Toile and the Robbins Clan

The end of June brought not only the return of beautiful weather after a week of (much-needed) rain, it also brought a visit from my parents! Even though Dad had to spend a lot of time working, we got to spend a week together enjoying the weather, sampling new restaurants (a favorite being the new Chardenoux des Pres on rue du Dragon) and just enjoying Paris.

Eglise St. Sulpice looking radiant after renovation.

 While Dad caught up on work and Peter was in class, Mom and I took a drive out to Jouy to visit the Toile museum. Jouy-en-Josas is the home to the famous Toile fabric, known world-wide for its patterns of countryside images. This town, where Peter and I lived for 8 months, was where the original Toile factory was located, and the grassy fields of the town were used for laying out great strips of dyed fabric to dry in the sun.

The French chateau housing the museum, which was visited by Napolean and Josephine

Long strips of flower beds planted to resemble the strips of fabric that used to line the town fields.

Toile fabric depicting the process of creating Toile

Toile clogs, anyone?

Toile means "cloth" in French, and Toile de Jouy means "cloth from Jouy-en-Josas" (also home to HEC's campus). This particular manufacturing of fabric was started in Jouy in 1760 by Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, a German-born textile entrepreneur. Originally, the floral patterns "toile" is known for were printed using wood-block prints, but by 1770 Oberkampf had moved to using copperplate printing, which produced more precise designs and were more efficient.
While we didn't get to take many pictures on this trip, we had a great week with my parents. We're looking forward to heading back over the Atlantic Ocean to see both of our families again in the end of August!