Hello Sydney! Nice to meet you in the rain…
..in the sun…
…storm…
…and undecided weather. All within the space of 30 minutes!
I arrived this morning after 19 hours of flying from New York. Good flights – JetBlue’s new business class pods are certainly a huge upgrade over steerage although, if I were to be very critical, I would say that the seats themselves are very strangely padded and quite uncomfortable – and then Virgin Australia which was really superb. Old school flatbeds but, for me, comfortable, and wonderful, attentive service.
Global Entry, a great relief to find on arrival, together with Virgin’s express pass given to business class passengers, made the transit through Sydney’s airport smooth as silk. Paul Roppolo, from International Hire Cars, whisked my luggage away to the sedan, and 30 minutes later I was comfortably ensconced in my harbor view room at the Park Hyatt.
Delicious! And you have already seen my view! The Sydney Opera House is an iconic building and one I have wanted to see for a long time. It’s funny though…I find first meetings with buildings that have intrigued me to be unexpectedly tender. Beautiful is the Opera House with its cantilevered shell, but I am so close to it that the signs of age and its smaller-than-expected scale whisper gently rather than cry out. It sits quietly in a harbor alive with cruise boats, a building whose celebrity has, perhaps, overshadowed its beautiful simplicity.
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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