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Bon Weekend: 25 June 2021

by habituallychic

06 . 25 . 21

Last year felt like it crawled by at a snail’s pace while this year is flying by. I can’t believe it will be July next week. If you’re coming to the city or just looking for new things to see and do, I’ve got you covered.

This week, I attended the Member Preview for The Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512–1570 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art that opens on Saturday, 26 June and runs until 11 October 2021. It’s one not to be missed.

“Through an outstanding group of portraits, this major loan exhibition will introduce visitors to the various new and complex ways that artists portrayed the elite of Medicean Florence, representing the sitters’ political and cultural ambitions and conveying the changing sense of what it meant to be a Florentine at this defining moment in the city’s history. The exhibition will feature over 90 works in a wide range of mediums, from paintings, sculptural busts, medals, and carved gemstones to drawings, etchings, manuscripts, and armor. Included are works by the period’s most celebrated artists, from Raphael, Jacopo Pontormo, and Rosso Fiorentino to Benvenuto Cellini, Agnolo Bronzino, and Francesco Salviati.”

A couple of my friends are in Paris now so I was making sure they knew about all the new openings. After being closed for over 16 years, LVMH has finally finished renovating the French department store La Samaritaine but now it will also house a hotel and other businesses. It’s location by the Pont Neuf makes it easily accessible while you are out sightseeing. I can’t wait to visit later this year.

When I visited the Musée Carnavalet in the Marais in 2014, it looked a little bit ragged so it was no surprise that it closed soon after for a multi-year renovation. The museum dedicated to the history of the city has also just reopened and I’m a little nervous that it’s going to look too new but I’m still excited to visit again soon.

If you are ready to go back to the movie theater, the Film Forum is showing Le Cercle Rouge from 1970 starring Alain Delon and Yves Montand through 8 July 2021. The French film from director Jean-Pierre Melville gets rave reviews and looks like a movie men would really appreciate. If you’re not in the city, you can also rent it online here.

Film Forum is also currently showing La Piscine from 1969 starring Alain Delon and Romy Schneider which is not available to stream anywhere online right now. You can also order the new DVD and Blueray version of La Piscine from The Criterion Collection that has been restored and includes an English version, and alternative ending, interviews, and archival footage. I already pre-ordered my copy and can’t wait until it is released on 20 July 2021.

Metrograph movie theater won’t be back open until September but until then, they are showing fabulous films online for just a $5 subscription. I watched The French last weekend which is a documentary by William Klein about the 1981 French Open tennis tournament. Director Wes Anderson introduced the film so that gives you an idea of its cult status. It was so much fun to watch the players of the day compete with wooden rackets and see what everyone is wearing in the stands. It runs through 1 July 2021 but they are always adding special screenings of great films. I just watched a not great acted but visually appealing tennis film Players for a one night screening on Thursday. Next up are films by Eric Rohmer that you should definitely watch.

Keeping with the French theme is the new book Provence Style by Shauna Varvel. I met Shauna at the last big event I attended before the pandemic began last year and she could not be nicer. I was lucky enough to be sent an advance copy of her book by Vendome and it’s not only a beautiful look into the Varvel family home in Provence, Le Mas de Poiriers, but also other properties in the region. The Varvels are in Provence for the summer so you can also follow along on Instagram.

Everyone has been talking about this book Malibu Rising and Jenna Bush Hager chose it for her book club. I started it but I think I’m going to save it for 4th of July weekend after I finish the book below because this one feels more like a beach read.

Upper Bohemia: A Memoir had me hooked from the beginning and I relate to so many of the things that author, hayden Herrera, says her parents liked and disliked. It’s “a poignant coming-of-age memoir by the daughter of artistic, bohemian parents—set against a backdrop of 1950s New York, Cape Cod, and Mexico.” So far, it feels like an adult book and not chick lit or a mindless beach read and I can’t wait to continue reading it this weekend.

I realized recently that I haven’t bought a new wallet since before I left for a trip to Stockholm in December 2004 so it was about time for a new one. I took advantage of the Smythson Sale to buy myself the Mara Large Zip Around Wallet and Mara Passport Cover Wallet in Powder Blue. After I placed the order, I decided that I needed the Panama Slim Travel Wallet in Eau de Nil to hold my tickets, boarding pass, and passport while traveling. And while I was at it, I added the Mara Card Case in Coral for my business cards. It makes me so happy to pull out a pale blue wallet to pay for things now.

I saw artist Ridley Howard at Frieze and fell in love with his work so when I saw there was a book of his work, Shorelines, available from Andréhn-Schiptjenko Gallery, I placed an order. Because the shipping from France was so expensive, they were kind enough to send me a second copy. It was incredibly kind of them and I feel like it’s rare that anyone selling anything would do something like that so I really appreciate their generosity.

If you happen to be on the Upper East Side on Saturday, make sure you stop by 81st and Fifth Avenue to see the Jo Malone Morris Minor filled with flowers and models handing out samples of our their English Pear & Freesia Cologne. Sounds like a good plan for the day to me!

Summer means exposed limbs so I’ve been using this Brazilian Bum Bum Body Scrub and can’t believe how soft it makes my skin feel and the scent is amazing. The name is a little cheeky, see what I did there, but it is my new summer can’t live without product. Sol de Janeiro has a whole line of skincare, haircare, and scents that I look forward to trying soon too.

Bon week-end!

XOXOX,

HC