Mademoiselle Francais: a La Plage

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Mademoiselle Francais
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Bonjour everyone! Today I would like to introduce you to Mademoiselle Francais !!! She has travelled all the way from France, across vast oceans and rough terrains, and down through the ages to be with us here today. She made her first public appearance back in the early 1900's but her career was short lived... doomed to obscurity she frequented many a vide grenier hoping to find someone willing to take a chance on her. Sadly she languished this way for many decades before a bright young lass named Ange recognized her star quality and rescued her from this fate. Immigrating to a new land of possibilities, she landed on my doorstep and waited for that break into the show business we call blogging.

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Upon Mlle's arrival, I was faced with a dilemma. Never before had I worked with such talent. Not wishing to destroy her career in the first showing.. I too left her to languish a while longer while I polished my skills. You may remember back in December I posted some of her countrymen [here]. Well as you saw, although visible they were lacking that certain something.. Oh yes!! ...Heads!! Well I didn't want Mademoiselle Francais to have the same fate, so she agreed to continue living on her glass slide until we had the technology to bring her into the 21st century ... head and all.


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La Plage and Living Colour
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Finally [with the acquisition of photoshop] .. I have the immense privilege of bringing her back into the spotlight. It was quite an ordeal at first. Careful not to scare her back into obscurity we took baby step in her recovery and dressed her in the original sepia . Although somewhat pleased with the result, Mlle clearly looked disappointed. Apparently she wanted colour. Something she had only heard of but never experienced. But mostly, she wanted off that damn slide and to be out in the world. She confessed that is had been many decades since she had felt the sea breezes against her skin, so off we took to La Plage and the baths of Sans Souci.

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As you can imagine, she took to this like a duck to water.. Oh she loved it.. Her colour came back immediately. A little blurry at first... but a few more outings and she strengthened her opacity, hitched up her hues and saturation, and become bolder by the minute. Perhaps a little too bold. She seems to be looking a little liverish don't you think? Not sure if that is just a transitional stage, or if she's been hitting the liquer cabinet...

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I'm happy to say ... Mademoiselle Francais is here to stay. I expect she will have a long and successful career. Perhaps she may enjoy a cameo appearance in a future travel post to St Paul de Vence. She would be right at home there I'm sure.

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Julie b

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IMAGE SOURCE: Text and photo editing by me - [Being Ruby]

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44 comments:

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Bonjour and welcome Mademoiselle Francais to our fine shores...you look just splendid there and all dressed ready for our upcoming Winter...I am sure you will have a long and successful career...look forward to seeing more images of you!!! Enjoy...and thank you Julie for introducing us to this fine lady...Dzintra♥x

Mise said...

My children need a governess; would Mademoiselle Francais oblige? I'll expect her on the next liner into port. And you too, my dear Julie, to hold her gloves.

Turkish, you say? The enigma deepens.

sharon santoni at my french country home said...

Hi Julie, I love this photo, they took their portraits very seriously in those days. Do you think our great grandchildren will be blogging about how we look one day?
I didn't get the time to congratulate you on your - many - awards, All totally deserved, your blog is unique and always a real pleasure to visit.
Sharon

Ange said...

Julie, she's fabulous!!! What talent you have. If I find any more I'm sending them straight over to you. Well - I have one more that I tried to make a 'positive plank out of.' The glass is still intact but the plank looks terrible. SO I shall unfix him - for he is a 'him' and Mr Français may quite like Mlle Français. I do believe he misses her! You really are amazing...

Chemin des Muguets said...

Cherie,

Madame is Magnifique!

Marjorie

julietk said...

Photoshop lovely, I wish I could afford it right now but then I would spend too much time playing with it. Your Background and colouring looks really effective. Being french and obvioulsy artistic maybe she has been at the Absynth :-)

Jeanne Henriques said...

Julie, I adore this. You are going to love Photoshop, I can see that now. I look forward to one beautiful image after another unfolding before us. Long live Mademoiselle Francais! Will she discover a partner along the way??
Jeanne :)

e said...

Mlle Francais scrubs up well! ;) This photo has me curious about her now... who she is and what her life was like. Can we assume from her dress that she was a widow? She is no longer a faint shadow on glass. Thanks to your beautiful work, she lives again, in a new century. How wonderful! :) Lizzy

Dash said...

Bonjour to Mademoiselle Français, she is adorable, I am looking forward to seeing and reading about all her adventures.
You are a talented girl.
XX

Carole said...

Ok you are getting way ahead of me!!! but that's good I need a good teacher! haha
Mademoiselle is looking lovely with her head and maybe some time at the beach will bring her some rosy cheeks.
I just went back to look at her and that waistline looks very uncomfortable!
I'm just jealous!!!
Great post!!!!


xxx

Susie said...

Julie, just gorgeous - you are such a clever girl - will you now be able to 'photoshop' the others? Isn't is just incredible what you can do now? Happy to hear that she loved Sans Souci - when I first moved to Sydney many moons ago I lived at Sylvania Waters...loved this & looking forward to more of your photoshop talent! x

Anonymous said...

Julie, I would love to climb inside your head for a little while! You have such a fascinating take on everything.

Pam

Luiza said...

First of all: Congratulations to your award, it´s beautiful!

And now... Today´s post is magic... There is something about Mademoiselle Francais...
I´m glad she came all the way, to visit you. And I´m sure she is grateful, you made her look more "alive"!

Julie, you are a genious! I wish I will learn making my photos, the way you do, someday...

Have a wonderful end of your week.

Hugs/
Luiza

Jacqueline @ HOME said...

Dear Julie,
How wonderful for Mademoiselle to have been reborn and given a new lease of life. Well done to Ange for finding her, and for you for reviving her !!!!
.... and to see her, back on the beach in all her glory is wonderful. You have made her beautiful again and, if she could see herself reborn then I think that she would be very pleased.I'm sure that she would be delighted with her new colourful dress that you have made for her. She is back to being 'tres jolie'. XXXX

Marina Saclley @ Iced VoVo's said...

Julie, I love your experimentation ... and happy to welcome Mlle's arrival.
I'm sure she enjoyed getting a little bit of her colour back! And I'm sure you enjoyed watching it happen.

Trés magnifique!
xx

beachvintage.com said...

I love how she dresses. You can almost tell what type of lady she is.

Sue said...

Isn't she stunning! Can you imagine having to dress like that...at the beach no less? It makes me have a hot flash just looking at her.

How exciting it must have been to watch her appear!

simon said...

Well, many years ago my father discovered some very early photos of our family. They were dirty torn and faded. He used a Pentax ME99 and took photographs of the photographs, and "restored" the photos in the dark room. It took ages. I still remember the tiny tripods, and just how methodicalteh work was.

Beatnheart said...

You sure are turning me on to new ideas..I love messing with the iphoto of my computer so photoshop will be a dream..its definitely on the wish list now.. I think I could handle that !! Cheers to you, Cynthia Wolff

desde my ventana said...

Wonderful work Julie,she looks vraiment jolie.
Hugs,
Cecilia

rjerdee said...

Clever girl, that Ruby! How talented and witty!
Wonderful post, Julie
xxo Becky

Laura @ 52 FLEA said...

Ooolala...Mademoiselle Francais is tres chic! And that saturated blue gown is exquisite! I cannot wait to hear more of her travels....Such a beauty will surely have many paramours and adventures...
and you, dear Julie, are just the one to share them with us!
Thanks to Ange too!
:)

count it all joy said...

Julie, you crack me up. I can't tell you how happy I am you have Photoshop. If anyone can wring every stunningly, creative drop out of it, it will be you. Clever clogs. I'm wondering if I sent you a photo of my overflowing laundry, you could some how make it Being Ruby-fabulous and send it back to me for encouragement! You and Ange are a creative match made in heaven. Hallelujah! Meredy xo.
p.s. how gorgeous is Sydney at the moment??

La Petite Gallery said...

Julie,
Is Madame a relative? You are fabulous , did a fantastic job on that photo.. The story was interesting too. Love your wild mind,,,
yvonne

La Petite Gallery said...

I will try again to send this, it just disapeared .

Julie, you are very talented and I loce what you did with the photo, it's fantastic..

alice said...

Oh Julie, I think Mademoiselle Francais has been taking little nips in the liquor cabinet. BUT she looks divine. Loved your post! Lots of smiling on my side of the world.
smiles, alice

oldgreymare said...

Julie,

This is in one of my favorite top 10 blog posts of all time. The balance of photos - quality of photos and copy was perfection.

Think I'll go burn my dag gone blog. no wait. I got you to stay on there! Hooray..

Thank you for your kind words.

Suzan

Fifi Flowers said...

The ladies of this past era would be SHOCKED to see the girls in their swimsuits NOW!

Jane said...

She is divine, she has such a soft soft face.

I cannot believe you have just got Photoshop. If anyone can make good use of it you will be able to.

And by the way I heartily approve of that type of swimming costume. I am shocked by some of the ones I see in this day and age. xoxo

Greet Lefèvre said...

Julie,
This is a very charming lady! You did that so good, you brought her alive with photoshop! She reminds me of the paintings of Toulouse-Lautrec!
xx
Greet

Julie B. [Holland] said...

Helllooooooooo Julie , I havent posted in awhile , so I thought I would say hello. Loving loving all your photos and posts. Have a great weekend.Julie in Holland xx :)

Julie@beingRUBY said...

Hey Julie [in Holland] how the heck are you??? Hope you are keeping well and enjoying your spring...Take care and have fun [Julie in Australia] xxx

Anonymous said...

Wonderful of Mademoiselle to pose in so many different locations for you, and change her attire for each shot as well. She is looking lovely, and I'm so happy she's decided to stay. :)
Also glad you are having fun w/ Photo Shop, Julie!!!
Hugs,
Zuzu

Unknown said...

LOVE what you've done in Photoshop Julie!!! You have the most interesting posts!!!

Hugs ~

:) T

Pooch Purple Reign said...

hey ruby

she is awesome... kind of pooch-y i think.
you have been busy!

~pooch

Coty Farquhar said...

Hi Julie,

Isn't she just gorgeous and I love her dress.
But...... it's the waistline that I would really love to have....... again.

Thanks for your always beautiful comments,
Running back to work now, have a great weekend.

xx Coty

Elaine said...

Quite the transformation! And I am very fond of that dress. Nicely done!

Randi said...

I´m so glad I found your blog - love your photos!

Dash said...

Hello again Julie, I have something for you over at mine, when you have a mo, could you pop over.
XX

Beatnheart said...

Hello and thanks for your visit and comment..
Hitchhiking in the 70's was somewhat commonplace, unlike today where it is practically extinct. Marriage wasn't really common then either.. I was a product of my times. We were broke..Airfares were really expensive then. Looking at the big picture all turned out the way it was meant to and I end up with great stories to tell. Cheers, Cynthia

Angie Muresan said...

What a pleasure to make her acquaintance! Thanks to Ange for discovering her, and to you for making her presentable. Have a fabulous weekend, beautiful friend!

Berta F said...

.... Julie ... eres maravillosa .....¡¡¡¡¡ un abrazo

Berta

Renée Finberg said...

i like her,
and i can't wait to see how you incorporate her into future posts.

xx

Elaine Power said...

The photoes are fab Julie, its so nice to find a little story behind an old picture, & you tell it so well I am glad I put my computer on to have a look as was checking weather report we are all set managed to get the 2 cars in the garage rumpas room full of all garden furniture windows are being taped now as they are saying its might go back to a catergory 3 the wind has picked up already & not due to hit till tomorrow around 4am, dogs have been walked & we have been having a game of tennis in the garden (very funny) so the kids can have a good run around befor we cannot go out side, thanks for thinking about us have a great weekend & next time you think about travelling let me know first so I'm prepared (hee hee). Elaine x