Your humble servant at work. Today, Venezia, Acqua Alta. Expect the unexpected. Thanks to Sophie Djerlal who took the picture.

Off to Venice for a short week. Will be back with goodies, I hope. Some twenty years ago in a café in Venice, reloading my good old Rolleiflex which belonged to my grand father and still works wonders.

In the news stand in December 2009. The World of Interiors. Chateau Gabriel. Yves Saint Laurent's estate in Deauville.

Before we leave Africa for another continent, I'd like to take you on a stroll to the west African coast, to Ziguinchor, a fisherman's village in Senegal along the Casamance River. This was my final stop before sailing across the Atlantic. As I wouldn't want to be seen with a camera, never the best way to meet people, I took very few photographs and illustrated my travel book with watercolors instead. I had a gold coin around my neck in case I found something truly beautiful to exchange for instead of bank notes which I got robbed of anyway while painting on the market. Properly stripped, I sailed to South America and landed there as pennyless as a newborn.

Some images deserve a larger scale. Each month I will select a photograph and upload it that way. It will stay on line for just one month. Here

Christian Louboutin, Luxor. Part 2 To have a simple house in the Valley of the Kings sounds very grand to me...the true luxury lies in its simplicity, the warm air, the quality of the light and of course the imposing and sacred neighborhood... In my view, this story should be part of the "Flamboyant" book...do YOU agree ?

Christian Louboutin, the famous shoe designer, has a house in Luxor, on the west bank, in the Valley of the kings. His closest neighbor is Ramses III, or rather his mortuary temple Medinet Abu. In this part of Egypt, everything and everybody are of an arresting beauty. In the very heart of immortality, there is no space for mediocrity. Chez Christian Louboutin, Luxor. Part 1

Cairo, the most beautiful museum in the world. Still life with stones from the pyramids of Gizeh. Next stop, Luxor, and a new host whose shoes we would like to step in.

Part 2 Naguib Abdallah. At dusk, the light of Egypt turns gold, the garden is filled with scents and birds, all the treasures of the world are nothing but dust in comparison with the enchantment of his heavenly abode.

Since we're in Cairo, we might as well sail across the Nile to call on Prince Naguib Abdallah. Part 1

An egyptian story part 2