Every year Paris and I went skiing, using his lovely home in Annecy as our base, from there we drove to a different ski resort every day.

It was great to go skiing on so many different runs every day, and I really enjoyed discovering French ski resorts that I had never heard of before, we were able to check the conditions before deciding on where to go next, it was exhilarating, and we had so many laughs together. Such wonderful times that lasted for many years.


Important & Very Rare Asian Antiques

  Showing a Chinese Snuff Bottle

Showing a Chinese Snuff Bottle

Another venture I tried, was to offer my services to Asian antique collectors, particularly those who having started their collections, reached a stage where they wanted to add a really important piece. My idea was to offer to help select and buy only the finest quality in return for a flat rate fee.

From my point of view this would enable me to keep my hand in. I would enjoy keeping an eye on the market, because it is very frustrating finding the odd, good buy, when one simply is not in a position to buy.

Important and Very Rare Oriental Antiques
Rare-Antiques+R

I could (as a well-known collector) offer unbiased advice and help them avoid making a costly mistake. So, I formed 'Important & Very Rare Oriental Antiques,’ but this did not take off!

All that really happened was local antique dealers kept coming to ask me to value what they had found (mostly from house clearances) and because every single time, I had to tell them the item was a worthless modern copy, I did not feel I could charge them.

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