Monday, July 18, 2011

Welcome To Our Newest Advertiser

Pam Siddiqui’s love affair with all things French blossomed many years ago--on that first trip to Paris after college. “It was love at first sight,” she says, “and smell, taste and language!” Since then, she has traveled extensively throughout the country, always on the prowl for new experiences and beautiful things.

“I’ve been lucky to have visited my grand-père's birthplace in the Haute-Saone region and my great aunt's homeland,” she says. “With my family, I’ve traveled to Paris, the Pyrenees and back to the Alpes-Maritimes on many fabulous holidays. We've stayed along the Cote d'Azur many times, visiting the glass blowers of Biot and the potters of Vallauris. We've played in the sand on the Mediterranean Sea.”

Back home in the U.S., Pam’s friends always admired the beauty and workmanship of the things she brought home from France. Eventually she decided to open a retail shop in Acton, Massachusetts and it thrived. But wanting more time for travel she decided to close it in 2009 and transition to mail-order only. She also realized that a mail-order business would allow her to reach a much wider audience. And indeed it has: since 2004, OliveandBranch.com has been shipping a wide range of beautiful European and French-made products worldwide. “We’ve shipped to Australia and England,” Pam reports. “We even did 20 gift baskets for a gentleman in Paris!”

Today on Pam’s site you’ll find everything for the home, table and body, from hand-embroidered guest towels to the famous Savon de Marseille to Souleo Provencal-style pottery, hand-painted ceramic La Pintade Guinea Hens, traditional French market baskets and much, much more.

Pam and her family now have a home in Provence where they spend as much of their spare time as possible. They live in the Alpilles, the small mountain range immortalized by Van Gogh, with the charming Provençal villages of St. Remy, Maussane, Paradou and Fontvieille nestled at its base. It’s a perfect location, Pam says, from which to make her frequent sourcing and buying jaunts, always on the look out for authentic, finely made goods.

“We pride ourselves in offering quality French or French-inspired products, excellent prices and superb customer service,” she adds. “Most are direct imports from France and I only buy what I love. Our goal is to make you feel, while on our shopping pages, that you’re experiencing the very best that the wonderful local markets of Provence have to offer.”

Olive and Branch for the Home
Toll-free (from the U.S.): 1-855-6FRANCE 


Pictured: Pam, her logo and two of her best-selling items.

6 comments:

  1. What a sweet website Pam has created! It is a fabulous resource for all things French. She carries a little bit (actually, a lot) of everything. Jules, thanks for giving us more details about this excellent purveyor.

    Love,
    Susan

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  2. I went to the shop in Acton several times...my Mother lives there..and my favorite bowl and small plate for olives comes from there! Oh how sad we were to see it close. My Mother doesn't do "on line".... so can't shop there any more.
    Anyway, love all your things Pam. Nice new advertiser, Julie!

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  3. Thanks for this lovely introduction to Pam, always nice to hear the history behind the boutique,wonderful site!

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  4. Thanks for all of the kind words about the website and the shop - and thanks to Julie for the lovely write-up!

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  5. Love, love, love this store when it was in Acton and now that is online!

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