Voraigh Sisters--A Paris Boutique of Traditional Clothing

On a very busy boulevard near Bastille on the east side of Paris is the small boutique:

VORAIGH Sisters from Ancient Lands.  They describe the store:

Founded in 2008 by sisters and violinists Olivia & Vivien and their mother Bruna, who taught them a passion for historical and traditional arts. Our workshop is based in a small village not far from Paris, on the edge of the magical forest of Fontainebleau.

I learned about the store from Sarah Gingrich. She found it on line.  Sarah's family accuses her of dressing like a Hobbit (when she is not dressing like a Viking) so this is her kind of shop.

They Voraigh web site describes their business:

Voriagh (synonym of Varangian, in Old Norse: Væringjar; Greek: Βάραγγοι, Βαριάγοι) is the name used by the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Slavs for the Vikings, (víkingar, from Old Norse) traded from their Northern European homelands across central, eastern and western Europe.

We create in deep connection with nature and ancient lands across Europe, influenced by folklore and ancient crafts. 

Following strict guidelines in terms of sustainability for material and craft, our small structure relies on two skilled families: one in France and one in India, mastering an infinite panel of techniques, completing each other by offering high expertise and traditional embroideries for several generations. In addition to this close relation, we provide transparency and certifications by Oekotex and the BSCI for both structures. 

They make clothes in France:  Our wool and linen items are made in a family workshop in Paris. The atelier is located rue Oberkampf and collaborates exclusively with small designer and/or ethical brands.

And in India:  Our cotton clothes are made in New Delhi by a high end workshop certified by the BSCI, a label based on the most important international Conventions protecting the workers’ rights such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions and other important Declarations of the United Nations, the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises and the UN Global Compact. The BSCI Code includes the ten following key elements to improve the worker´s situation:

The shop is in a lovely neighborhood just north of the Seine on the east side of Paris.

 

A Visit to the Orangerie in Paris

Almost a year ago, I was in Paris and visited the Orangerie Musee on the north bank of Seine  in the Tuilleries Garden. The featured exhibit was the work of David Hockney in his pandemic year in Normandy.

Vogue  magazine wrote about the exhibition:

Normandy through David Hockney's eyes at the Musée de l’Orangerie

Four years after the exhibition devoted to him at the Centre Pompidou, David Hockney is coming to the Musée de l'Orangerie from October 13, 2021 to February 14, 2022. From the window of his house in Normandy, the painter tells of the tireless cycle of nature and the long-awaited arrival of spring.

The successive lockdowns of the past few months have had many facets, whether they be boring, solitary or creative. For David Hockney, this period brought the opportunity to create a titanic work, conceived over an entire year spent in France. Since 2019, the British artist has been living in Normandy, in a quiet house with a garden that he can observe from his window. He then had the idea of using this peaceful view to create his next work. No sooner had the cycle begun than the first lockdown in March 2020 was announced. Gone were the Californian swimming pools, with the painter choosing to devote himself to an atmosphere rooted in the French landscape. Armed with his iPad, David Hockney sets about representing the changes in nature, and its colours and textures. His inspiration? The seventy-meter long Queen Matilda Tapestry, which he observed during his visit to the Bayeux Museum. This frieze relates the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy, and makes the 83-year-old painter want to tell the story of the arrival of spring.

Spring will always come back

The ban on going out, gathering in groups, or crossing borders will never change one thing: the world continues to turn and the seasons continue to pass. Confined to his house in Normandy, David Hockney created a frieze painted on an iPad, measuring eighty meters in length and depicting the unchanging renewal of nature. While our modern world stands still, digital painting allows Hockney to quickly and accurately create more than a hundred images. From the nuanced shades of green in the trees to the flow of the river in its bed to the pop of flowers that spring with the arrival of the warm weather, the exhibition A Year in Normandy reminds us that after humanity, the world shall remain. Displayed in the main gallery of the Musée de l'Orangerie, the frieze is reminiscent of Claude Monet's water lilies, which are housed in the same building. While the museum continues to keep the details of the event secret, we can expect a visit to the Pays d'Auge through Hockney's eyes, as seen in the intimate tour My Normandy, organised by the Lelong Gallery a few months ago. This artistic return is already considered to be the most anticipated exhibition of the year. 

While there, I also saw some of the water lilies paintings of Claude Monet done at the gardens in Giverny. 

Paintings by Claude Monet

The street just outside Musee Orangerie

A Long Path of Immigration from Japan to Paris

 

Alexi runs a small Japanese restaurant on a narrow street with ten Asian restaurants just off Boulevard Saint-Michel near Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.  Although Alexi is ethnically Japanese, he does not speak Japanese. He is a native speaker of Russian who also speaks French and English.  

He came to Paris from Moscow twenty years ago with his mother when he was fifteen years old. He finished high school in Paris and went to university. He studied finance and worked in banking for a decade. Then several years ago, he decided to leave banking and open a restaurant. I have had Ramen, Donburi, and Curry at his restaurant. He is a really good cook. 

Soviet Flag, 1917-1923

In 1920, Alexi's great-grandparents left Japan and settled in Vladivostok. In the 1930s, they were sent from Vladivostok to Kazakstan. They were, in effect, pioneers. They had to build their own home and the town they lived in. Alexi's grandparents were born in Kazakstan. In the 1960s they moved to Moscow where Alexi's parents met and married.  

Soviet Flag 1930s to 1991

Alexi is about the same age as my daughters and his parents are both in their early 60s.  His mother still lives in Paris. His father still lives in Moscow. 

Russian Federation Flag

Alexi is worried for his father and about the war, but his father has no plans to leave.  

The path people take in life through different cultures at different times fascinates me.  Four generations of Alexi's family emigrated to very different cultures and set up a new life. Their path from Japan though Russia, Kazakstan, back to Russia and now to France is a saga of overcoming difficulties. 

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[Although I have lived in three countries outside of the US, it was with the Army on active duty in West Germany, Iraq and Kuwait. Even within the US, I have lived in seven states, but only in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania as a civilian. I lived in Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kentucky on active duty with the military.]  

 

Passage du Grand Cerf: "Passages" in Paris are Small Malls with Small Stores Between Large Buildings

The long hallway and skylight in Passage du Grand Cerf.

In Paris, especially in the area of north of the Louvre toward Montmarte, are more than a dozen shopping areas called Passages. They are actually passages between buildings, sometimes straight, sometimes turning corners.  Some of Passages have high ceilings and skylights, some have ceilings no more than the height of a storefront.  

Small restaurants and food stands are in most of the Passages.  The typical business is a boutique selling clothes or shoes or jewelry or crafts.  

Here are the businesses I saw in Passage du Grand Cerf.