Consider this. The 530 or so passengers in First Class on the France spent an average of 3.5 hours each day enjoying lunch and dinner. Dinner in the First Class Dining Room (Salle a Manger Chambord) was always a black tie affair and was not only a feast but a fashion show, a parade of beauty and a display of opulence overpowering enough to make a sultan faint with envy. Beginning at 8:00pm, a stream of ladies dressed to the nines and weighted down with diamonds entered the Chambord, stood for a moment at the top of its golden staircase, then descended the 19 steps to meet their escorts and then their gustatory nirvana.
The Chambord was located amidships (to negate any sort of rolling while dining) and accommodated the majority of all first class passengers in a single sitting. The intention in designing this room was that it should be the visual equivalent of the excellent food served within, and that it was!
Designed overall by Madame Darbois-Gaudin entry was via a majestic 19 step golden staircase designed by Baptistin Spade, with railings by Raymond Subes. On all French Liners from the Ile de France to the Normandie one always descended into the dining room. The French always knew how to make an entrance!
The centre of the space rose to a circular dome to create an illusion of a round room in a square space.. The dome painted midnight blue contained an assortment of recessed pot lights imitating the stars in the night sky. This all rested within a circular band of translucent, fluorescent-lit panels, all on a truncated rotunda of gold aluminium. 
The room carpeted in rich hunter green Rilsan, then glowed with Jean Mandaroux’s continuous mural painted on 17 lacquered aluminium sheets. Entitled “Les Plaisirs de la Vie” (The Pleasures of Life), it drew the eye out to contemplate the whole room as a whole. My maritime historian described the mural as such, “A lengthy mannerist mural predominated…. “It offered an arrangement of primitive stick figures with odd triangular heads, like interplanetary aliens. They were incised across bronzed aluminium panels……… glimpsed upon entry, the figures read badly, seen close-up, individual panels seemed overbearing.’ The only good thing he says about the panelling was its indestructibility. Now this is where I strongly disagree! The mural was stunning and captured the spirit of the decade perfectly. These were the sixties after all and the French Line was at the top of their game when choosing this for the dining salon. By night the mural shimmered in warm tones of gold and brown, serving as a stunning backdrop to the elegantly attired passengers dining within its confines. 
Angular Monochrome chairs upholstered in red, orange, and cream seemed to dominate the room, however I believe that they create a nice visual contrast to the rest of the room. Of an archetypal sixties design, my marine historian didn’t like them. 
His overall summing up of the space was not good, lighting was criticised and the walls were vapid in his opinion. Oh how I disagree! On the liner’s later incarnation as the S.S. Norway this was one of the few rooms to be left untouched in the subsequent renovation with only the chairs changed. The chairs chosen were totally wrong and diminished the impact that this wonderful room had.
On scrapping in Alang India in 2006, the walls and panels were still intact, however what has happened to these wonderful panels I do not know! 
So, you may ask, he had a better half? 
Parkinson first met the future Mrs. Parkinson, Wenda Rogerson when she was a young actress at The Arts Theatre Club. At the time it was quite the norm for young and aspiring actresses to supplement their rather poor salaries by modelling. Cecil Beaton who had worked with Wenda previously, alerted Parkinson to her beauty and photogenic qualities. And aren’t we glad he did?
After marrying in 1947, between both of them with her husband at the helm and behind the camera, and she in front they created some of the most iconic images of 20th century fashion and style. 
So was she his better half?? They worked as a team and what a team it was!
The décor of the rooms was regarded itself as art, with many notable French designers and artists commissioned to create the most striking spaces at sea. To compliment this, many pieces of artwork were especially ordered from leading artists to adorn the walls of the public spaces and passenger accommodations. Even though the product of different designers the main objective here was to depart from the heavy stodgy interiors of liners that prevailed at the time. Grand vistas and double deck height rooms were a thing of the past due to new fire regulations at the time, so designers had to make the most use of space to give the illusion of space and height. As of consequence furniture makes the most of use of line and is very streamlined in approach. Aboard no other ship was Gallic Magic more evident. Bon Voyage bouquets were elaborate, bottles of champagne more abundant and there was always just the slightest scent of perfume in the air. In place of this stodginess were thousands of meters of decorated plexiglass and hand-woven abstract tapestries. By night anodized walls took on a warm glow, modern tapestries shimmered with jewel like magnificence and due to the special lighting women’s shoulders gleamed like alabaster. I am going to indulge myself (isn’t that what blogging is about?) and do a whole week’s worth of postings on the fabulous interiors of this liner, in spite of said maritime historian’s opinions. I would also like my readers to think outside the box of interior design for public spaces as it appears nowadays and how design was used on a national scale to promote the best a country had to offer. Hopefully I might convert a few of Savoir Faire’s followers! Each day will be concentrating on a particular room or series of rooms, so let our tour begin! 
One of the main showpieces of the First Class salons was the Smoking Room (Salon Riviera). 
Two stories high, with a raised section in the centre flanked by large columns, and double-height windows to port and starboard, the room was one of the most imposing aboard the ship. 
The overall interior and furniture was designed by Andre Arbus one of France’s leading designers (The Rhulmann of his time) who had worked previously on other French Line liners. Typical Arbus furniture was constructed out of lightweight metals making the most of the shape of the room and upholstered in fine leathers. Done in muted greys and solid blacks with highlights of bronze and silver, the furniture was custom made to fit shapes of walls and bulkheads. 
Within the Salon Riviera a tapestry by Jean Picart le Doux, "Les Phases du Temps" dominated the entire forward wall. Again this was representative of the artist’s style. 
Two paintings by Roger Chapelain-Midy, "Nature Morte au Heron" and "Nature Morte au Faisan" occupied niches in opposite corners to the aft, next to the doors leading to an outdoor terrace. 
Overall the room was a tour de force of modern French design, which shone by day in brilliant sunlight and shimmered by night. Over the next couple of days we will be exploring some of the other fabulous salons of this fabulous ship.
