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Lei
During the shooting of our April collection , we opened the doors to a haven of peace. A house in which dried flowers have made their way into the bathroom. This house is that of Alexandra, our guest for a day… Passionate about dried flowers, Alexandra knew how to give her house a soul unlike any other. And believe us, we felt at home there! It is in this house and more precisely in her workshop that Alexandra creates her bouquets before selling them on her online store: Jeanne Paris . 
Inspired by her sweetness of life and her generosity, we quite naturally asked her to share her story and her way of life with us: How did your passion for dried flowers come about? “Shortly after buying this house, a friend came here and gave me a bouquet of dried flowers. I fell in love with this bouquet, with these colors… I was a little stuck on the dusty and slightly deadly side of the dried bouquets that I had been able to see in my life. Besides, I had the impression that we always saw the same varieties of (dried) flowers, of which I was not particularly a fan. I started to take a serious interest in flowers in general, buying all the varieties, trying to dry them and seeing what happened. At that time in my life, I wanted to stop my job as artistic director, I wanted to be more often in the countryside than in Paris... This interest in flowers has become a passion, making them drying, an obsession and it's quite naturally that I asked myself the question of making it my professional activity. What advice would you give us to make our interiors bloom ? “Oh!!! I'm always a little uncomfortable with "recipe" questions. As I am completely self-taught in this field, I work on “instinct”. So I would say that there are no rules, sometimes a single flower, a single color is enough to decorate and give emotion. I believe in emotion, if you love a bouquet by looking at it then it is right… A bouquet of flowers is also the vase in which it is installed and the place in which it is located… obviously!!! ! A bit like a piece of clothing or a fashion accessory… everything does not suit everyone, a bouquet can be very beautiful but will not be consistent everywhere…” 
Flowers, an art of living? “Flowers are nature at home and it's soothing… As I don't use any chemical process to preserve the flowers, even dried ones, they are “alive” and in touch with their environment. » Your home is a real haven of peace that inspires the sweetness of life... What is your secret? " THANKS !! It touches me because it's exactly what my husband and I wanted, a simple, warm, welcoming house where people who come feel good. I strongly believe in sincerity and “consistency”. It's a country house, in which we most often enter with shoes full of dirt, it would be incongruous to put carpet on the floor, even if the trend were for "carpeting", it would be ridiculous. I'm pushing the line a little of course, but it's an important point, I wouldn't want a house where I ask people to take off their shoes when they come home, this simplicity contributes to the comfort... In terms of decoration , we preferred old materials, wood, stone, floor tiles. Furniture and old objects, found. I'm not going to make any friends but I'm not a reader of decoration or fashion magazines, they worry me a bit with their codes, their rules... I find that it tends to standardize too much …” The new Balzac Paris collection is inspired by “the art of taking your time”. Does this sound like you? “I have always been very careful to spend a lot of time with my children, to take the time to cook, to take the time to be alone, to sleep a lot etc… Nevertheless it was more difficult in Paris, when my children were small and that I worked a lot in an environment where everything goes very quickly. But I said “No” sometimes to favor this need for “time”. Today in the countryside, I take the time to walk, to observe nature, I appreciate the silence and that's very new. » 
Your advice for taking your time and enjoying the taste of real things? "Aw!!! another "recipe" question. Maybe knowing how to say "no", for me knowing how to say "no" to certain things is better knowing how to say "yes" to others. And then cultivate your curiosity, I never thought I would one day be interested in flowers, gardening... I'm exaggerating but I hardly knew that the countryside existed... My parents passed on a marvelous thing to me, curiosity... things, people and that allowed me to leave room in myself for surprise and change… » Your essentials for getting away from it all for a weekend in the countryside: A book? “ All the Sagans, which I would like to reread…” A playlist? "Vienna" by Barbara "Secret Garden" by Bruce Springsteen "Chandelier" by Sia "Elephant Gun" by Beirut The album "unplugged" by Alanis Morissette The album "Saturday evening on Earth" Francis Cabrel The album "Babel by Mumford & Sons And Laurent Voulzy because it's Laurent Voulzy and that's how it is!!!! An outfit ? “Jeans, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt and birkenstocks with or without socks. I really love clothes and accessories, I love all styles of clothing when they are consistent with the person wearing them. I don't like disguise, I like sincerity. A person ? "My husband, my husband, my husband." An activity ? “Visiting all the towns and villages around where I am and tasting the local cuisine.” A place ? “The Aveyron!!!!!! Domaine de Méjanassere in Entraygues sur Truyère, sublime !!!» To discover the spirit of this place and our collection for the month of April, we give you an appointment here .
Inspired by her sweetness of life and her generosity, we quite naturally asked her to share her story and her way of life with us: How did your passion for dried flowers come about? “Shortly after buying this house, a friend came here and gave me a bouquet of dried flowers. I fell in love with this bouquet, with these colors… I was a little stuck on the dusty and slightly deadly side of the dried bouquets that I had been able to see in my life. Besides, I had the impression that we always saw the same varieties of (dried) flowers, of which I was not particularly a fan. I started to take a serious interest in flowers in general, buying all the varieties, trying to dry them and seeing what happened. At that time in my life, I wanted to stop my job as artistic director, I wanted to be more often in the countryside than in Paris... This interest in flowers has become a passion, making them drying, an obsession and it's quite naturally that I asked myself the question of making it my professional activity. What advice would you give us to make our interiors bloom ? “Oh!!! I'm always a little uncomfortable with "recipe" questions. As I am completely self-taught in this field, I work on “instinct”. So I would say that there are no rules, sometimes a single flower, a single color is enough to decorate and give emotion. I believe in emotion, if you love a bouquet by looking at it then it is right… A bouquet of flowers is also the vase in which it is installed and the place in which it is located… obviously!!! ! A bit like a piece of clothing or a fashion accessory… everything does not suit everyone, a bouquet can be very beautiful but will not be consistent everywhere…” Flowers, an art of living? “Flowers are nature at home and it's soothing… As I don't use any chemical process to preserve the flowers, even dried ones, they are “alive” and in touch with their environment. » Your home is a real haven of peace that inspires the sweetness of life... What is your secret? " THANKS !! It touches me because it's exactly what my husband and I wanted, a simple, warm, welcoming house where people who come feel good. I strongly believe in sincerity and “consistency”. It's a country house, in which we most often enter with shoes full of dirt, it would be incongruous to put carpet on the floor, even if the trend were for "carpeting", it would be ridiculous. I'm pushing the line a little of course, but it's an important point, I wouldn't want a house where I ask people to take off their shoes when they come home, this simplicity contributes to the comfort... In terms of decoration , we preferred old materials, wood, stone, floor tiles. Furniture and old objects, found. I'm not going to make any friends but I'm not a reader of decoration or fashion magazines, they worry me a bit with their codes, their rules... I find that it tends to standardize too much …” The new Balzac Paris collection is inspired by “the art of taking your time”. Does this sound like you? “I have always been very careful to spend a lot of time with my children, to take the time to cook, to take the time to be alone, to sleep a lot etc… Nevertheless it was more difficult in Paris, when my children were small and that I worked a lot in an environment where everything goes very quickly. But I said “No” sometimes to favor this need for “time”. Today in the countryside, I take the time to walk, to observe nature, I appreciate the silence and that's very new. » Your advice for taking your time and enjoying the taste of real things? "Aw!!! another "recipe" question. Maybe knowing how to say "no", for me knowing how to say "no" to certain things is better knowing how to say "yes" to others. And then cultivate your curiosity, I never thought I would one day be interested in flowers, gardening... I'm exaggerating but I hardly knew that the countryside existed... My parents passed on a marvelous thing to me, curiosity... things, people and that allowed me to leave room in myself for surprise and change… » Your essentials for getting away from it all for a weekend in the countryside: A book? “ All the Sagans, which I would like to reread…” A playlist? "Vienna" by Barbara "Secret Garden" by Bruce Springsteen "Chandelier" by Sia "Elephant Gun" by Beirut The album "unplugged" by Alanis Morissette The album "Saturday evening on Earth" Francis Cabrel The album "Babel by Mumford & Sons And Laurent Voulzy because it's Laurent Voulzy and that's how it is!!!! An outfit ? “Jeans, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt and birkenstocks with or without socks. I really love clothes and accessories, I love all styles of clothing when they are consistent with the person wearing them. I don't like disguise, I like sincerity. A person ? "My husband, my husband, my husband." An activity ? “Visiting all the towns and villages around where I am and tasting the local cuisine.” A place ? “The Aveyron!!!!!! Domaine de Méjanassere in Entraygues sur Truyère, sublime !!!» To discover the spirit of this place and our collection for the month of April, we give you an appointment here .