Tag Archives: Interiors

Eclectique: Meeting Elisabeth Lefebvre

– Press provides women with stupid things only! says Elisabeth Lefebvre, the editorial director of the new French women’s magazine, Eclectique. Today, the third issue is on newsstands.

– I receive messages of readers saying “At last: a magazine without celebs!”. Eclectique is for women  with a higher level of education. And women who are accustomed to read the financial press and the women’s press. To every curious girls who need aestheticism and clever content. It’s a paper that respects its readers, “the latest trends far from diktats”. With Anne Lefèvre, my accomplice for many years, we’ve wondered : what can we offer?

 

For 30 years, Elisabeth’s created about fifteen magazines, most of them became  really famous, like Côté Sud, Côté Ouest, Côté Est. She’s always kept the same principle : “never doing the same thing than the others. I am a free electron“. Young mother, she launches “Enfants Magazine still existing today“. In 1980, Elisabeth is an active woman and she doesn’t find a magazine that represents the active women like her. So she creates : “Biba, the first magazine of women working and enjoying it!“. In the 90’s, when she has her house built in the South of France, she releases Côté Sud (one of the best lifestyle and decoration magazines around the world!) : “Thanks to Côté Sud, I’ve discovered a lot about the South I didn’t know before“. And she launches Côté Ouest in 94, and Côté Est, in 99. Then Atmosphère, “the first

women’s magazine of the art of living“. She sells all of her magazines and creates in 2007, JV for the French who live in Belgium and the Belgian who like France. The list is impressive! 

It is with deep humility Elisabeth answers :

– I feel more like a potential reader than a journalist. I do love my job. A job of curiosity that allows to defend my own values :  roots, authenticity, curiosity and travels. In life, we are eclectic. And even more so when we travel. I like everything and I’m not only “luxury” or “adventure”.

Elisabeth and Anne have questioned the evolution of society : 

– The big change is the globalisation. Today women are turning to overseas, they are more European than Franco-French. We see a big desire to leave Paris, due to the cost of property and the quality of life and the cultural life’s rebirth of  provincial towns. The crisis has trivialized Tanguy’s phenomenon, family is a a crossroads of generations helping each other in a network. There is a total lack of the 50 years old women’s representation in the press. 

Eclectique is transgenerational. In each issue, we discover the portrait of a woman who is “a model of intelligence and sensitivity“. In the issue out today, the Eclectique Woman is Patricia Tartour, a pioneer of travels in China and the founder of Maison de la Chine (a travel agency).

– We want to show exclusive subjects. For exemple for travel topics, I like the relationship between travel and literature. I also look for aesthetim in photos. Eclectique is a small refine magazine, a niche magazine like Côté Sud, trying to accomodate its readers. A lifestyle women’s magazine.

Many thanks Elisabeth! Today, the Eclectique third issue is on newsstands in France, Belgium and Switzerland.

Related posts : INTERVIEWS & DESTINATIONS

Kent, England: Walmer Castle

Walmer Castle, a castle by the sea.  Time for culture, after the nature break in St Margaret’s Bay. Don’t expect me to show you the whole castle! You’d better have a look at the great brochure edited by the English Heritage. Here some lifestyle details I’ve noticed or liked in this famous castle, built in 1539 as  an artillery fort. Since then many famous people lived in, including the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and the late Queen Mother. Pictures 2 & 3 : the superb perspective of the corridor crossing the castle. This corridor was created by William Pitt the Younger who lived many years in Walmer Castle. He was a Prime Minister in the 18th century. 

Picture 4 : in the room dedicated to William Pitt the Younger, this unusual leather-covered library chair seems so uncomfortable! Picture 5 : print of the Queen Victoria’s profil and that of the Prince Consort among flowers.

Picture 6 : this heavy metal door leads to the castle’s courtyard. But definitely I prefer the amazingly beautiful gardens and the incredible view to the sea! Follow me there in my next post…

Informations : English Heritage, www.english-heritage.org.uk & Visit Kent, www.visitkent.co.uk

Related posts :

Dover, UK: The White Cliffs and St Margaret’s Bay

The crossing from Dunkerque to Dover

DESTINATIONS

 

Sintra, Portugal: Tivoli Palacio De Seteais, A Room

A buccolic retreat in the amazing Tivoli Palacio De Seteai  overhanging Sintra. Synonymous with an extreme refinement, you’ll precioulsly keep the adress of this 18th century gem. Volumes, architecture, interiors and the green settle bring you a deep feeling of calm. Cosy room with two big windows opened to a big French garden. The highly urban girl (me, me, me!) might forget her laptop! A Nespresso coffee maker for the addictive and the old-style bathroom. I walk in the large corridors like the caracters of the culte Resnais movie, “Last Year at Marienbad“, with  a timeless feeling! love this place.

Merci à M. Infos : Tivoli Palacio De Seteais 

Related posts :

Part 1: « The Hotel », Las Vegas  

Mayfair, London: shopping & art 

Saint Germain des Prés, Paris 

City guides : DESTINATIONS & HOTEL REVIEWS