Danielle Steel's Blog, page 53

Paris Couture Shows

It’s that time of year again, one of my favorite times in Paris, the first week in July. (The other big early July event is the sales in Paris, with reductions of up to 70% on everything, and some gorgeous things on sale, at fabulous prices. The sales happen every year in January and July). And at the other end of the spectrum, and surely not a bargain, are the Haute Couture fashion shows that I’ve told you about before. When I was a child, and into my young adulthood, the Haute Couture fashion shows were a BIG DEAL in Paris. Even cab drivers talked about them, and the French are very proud of their history in fashion. Haute Couture are beautiful clothes, made to order and entirely made by hand: every stitch!! The seamstresses who make them apprentice for 12 years before they are allowed to work on a garment, and it is a highly respected craft in France, to the point of being considered art. When I was younger, Haute Couture clothes were exquisite, they were expensive, but still within the realm of somewhat accessible. Summer clothes were shown in spectacular fashion shows in January for the following summer, and winter clothes for the coming season were shown in a fashion show in July. The fashion shows are by invitation only, and were always an elite event, wives of Presidents and heads of State went, movie stars and royals. The shows would last for a week by famous designers like Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Lacroix, all incredibly talented people. And during Haute Couture week, you would dash from one show to the next, if you were lucky enough to be invited. Hordes of press were there. And about 40 models would saunter down the runway in 75 spectacularly beautiful outfits, always with a bride at the end. It is every little girl’s dream to go to a fashion show like that, see the clothes, dream of being a model, or maybe of wearing clothes like that one day. I loved seeing it as a young girl, was lucky enough to wear some Couture clothes as an adult, and I always took my 5 daughters to see the shows, even when they were children. It engrained in them a deep love for fashion, beautiful workmanship, and incomparable design, and now 3 of them work in fashion.

Today, it is a lost art. Only a handful of women still wear Haute Couture, few can afford them, and the important designers have closed for the most part. Only two are left: Dior and Chanel. Dior has a new designer, and Chanel is designed by an incredibly talented man, Karl Lagerfeld, in his early 80′s now, and still vital and going strong. The clothes are still beautiful, but the prices are exorbitant, and the shows themselves are more PR events by the fashion houses. It costs millions to put on those shows, and it is the maintaining of tradition, and the image of the house, although only a few women will buy the clothes. “Haute Couture Week” is now a 2 day event, with several young designers putting on smaller shows, and the only two big ones left are Dior and Chanel. I still go out of a sense of history and a lifelong love of fashion. When they’re in Paris, I go with my daughters, or with a good friend, and it’s interesting to see it now with my daughters and exchange comments about the show. It’s impossible not to be impressed by how spectacular the shows are, and the settings are dazzling, although it is no longer really about women choosing their next season’s wardrobe of elegant clothes, but more about attending a fabulous spectacle, like a moment of great theater. And it’s a lot of fun to go. But times have changed, lives have changed, even fashionable women spend their days in jeans, life is simpler and more informal, and few people have the kind of lives that require those kinds of clothes. At a guess, I’d say that their clients now are a handful of extremely wealthy women, and many or most of them the very young wives (or mistresses) of much older very successful men. They have the figures to wear the clothes, and the men have the means to pay for them (the evening gowns are in the $200k range in many cases). But it is still a great opportunity to see beautiful clothes (and the men can ogle the models, while the women look at the clothes).

The Dior show was held in a tent specially built for the occasion, to accommodate several thousand people at once. Last year, for their summer show, the collection was shown in a beautiful old building, with a series of rooms, each one ‘wallpapered’ floor to ceiling with live flowers. Each room in a different color, one with all red flowers, one with all blue, a room of white flowers, one of pastel colors. Each room was an incredible feat of decorating with walls of flowers. This year in the tent, as techno music played, the walls of the tent were a screen for a projection of flowers interspersed with photographs and videos of the models. In the large darkened space, the models pounded down the runway in colorful, artistic creations, with a space age feel to them, splashes of color, interesting shapes, new age shoes. I couldn’t see myself wearing it, but it was fascinating to look at, like a form of art, which sometimes fashion is. In the audience were all the important magazine editors, potential buyers, fashion journalists, and people somehow related to fashion. Several thousand of them. It was a beautiful show, and very space age and modern looking, and bore little relation to the Dior creations of years past. This was very, very new looking!!! You can see the shows if you look at Style.com

The following day, I went to the Chanel show with two of my daughters and two friends. It was in the Grand Palais, a beautiful old glass structure, and into it had been built the semblance of a theater. Chanel is known for their spectacular and unusual decors as well as their clothes. And this was no ordinary ‘theater’, it looked like the end of the world had come and gone, with fallen beams, and broken concrete, chunks of concrete and rocks on the ground; it looked like Armageddon, and was the backdrop for the models pounding down the runway in the clothes. The Chanel show had a space age feel to it too, with lots of flash and sparkle, something sparkly on nearly every outfit, even tweeds. Fascinating clothes, make up, hair does, it was a beautiful show with unusual clothes, shown on gorgeous models who crisscrossed throughout the room, so everyone could see the clothes, and across a stage covered with more fallen concrete. It was science fiction, Paris style, and a fun show to watch.

The shows last about forty five minutes, usually start late, and when it’s over, you wander back into the real world, and look around at people in jeans and shorts, Converse and T shirts, and you muse about the clothes you saw and wonder what it would be like to wear them. For those who can afford to buy them, they make appointments to go and see the collection and try it on. And if they order a dress or outfit from the collection, it will be delivered about three months later. And for the rest of us, we wait another six months to see a show just one more time, as we marvel at the beauty of it, the uniqueness, the excitement, and the thrill of being part of the world of fashion, even for a few minutes. It’s exciting to be there, and my daughters and I went out to lunch to talk about it. And no matter how far out, fashion is always fun and exciting!!!!

Love, Danielle

Happy Days

Hi Everyone,

What a treat I had this week, a throwback to another time in my life and total joy.

Although my kids had been to Euro Disney several times when they were younger, during our summers in France, I was always busy when we were in Paris, and used the treat of a trip to Euro Disney as a plan to keep them occupied for a fun day when I had grown up things to do. And when they were kids, we went to Disneyland in California every year and of course I went with them and we all loved it. But I had never been to Euro Disney here, and have not been to any of the Disney parks in about 15 years since my kids grew up. And I was thrilled when recently my Goddaughter’s father invited me to join her and her brother and sister for a day at Euro Disney, which they had never been to before either. It sounded like a huge amount of fun to me, with children who were going to discover it for the first time at ages 3, 6 and 9, the perfect age for all that joyful magic, Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Aladdin, you can’t beat that. So with delight, I accepted the invitation, put it on my calendar in big letters, and waited for the day to come. And it came this week.

We set off at 9:30am, happily in a van big enough for the kids and adults, were at Euro Disney, less than an hour outside Paris, shortly after 10, and the fun began. I will admit that, much to my delight, 2 VIP guides had been arranged, and they made everything that happened that day easier for all of us. It may be an elitist way to enjoy Disneyland, but let’s face it with 3 little kids, summer crowds, and long lines at every ride, some help was greatly appreciated to shorten the lines, get in through back entrances at times, and take us on some short cuts across the park, two parks in fact, since Disney now has a second park there dedicated to movies and the old movie studios (with some scary rides thrown in that one of the kids and several of the adults loved—-I not being one of them. I am happiest on rides best suited for 6 year olds, and you’ll never find me on a roller coaster or some scary ride that plummets you from a great height toward the ground. I even skipped the Dumbo ride in Fantasyland because I don’t like heights. The three and six year olds and I loved all the same rides!! And the nine year old outclassed me by a mile.)

The Euro Disney park is a magical fairyland like all the other Disney parks, it allows you to float back into childhood, enjoy simple pursuits, spend a wonderful day with the children you’re with, and go home feeling like a kid again. It is a safe haven from the real world for as long as you’re there, enjoying the rides, shaking hands with Mickey, marveling at the parade, eating cotton candy and whatever else you love eating and doing while at the park. It also provides a wonderful day with the child or children in your life, free of stress, for a day that you will remember fondly for a long, long time. It allowed me to realize that I was actually capable of running around all day without stopping for 12 hours, running from one attraction to the next with little kids. I haven’t done that in a while! I thought I was going to be exhausted and worn out, instead I was energized all day and tireless because I was having so much fun. I made other discoveries too, how wonderful my Godchild is, and her siblings. I see them regularly, for an hour or two, with their parents. But a 12 hour day at an amusement park puts everyone to the test. It gets hot, it gets cold, one gets tired, it’s a long day at best, and only the adults were looking a little worn out by the end of the day, the children I was with didn’t. No one got cranky, not a tear was shed, no one was demanding, complaining, unhappy about what ride we were going on, they were just thrilled to be there and loved it all. The three children were adorable to each other, always kind and loving and sharing the fun, no one got jealous, had a fit, please and thank you were included in every phrase. And the two not even quite three year old spent the first 4 hours walking everywhere under her own steam, without a stroller, without complaint. She just bounced along with a big smile on her face, holding my hand. It was also a reminder of what a pleasure children are when they are kind, have nice manners and are well behaved. Their parents are very loving with them, and have instilled the real premise of good manners in them, being kind and considerate to other people, and they sure were, and always are when I see them. They are very special children and I love them dearly.

It was truly a fantastic day. We flew to see Peter Pan, explored Sleeping Beauty’s castle, met Mickey backstage at an adorable attraction where you meet him in his ‘dressing room’, we squealed on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride when we went down the short water slide and much to my amazement, the littlest one wasn’t afraid in the dark. We shot laser guns in a Toy Story attraction (I had the worst score!!). We met Aladdin, Peter Pan, and Ariel. We had a delicious lunch in a very nice restaurant, and a great hamburger at Planet Hollywood for dinner, I ate WAY more cotton candy than the children, and the brave ones in the group went on every scary ride, in some cases twice. I can’t think of a more fun or happier day I’ve spent in a long time, it put me back to the day when my kids were that age, which were the happiest days of my life and hopefully theirs, and allowed me to spend an absolutely terrific day with three children I love dearly who turn out to be even more wonderful and lovable than even I knew. I was soooooo impressed by how adorable and easy they were, and we all had such a great time.

Before we left the park, at 10pm, 12 hours after we arrived, and even happier, we all agreed to make it a tradition every year. And after we saw the parade at the end of the day, and waved goodbye to Mickey and all his friends, my almost three year old Goddaughter summed it up perfectly for all of us in a single word, “Again.”

Love, Danielle

Dinner in Paris

Hi…..I had the pleasure of seeing some friends this week, whom I haven’t seen in about 10 years. They live in a different city, we used to have work involvements together, and they retired very young, and time just slid by without our seeing each other. But like truly great friendships, when our paths crossed during a trip they made to Paris, it was just like old times and we spent the evening catching up about life, what we’ve been doing, our kids. And we had a great evening, and hope to see each other again sooner than in another ten years!! And in the course of the evening, they asked me about my life in Paris, and why is it more fun for me than the time I spend in San Francisco, and why do I like it here. Questions like that always make you take stock, but Paris is an easy city to explain. For one thing, Paris is so incredibly beautiful, there is something beautiful to look at on every corner, and everywhere you look. The Place de la Concorde, the Eiffel Tower sparkling at night, the boats drifting on the river on a warm summer night, the charm of so many neighborhoods, tiny parks and places, the history and the architecture. San Francisco has great natural beauty, the bay, the hills and mountains, and it has its own appealing architecture. And it’s really not fair to compare a small city with a big one. San Francisco has a lot to offer if you’re outdoorsy and athletic, which I’m not. I’m more of an indoor person, or a city person, so all the hikes and walks and sports it offers are kind of wasted on me. And it’s a sleepy town in many ways. If I invite friends to dinner in San Francisco, they like to eat earlier than Europeans, and by 10pm, or earlier, everyone goes home. Europeans eat later, stay at the table forever, having intense discussions, often about politics or other serious subjects, and they stay late (like til 1:30 in the morning on a weekday, or later). And for a night owl like me, I enjoy those long late talky nights with friends. I love my home in San Francisco, and the fact that several of my children live in that city, which draws me back there like a homing pigeon or a mother hen, but I run out of things to do there, other than work. And I work very intensely in San Francisco, most of the time 18 or 20 hour days. In Paris, there is always an exhibit, a gallery I want to see, an auction house I love pawing through, an art or antique fair. In population, Paris is roughly ten times the size of San Francisco, so it’s really not fair to compare them, and people entertain more in France. I get invited to dinner at friends’ homes several times a week in Paris, for relaxed fun evenings among friends. Americans don’t entertain at home as much, and that kind of warm opportunity to spend time with friends is part of the quality of life in Europe, which I enjoy. And having grown up in Europe a lot of the time, gone to French schools all my life, and having had European parents, France is very familiar to me. I tried to explain that to the friends I saw the other night, but it’s always hard to put words to the atmosphere of a city. And then, the following night, I had dinner at good friends’ house, and it was a perfect illustration of everything I had been trying to say the night before.

There were 14 friends gathered for dinner in a casual atmosphere, but everyone made an effort to look nice without going all out (some wore jeans, some wore dresses, nothing fancy, but just a change of clothes at the end of the day). The host cooked our dinner, and their really adorable children (age 3, 6 and 9) helped serve the hors d’oeuvres, and then they quietly went to bed, when we moved to the dinner table, at close to 10pm. French people work til about 7 or 7:30 pm, so dinners start late, but no one seems to hesitate about going out on work nights. The dinner was delicious and the conversation lively. The group was eclectic and very international. There were French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Chinese people at dinner. And French, German, Italian and Japanese were spoken at the dinner table. With countries so close together in Europe, people tend to speak a lot of languages, and the mix of nationalities adds spice to an evening. The age range of the guests was from 26 to 65, which also happens a lot in Europe, you don’t just meet people of one age group socially, people aren’t afraid to invite older or younger guests, and it makes for an interesting mix and different points of view, people just starting out in business or their careers, and those with more experience. There were all kinds of careers, a Japanese TV personality, and a Chinese journalist, two writers, real estate, fashion, the perfume business, and one of the main organizers of the White Dinner I’ve told you about. Everyone had different interests and brought something to the table, so to speak. I had a fascinating conversation with the woman in the perfume business, and learned all kinds of new things about it. We laughed and talked and sat at the table until 1 am, which is pretty typical, and then our hosts hooked up their IPod and we all danced in their living room, which happens every time we go to their house. It was silly and fun, and a really fun evening, and we danced until 2 am (on a Thursday night), and everyone had to go to work the next day, but no one complained, we were having too much fun. And then we all went home after a warm friendly evening, meeting interesting new people, sharing common ideas, and learning about new things. I had a ball, and I think everyone else did too. It’s the kind of evening that makes you smile the next day when you think about it, as you get through a busy or even aggravating work day. Evenings like that are part of the quality of life, where you are not just working or doing business, or struggling with the world. It is wonderful to take time out (even if you’re tired the next day), and just have a great time with friends. And it’s part of why I love Paris, aside from the beauty of the city or the atmosphere there, it’s those special moments with friends, where nothing else seems to matter and no matter how tough your day was, you forget about it for a while and just have a good time. Not every evening is as much fun as that, or just clicks as well, and not everyone in Paris is having friends dance in their living room until 2 am. But even on quieter evenings, the atmosphere is warm, the people are usually interesting, and the conversations are thoughtful and enlightening. It adds joy to my life, which is a very, very nice thing, and for me it’s a great counterpoint to how hard I work most of the time, and a wonderful break, in a solitary profession, where I work alone and am isolated from others while I do. So evenings like the one I just described fuel me for those solitary times at my typewriter, and it is so much fun to spend an evening like that with old and new friends. So I guess that’s part of why I love Paris, and it always makes me feel lucky to be here. It was a wonderful evening.

Love, Danielle

Magic!!!

Magic is rare and hard to come by, and adds something so wonderful and unexpected to our lives, like a dream come true, or a wish we always had. Two years ago in Paris, a close friend in Paris invited me to something called The White Dinner, and as he described it to me, it sounded a little odd. On a designated night in June (as close as possible to the same date every year), thousands of people converge on a location they are informed of two hours before, they all show up wearing white, and at the location, they are told to go to one of the monuments of Paris (oh yes, and they show up carrying a folding table, two chairs, linen, china, silverware, and their dinner). And at the monument, these thousands of people sit down and have an elegant candle lit dinner, and at the stroke of midnight, they pick up their card tables and leave. Huh? What? Yeah….sure….whatever. It sounds interesting but a little crazy to me, and hard to imagine. Apparently, they have no permit for the location, they just show up once a year. It sounded a little like “Brigadoon” to me, the movie about the village in Scotland that appears once every hundred years, they all have a great time, and then disappear for another hundred years. Or in this case, for a year. (The event began more than 25 years ago as an anniversary dinner for a group of naval officers and their wives all dressed in white, and they plopped themselves down in a public place and had an elegant dinner. It grew and grew and grew, and has now become a tradition for thousands of Parisians, and people who come from all over the world, if they’re lucky enough to be invited.)

Despite my misgivings, or even skepticism, I agreed to go to the White Dinner with my friend and a group of his friends two years ago. And it knocked my socks off. I said that it was easily one of the most beautiful and magical nights of my life, and so it was. Two years ago, in front of Notre Dame, with the church bells tolling, and a priest giving us a blessing from a balcony halfway through the evening. I knew it was an evening I would never forget, and one that would be hard to top. But fascinated and enamored by the whole event, I agreed with pleasure and anticipation to go again this year. The same friend invited me along with 30 of his friends. And this is no casual happening, it is a highly organized event run with military precision and a long list of Dos and Don’ts that are made perfectly clear. And Thou Shalt Not Break The Rules!!! The success of the event depends on everyone respecting those rules. First of all, the location is kept secret every year. Second of all, you have to wear white from head to foot!! No money changes hands, it costs you nothing except what you bring for dinner. It is by invitation only, and it is no small feat to get invited to the White Dinner, people maneuver for months to get invited. And I was impressed to notice both times that there are no crashers, no one even tries, out of respect, and the event is entirely self-regulated. And amazingly, the whole event is organized by only 6 people at the top, which is remarkable in itself, since the Dinner has become so huge that there were ten thousand in attendance two years ago, and 14,400 this year, and it is now split in two locations, both on the same night.

The day dawned with pouring rain. My optimistic host called to tell me it would stop raining by nightfall, which I strongly doubted, as the rain continued to get worse and come down in buckets throughout the day. It has been a chilly spring in Paris, and the forecast said it would be freezing (like high 40′s or maybe 50 degrees) that night. Freezing and rainy? Oh yippee!! I could hardly wait. But the friend going with me that night was as optimistic as our host and insisted the rain would stop. I was already making alternate plans to eat dinner in my kitchen. Oh ye of little faith….(that would be me). Lo and behold at 6pm the rain stopped (and luckily I had a white coat in my closet, so I was prepared if it got cold, which it did). At 7pm, my phone rang, and we were given the first location: the one where they tell you which monument you’re going to. The designated rendezvous was at the Palais Royal, a beautiful building with gardens, which was a palace originally, near the court of the Kings. The big garden was a perfect meeting place before going on to our final location. And thousands of people dressed in white showed up, carrying their folding card tables, folding chairs, pulling a grocery ‘caddy’ with their tableware and dinner in it, everyone in great spirits and amazed that it was no longer raining. Our meeting time was 8:15pm, and by then there was a blue sky overhead. Our host, and my partner for the evening had been right!!! People were wearing an assortment of white outfits, some sporty in white sweaters or white shirts and white jeans, others in elegant clothes, white linen suits and pretty white dresses and high heels. One group all wore white wigs. And half an hour after we arrived, we were told that our location was the Louvre, only a block away. And seating is not random at this event, you are given a spot number, and you fit your table into that spot, in a long row of similar card tables, almost like a seat in a theater and you are expected to be precise about the location, so you don’t cheat someone else of their spot. It’s very much run on the honor system. And within 15 minutes, 8,400 people dressed in white were standing in front of the Louvre, facing the glass pyramids built by IM Pei, and everyone went into action. Folding tables were opened up, each one for two people, with men on one side, and women designated on the other side; white linen tablecloths were put on the tables with white linen napkins, silver candlesticks came out of their grocery caddies, flatware, and several vases with flowers. (I opted for battery operated candles which looked real), and once the tables were set up, amidst laughter and chatter, as people got ready for a fun evening, and saw friends in the crowd, people began pouring wine and setting out their dinner, and half an hour later we were all seated at our tables, in neat orderly rows, as the sun set ahead of us, its light catching in the shimmering glass of the pyramids in front of the Louvre. The magic had begun.

Night fell quickly, and the entire square in front of the museum was alight with candle lit tables, and laughing, happy people in white. The sight of 8,400 people in row after row of beautifully set tables was as magical as it had been two years before at Notre Dame. The majesty of the palace that is now the Louvre, imagining what the court must have been like, sensing the history of Paris and its incredible architecture all around us was an unforgettable setting for our unusual and extraordinary night among good friends. (The other location, with 6,000 people was at the Trocadéro, at the feet of the Eiffel Tower).

The night rolled out like a white carpet, with good food and good wine, good friends and good laughs, camaraderie is the order of the night as food is passed around among friends. The friend who came with me this year and two years ago is a fabulous cook, and had made enough baked pasta, and brought enough cheese for our entire group. (I traded some of the cheese for a vanilla éclair a little while later). And it all sped by too quickly, as our host handed out sparklers to everyone. Each group was given a box of them, and at 11:00 precisely, all 8,400 people held their sparklers aloft, cheered each other and the evening, and celebrated the fact that we had done it again and were having a great time. Just being there is like a gift, or being a member of a secret club. No permits are taken out for the event, and in theory it’s illegal to congregate en masse in a public place, let alone sit down to dinner as a group of 8,400, but the police turn a blind eye and look benevolently on the event. How could they not? If nothing else, it is so incredibly beautiful, and so wonderful just being there. I noticed that one of the groups had hired a chef, who set up a cooking table next to their row of tables, and he seemed to be preparing a real meal for them. Proper dinner is encouraged and that’s what people bring. This is not a sandwich or catch as catch can event. People plan their menus and their outfits for weeks or even months. (I had a range of outfits depending on the weather, and finally wore a white silk blouse, white sweater, white coat, white jeans and flat white shoes). My dinner partner wore white jeans and a white Lacoste shirt, with a white alligator on it, which I thought was very cool. I have never seen a white alligator on those shirts!!! I have no idea how he found it, a major coup!!

By the time we lit our sparklers, a band had begun playing at one end of the event, and lots of people went to dance, while others stayed seated at their tables or standing nearby to talk to friends or meet new people. The atmosphere is one of convivial excitement and delight. And my dinner partner stunned us all at midnight. I had noticed him carrying a white cardboard box like a backpack, which I assumed was some of our food. The rest all fit in our caddy. (I’m in charge of the caddy, and he of carrying the table and chairs. I do the table decor and he does the food. Our talents and abilities are complementary). When he opened the box, we saw flat white paper circles which he proceeded to hand out to all 30 in our group, and a few more to neighbouring tables, and he showed us what they were. They were Chinese paper lanterns (white of course!!), with a small square at the bottom which you light with a flame. It burns for a few minutes and then the lantern fills with hot air from the flame, and grows to about three feet in height, and when it is fully inflated, you release it and it sails into the air, brightly at first, and eventually it becomes a little light rising high into the night sky. He told us to make a wish as we released them, and we were all like children on Christmas morning, as the lanterns filled, and then rose above our heads, carrying our wishes, and looking so beautiful as they flew into the sky. Magic!!! I got the last one, watched it fill with light and air, and then disappear into the sky with my wish. I watched it for as long as I could see it. It was the perfect touch and finale to a perfect evening, and added real magic not just for our group, but for all eight thousand four hundred who saw our lanterns go up. It was an exquisite sight, a wonderful gift for all of us and everyone was talking about it for the rest of the event.

And then, reluctantly, at 12:30, 8,400 Cinderellas knew they had to leave the ball, and like obedient children, but hating to do it, we folded our tables, put our plates and linens away. We threw our garbage away in white plastic bags (they had to be white! and not a scrap of garbage, paper, or even a cigarette butt can be left behind, and we are to take our garbage with us. Nothing is to be left at the dinner location, as evidence that we were there. It is an evening of joy and fun, but also of respect for the beauty of Paris, and the privilege of having dinner in such a remarkable location). Within minutes, we were all packed, as we could still see our lanterns in the sky far above us, and regretfully we bid each other Au Revoir until next year, and rolled towards the street, back to real life. We loaded our things into a van and disappeared, much like Brigadoon. And for the whole next day, I was wishing I could roll back the film and do it all again. Like all wonderful events, the hours passed too quickly, but the memories will last forever, especially of the lanterns floating into the sky toward the stars, carrying our wishes to the heavens. I can’t wait until next year and I wonder where it will be….but wherever it is, my friend and I will be there, all dressed in white….ready for another White Dinner among our friends at another fabulous location in Paris…..it is truly Magic!

Love, Danielle

See more snapshots at www.pinterest.com/steelofficial/destinations.

Peeve

Hi Everyone,

I’m in the process of ‘freshening up’ my website, putting some new things on it, bringing it up to date, changing some of the photos, and trying to keep it interesting for you. It takes a little time to do it, but we’re working on it.

In the process, I read some of the articles we have on the website to make sure that they’re still of interest and relevant to what I’m doing, and something struck me as I read them. As I read one after the other, I kept thinking “Who are they talking about?” Some of them seemed so unrelated to who I am. I’ve never been a big fan of doing interviews, and I am a very private person. When my kids were younger, I gave none at all, in order to maintain our privacy, and theirs. But the world has changed since then, and with the Internet and social media, there is so much more information out there, and people expect to know more about you. It no longer seems appropriate to be quite so retiring in today’s world, so I don’t do a lot of interviews, but I do some. But as I read through the articles today, it struck me, as it has before, that in so many cases, interviewers come to an interview with a fully formed idea about you, without ever having met you and talked to you before. Some are able to adjust their preconceived ideas once they meet you, but many can’t. And there is so much information ‘out there’ now, that it all seems to be more about volume than accuracy. People don’t seem to care what’s true or not. And as I read about myself in the articles, I was startled to read again impressions about me that aren’t who I really am, and ‘facts’ that simply aren’t. In some cases, they later retracted what they said and corrected it. But how do some interviewers get it so wrong? How closely do they listen? And what do they hear when I talk? It makes you wonder what kind of impression you make. Inevitably, as a publicly known person, people have preconceived ideas about you, but few people/interviewers seem willing to admit it when they’re wrong.

In reading about myself tonight, among the many things said, it referred several times to my liking to drink wine, and quoting me as saying that I do. When the truth is that I come from a family of non-drinkers, who just never liked to drink. My grandparents and father didn’t drink (although they owned a brewery in Germany), they just didn’t like the taste. And for some reason, I never have either. Alcohol always made me feel sick, so at about 17, I decided that it wasn’t for me. I don’t care if others drink, but I just don’t like the taste or the effect, so I never drink alcohol, and two of my children don’t either. It’s just a personal preference, not a philosophy. But it makes it all the more surprising when an interviewer says I like to drink wine. Nope. Another interviewer says I love to buy old books, wine, and garden furniture. It’s not important, but again inaccurate. I don’t buy old books, wine, and I can’t remember the last time I bought garden furniture, I think about 25 years ago, when I bought my house, and it’s still rusting quietly in the backyard (I guess I should buy garden furniture!!! Maybe that was a hint!!!). And another article says I’ve sold my couture clothes, also not true. I’m lucky in that because I know some of the designers, I have at times been able to buy samples, and I’m a sample size (except that I’m about a foot shorter than most of the models!!), but I save them all for my daughters, in case they want them one day, and have sold none of them. They’re unimportant details, but warning flags of bigger inaccuracies and false impressions. And each suggestion is to form a picture of who I am. And how accurate is that image going to be, if some of the basic facts are wrong? I always find it discouraging.

There was one very wonderful article written last year, by Catherine Bigelow, in the San Francisco Chronicle, about my work with the homeless for eleven years, and the book I wrote about it, “A Gift of Hope”. The article was an amazingly generous piece and touched me greatly, and it was impressively accurate. But articles like that are rare. So I guess if you deal with the press and give interviews, you have to be a good sport about it, live with what they say about you, and hope that they get it right, or not too wrong!!!

Love, Danielle

Second Chances

Hi Everyone,

Since I’ve finished some editing, I had a chance to have lunch with some women friends today, and I was intrigued and inspired by some things they said and what they’re doing. Actually, I was downright impressed.

I’ve always kept my hand into interior design in some form, although writing has been my main career since I was nineteen. But my training and schooling in design has always stayed with me, both in fashion and interior design. And in the past ten years, I’ve had a passion for contemporary art, and had a gallery for the work of emerging artists for four and a half years. That was a whole new career for me, and I absolutely LOVED it. I loved looking for new artists, going to art fairs to discover them, visiting their studios, discovering their new work, and being the ‘matchmaker’ between the artist and the collector. And my goal was to keep the prices reasonable, so many people could enjoy the work I found. And I loved every show I curated, and the artists almost became a second family for me. The years that I had the gallery were fun and exciting for me, to learn something new, and discover a whole new world, and ‘second career’ as an art dealer. I still curate at least one show every year for a gallery in San Francisco, and I have a ball with it. Branching out into art has been a wonderful addition to my life.

More recently, two years ago, three French composers asked me to write lyrics for their music, and I embarked on doing that, and producing an album with them, which will be on the Internet very soon. I knew nothing about the music world, and it has been a tremendous learning experience for me. It is truly exciting to learn new things, and adapt the skills you have to a new area—–or to learn something completely different. I think learning new things keeps life interesting and challenging!! Most of the year, I’m writing, but I try to take a few months off, and use that time to learn something new.

Today, at lunch with my friends, I was fascinated to hear what one of my friends is doing. A successful and talented interior designer, two years ago, she decided to start a shoe business, which was a complete departure for her, and venture into a totally new field. Maybe it was something she had always wanted to do. At first, as people do, I’m not sure anyone took her seriously…..shoes?…oh that’s nice….whatever. But she’s actually done it, and her staid and perhaps predictable life has opened up to new horizons. She and her son in his mid 20′s started the business together. She traveled extensively to China, Vietnam, and Brazil, and more recently Mexico, to explore production options and visit factories. I KNOW I wouldn’t have the guts to do that, my new ‘career’ ventures have been closer to home and much more timid, than negotiating with factories in Asia. She chose the factories that worked for her, picked fabrics, and dealt with everything from the design (of canvas sports shoes), to the colors, the shape, the production, the fit, distribution, advertising, and everything it takes to start a business. And she’s done it. The shoes are now in stores, great to look at, fun to wear, and comfortable, and doing well. I’m soooo impressed!!! It has turned into a serious, well thought out, successful business. And she has learned everything about it from the ground up, and is doing well. Bravo. (You can see her shoes at http://www.blukicks.com/ )

At the same lunch today, while talking about her business, someone mentioned one of her relatives. The last time I saw her, she was a very intelligent older woman, who played an excellent game of tennis, but as far as I know had never worked. And today, I discovered that she has opened a fish restaurant, runs it all herself, is doing well, and has learned the business also from the ground up. Or from the water up, she’s not just an ‘investor’, she even fishes occasionally for the restaurant herself, but is running a serious fish restaurant and working very hard at it full time and doing well.

Another friend in France, after a long career in the luxury business, mostly in perfume and cosmetics, has become a ‘matchmaker’ between companies seeking investors, and those seeking to acquire or invest in small companies. Presto magic!! A new career!!

I have to say, I am so impressed by the courage it takes to start something new, to do something you may have always dreamed of, or something you hadn’t thought of previously in your wildest imagination. Most or many of these small new ventures are started on a modest budget, and take an enormous investment of personal time and effort and hard work. But I think it is a fantastic opportunity to stay engaged in the world, and get involved in something new. Another woman I know just told me this week that she has opened a small needlepoint shop as a ‘second job’. I really admire and salute these new careers, found with courage, imagination, built with sheer hard work, and the guts to try something new. And I really admire those who follow their dreams, no matter what others say or think. And bravo for trying something new!!!

Love, Danielle

Rest

Hi Everyone,

I recently finished a re-write and some editing work I’ve been doing on a new book, and when I finish the intense concentration of a writing project (when I do nothing else except focus on the book, with as few distractions and interruptions as possible), afterwards, I usually catch up on other things and ‘real life’. After I finish a book, I see friends for lunch and dinner, spend time with my kids if we’re in the same city, get my house organized, catch up on mail and everything piled up on my desk, and tend to my other projects (art, music, interior design, or other). I do none of those things when I’m writing, and after I finish, my life is a flurry of activity. I make appointments, talk to lawyers and accountants, go to the movies, and it’s also an opportunity for people I work with to want to have meetings with me. It’s usually VERY busy when I finish writing. 

Yesterday, I had an email from my editor, telling me to ‘get some rest’ now that I’ve finished the editing work, and I really had to laugh. I had talked to all my children, met with several employees, gone through a mountain of papers on my desk, had 5 conference calls at midnight with France, returned a bunch of calls, checked up on repairs in both my houses. I hadn’t stopped all day, and all I could think of was that my life when I’m not writing is anything BUT restful, and I jokingly told her that I can hardly wait to start writing again so I can get some rest!!! There is something very pure and peaceful about focusing on work to that extent, to the exclusion of all else. I don’t go anywhere, see anyone, and try not to think of anything else (except my kids if they need me) when I’m writing or focusing on a book in whatever stage. Real life is a LOT more exhausting, dealing with people, problems, obligations, decisions, bills, taxes, lawyers, kids’ problems, and trying to problem solve all day. Writing is a LOT more relaxing and less stressful, and sometimes it’s a wonderful form of escape into another world, even if it is hard work, (in a way it’s like reading a book, only you’re creating it)……something tells me that after a few more weeks of ‘rest’, I’ll be writing again soon!!!  

Love, Danielle

Music!!!!!

Hi Everyone,

I have SUCH exciting news. After 2 years of hard work, perseverance, and diligence, the song album I wrote the lyrics for, “Love Notes by Danielle Steel” just came onto my French publisher’s website for me. You can connect onto it from the States. Six of the songs are in English, and 4 are in French. You can listen to 9 of the songs for a 30 second sound bite (which gives you a good sense of each song), and one whole song for free.  Unfortunately, they aren’t set up to take American credit cards yet on that site, although eventually you will be able to. And we hope to have the album on ITunes sometime in June, or maybe July, where you will be able to download, and buy any of the songs you like. But this gives you an advance taste of what I’ve been doing with the music. I’m SOOOOO excited about sharing this with you, and I hope you love the songs!!!!

If you click on www.danielle-steel.fr, and you click on the section marked ‘Musique’, you’ll hear Love Notes by Danielle Steel.  Please give it a whirl!!!

Love, Danielle

A Gift of Hope

A Gift of Hope

In Stores: Now

In her powerful memoir His Bright Light, #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel opened her heart to share the devastating story of the loss of her beloved son. In A Gift of Hope, she shows us how she transformed that pain into a campaign of service that enriched her life beyond what she could imagine.

For eleven years, Danielle Steel took to the streets with a small team to help the homeless of San Francisco. She worked anonymously, visiting the “cribs” of the city’s most vulnerable citizens under cover of darkness, distributing food, clothing, bedding, tools, and toiletries. She sought no publicity for her efforts and remained anonymous throughout. Now she is speaking to bring attention to their plight.

In this unflinchingly honest and deeply moving memoir, the famously private author speaks out publicly for the first time about her work among the most desperate members of our society. She offers achingly acute portraits of the people she met along the way—and issues a heartfelt call for more effective action to aid this vast, deprived population. Determined to supply the homeless with the basic necessities to keep them alive, she ends up giving them something far more powerful: a voice.

By turns candid and inspirational, Danielle Steel’s A Gift of Hope is a true act of advocacy and love.

 

Dating Game

Hi Everyone,

As I told you a few days ago, I’ve been working hard, doing some editing, and catching up on some work (a LOT of work, it goes in phases, and sometimes I am swamped!!), and I took a break this week to have dinner with some young women I know, in their 30′s. I always find it interesting (and enjoyable too), to catch up on a particular group of people, or women, and to hear what their most prevalent concerns are, it kind of keeps me abreast of what’s happening in the world (my work/writing is very isolating, since I do it alone for weeks or months on end, alone in a quiet room). The young women I had dinner with were in their 30′s, from 30 to 39, and I have another good friend of my daughters’, also in her 30′s, whom I see frequently.  None of these young women are married, and although some women still marry young, very few women in big sophisticated cities marry before their mid thirties these days, and some of them even later. They don’t feel ready, don’t want to, and are building their careers. Not everyone of course, but many.  It’s very different than when I was young, when the pressure was on by 21 or 22, people got married the minute they graduated from college, if they went to college, earlier if not. And you weren’t ready to walk down the aisle as soon as you graduated, you were almost considered an old maid. Twenty-five was about the outer limit. If you married at 30, you were considered old (people wanted to finish having their kids by 30, nowadays they don’t even want to start having kids til their mid or late 30′s), and I had one sister in law who got married at 35, and had been considered almost beyond hope. She had 4 children in 4 years as soon as she did, and caught up. (I was early, because I had started everything early, went to college at 15, and got married at 18, that was considered young even then, but not as young as it would be considered today. I would have been horrified if any of my kids had married at 18).

And today, a lot has changed. Science has come up with a lot of ‘help’ to allow women to have babies well into their 40′s. That doesn’t always work, but often it does, and even women in their 50′s, with IVF, frozen eggs, donor eggs, and hormone treatments. But even without a lot of help, it’s common for women to have babies in their late 30′s and 40′s, so the biological clocks aren’t ticking as loudly. More women are deciding not to have children at all, which was covertly or overtly frowned on in earlier generations. Now some women just openly say and decide not to have kids. More women are serious about their careers now, and make big money, and they don’t want to give that up, or have a baby til they feel secure in their careers. People live together unmarried, which when I was young was considered shocking. Sex is freer—before my time but not that long ago, you almost had to be married to have sex. I’m sure single people had sex, but it was hidden, officially taboo, and high risk. Those risks have also been diminished. But today many couples live together unmarried for years before they get married, or decide not to marry at all. In France, for many years now, civil unions called “Paxing” have been as popular or more so than legal marriage (The current French president was paxed for many years, never married and had 4 kids, and is considered respectable). Women are a lot freer to make decisions now, with good jobs, and high incomes, in many cases higher than their mates’. So we all have a lot of freedom now, to have sex, not to marry, to live with a partner, and either have no kids or have them late. And I think all of those freedoms for women, have not only given men freedom, but scared a lot of them. There has been a ‘blurring’ of male and female roles. Before, the man was clearly the main, or only, breadwinner. They brought home the bacon, the woman took care of the kids. Simple equation. Now in some cases, the woman makes more money, and some men stay home and take care of the kids. If a man got transferred to another city, the woman followed without question. Now she may not want to give up her job, and it can create major problems about whose job is the most important. Or the woman with the bigger job may get transferred and he may have to follow, which could impact his career. With all of these new givens, relationships are not easy. The more choices you have, the tougher it gets. And men have freedom now too. Freedom not to marry at all, or to marry late, to live for years with a woman and not marry, and sometimes relationships run out of gas during the living together phase. And I think in many cases, men are scared, of commitment, and of being with women who make more money than they do. That can be a blow to a man’s ego, and a woman who makes more money than the man in her life has to handle it with great sensitivity, and not all women do. (It takes a very confident man not to be unnerved by a woman who makes more money than he does). Egos get bruised, and many women are no longer dependent on men financially, they don’t have to stay in bad marriages to get the rent paid, or stay with a bad guy because they have no job training or career. Those situations gave men a lot of license and power that many no longer have. And what do they say to their friends if they become a stay at home Dad? There has been a lot of role reversal in recent years. And in my opinion women’s lib didn’t do anyone a favor. You can struggle down the street carrying heavy packages or a suitcase, and no guy is going to offer to help, for fear that you’ll be insulted and want to be ‘independent’. No one will open a door for you, and as you juggle a stack of packages, the door slams in your face. Thanks, guys. The point is we as women have a HUGE amount of freedom now, in this country, because of science, our careers, simple biology, and the politics and mores of our times. There is damn little a woman can’t do. A man has those freedoms too, and he also has the freedom not to commit. No one’s father is going to show up on his doorstep to ask his intentions, he can’t be forced to marry the girl he’s dating, and even if they live together, she may not want to marry him, or anyone. And it seems to be a lot harder for people to find each other, romantically, a lot of people work from home on computers, which is convenient, but you don’t meet a lot of people that way. And other elements enter into the dating game too. It is more common and more open now to cross age barriers, as well as all others. I know a number of women in their 30′s who are dating men ten years younger. (And women considerably older than that who are doing that too), which they say is a lot of fun, but relationships are less likely to be serious or long term if the man is that much younger. Traditionally, we’re used to older men and younger women, but less so to younger men. So life and the dating world is a smorgasbord of freedoms and opportunities that apply to both sexes, and it seems like with fewer boundaries, and more independent women, dating has also become more difficult and fewer men want to commit (and some women). They just don’t have to.

Back to dinner with my younger women friends the other night. The main topic of conversation was dating (that hasn’t changed anyway!!) and how to meet the right men. The conversation turned instantly to all the dating sites on the Internet, the free ones, the paid ones, the dating services, how reliable they are, and even how dangerous. (They always scare me in theory, what if someone is lying? is a sociopath? fresh out of prison? or married and not telling you? There is no screening process on those dating sites, I would rather meet someone through friends who know something about that person. But I’m of another generation, and not that brave. It’s hard enough if you know something about someone, if they are a total stranger, how scary is that? But people meet people in bars, I guess the dating sites are no more dangerous than that). I was somewhat overwhelmed by hearing about all the dating sites. There are even some for casual sex. In France there is one for married people looking to cheat on their mates, leave it to the French!!! You can do that at a dinner party, and lots of people do!!! There are religious based dating sites, and all the ones we’ve heard about. And I know two very nice couples, people I’ve worked with, who met on dating sites, and have good marriages, so it does happen. But I was struck by how MUCH energy these women put into their online dating lives, and searches for men to date. They have systems and theories, ways to weed out the bad ones, and all had had a number of lemon dates, and some good ones too, but no serious relationships had come of it yet. Then at a higher cost, there are matchmaking services. The impression I have from those is that the women are looking for serious relationships, and a screening process, but many or maybe even most of the men who use them are just looking to increase the number of women they can sleep with, and don’t think of it as more than that. Also, in a matchmaking service, you are at the mercy of how good the judgment is of the person matching you up, and sometimes it’s not so great. There are decent reasons for using a matchmaker, people who are too busy and have no time to do the ‘research’ themselves, people who are too shy, or are in jobs where they simply don’t meet new people. I think matchmaking services are flourishing these days too. Of the four women in their 30′s I talked to in depth about this, two are going out with much younger men who are unlikely to want to get married in the next decade, three are worried about their biological clocks and want children. And all have used Internet dating services to meet someone for a serious relationship, which seem to be elusive these days. Maybe men are having too much fun to want to settle down. And two of the women have serious careers, and two have lesser ones they would shelve for the right guy. It’s hard to know too who the right guys are these days. And with women so able to make big salaries, many of them, a lot of men are not anxious to support anyone, or be the sole support. Why should they? We’re just as able to go out and make good money as they are, as women point out to them constantly to demonstrate their independence—-but then why should a man want to support us? Why should they carry all the weight if we can do it ourselves? Why should they open doors for us when a whole generation have told them not to? Why should they settle down if they don’t have to? Why should they take the risks associated with commitment?

I don’t know what the answers are, but the impression I have is that dating is not easy today, finding the right person, maintaining a relationship, and having it end up in marriage. People still get married, but not as easily, not as early, and not as many. And I think all people are scared of commitment, more than they used to be. The statistics are not encouraging. Over 40, or 50, or later, it is certainly hard to meet someone for a serious relationship, and I always thought it was due to age. But I realize now that it’s not easy under 40 either, or even under 30. The vast number of online dating services tells you that people are having a harder time meeting each other. It happens, but it’s not as easy as it used to be. I think a lot of men (and maybe women) are gun-shy, and there seem to be a lot of people out there who are commitment phobic, for all the reasons I mentioned. What’s the answer? How do you meet Mr or Ms Right? Damned if I know (or I’d be married or living with someone too, and I’m not). One thing did strike me in my conversation with the young women, maybe women are trying too hard to meet the right mate. Maybe it has become too scientific and too high tech. I hear women of every age talk about the list of qualities they want, they want this and that, someone athletic, a tennis player, skier, non smoker, a guy who makes X amount of money a year, or drives a certain kind of car, went to the right college, or is on a serious career track. They sound like they are looking to hire an employee, or buy a new car with sunroof, 4-wheel drive, and snow tires. Wait a minute. What happened to falling in love with someone and accepting them as they are, with some flaws, maybe a thing or two you don’t like (like his mother, or his dog who tracks mud all over your house). Maybe we are leaving out an important element here, and we’re forgetting that this is not a shopping list. We’re talking about meeting a human being we fall in love with, maybe by accident, or serendipity, and accepting them as they are, not as a tear down or a remodel. And maybe, just maybe, the guy we fall in love with won’t come ‘fully loaded’ with all the options, like our car. I’d settle happily for fewer ‘options’, without the sun roof or the TV screens in the back seat…..but a real person, a good one, a kind one, whose flaws I can accept and live with, who would also accept mine. I’m not sure how well I would stack up on someone’s shopping list, or how fully ‘loaded’ I am. Maybe we need to put a little more compassion, tolerance and above all humanity back into dating…..and maybe if people relax a little, the right opportunity will come along, not online, but in person, that person you meet and know he’s the right one, without ulterior motive, without a ‘dating counselor’ to tell you how to do it, or a matchmaker (a ‘meet and look see’ can cost you upwards of $2,000.00), but just a real person, a man or woman you genuinely fall in love with, without high tech help or computer selection process for the ‘perfect match’…..maybe love is a lot simpler than people think these days, and once in a while, the old fashioned ways are best. Maybe everyone is trying too hard these days, and if you relax about it, love will find you……I hope so!!! I wish that for all of us, in a healthy, simple, genuine, loving human way.

Love, Danielle