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| Greetings!
 Janvier, mois des poches vides! ... Poches plates, coeurs gros - c'est le mois des grandes résignations féminines.
["January, month of empty pockets! ...Flat pockets, heavy hearts...It is the month for great feminine resignations!"]
Colette As we begin a brand new year, this quotation from the incomparable French novelist Colette seems particularly apt. In one of the worst economic climates in recent times, and confronting an array of problems at home and throughout the world, our new President faces unparalleled challenges as well as opportunities. We look forward to his inauguration with hopes and expectations which are almost impossibly high - luckily, we believe he is the right person to revitalize our national spirit and will prove up to the task. And yet, we must first get through a cold, difficult winter - what to do? A few of the strategies that have worked for me in stressful times are:
- Set some time aside every day for relaxation and reflection - a bubble bath, a cup of tea, a walk in the park, mindful meditation...
- Try something new. Take a language, dance or cooking class.
- Spend time with people whom you like and who care about you. Make a lunch date. Go for a walk or a movie. Window shop.
- Try to appreciate the good things you have now instead of focusing on what you are missing.
- Treat yourself to something special and of lasting value - an original print, an antique object, a rare textile.
To help lift your winter blues, on January 31st Swan Ways will hold its first clearance sale ever, with everything down 20, 30, 35 percent and more. Some of the pieces include one-of- a-kind hand-embroidered shawls which would provide a beautiful accent to any décor and become treasured heirlooms. My good friend Parvaneh will join me with her beautiful collection of hand-made jewelry and greeting cards. We have begun to work on upgrading our web site and again invite your views and suggestions as to how we can make www.swanways.com one of your all-time favorites! With warmest regards, Alix | |
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Break of Day by Colette
Sir, 
You ask me to come and spend a week with you, which means I would be near my daughter, whom I adore. You who live with her know how rarely I see her, how much her presence delights me, and I'm touched that you should ask me to come see her. All the same, I'm not going to accept your kind invitation, for the time being at any rate. The reason is that my pink cactus is probably going to flower. It's a very rare plant I've been given, and I'm told that in our climate it flowers only once every four years, Now, I am already a very old woman, and if I went away when my pink cactus is about to flower, I am certain I shouldn't see it flower again.
So I beg you, Sir, to accept my sincere thanks and my regrets, together with my kind regards.
-- Sidonie Colette This letter, written by Colette's mother to her son-in-law, opens "Break of Day." Best known for "Gigi," which was made into a movie and a Broadway play, her Claudine books, and several novels and short stories with sexual themes considered daring at the time, Colette wrote this beautiful meditation on love and life in 1928, when she was in her early fifties. Although considered a work of fiction, the themes explored in Break of Day -- the renunciation of physical love and the return to an independent existence sustained and enriched by the beauty and peace of nature -- grow out of Colette's own experiences and a period of self-assessment in mid-life. In her house in the South of France, Colette had her garden and the sea and the sky to nurture her, and her heart is at peace: "Here is the dawn. Today it is all little clouds like a shower of petals, a dawn for those with hearts at rest." " Break of Day" is a seductive and unusual book. Read it if you haven't yet, or read it again. You will be entranced by the subtlety of its perceptions, the beauty and irony of its prose, and the unfolding, with every turn of the page, of the portrait of one of the most fascinating free spirits of any age. |
Portrait of the Month - Colette
Born Sidonie Gabrielle Colette on January 28, 1873 in the Burgundian village of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, Collete had a happy childhood in surroundings which became the scene of many of her novels. Her mother, Adele Eugenie Sidonie Landoy, known as 'Sidonie' or 'Sido', was an unconventional woman devoted to her pets, books, and garden, and the mother-daughter relationship remained strong throughout their lives.
In 1893 Colette married Henri Gauthier-Villars, a well-known wit known as "Willy", who was 15 years her senior, and who has been portrayed by Colette's biographers' as a literary charlatan and degenerate.
Collette's first books, the Claudine series, were published under her husband's name, and their portrayal of life in la belle epoque France was shocking to many readers.
Separated from her unfaithful husband in 1906, Collette performed in music halls and had several affairs with both men and women.
In 1912 Colette married Henri de Jouvenel, the editor of the newspaper Le Matin. The couple had one daughter, Colette de Jouvenel, known to the family as Bel-Gazou. Colette de Jouvenel has spoken of her mother as distant and uncaring, leaving her in the care of an English nanny and only rarely coming to visit her. Colette divorced Henri de Jouvenel in 1924 after a much talked-about affair with her stepson, Bertrand de Jouvenel.
Post-war, Colette's writing career flourished following the publication of Chéri (1920), the story of the end of a six-year affair between an aging courtesan, Léa, and a pampered young man, Chéri. By the end of the decade, Colette was acclaimed as France's greatest woman writer and had become a household word.
In 1935, following a long affair, Colette married Maurice Goudeket, a jewelry dealer who turned journalist after losing his business in the Great Depression. They remained together "hand-in-hand" for thirty years until she died thirty years after they first met. Goudeket wrote Close to Colette, An Intimate Portrait, in which he shares deeply personal and loving memories of their life together.
During her later years Colette was progressively immobilized by arthritis, but continued to record her impressions, recollections, and fantasies. She published De ma fenêtre (1942), L'Étoile vesper (1946), and Le Fanal bleu (1949), all semiautobiographical works reflecting the years of World War II in Paris. In 1952, she was awarded the prestigious Légion d'Honneur.
Colette was a phenomenon. She published fifty books, many semiautobiographical. All her life she remained a controversial figure, flaunting her lesbian affairs and collaborating with the Vichy regime while aiding her Jewish friends and hiding her own husband in the attic during World War II. She ventured into many fields, and there are chocolate and cosmetics bearing her name. And, when she died in 1954, she was the first woman in France's history to be given a state funeral.
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Save the Date:
Winter Clearance Sale
Saturday, January 31
11 a.m-4 p.m.
3016 N Florida St.
FOR MORE DETAILS:
703-969-1688
American Express cards are welcome
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Open House Raffle:
Winner of our $50 Swan Ways' gift certificate
We were very pleased with the success of our Open House chez Parvaneh Limbert on December 13.
As promised, we held a raffle for those who attended and are pleased to announce that the winner of our $50 gift certificate is:
Andrea Farsakh
Congratulations, Andrea, and happy shopping!
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 Invitation to contribute to the newsletter
We look forward to hearing from you!
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