The iconic cookware brand’s surprising Minnesota connection Pillivuyt France has been manufacturing its high-quality favored by professional chefs and home cooks around the world This year marks the French brand’s 200th anniversary making it one of the last manufacturers to maintain a 100-percent French production the company was first established in the town of Foëcy in the Sancerre region of France Jean Louis Richard’s son Charles decided to install a new plant in Mehun-sur-Yèvre gaining an international reputation and becoming the choice of many royal households the Pillivuyt brand has a surprising local connection Excelsior has served as the unlikely home base for Pillivuyt USA Wisconsin.) Pillivuyt USA is run chiefly by Alice Title Her involvement—and distribution center in nearby Wisconsin—was central to the decision for the brand to open a distribution branch within the U.S “Pillivuyt is really popular in Scandinavian countries “Every homemaker has to have their Pillivuyt dishes because the bakeware is outstanding and the dinnerware is very durable.” The porcelain is easy to clean; oven- and dishwasher-safe; and favored for its heat distribution and classic look the brand has innovated while staying true to its heritage a stronger and more versatile porcelain recipe and developed flame-proof and induction versions of cookware and contemporary shapes for today’s market the brand is re-releasing some of its most iconic products for 2018 in limited editions as well as several new creations within a collection dubbed the “Ephémères.” Each will be stamped with “200 ans” in homage to the bicentenary Find Pillivuyt in the Twin Cities at Williams-Sonoma as well as select Lunds & Byerly’s stores and online We can’t resist turning a historian’s eye on Disney’s fantastical castle while families and children settle into their chairs and cushions to watch a favourite film together many of them will see an opening sequence so universally familiar that they may never have thought about it or noticed its many striking variations Across the television screen will appear the image of a castle with a fantastical outline of towers an arc of light sweeps across the sky above it It is—of course—the Disney Castle Different versions of this building now command Disney parks across the world and the opening sequences of the films produced by the company present a vivid impression of this building there is an illusion of rapid movement through clouds Revealed in the half-light below is a valley with a river running through it and the clustered lights of small settlements two car headlights moving along a road and a steam train crossing a viaduct a fluttering standard flashes into view (apparently but the dated equipment in our house does not seem to reproduce this detail) and a firework explodes beside it The appearance of the standard is followed in a single sweeping and descending shot by a view of the entire castle that it surmounts All the architectural details are picked out in bright floodlighting and the central gateway is revealed as the entrance of a river passage that runs right through the middle of the building there extend into the landscape long causeways lit with lamps Apart from the fireworks exploding in the night sky there is no sign of any movement or activity in the building Happily—for the purposes of this article—one enthusiast has spliced seem to reproduce this detail) and a firework explodes beside it there is no sign of any move- ment or activity in the building Happily—for the purposes of this article—one enthusiast has spliced together on YouTube every single opening sequence of a Disney film since 1985 This clearly shows the development of the castle and the many subsequent variations in the treatment of the sequence as a whole Internet discussion reveals a curious contrast of opinions about the present castle and its landscape the sources for the sequence are to be found in the imaginary worlds presented in Disney films: the train variously taken—it is suggested—from Dumbo the ‘Harry Potter’ series or The Polar Express To take a particular correspondence in this vein one contributor thought the castle flag was ‘German’ and another that the valley was a representation of the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers The chain revealingly concludes with a warning that restrictions have been placed on continuing the discussion ‘because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed’ that we can all see whatever we like in this castle: it is meant to prefigure the imaginary world of the ensuing film the Disney Castle is no more than a screen version of the kind of spectacular architectural decoration that was once used to deck the auditoriums of super cinemas physically transporting their audiences into exotic and distant worlds The answer—I think— arrived at by watching the opening sequence that I have described above many more times than I should is that it borrows from reality without ever slipping into it it is impossible for me not to fall into the architectural historian’s game of dating and locating the castle with reference to real buildings and their details I presumed the building evoked the world of the Brothers Grimm and was German in idiom The strange subsidiary turrets that stick out like ears from the parapets and the high bridges connecting the towers could relate to the architecture of the Teutonic Knights in northern Poland or the 16th-century depictions of castles in the paintings of Cranach or Dürer there seem to be much stronger resonances with northern French medieval buildings the treatment of the entrance gate with its cusped Gothic tracery Could this be related to the gateway of the castle at Blois More certainly from French example comes the magnificent roofscape (a total contrast to English castle architecture exhibited a stubborn preference for battlemented towers and low-pitched and countersunk roofs) it’s just possible that the idea of straddling the castle across a river comes from Château Chenonceau The connection with France is most clearly apparent in the design of the castle from which the film opening sequence properly derives: Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney World the architectural details and even the palette of colours are unmistakeably borrowed from perhaps the most outstanding series of topographical paintings produced in Medieval Europe: the images of landscapes and castles owned by the Duke of Berry painted in about 1400 for his Book of Hours by the Limbourg Brothers The so-called Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry is an idealised album of its patron’s vast possessions Perhaps the view from this astonishing volume that most closely resembles the castle and landscape in the Disney opening sequence is a view of Mehun-sur-Yèvre This similarity may or may not be intended or even conscious the two images have a great deal in common beyond their clear visual similarity Mehun-sur-Yèvre was the Duke’s most prized possession with a collection of beasts and automata that amazed contemporaries the exceptional appeal of the Duke’s residence is here ingeniously underlined by the inclusion of two figures: on a mountain in the background the Devil offers Christ the riches of the world the scene—just like that of the Disney opening sequence—escapes a particular historic context and This building is the pride and joy of its owner an emblem of all that the world can offer —yet Christ’s implicit rejection of it suggests that it is also a mere bauble if the artist and patron really believed that why would they build or depict it in the first place the analogy between these two images of castles created six centuries apart seems complete Disney could also be written off as meaningless fantasy John GoodallArchitectural EditorJohn spent his childhood in Kenya India and Yorkshire before joining Country Life in 2007 Known for his irrepressible love of castles and the Frozen soundtrack and a laugh that lights up the lives of those around him John also moonlights as a walking encyclopedia and is the author of several books From 8 June 2018 to March 2019, visit Singapore Philatelic Museum’s exhibition The Little Prince: Behind the Story to experience Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s well-loved book The book was first published in April 1943 and has since gone on to sell almost 200 million copies The Little Prince is a children’s imaginary tale about a stranded aviator who encounters the Little Prince who is from another planet the story is a deeply philosophical one and provides a critique of society and human relationships Saint-Exupéry was himself a multi-faceted person Born just four years before the Wright Brothers took mankind to the skies he was one of the pioneers of international postal flight and was based in North Africa before relocating to Argentina as director of Aeroposta Argentina a subsidiary of French airmail company Aéropostale Saint-Exupéry and his mechanic-navigator crashed into the Libyan desert while on an air race from Paris to Saigon An incident that bears striking similarity to the opening scenes of The Little Prince he took off on a reconnaissance flight to spy on German troop movements but never returned and was presumed dead It was only more recently in 1998 and 2000 when some artefacts such as a silver identify bracelet and fragments of an WWII plane matching the one he went down in The Little Prince: Behind the Story exhibition at Singapore Philatelic Museum provides an intimate look into Antoine de Saint-Exupéry life through artefacts and his personal items A star exhibit at The Little Prince: Behind the Story is his silver identity bracelet that was recovered from the sea in 1998 pilot gloves and a copy of the first edition of “The Little Prince” A fragment of his plane that crashed in the North African desert is also on loan from the Mehun-sur-Yèvre Museum Visitors to Singapore Philatelic Museum’s The Little Prince: Behind the Story can also admire around 200 stamps and other philatelic items issued by 27 countries in tribute to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the story of The Little Prince Ten sculptures depicting scenes and characters from The Little Prince are also on loan from The Little Prince Art Collection by Arnaud Nazare-Aga five specially designed sculptures in a dark room will provide visitors with a tactile way to experience The Little Prince The Little Prince: Behind the Story exhibition is supported by the Singapore-France Cooperation Agreement and celebrates the 75th anniversary of the story Le premier et le second tour des élections départementales se tiendront le 20 et le 27 juin. © Radio France - Cécile Quéguiner ici Berry Publié le mardi 11 mai 2021 à 10:49 les électeurs sont appelés aux urnes pour choisir les membres de leur conseil départemental Découvrez les candidats en lice dans les 19 cantons du Cher Alors que le premier tour des élections départementales se tiendra le 20 juin prochain la préfecture du Cher a rendu public ce lundi les candidatures pour les 19 cantons du département Cher - L’info près de chez vous Recevez chaque jour l’essentiel de l’actualité locale Nathalie Arthaud était à Bourges ce mardi soir La porte-parole de Lutte Ouvrière a obtenu ses 500 parrainages et sera donc candidate à la présidentielle Élections départementales : la droite en ballotage favorable dans le Cher Cher Les électeurs votaient ce dimanche 20 juin 2021 pour le premier tour des élections départementales Le Cher devrait rester à droite dimanche prochain la gauche ne semble pas en mesure d'empocher trois cantons supplémentaires Élections départementales 2021 : tous les résultats du deuxième tour dans le Cher Cher Après le premier tour dimanche dernier les électeurs votaient ce dimanche 27 juin pour élire leurs conseillers départementaux la droite conserve la majorité au conseil départemental Formé au club, Baptiste Canelhas quitte la Berrichonne Football pour six mois Châteauroux Après une première partie d'année 2021 marquée par des performances convaincantes Baptiste Canelhas est peu à peu retourné sur le banc des remplaçants Il va donc essayer de trouver du temps de jeu en étant prêté à Créteil Autour de chez vous Bourges : Orpheopolis accueille une trentaine d'orphelins de policiers chaque année Bourges 20h32