Work of Art

{Purgatory Palace room in Au Vieux Panier}

     I am so bummed I didn't know about this before we went to Marseille. There is a hotel there called Au Vieux Panier which consists of only 6 rooms. But let me tell you, these 6 rooms pack a punch. After doing some research, I found that the hotel closes down every year for a short portion of time to change the decor of each room. Might not seem too out of the ordinary, right? Well, what makes it super cool is they bring in 6 different artists, graphic designers, etc.. to each design their own room. And on top of that, they have carte blanche, no rules to go by, no theme, just pure imagination. So they can do whatever they want....and they did. All 6 rooms have a completely different feel. Having spent a good bit on the hotel's  website and grabbing these pictures, I can tell you that the rooms are very reasonable for a big city like Marseille and also factoring in that you are pretty much sleeping in art. I don't really know what would of changed with our last trip if I had known of this before going. Maybe I would of tried to stop by for a peak inside some of the rooms, or maybe spent a sleepless night in the Panic Room, which is my personal favorite. You can get more details on the website for each room but it really is a cool concept. Oh well, guess I will have to take another trip to see this hotel ( oh, and maybe pick up those green heels I was undecided on... no longer undecided).

{Panic Room-half of the room is stark white, while the other half is completely covered in graffiti....and I mean everything is covered}

{Panic Room-alternate view}

  On the home front, Shaun and I made a new friend this weekend. Although, I am unsure how I feel about it. While lounging out in the backyard, we befriended a cat (or he befriended us, I don't know). Both Shaun and I are huge animal lovers, don't get us wrong, but there is something sneaky and flippant about a cat. Unlike all the other cats we see around, this one is very friendly and craves human contact, which leads me to believe he is not a stray. He walked straight up to us, rubbed all over our legs, then promptly rolled on his back pretty much blatantly asking for a belly rub. We indulged him for a bit then he meandered off to hit up some other houses for some random belly rubs...or so we thought. As I continued to read outside a few minutes later, I caught this dark shadow out of the corner of my eye going towards the house followed by Shaun's voice inside the house saying "uh no no, no no kitty you need to leave". Kitty was marching his way right into our house. Now, I have to give him or her credit for having the balls to try this but..... not happening. So today I see the kitty in the backyard again and in total cat fashion, he or she completely ignores me. Playing hard to get, ok, I see how it is.  2 can play this game....kitty.

{Our new backyard fixture...wouldn't even look at the camera}