ISSUE 07 | Edito - Issue 07 || Magazine Hoogui

Here we are: the year is drawing to an end. 2013 is leaving us with its joys and sorrows, its successes and failure, its moments of glory and frustration. And how could it be otherwise? What really counts now is the hope that this new year is bringing: 2014 opens up a wide avenue of optimism, with a brand new skin and plenty of refreshed goodwill. In the last days of the year, we just need to pay a warm tribute to the events that happened, in the hope that we will be able to bring out the most benefits from them and use them for the future. Bye bye!

One last breath and Christmas time will be upon us, bringing us back to the warmth of family life, by the fireplace, when children smile with expectation for Santa or the three Wise Men. A much needed break for the body (not quite) and mind (this, at least, we hope!), which will give us the chance to embark for whatever comes next with renewed levels of energy and enthusiasm. What next? A New Year’s Eve brimming with friendship, music and positive energy, to end the year 2013 and enjoy the last warm moments of the year.

We wish you a very good trip wherever you are - whether close to your loved ones, at the top of a mountain under the white coat of winter or in some sunny, heaven-like corner of the world. We wish you a very happy festive season, and look forward to seeing you again in 2014.

Jorge Apesteguia-Peña

In this issue_

HERE&NOW

Lapland, Santa's land
PEOPLE&PLACES

Saint Martin by Noélie Vialet, Paris NY TV
ALL YOU NEED IS ART

Eastern promises
ALL YOU NEED IS PLEASURE

The white pod, swiss bubbles
ESSENTIALS TRAVEL

By Valérie Solvit founder of Philocalie
BEST OF

Eve's escapes 2013
TOP LUXURY

Parisian ornements by Cartier
TOP DESIGN

Piece d'anarchive, between art & fashion
LIFE&STYLE

Six deadly sins at midnight

The children know it well: there is only one real Santa. And Mister Santa only has one true address: Rovaniemi, North Finland. From the very minute you land in this place at the end of the world, you can’t miss the signs that claim you have arrived at “Santa Claus’s official airport”. As the conveyor belts pour out the travel

bags, a very Christmassy scene begins: reindeers, toys, white owls and polar bears come alive to greet the travellers in festive style. Get prepared for sub-zero, polar temperatures. In a great rustle of goose-down jackets and multilingual chatter, we have come from all around the world to visit Santa Claus.

And visibly, the kids are not the only ones to be excited by this Arctic adventure! A few miles from the airport - at 66° 33’ 07’’ North and 35° 50’ 51’’ East, as they say in Lapland – you are handed a certificate testifying that you have crossed the Arctic circle. A few miles from the airport - at 66° 33’ No icebergs

or polar bears in sight: the certificates are handed out by the information office at Santa’s village. You can visit Santa Park all year round, to meet the old gentleman and his busy elves, but also to study at the elf school and give Mrs Claus a hand at decorating the biscuits. When crossing the Arctic circle, the

magic is different from what you would expect: with original activities in Santa’s village, tourist restaurants and souvenir shops, the gift-bringer’s headquarters are in fact a real theme park made from pretty local-style constructions of regional stone and pinewood. A long line of busy pointy hats is fussing at the entrance of a mysterious grotto: Joulupukki, or Finland’s version of the international Santa Claus, must have started his daily rounds.

The man in red takes the time to meet every visitor. It is never too late to believe in Santa, so best to be patient. In this massive operation, everyone has their role to play – even the elves, who film the visitors’ encounters with Santa. You can go home with the memory of this unique moment on a USB stick for 50 euros or so. At the post office, the postal elf explains that at Christmas time, Santa Claus receives half a million letters from around the world. No matter the destination written on the envelope, they all arrive here. Santa Claus is the region’s biggest business, and everything around refers to him. The story has it that Santa Claus once lived in Lapland in the 1920s. Eleanor Roosevelt was the first official visitor to his village in 1950, and the Arctic circle shack that was built in her honour still exists.

It is hard to imagine that at the very beginning of the 20^th century, Rovaniemi was for the most part inhabited by lumberjacks and migrants attracted by the promise of opportunities in the Great North, with rich natural resources including wood and gold. But at the end of World War Two, the German troops burned down and destroyed over 90% of the town. Ambitious construction works, under the direction of the architect Alvar Aalto, brought back Rovaniemi’s prominence at the heart of Lapland. He even gave the city the shape of a reindeer’s antlers – pity the only way of checking would be to get on a plane...

We are headed to Kaklsauttanen, 250km from Rovaniemi and the Arctic circle. At nightfall, after enjoying a steam bath in the world’s largest smoke sauna and dining in an ice igloo in the light of the lanterns, a guide takes us on a snowmobile expedition to try and spot the auroras. For each of the nightly travellers, this is a childhood dream come true: one to make this trip to the Great North truly unforgettable. The frozen faces are tilted to the sky, staring beyond the great pines. Nobody seems to mind the freezing rhythm of the migration season after season. It has to be said that Lapland has 200 000 reindeers for 180 000 inhabitants! But the farmers now use snowmobiles to follow the migrations, and communicate between themselves by radio: they have learned to live with their times. Still this ancient knowledge carries on generation after generation, an admirable blend of wisdom and modernity. The Sami are now threatened to become Europe’s first climate refugees. With climate change and the icecaps melting, the migrations become dangerous: when a frozen lake breaks, the reindeers might fall in and drown, which could seriously disrupt the activity of this Northernmost of people.

Although this people has been stigmatised and oppressed for centuries, the new generations are proud to be Sami and to transmit their own traditions. At Sami University, students learn about social science but also about reindeer husbandry: this ensures that they don’t live on the margins of society and can gain more general knowledge.

The Samis’ greatest pride is the Jojk (pronounced yoyk), a form of traditional a cappella singing which since the 19^th century has become, even more than their native language, the Sami’s most genuine form of communication. These throat vibrations had been condemned by the missionaries, who considered it “the devil’s singing”. It was even forbidden to sing it at home: many of the Samis grew up feeling ashamed of their own culture.

However today things have changed for this formerly oppressed people. There even appears to be a Sami revival of sorts, where traditional chanting is mixed with electro-acoustic sounds: the BlackSheeps, Wimme Saari or Niko Valkeapää have made a name for themselves on the international music stage. On the Sami’s historic lands, another traditional practice has been attracting numerous travelers : ice fishing. We wanted to experience this out of the ordinary experience.

Using a large drill, the guide wearing a traditional reindeer costume drills a hole into the ice. Leaning over it to hide the light, we can see the fishes approach the baits suspended from our fishing rods. The day’s catch mainly comprised of perches, some of them almost weighing 200 grams. Enough to cook a heartening barbecue to warm ourselves up, while dreaming about the log fire on our next stop...

She may make regular appearances in the celebrity pages of magazines, but Dasha Zhukova, the girlfriend of oligarch Roman Abramovich, is also a central figure in the boom of the Russian art scene. Stunning Dasha, aged 32, built up a real credibility with her high standards of art direction, opening up Russian galleries to the greatest names in the global art world.

In 2008 Zhukova created her gallery, the Garage Center, in the old Bakhmetevsky bus depot, a stunning art deco building. Since the opening exhibition, which featured François Pinault’s collection, the centre has hosted shows by the greatest names, from David Lynch to Rothko or Martina Abramovic. The gallery has temporarily moved to an elegant pavilion in Gorki park. In 2014, its programmes will relaunch in a new space: the sublime modernist building of the Vremena Goda, a famous restaurant fallen into dereliction. The opening promises to be a must-see!

Other spots in the same spirit include the Strelka Institute, an arts centre with cutting-edge programmes and a hip bar with a wonderful roof terrace to sip cocktails while enjoying panoramic views of the Moskva River. The Vinzavod centre was built in an old vinery and accommodates avant-garde galleries and design shops.

And Zhukova didn’t stop in Moscow: in Saint Petersburg, she also took over New Holland island. The island, created by Peter the Great, once accommodated the city’s boat yards before becoming a prison and falling into dereliction for half a century. With the intervention of New York architects Work AC and an exciting programming, the island is bound to become “the new Pompidou Center of the East”, prompting the apparition of a new trendy neighbourhood in the city. While the building works are underway, the island opens every summer with exhibitions, live music, designer markets and a wide range of events.

Eskimos living near the Dents du Midi? Rather a sensorial experience in the snow with the immensity of the Swiss Alps on the horizon.

At an altitude of 1,700 meters, we walk from Cerniers with snowshoes until we reach a village of igloos that seems to disappear in the immaculate landscape.

The Whitepod is a mountain hotel that combines authenticity with originality. It is made of fifteen geodesic tents. Each is set on a wooden platform that serves as a terrace, and is made from special insulating polyester created for space by the Nasa. On arrival, you are handed the keys to your bubble, together with snowshoes, walking sticks, a rucksack, a headlamp, a map of the estate and some studs. Here people live in harmony with nature.

At the centre of the tent village is a chalet where breakfast is served, and everyone meets in the evening to share some robust mountain meals and have a drink. In true Anglo-Saxon style, there is no barman and you write down the drinks you’ve had. The magic operates as soon as you walk into your “pod”: it is a warm and cosy room of 40 square meters, entirely made of wood, with a comfy king size bed, with soft blankets and touches of fur.

Each pod has its own Scandinavian-style decoration, but the place feels like somewhere straight out of a Jack London novel… or perhaps something by Karen Blixen: the atmosphere is also reminiscent of African eco-lodges. The pods have been designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible, but they are also elegant: each little cocoon has its own veranda, a smart bathroom and subtle lighting.

To enjoy the place’s authentic charm, all you need to do is drop your down jacket and light up the wood stove – after 9pm, each guest needs to take care of their own wood- or help yourself to a glass of water from the local natural spring.

However, each pod is allowed a limited amount of 150 litres per day: guests are encouraged to be mindful of the environment. In this white paradise, your only desire will be to enjoy the estate’s private ski tracks: 7 km of tracks where you are guaranteed to see no-one while you whiz downhill on a sledge or walk between the pines with sealskins. You will then recover in the comfort of the spa with its hammam and Jacuzzi, before enjoying a typical dinner with your friends.

NOELIE VIALET HAS TURNED HER PASSION FOR NEW YORK INTO A JOB : SHE IS THE CHIEF EDITOR OF PARIS NEWYORK TV. SHE KNOWS INSIDE OUT EVERY SPOT IN THE MEATPACKING DISTRICT, SOHO AND BROOKLYN, AND KEEPS AN EYE OUT FOR THE LATEST US TRENDS IN PARIS. THIS FEBRUARY, SHE IS RELEASING A GUIDE FOR THE US IN PARIS (Guide des USA à Paris, Editions du Chêne). AT THE BEGINING OF WINTER, SHE WENT FOR A BREAK AT SAINT MARTIN. NOT A SURPRISING DECISION COMING FOR THIS HONORARY NEWYORKER : SAINT MARTIN AND ITS NEIGHBOUR SAINT BARTELEMY BECAME IN THE MID SIXTIES A HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR FAMOUS NEW YORKERS LIKE DAVID ROCKEFELLER.

I love travelling. When I come back from a trip, I am always a different person. Very subtle shifts, invisible and surprising metamorphoses clandestinely happen in the layers of my personality. I adopt a different rhythm, experience novel situations, open up my field of vision: travel de-centres me and readjusts me to the world. This deep transformative power is what I love about travelling.

After New York and its bright clarity, I needed a small pocket of nature in the middle of the sea, to savour the joys of a quiet moment, soothed by the whispers of the wind.

Why Saint-Martin? I wanted a place where the sun had not gone into hiding yet, to survive the long and tough winter months during which we unfortunate city dwellers have to lock ourselves in and cover ourselves in layers. I just wanted to feel the sun on my skin one last time…

I have never been to the West Indies before. I don’t want to premeditate anything – so much so that I’m fearing a bad surprise. I only know that for the first time in years, I feel able to disconnect myself from the world, to stop writing and to let myself go with the flow.I discover the island’s magnificent vegetation, lush and amazingly preserved. I grew up in Provence where the sun burns every form of vegetation dry… This luxuriousness feels miraculous. The freedom of Caribbean plants fills me with joy, and the bougainvillea’s bright pink adds the final touch to the welcome party.

From our hotel we are overlooking the bay, with boats moored just down from us. The heat is strong and continuous but never feels stuffy like I’ve experienced elsewhere. The heat wraps us up, a light breeze strokes our skins. The seasons have no power over this land, which is summer-filled all year round. We walk down to the beach of Anse Marcel, at the very North of the Island. The landscape is dotted with colourful wooden houses, the palm trees wave their branches, the sand tickles our toes. We lie down on mattresses: the beach belongs to us. It stretches all around as if we were alone. I close my eyes. I can hear the jingling from Farid’s shack: he makes peerless frozen tropical fruit smoothies…

In the afternoon, we take to the road. The island is less than 90 square kilometres. It soon becomes ours. Dogs are roaming free and iguanas cross the roads… Every day we discover a different beach. In the evening at Friar’s Bay, the beach comes alive with the scent of the creole barbecue. The children run on the sand and jump into the sea. The night falls. There is a salsa night at the Grand Case… In the morning, the curtain opens on our balcony, awash with the first rays of sun shining from behind the mountain… We need nothing more. Time stretches endlessly.

At breakfast, waitresses in traditional creole costumes bring us fresh fruit from the island, loaded with vitamins. The mango melts in your mouth and can be eaten with a spoon, like the guava or coconut jams. Small, delicate birds with a yellow chest flutter around the tables. A new day begins, with no other rule than rest. The swimming pool is still desert, the island is calling. We go for an escapade on the Ilet Pinel: a natural reserve you can sail to on a blue fishing boat from Cul-de-Sac. Translucent fishes swim by our side. The water is clear and bright blue. Senior gentlemen drink Carib bear in the sea. I have a lie down and read my way through the pile of books I’ve been meaning to read for ages. At last.

It is lunchtime. On the menu: a royal lobster fresh out of the water on a bed of salad, avocado and chilli sauce.We must not miss the market of Marigot, the capital of the island’s French part. It is a bit touristy for me but I manage to buy a few pods of vanilla at a bargain price and some flavoured rum. We sip a coconut juice with a straw. Since the days of the colonies, everyone has learned to speak English, French and Spanish. After the beach, we relax with a soothing massage.

In the evening at the Palm Beach young women sway their hips and electronic music brings the beach alive. We drink a few Carib beers. Lovers come together in the dark…

When you look up, the palms stand out like black shadows against the sky while a gentle breeze lifts your hair…

“I am not a big traveller. Just like novelist Xavier de Maîstre wrote in A journey around my room, I can travel without leaving mine: it is a real cabinet of curiosities. I am always glad I’ve travelled somewhere but for me travelling is something permanent that belongs to everyday life. I don’t need to get on a plane to escape. And I prefer taking the train anyway!”

A communication strategist, Valerie Solvit has created Philocalie, a magazine dedicated to beauty in the world that has received contributions from personalities as diverse as the Campana brothers, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Louis Albert de Broglie or Ivo Pitangui: all of them people who contribute to bringing more beauty into the world. For Valérie Solvit, this is “a political attitude. Beauty belongs to everyone. I wanted to evoke it in all its complexity and its plurality to fight the destruction, the uglification of the world. Philocalie is a political manifesto.”

Philocalie, on sale at Colette (280€).

“Whatever the size of my bag, these items are always there. I never go out without them.”

In 1989, Parisian art venue the Petit Palais gave Cartier its first major retrospective. Since then over 25 exhibitions have taken place around the world. The one in the Grand Palais is undoubtedly the largest. Over 600 pieces of jewellery and watches, made between 1847 and today, are displayed with the decorative arts as a unifying thread. Furniture, photographs and paintings shed additional light on Cartier’s style and history. Cartier’s style was made famous by iconic patterns such as orchids and cats, including the well-known panther. The animal has been featured in Cartier collections since 1914, and symbolizes femininity: an elegant, predatory woman, always ready to spring for freedom. The latest Paris Nouvelle Vague collection is a tribute to the Parisian woman. In turns delicate, voluptuous or playful,

she is captured in the Jardin des Tuileries wearing rings bursting with lapis-lazuli and chrysoprasis, springing like confetti or balloons. At the Opera, she plays with the myth of the feminine ideal with sets of pearls and diamonds. At midnight, her rings ruffle with diamond-studded gold balls and pink sapphires. An exploration of new feminine territories, Cartier’s collections push back the limits of technique further every time. The necklaces are so flexible that the stones seem woven together and more alive as ever as they caress the skin.

Cartier, le style et l’histoire, Grand Palais until 16^th February 2014.

A documentary on Arte about the little red box, by Minou Azoulai and Marie Brand, 22^nd December, 10.30pm.

Moving in reverse of current trends that recycle the past, the Royer sisters are resolutely anchored in this century. Their adventures began in 2011, when they decided to become associates and create their own brand. Priscilla, who has trained at London’s prestigious Central Saint Martins, took her first steps with Vivienne Westwood, the priestess of punk-chic. Deborah was a perfume designer before getting into fashion. The result of this collaboration is a style that marries tradition and irreverence. On the “archive” side: collections that are made in France and stand out with their meticulous craftsmanship and precious materials – guipure lace from Calais, silk mousseline, dipped lambskin etc. On the “anarchy” side: a pronounced tape for cheeky re-appropriations, with

deconstructed pieces sometimes worn inside out. A universe of “cool chaos”, to quote the sisters. The label shows a certain filiation with Martin Margiela, and a certain flair for cutting-edge artistic research…The Spring-Summer 2014 collection, presented at the Palais de Tokyo, is inspired by the white ceramic tiles with black joints which are the trademark of contemporary artist Jean-Pierre Raynaud. For the catwalk show, the artist created an installation made from the fragments of this piece « La Maison » . This was the setting for the male and female models amongst whom was Lily Mac Menamy, the daughter of super-model Kristen Mac Menamy, as well as the two designers themselves, wearing the label’s graphic and androgynous looks.

In Rio, New Year’s Eve is a legendary night. The Cariocas, dressed all in white, flock to Copacabana beach by the thousands to watch a fireworks display amongst the most spectacular in the world. At midnight, in a great explosion of joy, people pay their respects to Jemanja, the goddess of the sea, by dropping small paper boats loaded with white flowers into the waves of the ocean.

Hawaï is one of the last spots on the planet to hear the bells of midnight. Kaua is the most peaceful island on the archipelago and its people celebrate the new year in style. Poipu beach on the island’s Southern coast has the most spectacular fireworks displays: the perfect place to settle on the beach and sip a mai tai while the sky burst into multi-coloured fire. To start the year, to Wailua falls: a small corner of paradise which has remained a sacred site for the islanders.

Why not end the year at the very end of the world? With its fjords and shimmering glaciers, Patagonia is a true wonder of nature. The Torres del Plaine national park offers majestic landscapes of forests, lakes and waterfall. It is also one of the rare places in the world where you can celebrate New Year’s Eve under the midnight sun…

This Californian city has in the last few years become a must for hipsters in search of sunshine and cool design: for a flash back to the 50s in true “Mad Men” style, you just need to book yourself into one of the city’s charmingly retro motels. Or you might want to try the ACE hotel, the last born in the US chain of designer boutique hotels, which has just opened in Palm Springs and throws memorable NYE parties with cocktails and DJs playing by the hotel’s sumptuous pool.

To celebrate the new year under the palm trees, on the fine sand of a dreamy beach by the turquoise waves of the sea: the Grenadines are an archipelago of 32 paradise-like islands which has remained relatively preserved from tourism, in spite of its idyllic beauty. Some of the islands, like Moustique, Petit-Saint-Vincent and other private islands, are a refuge for the super-rich – where VIPs go to spend New Year’s eve. Canouan and Bequia, with their white and black sand beaches and coral reefs, are accessible and just as spectacular.

While Ruinart Blanc was the drink of choice at Miami Art Basel, Parisian nightlife is fizzy with Dom Ruinart Rosé. If this champagne were a flower, it would be a white carnation powdered with coral. If it were a perfume, it would have hints of rose and violet. If it were a dress, its Chardonnay lace would bring chills of desire to its Pinot Noir velvet.

If it were a kiss, it would taste like an orange blossom brioche, orgeat syrup and ripe berries. This vintage is a champagne for those precious moments when the intimacy of a dinner for two holds more attract than a grand ceremony.

The art of travelling back in time… Founded in 1755, Vacheron Constantin is the oldest clock maker. Since the invention of the wristwatch, it has pushed back the limits of the possible by imagining the thinnest mechanics. Its Calibre 1003, just 1.94mm thick, has no peers in its kind. The Calibre 1120 is just as smart.

The Genevan brand is now revisiting these classic models with the Historique Ultra-Fine 1955 and Historique Ultra-Fine 1968 models. Behind their apparent simplicity, these watches made up of 177 components put their sleek, elegant mechanics to the service of technical innovation and practicality: 18 karat gold finish, transparent back with sapphire glass, waterproof at up to 30 meters and 30 hours battery life.

Montre Historique Ultra-Fine 1955, 27 300 €

Montre Historique Uktra-Fine 1968, 33 600 €

Cultivating what is exceptional, rare, beautiful and unique. At the White House, every president receives their own flask of Louis XIII Cognac. They may now receive one of Rare Cask 42.6. In the autumn of 2009, Pierrette Trichet, Remy Martin’s cellar master, discovered amongst the centenary casks where the brand’s Grande Champagne eau-de-vie was maturing a tierçon that she marked with a cross. Nature had made miracles in this small casket: it contains an elixir that stands out with notes of plum, dates and ginger bread against a heady background of tobacco leaves. Why here? How? This remained a mystery. Such an elixir only appears once in a century. There are only 738 flasks of Louis XIII Rare Cash 42.6, all of them numbered.

Each of them is worth 18,000 euros. This Cognac can also be sampled in the most beautiful palace hotels on the planet, such as the Prince de Galles hotel in Paris, at 1,800 euros a glass.

Eating caviar by the ladle: this fantasy can now be fulfilled. Petrossian now sells boxes of 10.5 and 2.5 kilos of caviar. Each box is handmade, lithographed and numbered. Named “Terrible Ivan”, “Grande Catherine” and “Juste Alexandre”, the boxes can be filled up with the brand’s greatest caviars.

For an intimate dinner for two, go for the unctuous, silky Beluga Royal. For an evening with good friends, try the pungent nutty, iodine flavour of the Ossetra Royal. And for a party, there is nothing like the Baeri Royal.

And you can now show off your taste for caviar, with Olympia Le Tan’s minaudières, designed after Petrossian’s famous blue boxes!

A dress by Yves Saint Laurent, a heady fragrance of white flowers, the look of a lioness and make-up by François Nars.

Talented make-up artist and art director François Nars pays a tribute to Guy Bourdin, the cult photographer of the seventies. Nars says: “I love his strong women who are resolutely sexy”.

Bourdin’s women show off ultra-red lips - a sign of their power – against a fresh and pale carnation, cheeks flushed with a creamy blush that runs up all the way to the eyebrows. Pure glamour until the end of the night.

Travel is a leitmotiv in everybody’s wishlists. A few bubbles of Krug are the best way of escaping. When Oliver Krug met Ramesh Nair, Moynat’s art director, their shared passion for faraway destinations gives them the idea of creating a line of luggage. Ramesh first created a trunk for the Krug Grande Cuvée Magnum. Then for the Grande Cuvée Bottle he imagined a black cherry leather case that hugs the bottle and dresses it up for travelling. Once you reach your destination, all you need to do is savour your favourite champagne…

2,000€ Krug en Voyage by Moynat