Earlier this year I had a surprise invitation to join fellow stitchers on a trip to Nantes to attend the Pour l’Amour du Fil stitching fair. (I had originally been planning to host a trip with Arena Travel, but the trip was cancelled by Arena because of lack of interest. This led to a parting of the ways, as Bill and I had not had good experiences with the company since they were taken over.) I was therefore thrilled that a group of the stitchers who had originally booked the trip asked Bill and I to join them. Bill had too many plans to be able to come but I was very keen to go.
I travelled to London by tube from Hillingdon and joined the rest of the group at St Pancras station and was whizzed to Nantes via the Shuttle. The journey was so smooth that I had no idea we were already in France when I looked up from my lunch!
The Fair was so interesting for me as I have always been behind the counter rather than a shopper and the French have quite different taste when it comes to cross stitch.
You can see a few snaps of my visit which includes a picture of Charles Edouard de Broin, who I persuaded to let me buy a delicious little French sampler. (I have now charted this stitch-for-stitch the Cross Stitch Guild member’s magazine – look out for it next year.)
I was honestly surprised at how little I bought on the trip. As you know, I am always on the hunt but only managed to buy a few antique bits and pieces.
I travelled back alone as the rest of the group were staying longer and planned to revisit the show the following day. My last treat of the trip was whilst breaking my journey home in Paris. I visited a traditional French restaurant and sat very happily with a glass of white wine and a big bowl of mussels cooked in wine and cream. I really felt grown up and sophisticated when I boarded the Eurostar train on my own. I arrived at St Pancras bang on time and then it all fell apart. All trains to Hillingdon were cancelled and poor Bill had to stir around in the dark in heavy rain trying to find me in North Harrow.
