For an American Friends of Versailles dinner at Courance, Craig Hoffman helped me transform this fabulous outbuilding into a magical sultry Indian destination. Anne-Marie de Ganay (our hostess and uber-talented A.F.V. friend) concentrated on the table settings - mixing anglo printed tin plates with monkey themed fabric and modern glassware. I chose mixed hot colored dahlias, protea and figs to set the tone for the arrangements, with 8' palm fronds and lanterns fashioned from Indian prayer shawls for the rafters (easy in theory). Incense in huge pots of floral outside added an earthy mystic quality. The gardens (of Courance) influenced Le Notre's designs for Versailles and are open to the public - absolutely worth a look see.
