BLOOM & WILD CHRISTMAS WREATH WORKSHOP

Yesterday was an unusual Monday. First of all, the royal engagement was finally announced. It’s time to pass the tissues, Prince Harry is no longer available. 
And instead of going straight back home from work (to put myself under my warm blanket with a soup & Netflix) I attended the Bloom & Wild Christmas wreath workshop at Caravan Bankside. Bloom and Wild is an online flower retailer that delivers flowers through your letterbox. The brand delivers now in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. 

GABRIELLE CHANEL

To celebrate the launch of their new fragrance Gabrielle, Chanel has created an immersive pop-up in Mayfair.
Located at 27 Old Bond Street, Espace Gabrielle Chanel is open until the 24th of September and offers an olfactive workshop about their new perfume. There is some still some space left this week, to see the availability look HERE.

On the ground floor there is a psychedelic faceted mirror tunnel that will bring you to a room with a cinema screen that features the new film with Kirsten Stewart and empowering quotes from Gabrielle Chanel.

On the first floor, it’s where the magic happens every day. A Chanel fragrance expert is there to guide all the participants through the inspiration behind the perfume, the secret of the bottle and how it has been designed.

The whole olfactive experience is blindfolded and the fragrance expert guide all the participants through the 4 essences which are at the heart of the perfume: orange blossom, exotic jasmine, ylang-ylang and tuberose.

Chanel always use the best ingredients for their perfume, the orange blossom is sourced from Tunisia and gives a fresh touch to this perfume.
The exotic jasmine comes from Egypt and provides a floral intensity.
The Comoros Islands’ ylang-ylang has soft floral and spicy notes and the tuberose from Grasse in the south of France gives a creamy and sensual touch to Gabrielle.

The bottle of the perfume is also very special, it took 5 years for the Chanel team to design it. It is a square shape made with fine glass two allow the fragrance to radiate through.

The bottle has been hand-polished to have the perfect flat bottom. 

The careful design even takes into account the look of the liquid in the bottle. The tube that carries the scent to the nozzle sits invisible within the perfume after its first spray, so all your eyes focus on is the perfume itself.

It might not be all people’s taste, but I really like the floral and delicate scent of Gabrielle.
I am now considering switching my Coco Mademoiselle for Gabrielle soon.

Espace Gabrielle Chanel

27 Old Bond Street

London W1S 4QE

Website

MAÎTRE CHOUX

Two years ago the award-winning pastry chef Joakim Prat opened Maître Choux in South Kensington on Harrington Road. 

Maître Choux is a little bakery that exclusively sells éclairs, chouxs and chouquettes. 

Maître Choux respects the classic recipe of the éclair, an oblong pastry made with choux dough filled with cream and topped with icing. However, don’t expect to find classic flavours or irregular shapes here. 

Maître Choux’s éclair concept is based on designing exact, bright and bold éclairs with original flavours such as raspberry and rose water, Tahitian vanilla and roasted pecans and lemon & bergamot just to name a few.  

The éclair originated during the nineteenth century in France and was called "pain à la Duchesse’’ and ‘’petite duchesse”. Joakim Prat refers to petite duchesse in the name of some of his éclairs.

When I visited recently it was almost impossible to pick only one éclair as they all look stunning and all the flavours sound delicious. The decision was too hard, so instead of picking one my partner and I settled for a box of 4 éclairs to try different flavours.   

At around £5 for an éclair here are slightly more expensive than the éclair you can buy in France which are usually priced between 1.80€ and 4.90€, but they totally worth it! There are not just a pastry, but a beautiful little piece of art. 
Their éclairs can be kept in the fridge for 2 days but are better served at room temperature.

We opted for the hazelnut & milk chocolate treasure, the salted butter with homemade caramel, the Spanish raspberry pink and the Tahitian vanilla & pecan. 

Each éclair was perfectly filled with the a very tasteful cream. 

My favourite éclair was the hazelnut & milk chocolate treasure, follow by the Tahitian vanilla & pecan, then the salted butter with homemade caramel. The Spanish raspberry pink was probably my favourite in terms of design, but last in terms of taste. However it was my boyfriend’s favourite. 

Spanish raspberry pink

Hazelnut & milk chocolate treasure

Tahitian vanilla & pecan

Salted butter with homemade caramel

I have never been a big fan of sweets or cakes because I always find the crème patissiere sickeningly. But this time it was different, the crème patissiere was light and so easy to eat. Thanks to Maître Choux, I can say that I like crème patissiere…or at least their crème patissiere! 

Maître Choux is opening this October on Dean Street in Soho, so be ready for another storm of éclairs on your social media channels. This second shop will offer tea, coffee, and thick hot chocolate made from a Basque recipe from Prat’s grandmother, alongside the hand-crafted designs éclairs, choux and chouquettes. 

10/10

Maître Choux

15 Harrington Road

London SW7 3ES

Twitter: @maitrechoux

FLOWER MARKETS IN LONDON

One of the greatest benefits of living in London is getting to spend weekends walking around food, farmer and flower markets. 

I have always had a big interest in flowers and loved gardening. My interest has grown even more since living in the UK. I have totally fallen under the floral spell and this is why I started #JanouFlowers to share my passion. I love creating bouquets for my flat most weekends as I can’t live in a flat without flowers or plants. 

When I arrived in London I was living 10 minutes away from Columbia Road market, this is when I started every Sunday buying flowers to decorate my flat. 

Despite living on the other side of the Thames now, in Oval, I still go to Columbia road sometimes in the early morning as I love the vibe, the colourful stalls and the local shops on the side streets. 

Next to my flat, between Vauxhall and Battersea Park I also have the New Covent Garden Flower Market. I heard a lot about it but it’s only in the last month I’ve started going regularly. The first time I went there, I thought I’d arrived in heaven! 

COLUMBIA ROAD FLOWER MARKET

Every Sunday from 8am to 3pm the quiet street of Columbia Road fills up with stalls selling fresh flowers and plants, and a lots of people!

I recommend to go between 8am and 10am as it tends to get crowded later on. I like early morning in Columbia Road because it’s peaceful, you can walk at your rhythm and you are not pushed by the crowd. You can also  pick the most beautiful  flowers and as a plus you get to listen the chant of ‘’Everthin’ a fiver!” from the stallsholders when they still have a good voice. 

Each season the stalls are different due to the seasonal fresh flowers.  

Spring: hyacint, mimosas, tulips, daffodils, ranunculus, roses.

Summer: peonies, sunflowers, roses, hydrangeas

Autumn: hydrangeas, lavender, roses

Winter: mistletoe, holly wreaths, thistle, eucalyptus, brassica, roses

NEW COVENT GARDEN FLOWER MARKET

Open Monday to Saturday from 4am to 10am just down Nine Elms Lane SW8 5BH, New Covent Garden is composed of 21 wholesalers and 10 florists.

They have the widest selection of foliage, fresh flowers, plants and sundries. 

My favourite stand so far are David Gibbs, Bloomfield and Goochild. All the stands are cheap, but be careful, they are all wholesale price, so make sure you anticipate the VAT on top. 

It costs £5 to enter the site with a car, but it’ also well connected with buses from Vauxhall.