After Dinner Dancing en Paquebot France

If one was not predisposed to take in the more subdued and quieter atmosphere in the Salon Riviera, first class passengers made their way after dinner to the First Class Grand Salon (Salon Fontainebleau) for some after dinner dancing or a gala evening.

Designed and decorated by Maxime Old the Salon Fontainebleau had a raised ceiling in the centre, with lower more intimate spaces at the corners to encourage conversation amongst passengers. A similar use of space was used in the Tourist Class Café Rive Gauche. The general colour tone of the room was gray with gold highlights. In what would colloquially described as "Mad Men Style" today, the overall effect is a lot more refined and pure than anything the Mad Men designers have come up with to date.

Capacious and bright the room was flooded with natural light during the day via large windows on each side. The ceiling constructed of suspended aluminium beams, and plates of frosted glass was designed by Disderot and hovered over a grey, green and white marble mosaic dance floor. The walls on which stunning abstract tapestries were hung were fabricated and constructed of vitrified molten glass. This gave the room an almost ceremonial atmosphere.

On the base of grey the room was a visual feast of colour, with tapestries taking pride and place around the exterior walls. As with all other tapestries on the ship these were woven and produced off artist's drawings by Aubusson. A triptych of tapestries by Lucien Coutard entitled "Les Femmes Fleurs" were hung immediately behind the bandstand. A riot of colour these were typical of Coutard's work, portraying floral couples constructed from various components of plants and flowers, such as petals and leaves with human legs and arms.

Additional tapestries by Claude Idoux entitled "Jardin Magique"and "Fee Mirabelle" consisting of variegated vertical white bands and a phantasmagoria of abstract riotous colour within hung on opposite walls.

Two more tapestries by Camille Hilaire entitled "Sous Bois" and "Foret de France" shimmered like stain glass or some pirate's treasure chest.

My esteemed maritime historian whom I mentioned in other posts called the seating "unfortunate" complaining that it was too heavy and lacked style. As said before I a not sure whether he realises it or not that this was the sixties and the SS France was ushering in a new era. The seating designed by Maxime Old consisted of a variety of armchairs in similar rather elongated lines upholstered in either leather or fabric, in the most wonderful yellows and blues. Seating groups were grouped around metal framed coffee tables of which some were tiled. For gala evenings to accommodate all extra folding chairs in blue leather were bought in as extra seating.

Overall a tour de force of wonderful design colour and light. A lasting credit to Monsieur Old!

Egypt

One cannot help but be aware of events unfolding in Egypt at the moment. Having visited the country several years ago I instantly fell in love with the country and it’s people. A country that is so rich in history, art, and culture that it has influenced various parts of Western Culture for the last 2000 years.

The fact that the Cairo and other cities in the country are under siege greatly concern me especially when the main spots of violence are happening within the bounds of the Egyptian Museum and the Library in Alexandria.

I am greatly inspired by those Egyptians who have put politics aside to try and protect these two great institutions with sometimes nothing more than their bare hands.

I sincerely hope that the Egyptian people gain for themselves a true democracy that benefits all.

Raise Your Glass!

While we are touring the interior public rooms of the fabulous SS France, let’s take another break. The French Line had a reputation for employing the best designers and craftsmen, to achieve a travelling showcase of the best design that the country had to offer. This was just not limited to interior design, but went right through the whole design process right down to the toothpicks being used by the passengers.

One of the areas where the French Line excelled, especially on the France was the design and manufacturers of the glassware used on board. For utility pieces these are the ultimate in design. The design of glassware on the France remained virtually unchanged from the 1930’s when the glassware was manufactured by Lalique.

One of the changes made however was with the manufacturer and also the material used. Manufactured by Daum whose mantra has been “Art is the Ultimate Luxury”, these were beautiful objects to not only be drunken out of, but to be admired as well.

Manufactured completely out of 100% lead crystal, and then highlighted with the CGT logo in a frosted contrast, these utility items whispered savoir faire to the user. With over 4,800 wine and water glasses alone, this was luxury on a grand scale for both First and Tourist class passengers.











Another service also by Daum consisting of liqueur and champagne saucers was also made. These are stunningly beautiful in various shades of green, with long elegant stems. It must have been an absolute pleasure to hold one in one's hand and drink from them!

Another service of glassware commissioned from Crystal Saint Louise in their typical style, was also part of the First Class Service. This service consisted of liqueur glasses in blue with an incised clear cut out design. I am not exactly sure where these were used, however aren't they elegant?

So raise your glass and drink a toast to the savoir faire of the SS France!

Have You Got Your Visa!

While we are doing all this travelling on the S.S France, have you got your Visa? Robert Piguet's Visa that is!




Described by Parfums Piguet as "Mysterious and addictive, this gourmand oriental is a spellbinding combination of lush white vineyard peach, pear, bergamot, ylang ylang rose and orange flower mingled with rich patchoulli, sandalwood, vetiver, vanilla beans and a gourmand leathery accord. Dazzling and dramatic, Visa de Robert Piguet is the fragrance for those who expect the exceptional"








Wow, with a combination of ingredients such as this I am requesting a bathtub full of the stuff! Of course this is the reformulated version of 2007, however from what I remember of original Piguets this would be fabulous! Originally created in 1945 by perfumer Germaine Cellier, one of the greatest of all noses.





So make sure you have your Visa so we can do some more travelling with savoir faire!

Dinner at Eight en Paquebot France

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!

Norman's Better Half?

Knowing that some of Savoir Faire’s followers are feeling a bit left out with my series of postings on the SS France, here is a little something to break up the monotony.

No one can deny that Norman Parkinson was one of the greats of fashion photography in the 20th century. Many of his photographs have become icons of the art and are instantly recognisable as being shot by Parkinson. Perhaps no more than other photographer did anyone catch the spirit and savoir faire of the 1950’s and subsequent decades as much as Parkinson.

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.

As well as being Parkinson’s muse and lifetime companion, Wenda researched and authored a biography of Toussaint L'Ouverture the Haitian slave-tuned-revolutionary, entitled This Gilded African in 1978.

So was she his better half?? They worked as a team and what a team it was!