I tracked down the peripatetic Mme. Archer at her London flat-Australia or Saint Remy de Provence being the other options. Before we began our discussion of her new book “My French Life” she told me of its birth.
Carla Coulson and I were friends in Australia before both moving to Europe some years ago- Carla moved to Florence and I moved between London and Provence . We had not seen each other for five years or so when fortuitously I made a trip to Florence and caught up with her.
We had fun few days relaying all our news, talking non-stop as girls do. Carla told me of her great love for Italy and how moving had changed her life and I shared with her the same sentiments only mine were about France. I told her of my love affair with Saint Rémy de Provence and the Alpilles, I told her of the farm and home I had created there and we spoke of the friends we had both made and how our lives had become enriched in ways we would never have foreseen.
At that time Carla was working on her book, Italian Joy, for Penguin and approached publisher Julie Gibbs in Australia with the idea of a collaboration between us- my written record of a love for all things French accompanied by her evocative photographs.
My French Life was published this time last year in Australia and has just been released in Europe and the United States.
TG: When did you first go to Paris?
VA: My first trip to Paris was at the age of ten with my mother-I still have the black and white pencil portrait of me at Montmartre! I remember my first impression of the Eiffel Tower, my ride in a bateau-mouche down the Seine and I can still conjure up the tastes of the bon bons, the chocolats and the creamy glace vanille! The first time I took my children to Paris I could not wait to show them the same places and to recreate some of the magic I experienced with my mother. Today, I have lost count of my many visits to this city with friends and family but one thing I do know is that Paris never disappoints.
TG: When did you first go to Provence?
VA: I first visited Provence in 1995. I spent four months exploring the region from a base near Nice and it was during that time that I discovered Saint Remy de Provence and the surrounding area known as the Alpilles. In the following years all our holidays whenever possible were spent in Provence.
TG: When and why did you decide to live in France?
VA: There was no actual decision to live permanently in France- I like to think that Mas de Bérard, my home in Saint Rémy de Provence, found me. In My French Life, I describe the feelings that overcame me when I saw the property for the first time. I guess in truth that was when my life as I knew it changed- it really was a heart stopping moment. The decision to buy the property and to put all of my energies into making it our family home effectively precipitated a move to France. We left Australia in January 2000 and I now live between London and Saint Rémy de Provence with my husband and children.
TG: One of the chapters in MY FRENCH LIFE is dedicated to Les femmes. Amazingly the day that your book arrived I was sitting at Les Deux Magots and spotted the stunning woman in the cloche on P66. Talk about the qualities that define the French woman and how you have integrated them into your own life.
VA: French women are seen to have an allure, a mystery, a sense of chic and style like no other women. I think the French woman is brave and confident, I think she follows her own path not that dictated to by the fashion pack. In My French Life I wrote,
“There is no greater magnetism than a woman who is self-assured.
This is the ultimate beauty secret and one that French women truly understand.”
To be self assured, to be self- confident and to be poised- these are the most important qualities for me as a woman and the ones that I want my daughters to understand.
Practically I think French woman concentrate on their essentials- a well cut and groomed hairstyle, the latest eyewear and smart accessories whatever their age- and let’s not forget the French obsession with gorgeous underwear. These are the must haves in my life….
I hadn’t even taken the book out of its packaging when I spotted the woman in red at Les Deux Magots and my pal Bill Hightower quickly snapped the foto-I thought she was elegance personified and so did Vicki and Carla for here she as she appears on page 66.
TG: Your chapter on Scents embraces nature, candles, food and fragrances and underlines the importance of the senses and sensuality in French life. Talk about some of your favorites and once again how they have become a part of your life.
VA: Today I am wearing Fleur d’Oranger by Serge Lutens from the boutique at Jardin du Palais Royale- this is my favourite right now. To my nose it is a delicious waft of orange blossom with a hint of tuberose. My other all time fragrance loves are Gardenia Passion by Annick Goutal and the limited edition, Le Parfum de Therese by Frederick Malle.
I find a sense of comfort in my perfumes. They provide triggers for memories of times past or they excite an expectation in the future- scents mark our momentous occasions and they define our taste and individuality.
The scents in my home are of equal importance. I like to create an environment or an ambience that is welcoming and enveloping, warm and relaxing for my friends and family. Whether it is a scented candle or a log fire burning- it is the aromas in the home that provide atmosphere and the fond memories. I have just started lighting the fires at home this autumn and I have been burning our cut dried lavender bunches with the wood- as the oil in the bundles erupt and the scent bursts out I am reminded of the summer that has just passed.
TG: What’s your favorite Paris café?
VA: Café le Nemours on the Place Colette adjacent to the entrance to the Jardin du Palais Royale,
TG: What’s your favorite Parisian starred restaurant?
VA: Le Grand Vefour because of its location and décor- here one dines with history inside and out. But I rarely eat at starred restaurants in Paris as I prefer the brasserie buzz and more simple food.
In Provence I love to eat at Chez Bru, a two star in the nearby village of Eygalierès or L’Ousteau de Baumaniere in Les Baux.
TG: What’s your favorite Parisian bistro du coin?
VA: Chez André on the rue Marbeuf- so many happy times linked with those delicious chicken and chips.
TG: What’s your favorite Paris market?
VA: Marche Paul Bert and Marche and Marche Serpette at Port de Cligancourt for decorative antiques.
TG: What’s your favorite park or garden in Paris?
VA: I know it is an obvious choice but I still marvel at the Jardins des Tuilleries. The surrounding architecture, the statues, the clipped forms, the gravel and the wide open spaces represent the formality and grandeur that is Paris but at the same time the gardens manage to suggest to me a city with a private life and hidden secrets.
TG: What’s your favorite time of the year in Paris?
VA: Winter- always winter and especially Christmas time. The city is dressed up and so am I!
TG: There is a beautiful Carla Coulson photograph of your Provence property blanketed in snow that looks like an American Christmas postcard. Describe a snowy day in Provence.
VA: (Actually my husband took this happy snap! Carla had seen our snow shots and suggested we submit these images to Penguin. It was such an extraordinary day- so still and breathtakingly beautiful.)
Towards nightfall the clouds appear, the sky plummets almost within arm’s reach and there is quiet. Outside solitude has taken over- the dogs stop barking, the birds fly to their nests and the farmers call it a day. Our evening passes in front of the fire with a steady but gentle curtain of white fluttering outside the window. This calm is shattered by my child like excitement- every fifteen minutes I am up and down, watching and hoping that the storm continues- I was born and raised in Australia, this is a romantic and original experience for me.
We wake to white covered fields- about a metre of snow has fallen. The skies are clear- the clouds have dumped their last snowflake during the night and the peeking sun promises an immaculate day. Our lavender bed looks like a knee breaking ski run- bump and jump all the way.
My husband and I are anxious to check the olive trees- our fear is that the fallen snow will have broken the branches. This year it is a delicate powder- ice dry and weightless. In this moment I cannot remember the 40 degree heat of summer, the torrential three day downpours of spring or the relentless howl of the Mistral wind in winter. I see only perfection in our land.
Snowfall in Provence is rare. Every two or three years, the snow falls to kiss the landscape a brief hello only to leave and spread the magic further north. I am forever wanting a white Christmas- fingers crossed it could be this year.
TG: How has France affected your work?
VA: I am involved in projects that are close to my heart. I write about the things I love and that are important to me. I am able to create alongside extremely talented people- this is not work but pure joy.
TG: How has France affected your life?
VA: In every big way and every small way.
I am more open, I have learned the value of patience and I understand there is more than one way- my way- to achieve. I have become an expatriate and have learned to live a split life with all the highs and lows that it brings. I am forever saying goodbye but at the same time there is the hello at the other end.
The biggest change is that I have become an olive farmer and spend the majority of my time in the countryside worrying about the weather- now that is not something I could ever have predicted.
