Do you remember?
Who doesn't hold tender memories of the frayed and faded flowery wallpapers which lined the living and dining room walls of our childhood homes?
"A few air bubbles would make it blister here and there, and the little mold markings that sometimes spread from the bottom corners were cleverly hidden with a decorative chair or table. The identical paper could be found inside a cupboard or drawer, where the smell of glue and mothballs lingered. In the corridor, the paper bore geometric patterns in bright shades of orange or green. We were slightly ashamed of this paper when guests visited, but there was somehow something warm and reassuring about its presence- it was part of the family! This wallpaper remains our sacred treasure. It is part of our home, it is part of our house, it is part of our interior. It is part of our subconscious!"
reinventing wall poetry
Discover this poetry in the finesse and delicacy of Papier Français and its collections.
Papier Français is an imaginative and poetic world, a world full of emotion, a world tinged with nostalgia. To bring this world to life, we have given each wallpaper a voice through a narrative or poetic text that is crafted to let you relive your childhood dreams, reveal buried emotions and inspire your imagination.
It is to the poised pen of Daniel-Jean Colloredo, author and man of the stage, afficionado of art and beautiful letters, that we entrusted this mission. In a surge of heart and spirit, he masterfully transcribed the poetry belonging to the Papier Français collections with talent and sensitivity. His texts will transport you through time.
We have also borrowed the pens of some of the greatest authors in French literature, such as Victor Hugo, Jean de la Fontaine, Rimbaud, Lamartine, Nerval, Aragon and Colette, to name but a few. Sixteen texts belonging to sixteen authors, intrinsic to the French cultural heritage Papier Français defends, illustrate sixteen exceptional papers selected from our various collections.
Sweet dreams...
Aliénor
"The most beautiful and luxurious flower of Aquitaine, the incomparable pearl of noon. Rebellious, you have forged yourself an exceptional destiny. You have inspired storytellers, poets and minstrels. With a book in hand, rest in peace to Fontevraud, and rein as a sovereign and free woman until death."
Daniel-Jean Colloredo
Fruits Rouges
"On St. John's Day in the summer the gooseberries are ripe
In the garden dressed in his finest clothes,
Near the tall lilies, you can see hanging under the branches...
Their bunches are amber or ruby in color."
André Theuriet
Madame Colette
"For the prestige of our garden, do we require but one tireless, hundred-year-old honeysuckle more than the wisteria in cascatelle and the Maiden's Blush rosegarden? Between the three of them climbing up, unsealing the gate, twisting a gutter and insinuating themselves under the slates of a roof, they taught me about profusion, permeating perfumes and their own excess sweetness."
Colette