Field Notes for Curious Minds

Salut, hi, hello … we are busy grandparenting … maybe you can hear all the giggling from where you are right now! The very best example we can offer Olivia and Finley is to be relatively screen time lite while we are with them. So this edition of ‘Field Notes for Curious Minds’ comes to you pre-prepared, part-cooked, and ready for you to finish off to suit your taste!

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

―George Bernard Shaw

While Cereal Magazine may no longer be printing its aesthetically-pleasing journals, a rich archive remains that reflects a keen eye for great design.

“Also known as Hôtel Martel, Eric Touchaleaume’s property is the most faithfully preserved of all the villas on rue Mallet-Stevens. A complex of large workshops on two levels and three self-contained apartments, it was originally built for sculptors Jean and Joel Martel, with whom Mallet-Stevens had collaborated on several projects. The building’s distinctive interior architecture, a fluid puzzle of high ceilings, large windows and mezzanine levels, was designed to accommodate the needs of their art practice. When Touchaleaume acquired the building in 2007, its subtly theatrical spaces already displayed great attention to craftsmanship. Having completed his own intensive restoration, he now lives in Jean Martel’s former apartment, and the brothers’ studio space is home to Galerie 54’s antique furniture collection.”

‘Logically, Frankly’ (Cereal Magazine)

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

It looks like 2027 is shaping up to be a good year for cycling. JoJo has a new bike ordered, we’re booked to ride the Gralloch in Dumfries & Galloway in May, we’re waiting for bookings to open for Piemont Gravel (April), and there are always local adventures to unlock. But that doesn’t stop us peeking in on the way other folk get their biking and hiking kicks. West of Ireland, anyone?

“Don't let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It's your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what makes you feel alive and happy. Don't let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you are living their reality — not yours. There is more to life than pleasing people. There is much more to life than following others' prescribed path. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being. Adventure.”

― Roy T. Bennett

We are loving the vivid boldness of illustrations by Carolina Moscoso.

“ … the only thing which makes it possible to regard this world we live in without disgust is the beauty which now and then men create out of the chaos. The pictures they paint, the music they compose, the books they write, and the lives they lead. Of all these the richest in beauty is the beautiful life. That is the perfect work of art.”

― W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil

Who wouldn’t want to live in ‘A Room With A View’?

“Adventure is a loose word that means different things to different people. It is a state of mind, a spirit of trying something new and leaving your comfort zone. Adventure is about enthusiasm, ambition, open-mindedness and curiosity. If this is true, then ‘adventure’ is not only crossing deserts and climbing mountains; adventure can be found everywhere, every day, and it is up to us to seek it out.”

― Alastair Humphreys, Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes

That’s it for today. Back next week, same time, same place.

Barrie and JoJo