the following

wonderfully creative and brilliant

Odi et Amo

Bonjour Madame

The Elegant Thrifter

The French Eye

Chinoiserie Chic

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in 2010, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

These Colors *Will* Banish the Gloom

And gloomy it has been!

I have been very busily occupied away from my blog (withdrawal!), so today's post is a little cadeaux from my favorite Marie Claire Maison! It is such a lovely little series of pictures of color and how/why it was used. The homes are all over: Corsica, Paris, Sicily.

These rooms will inspire you! Don't forget, the easiest way to create a new look in a tired room is to change the colors...paint walls, add art you forgot you had hidden away, make some new pillows in fabulous colors, reupholster some pieces...it's as simple as that!

{Now if I could just convince my new client to go with those turquoise walls freshened with all that white...}

Electric blue turquoise walls are tempered with lots of white paint and upholstery in the Paris salon of Laurence Leclerc of Caravane (one of my favorite sources for wonderful fabrics). The "witches eyes" mirrors on one wall reflect the light and color of the room, while the gossamer lampshades create a fairy-like atmosphere. The only other color (besides the rusted metal on the wall), a sharp citron, is introduced in pillows from a Tunisian fabric.

Multicolored lanterns imbue this amazing living room with a fantasy-like ambience. The large living space is divided into several smaller functional areas using furniture placement, painted chairs, and gorgeous multicolored velvets and silks for upholstery on the sofas and pillows. This is the fantasy home of Etienne and Clorinde Mery, inspired by the colors of Colonial Cuba and South America.

Near Jaipur, designers Liza Bruce and Nicholas Alvis Vega pay homage to the colors of India. In the very pink living room, traditional Indian motifs are exaggerated and used as wall paintings in white to great effect. The mercury glass chandelier in purples and pinks looks like a large cluster of grapes!

This Corsican mansion has been painted in the soft colors of the area: pinks, yellows and ochres. In this dining room the walls have been glazed with transparent colors to create a pink that blends with the original pinks of the ceiling.

In the south of Sicily, the austerity of the building and the small windows are offset by intense, strong colors of orange and lemon yellow on the walls, while the furniture is a riot of colors mixed on each piece and creating a cheerful, imaginative space.

all photos courtesy of Marie Claire Maison

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in 2010, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design