Every year I am privileged to attend PURE Life Experiences, a travel conference that stands heads above the vast array of travel conferences held around the world. This is a time when 1000 of us – buyers (like me) and sellers (like Zapata Ranch above) – convene for three days of face to face meetings and conferences. To date, the meetings have been assembled in Marrakech, Morocco.
PURE is a moving display of talent and passion and the three days of meetings afford one a glorious means to travel (virtually) to all corners of the world. I meet privately owned haciendas whose owners have stories to tell about their forebears (http://zuleta.com/),tented camps (http://www.theultimatetravellingcamp.com/), charming inns like Puerto Valle in Argentina’s northwest (http://www.puertovalle.com.ar/en1/), flying safaris across the face of Africa (http://soaring-safaris.com/) and authentic, culturally and ecologically friendly African camps (http://www.maasai.com/). At every turn there is something with a new twist, a different vision.
And what do I come away with? More than information, I am inspired all over again. And I find, on my return, that my own view of travel and its importance shifts ever so slightly, as when you shake a kaleidescope. I see the world and what I do with a new perspective.
Today, it is a return to the simple, to the values that have become so scarce in our lives: space, silence, and time to spend learning about and approaching the unknown.
John Derian is a treasure. It's not that there aren't many with talent and vision because there are, the world over. But Derian has other attributes that make him so beloved. His eye is unerring, his sense of scale is perfect, he layers cultures and eras seamlessly in a room. And he is accessible in brick and mortar. His two shops on East Second Street have been haunts for years. One carries the decoupage he designs and constructs locally (and that make the best gifts ever) along with the coveted ceramics of Astier de Villatte. The second Dry Goods store next door showcases quirky antiques, an assortment of vintage furniture, stacks of heavy french linen, Moroccan rugs and soft cotton Indian clothing. Both are small, but intriguing and interesting enough to seduce you on a journey of the senses.
And now, Derian has opened on Christopher Street in a double-windowed storefront of a two-story 18th century house. It's like walking in to another world. Traditional Astier, and the later Derian/Astier collaborative pieces, line the walls from roof to floor of the front room. The back room, wallpapered in his new cabbage rose design and lit by beautiful Balthus-designed standing lamps with parchment shades, offers a living room in which to settle in, thumb through books and albums, and rest the soul.
So, go to shop, or simply go to travel in spirit to another place and time.
https://www.johnderian.com/pages/our-locations"
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