da Vinci Code

Chateau de Villette, Estate of the Day

Filed under: Estates

I missed a bit of lux-spotting this spring. In The DaVinci Code movie, Chateau de Villette was shown as the lovely home of Sir Leigh Teabing, played in the movie with great aplomb by Sir Ian McKellen. Chateau de Villette is a 185-acre estate located 35 minutes from Paris. The Chateau was designed in 1668 for Jean Dyle, the Comte d'Aufflay, Louis XIV's ambassador to Venice but not finished until1696. Historically significant, ideally located and just plain gorgeous, the chateau and its gardens are paradise on earth for anyone who longs for a more elegant age. Rooms in the chateau include an octagonal grand salon, a dining room with a carved stone buffet, a music salon, and an amazing library. The chateau has been restored to modern standards and can also be rented for $58,000 per week. The price is not listed. After the jump, the perfect home for the wealthy eccentric scholar.

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Tags: chateau villette, da vinci code, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, france, teabing

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Santa Maria Novella Body Milk

by Anne Metz (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cosmetics and Fragrance

If you're anything like me, you're probably growing a bit weary of all of the da Vinci hype that has been going around: the movie, the book (now finally in paperback), the lawsuit.

All the more reason to mention another name from the Italian Renaissance to whom the Western World owes a great debt: the de' Medici family. Between the 13th and the 17th-centuries, the de' Medici clan was Florence's most famous set of movers and shakers. Their philanthropy brought into the world the Pitti Palace, the Uffizi Gallery and the Boboli Garden, as well as a slew of paintings and frescoes from the all-stars of Renaissance art: Masaccio, Donatello and Fra Angelico.

But what you might not know is that the de' Medicis were also vanguards in the field of cosmetics. The Santa Maria Novella Latte per Il Corpo (body milk, for any non-Italian speakers out there) is made according to the same exacting standards required by matriarch Catherine de' Medici some 700 years ago. This lightly moisturizing body milk instantly absorbs into your skin, leaving nothing but a delicate magnolia scent.

So even if you can't have the clout of Catherine de' Medici, at least you can do your best to smell like her. Price: $72.

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Tags: beauty, Boboli Garden, BoboliGarden, cosmetic, da Vinci Code, DaVinciCode, Italy, Medici, Pitti Palace, PittiPalace, Uffizi