Joni Mitchell in the hippie caves of Matala and more: Messy Nessy winter distraction

 

February 05, 2026   |   Read Online Halfway to Spring

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer” – Albert Camus.  Chin up, we passed the half way mark of winter this week.  So let’s close our eyes and picture ourselves on the beach,  building sand castles with Picasso, Hemingway, and the  Fitzgeralds at the most epic beach party ever.  Move into the hippie caves of Matala that housed Joni Mitchell  or whip out your toga for the 1920s Delphic Festival in Greece.  Or prepare for a choppy landing aboard a luxury 1950s flying yacht  as we set our sights on the Moonhole Mansion, an abandoned  Crusoe dream.  But if you’d just prefer to join me in wintry Paris, you’re invited to  our craft night, next Tuesday evening (February 10th) at Messy  Nessy’s Cabinet. Because February needs a craft night. We’ll be  making our own version of ‘Victorian puzzle purses’ in time for  Valentine’s Day – just an excuse to get together and get off our  phones, really (with wine and snacks). Send a message in a bottle  if you’d like us to save you a seat.  Right, that’s it from me – your 13 Things I Found on the Internet  await, (best enjoyed with a glass of rouge now that dry January is  finally over).  And don’t forget to call on your concierge if you need any tips  for livening up the rest of your winter nights.  Stay curious, Nessy   13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 764)  Your weekly selection of delicious distractions…  www.messynessychic.com/2026/02/03/13-things-i-found-on-the-internet-today-vol-764 No More Than a Litre of Wine a Day, Recommends a 1950s French Sobriety Poster  Last night I was standing at the counter of our local café on Boulevard Saint Germain, finishing off a last glass of wine after work before heading home for the evening, when I noticed something behind the bar. I thought I must have been reading it wrong (I was on my third glass) because it said in  www.messynessychic.com/2016/12/23/no-more-than-a-litre-of-wine-a-day-recommends-a-1950s-french-sobriety-campaign Parisian Street Sellers of Yore  Shopping in Belle Epoque Paris wasn't exactly ... well, convenient. General stores and grocery stores were still a very novel concept in the latter half of the 19th century, and the few that existed were only catering to the wealthy elite. There was also a French law that restricted merchants from s  www.messynessychic.com/2022/07/15/parisian-street-sellers-of-yore Paris 1900 World Fair Commemorative Plate  A charming Paris 1900 Exposition Universelle commemorative plate featuring the Eiffel Tower at the center of the exhibition grounds. The image is framed by an ornate gilt metal surround with raised floral and scrolling motifs, beautifully patinated with age. A decorative and collectible piece from the Belle Époque, per  shop.messynessychic.com/products/paris-1900-world-fair-commemorative-plate The Mad Beach Party of 1923  In the summer of 1923, an American husband and wife could be credited with two rather surprising things. Their name is seldom remembered in the context of the glamorous 1920s, but the French Riviera became the summer destination it is today thanks to the infectious expatriate couple known as the Murphys. Gerald and Sarah convinced their circle of friends to summer with them in Cap d’Antibes at a time when the fashionable only wintered there, leaving the region abandoned during the high summer months. Their pals included a young Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, Cole Porter, Stravinsky, Jean Cocteau and a great number of artists and writers of the Lost Generation who fell into the couple’s orbit.  www.messynessychic.com/2019/08/30/the-mad-beach-party-of-1923 The Hippie Caves of Matala that housed Joni Mitchell  In a sleepy fishing village on the island of Crete, where Joni Mitchell had found herself a nomadic home inside manmade Neolithic caves carved into the sandstone cliff, she sang her folk songs, “under a starry dome…beneath the Matala Moon.”  www.messynessychic.com/2015/04/21/the-hippie-caves-of-matala-that-housed-joni-mitchell

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