Wednesday, June 24, 2009

French Nature Charts

I have always loved nature charts. There's just something neat about going out into nature and knowing the names of things. It's kind of like knowing the names of people at a party--"Hey there, Pickerelweed!" "Howya doin', Bladderwort?"-- it puts me at ease and makes me feel like I belong. (Note: In case you're curious, those are North Carolina wild flower names and not characters from Harry Potter.)

These French charts, available through The French General Store (an American company selling imported French goods) take regular nature charts, which are already cool in their own right, and they make them even cooler...because they're French! In addition to the trees, apples, city dogs, and potatoes pictured here, the store also offers charts of cats, goats, pigs, chickens, horses, sheep, seafood, grains, and country dogs. Prices are a little more than you might ordinarily expect to pay for prints ($40-$50 plus shipping), but hey, they're imported from France!

I love this tree chart. When it comes down to it, what's not to love about trees?



















The colors in this apple chart would brighten up any kitchen:



















I love the fact that they offer separate charts for city & country dogs. When I visited France, I remember thinking that Parisian women seemed to choose their dogs based on whether the pups could comfortably fit in a stylish purse. Here's the city dog chart:



















And this potato chart is fun & silly. Hang a French potato chart in your kitchen and you'll have an instant conversation piece. Ooh la la!