Tag Archives: europe

Europe Part II: 18th Century Ball at the Palace of Versailles

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You people. You PEOPLE! I know that this happened months ago, but I am only now getting around to writing about it. I wish I could say that the delay was because it was so absolutely magnificent (which it was), but in truth, I simply haven’t had a moment to dedicate to writing about this most excellent of events. As fortune turns out, the lovely and sublime Sarah Lorraine, featured in the picture below (and a total heartbreaker, as you can see) has written up an excellent post on the topic, and I highly recommend you visit her site, as well as watch the video of Jason Schwartzman hosting Cribs at Versailles.

This has been a fantasy of ours for quite some time, though the Palace of Versailles does not normally allow costumed guests on their premises. Here, everyone was required to dress the part, and what a spectacle we made of it.
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Europe Part I: London, Oxford, Northampton

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I’m a bit behind on posting about my recent travels to Europe, but I hope that the scope and content of this do end up making up for it. My original plan was to visit four museums, both the V&A and Museum of London, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and the Northampton Museum. Unfortunately, the MoL was unable to accommodate my visit due to a last minute project, but I still was able to get in quite a bit of work. Unfortunately, I’m unable to post/publish my photos of the work specifically, as I had promised that I would not publish them in any real way, but I don’t think that the Ashmolean will object to me posting a selfie of myself with a shoe that I’d been lusting to see for many years. =) This is the 1600s shoe after which the “Stratfords” were designed.

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Europe Trip Part II: Lausanne

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If you saw the first half of my Europe trip, then you will recall that I was in Munich for business, but had the opportunity to do some exploring and visit some museums while I was there. As it turned out, I had some vacation time coming up, so I decided to stay in Europe a bit longer. And, coincidentally, Dr. Marquita Volken, of the Musee de la Chaussure in Lausanne, Switzerland (the Museum of the Shoe) had recently published a manuscript, “Archeological Footwear: Development of Shoe Patterns and Styles from Prehistory til the 1600s.” On a lark, I looked up how far away Lausanne was from Munich – only about 330 miles! That’s about the same distance from San Francisco to Los Angeles! I was sold – I booked a train and routed my return flight through Zurich instead of Munich. And, after my last day of work, I found myself on the train headed for the beautiful city of Lausanne, Switzerland.

The very day I arrived, I was already in shoemaker heaven – I met up with Dr. Volken, her fantastic husband (also Dr. Volken), and their charming daughter, and travelled together to the Chateau de Chillon, probably one of the most fantastically preserved chateaux in the area.
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Europe Trip Part I: Munich

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In case some of you were not aware, shoemaking is actually not my livelihood. In fact, my primary breadwinning is far less interesting to the general public, although it does sometimes afford me some liberties. In this case, I was traveling to Germany for work (Munich specifically), and since it was my first time in Germany, I decided to arrive a bit early and see the sights, visit a few museums, and sample the local cuisine. I understand that this is not, strictly speaking, related to shoemaking, but if you bear with me and be patient, I can promise you shoemaking insight of the kind of that has opened my eyes and made me a believer! To start, here is what is on the front of most subway cars in the Munich U-Bahn: a fellow in medieval clothes going along for the ride. This is apparently Munich’s “mascot,” the Munchner Kindl. He appears on Munich’s coat of arms, as well as obscure places like manhole covers, and the front of U-Bahn trains. =)

I traveled to Munich a few days before work needed me, and took the time to visit three different museums: the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, the Munich Residenz, and the Alte Pinakothek.
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