Saturday 26 September 2009

Show Schedule Update - Paris Création

Just a reminder about tomorrow's show and and additional date for our show schedule.

Tomorrow - our favourite show of the year despite the 5am start and 600 km round trip!

Salon de la Miniature
Salle Polyvalente
89290 Vincelles

10:00 - 18:00

We can now confirm that we will be exhibiting at the winter Paris Création:

Sunday 8 November 2009

Paris Création - Hotel Novotel Paris Est,
1 Ave de la République
93177 BAGNOLET
PARIS, France

10:00 - 17:00


You can find our show schedule at any time here.

Tuesday 22 September 2009

Goodbye Summer - Hello Autumn!

Although you'd never know it looking outside, today is the "official" start to Autumn (at least it is here in La Belle France...).

We're still enjoying some reasonable sunshine and evening barbecues are still a possibility (but bring your pullover!)

We're currently preparing for a miniatures show this weekend, but thought we'd mark the start of this beautiful season with a selection of miniature "Autumnal Fruits".

miniature food - autumn fruit by Emmaflam at Paris MiniaturesApples, pears, grapes (wine producers are currently harvesting their grapes) and a fig.

Monday 14 September 2009

Swan House Miniatures - Le Retour


J'ai un problème avec M. Greg Madl, de Swanhouse Miniatures...ENCORE.

Voici les faits, nous avons les documents correspondants.
  • Entre Juin 2005 et Janvier 2006, M. Madl nous a acheté quelques objets sur Ebay. Nous ne le connaissions pas. Il a proposé de représenter mon travail. J'ai refusé car je préfère que nous nous en occupions nous-même, Neil et moi même.

  • Peu après, nous avons été informés par une journaliste collaborant à d'importants magazines spécialisés dans la miniature que M. Madl vendait notre travail sur son site internet, sous le nom générique de « french banquet », sachant pertinemment que nous n'étions pas d'accord.

  • Nous avons demandé à M. Madl d'y mettre fin au plus vite; cela a pris plusieurs mois.

  • Nous avons rencontré M. Madl au Simp 2007. Il est venu nous voir, s'est excusé et nous a serré la main sur la promesse qu'il s'agissait d'un malentendu (ses propres mots) qui ne se reproduirait pas.

  • Quelques mois plus tard, un client sur Ebay utilisant le pseudo « SNOOKIEWON» gagne quelques miniatures. En faisant une simple vérification d'adresse, nous avons compris qu'il s'agissait de M. Greg Madl, se faisant appeler « George Model » ce qu'il a confirmé lui même en signant les emails « Greg »...

  • Nous lui avons fait savoir que nous préférions garder les miniatures et en rester là.

  • Ces objets ont été re-listés sur Ebay et certains d'entre eux achetés par « MINIATUREMAKER »au mois de juin 2008.

  • Hier, alertés par une amie, nous découvrons que ces mêmes ces objets (de 2005 et 2008) sont actuellement en vente sur le site de M. Madl.

  • J'aurais volontiers approché M. Madl directement pour régler cette affaire MAIS non seulement il n'a jamais respecté mon choix en tant qu'artisan, mais encore il ne respecte pas les miniatures elles même et je ne peux pas laisser passer ça:

    IL ESSAYE DE VENDRE MES MINIATURES CASSEES!!!

  • Voici les photos utilisées par quelqu'un se targuant de représenter les miniaturistes du monde entier....
Swan House Miniatures

Swan House Miniatures

Swan House Miniatures

Pour que tout soit clair:

Il n'est possible en aucune façon d'obtenir nos miniatures autrement que directement auprès de nous, Emma et Neil. N'importe quel autre biais vous expose à des objets d'occasion, éventuellement endommagés, et très vraisemblablement hors de prix.

Merci d'avoir pris le temps de lire ceci, soyez vigilants dans vos achats et n'hésitez pas à donner votre avis ou à faire part de votre expérience (anonymement si vous le souhaitez) et espérons que c'est là le dernier chapitre de notre « histoire » avec M. Madl

Friday 11 September 2009

Day Out At Compiègne - Part III (The Chateau Gardens)

Having finished our delicious crêpe lunch, we made our way towards the highlight of our visit - the chateau de Compiègne gardens!

The chateau is in the heart of the town and so after a quick stroll from the crêperie, we were soon making our way along this long, wonderful tree-lined pathway...


Before too long we were standing in the entrance to the chateau grounds...


..and following this immaculate path.

We were passing in front of some beautiful flower beds when all of a sudden...


...we caught of glimpse of the chateau roof. At this point we were both really excited and it was all we could do to not start running!

We both approached the area in front of the chateau looking in the opposite direction in order to have the full impact of seeing the chateau on turning. It's easy to know when you're directly in front without even looking at the chateau because there are markers off in the distance.

So, with our backs to the chateau, we counted down together...

3....

2....

1....

and TURN!!

WOW!!!!!


Having enjoyed the gorgeous flower beds at the entrance, we realised that they were just a "starter"! The gardens in front of the chateau were even more spectacular - here's a taste...


Miniman was particularly pleased with this photo with the chateau as a backdrop. Not sure whether he was ready to accept that the "N"s on the chateau were for Napoleon and NOT Neil...


Further along, the pathways become plant-covered tunnels which provided some welcome respite from the sun.


With all that heat, even the statues look tired!

A girl has to keep her cool somehow!

We were simply bowled over by the sheer beauty of this place. The fact that it's so vast (and no longer the holidays!) meant that we had the impression that we were on our own.
Oh, and those flowers again...


So that's it for our day out at Compiègne! A pretty town, lots of nice restaurants and a gorgeous chateau.

Maybe next time we'll make it inside!!

See also:

Thursday 10 September 2009

Day Out At Compiègne - Part II (With Bonus Miniature Photos!)

Crêperie - La BoléePart II - Lunchtime!
There was an enormous choice of restaurants from which to choose. We narrowed it down to a "real" gastronomic restaurant, a French bistro serving hearty portions, a charming pizzeria and a crêperie. Everywhere the terraces were packed, which is generally a good sign as the people eating there were generally locals on their lunch break, so they know the best places to eat!
Perhaps tempted by the idea of a pitcher of cider on a hot day, we chose the crêperie "La Bolée" which you can find here.

So there we were in the region of Picardie about to sample a traditional Brittany meal - it's so easy to travel without moving!

The cider is poured into bowls and not glasses - a first for Miniman so used to English pub pint glasses! And at 10% a.b.v. combined with empty tummies and the burning sun, it didn't take long for the cider to rush to our heads!
Luckily the crêpes arrived before we had time to start dancing on the tables.

They were enormous, a bit too large for the plates! Although it may not look like much from the outside, this monster was packed with scrambled egg, melted "emmental" cheese and lardons, but you could make your own fillings from a generous list of options.


The pretty garnish brought a welcome touch of colour to the meal!

At just over halfway through our crêpes, we already had the impression that we had eaten too much, but we soldiered on.
Would we go for a dessert? We are very "gourmand", so of course we did! What did we have?
ANOTHER crêpe!!!

Miniman went for the caramelised apple with Chantilly cream and a scoop of caramel ice cream.


Yum - worth a closer look!

Emmaflam went for vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce and Chantilly cream.

We experienced a new taste sensation, hot chocolate sauce eaten with a sprig of fresh mint...

...total heaven, a bit like the most luxurious After Eight mint you could ever imagine! Try it.
So with full tummies and happy faces, we set off for an afternoon doing....well, all will be revealed in Part III - Lovers of France will not want to miss it!
While waiting for that, here is a selection of some of our miniature crêpes!


Crêpe Suzette in a pan from February 2006


Crêpe dessert with cream and orange sorbet from April 2009


Chocolate crêpe dessert from...Saturday!


A chocolate crêpe that was part of a brooch from June 2009
See also:

Wednesday 9 September 2009

Day Out at Compiègne - Part I

Street scene from Compiègne (edited)With another gloriously sunny day arriving out of the blue yesterday, we took the opportunity to visit the medieval town of Compiègne.
We spent the morning wandering around the narrow market streets with their tiny boutiques and countless restaurants and bistros and would like to share with you a few of the photos from the morning. Please click on them to enjoy the larger versions.
After a short walk from the almost invisible underground car park, the first thing we came across was the magnificent Town Hall.

Town Hall Compiègne
Bordering a beautiful square...

Town Hall Compiègne
....this building is packed with fine detail from the doorway right up to the top of the steeple...

Bell Tower, Town Hall, Compiègne
...where these three chaps ring their bells every 15 minutes.

Open and closed shutters on a building at Compiègne
On a hot day like this, it's difficult to know what to do with the shutters - leave them open to fully enjoy the sunshine or close them to keep your apartment nice and cool? Here, opinion seems to be mixed!

Deserted streets at Compiègne
The narrow streets were pretty much deserted which meant that we could really take our time and enjoy our walk through history!

Half-timbered building at Compiègne
There are still an enormous amount of half-timbered buildings.

A solid-looking doorway at Compiègne
And some solid looking doorways!

Art deco auction room at Compiègne
We even came across some art deco.

Restaurants and Bistros at CompiègneAs mid-day rang out, the restaurants and bistros quickly filled up with diners eager to take advantage of the terraces.
There was quite a choice of restaurants, so what did we choose?

Sunday 6 September 2009

Real Edible "Miniature" Viennoiserie - Croissants and Pains au Chocolat...

Sunday morning and the week's dark, drizzly weather had disappeared, giving way to a late summer burst of sun.

So we could enjoy breakfast outside...

French breakfast pastries - croissants and pains au chocolatIf we told you that between us we'd eaten six whole croissants and six generously filled pains au chocolat you'd probably start to worry for our cholesterol levels...

Mini viennoiserie - croissants and pains au chocolatDon't worry! These delicious golden buttery delights are "mini-viennoiserie", about a third of the size of their full-sized counterparts!

A real miniature croissant shown in a handFor our French readers, they came from "Leader Price" and come highly recommended! Fifteen minutes in the oven from frozen and you'd swear they came direct from a baker's oven.

Roll on next Sunday!

Saturday 5 September 2009

New Miniatures - Desserts, Pastries, Chocolates!

Our Etsy store has been on vacation over summer, so it's time to open the windows and let in some air!

We've dusted off the shelves and are ready to offer you some brand new miniature goodness!

Here's a glimpse...
12th scale miniature desserts handmade by Emmaflam at Paris MiniaturesThe dessert / cappuccino plates are grouped together here

The white and milk chocolate tray is here

The tray of French pastries is here

Enjoy!

Friday 4 September 2009

English Cookie Invasion!

Below, a photo of our local "Monoprix" supermarket this afternoon. Similar to any other French supermarket cookie shelf. Basically, lots of LU...

But look...lost there in the middle. Something brand new here, but something very familiar to millions....

French cookies on a Supermarket shelfOh...

My....

God......

McVitie's Digestives on a French supermarket shelf
McVitie's Digestives! Even better...CHOCOLATE ones! They're here at last! That's one less thing to buy on the next visit to England (that'll save some weight on the ferry!)

Chocolate and Plain McVities Digestives - now available in France!
And in boxes of 300g and 400g, they put the air-filled packets of LU* and Bonne Maman* to shame!

Now if only they'd start selling PG Tips, we could have a good old English tea break!

So we're begging our French readers to go out and buy them so that they'll stay. As well as being a delicious nibble, they're great for making cheesecake bases! And they are so much nicer (and better value) than "Granola" cookies. AND your first purchase can be refunded! What have you got to lose...?!

*We love them too, but you don't get much for your money!


Tuesday 1 September 2009

Blue Skies, Black Berries

We took some time off in August, partly planned (a week with the family near Aix-en-Provence in...er...Provence) followed by more than a week unplanned due to the internet box fizzling out when we turned it on after the week away! So with no internet and no telephone, all on-line business was taken care of on the laptop at a local burger place with a free wifi hotspot! But we only drank coffee...well, almost...

So yesterday we'd planned to get back to work. It was a Monday and as the village kids will be going back to school later this week, it seemed like the right time to get back into the swing of things. Our own personal, grown-up version of "back to school"!

However, from Sunday to Monday, the weather changed from pleasantly warm to unbelievably hot. And as it was only due to last for one single day (for once the forecast was right; it has rained nearly all day today...) we decided to avoid cooping ourselves up in the workshop and instead have a wander around the village, taking a path we'd never taken before.

We also kept an eye open in the hope that we'd stumble across some blackberry brambles...

We took the back road out of the village past the farm and the gîte.

The lack of recent rain was soon evident!

Apart from good old dirt, there was nothing in the near fields

And nothing in the sky...

...apart from the aeroplanes flying in and out of Charles de Gaulle - were they leaving or arriving? The unobscured view from up there must have been amazing.

We usually turn here to take another path around the village, so this tree marks the furthest we'd ever been in this direction and Emmaflam bravely passes it without flinching!

We head out past cornfields

And past fields of sugar beet

Then all of a sudden...nothing on the horizon! Until we reach the crest and...

...hurrah! A blackberry bush!

There were lots ready for picking...

...and even the "escargots" got in on the act! Would they have a blackberry flavour too...?
We didn't try...!

We returned with nearly a kilo of blackberries from just this one small bush. No doubt we'll be off again the next dry day we get...

They were put to good use as soon as we returned home. Blackberry jam...

...which was spread on a slice of brioche for breakfast this morning! Yummy!

We couldn't let a post like this go by without featuring a miniature somewhere, and of course there's a blackberry or two on it!

And here's the same piece with some of yesterday's harvest.

So in the end, the fact that you're reading this means that today is the day we finally get back to work!