Hello dear readers. How's autumn looking through your window? Crisp and bright? Or gloomy and grey? Well, we're having a bit of the latter today. So as I sit in my garret, I look out the window and see grey. I look at my last post and see grey.
And I just can't put you through any more grey right now. Perhaps too much grey is not good for the soul.
I packed a very sombre capsule for this 3 week trip. There came a point where I just couldn't handle any more sombre. So I nipped into Next and found me something bright, cheerful and cheap.
A very simple jumper. No statement sleeves, no graduating hemline, just a jumper that delivers pinky coral cheer on a gloomy autumn evening.
I've tried to find you a link to it just in the remotest of chances that you may be interested, but I can't find the exact jumper which has nice soft raglan-ish sleeves, so here is something similar.
Of course, I didn't put the single solitary one jumper over my arm. Others came home with me too. They mostly went back,
but only after I'd done the girls' world try-on with mirror-selfies.
I do like coral and black generally, and with a nice piece of jewellery to link in the black (like this piece from Morocco).
I reflected. Trinni and Suzanne (What Not To Wear) would have frowned on my teaming this colour with black. I think their view is that black cheapens colour.
But nah, like Catherine of Not Dressed As Lamb and most women who get to a certain age, I will wear what I like.
So why not wear a beret?
The evening was dank with rain and I was going out to dinner, so why not indeed a beret to keep the pancake-dank top of head look at bay? Sometimes a hat really is called for and this one did its job well.
Yup, I will wear what I like and what I liked last night was Left Bank Parisienne!
I added my embroidered black scarf from Primani and my old M&S trenchcoat that I keep over here. Now Janice of The Vivienne Files made several observations whilst people watching on the streets of Paris recently. One was that the chic Parisiennes are mostly wearing grey jeans, which is fine by me as I love grey jeans and so I find myself on-trend in the jeans department. Another observation was that there was not a whiff of trenchcoat in the air. But no matter, 1 out of 2 ain't bad.
So I wore Left Bank, just not AW17 Left Bank, but I think it made a neat little outfit to meet up with cousins and their husbands.
Now ladies, I'm interested to know: Do you take heed of the advice of Trinni and Suzanne, avoiding black with bright colours? Or do you wear what feels right, what you think suits you?
You have probably realised by now that I am definitely in the second group!
We went to a nice Italian restaurant in the town (there are so many!). It has an extensive menu which is always a relief if you are out with a group, as the chances are there will be something for everyone.
And just because I have them, here are the food shots. Dieters and those ambivalent to food can just scroll down to the comments section ... and leave me one, please!
A crab and mango starter, which TP and I shared but which he had started demolishing before I could say "smile" to the dish. It was prettier than this. And it was light, fruity and tasty.
We shared zucchini fritti of course. The Italians have really got this dish sussed, nobody does it better.
TP had an amazing lemon sole. When I saw it I had dining-partner's-envy, wish I'd ordered it.
I'd ordered a tuna pizza as when I spotted it on the menu, I remembered that in my 20/30s I used to make this a lot after my Mum sent me an absolutely winning recipe. I have to say that it didn't match mine on texture or taste, although it was fine. Mine was made with a thicker base which manned-up to the moist tuna. Mine also included blanched green pepper slices. So overall, it got me yearning for that recipe of Mum's that I walked away from years ago.
Never mind, you know, this winter I'm going to have a crack at recreating it - and I'll post it. Please give me a nudge if I forget this little pinky promise, eh?
So there you have it, darlings, a pinky coral top and a pinky promise, both guaranteed to lift the gloom of late autumn!
A la perchoine.
