M. Chariot, Oui! It is true! You never fail to delight!

I've been trying to phone that mermaid bottom left since I was 14, but she never answered!

Oh dear, all this time I was sending you a message *in* the dream. (Evocative and elegant, Monsieur. As always!)

Well conch me in the head and call me clammy!

DaVinci wouldn't share this invention 'cause he was too damn shellfish! (Stop me before I pun again.)

Simply beautiful...

There will never be an end to the misunderstandings between men and women...they are as old as time.

Monsieur Chariot, Now I know it is you who isn't calling......

How do I love thee?
Shell I count the ways?

C'est magnifique, Monsieur.

WOOF

Hmm. The men on the right don’t seem too happy with their shell-mates - Mary might be right. Of course, it might just be that they’re trying to use T-Mobile up in the hills around their Saxon city of Brasov...

Monsieur Chariot,
You are, without question, Open Salon's master of the witty and winsome.

Respectfully rated

cool!

And when coupled with medieval hooters, by golly, you've nailed it!

LOVE it! Thumbed. P.S. Monsieur Chariot, I think your banner and your avatar are both seriously cool.

c'est ce bon! tres jolie! Chariot, c'est sublime.

I'll bet they all get better reception than my phone does (and they look much more elegant, too.)

Incredible imagery!

Touche'

(rated)
G

I don't trust shell phones. They give you cancer.

Oh, I remember party lines...

I am so glad you are back!
That's the starbuck's twintail mermaid in the lower left, isn't it?

What's that? I can't hear you. I've got shellphone in my ear.

MC Chariot -- are these from old wood-cuts are merely made to look that way?

Tres lovely!

Is that why no one ever calls back!!!!!!!!! I got mine from a sidewalk vendor in San Francisco.....

"Can you hear me now?"

Mlle Remedíe ~ Mercí ma Jolie Dame!

M. Procopius ~ To hear the lady tell it you made quite a splash!

Mlle Sandstrom ~ Bonsoir ma Fille Rêveuse!

M. Gallant ~ Stop punning at once mon petit singe !

Mlle KTM ~ A poem in deux mots!

Mme Kelly ~ Vive la difference!

M. Justis ~ Bells are ringing mon ami artistique!

M. Croceum ~ Seahorses!

M. Decker ~ Let's meet at the Villa di Monaciano for tea!

M. Knight ~ A tip of the top hat to mon cher monsieur!

M. or Mlle Spud44 ~ You've made M. C. feel all warm and tingly!

Mlle Cathy ~ Bright, twin bubbles on the surface of the primordial goddess!

M. or Mlle Shiral ~ Your sweet compliment made my day, cherie!

M. Correll ~ I am honored by your message délicieux!

Mme Kern ~ All I can hear are the waves and the seagulls!

M. Thomas ~ Voilá! Flèche! Coulé!

M. Galt ~ The sound of the seashore banishes dis-ease!

Mlle Lou ~ A soiree 10,000 leagues under!

Mme Priddy ~ She is her cousin, Ariel!

M. Cordle ~ The images are inspired by Illuminated Manuscripts, my good man!

Mlle Chick ~ Back at you my dear!

Mlle Phoebe ~ I got mine from the seashore!

M. Designanatoire ~ What...?

And now I find out that all of these things on the beach that I thought were remains of marine creatures were actually phones discarded centuries ago! You learn something new every day.

Only if you listen very carefully my dear M. Mishima!

It's always a pleasure to see one of your posts, Monsieur Chariot.

these are wonderful.

C'est bon, Monsiuer. Did they perchance have ringtones of waves crashing on the shore? Viva la mer!

I've said it before but it bears repeating... I am SO gad you are back. You make my wee heart grow larger and go pitter pat.

Just a few days ago my son and his autistic, totally adorable and lovable son each picked a shell from my collection (gathered years ago on Captiva), and held them to their ears. My son explained to me with an infections smile: "We're talking on shell phones."

Oh now this is just wonderful. I'm going to get out my tenor recorder and play some medieval dances on it. Thanks, my good fellow.

Nothing like a gold shellphone to tell all your friends about your great knight out...............

I wonder; do they have a lute ringtone option and an Illuminated instruction book?

I love the mermaid.

You are a paragon of taste and elegance, which we need so badly here.

Aha. I see the clamshell and PDA models were popular then. No need to ask about hermit crab shell phones, of course.

A gold shell phone would look great in my new Lexus.

A New Post from Monsieur always makes my day!

M. Prisoner ~ Perhaps you'll join me then for a cocktail at the Hotel Portmeirion!

Mlle Pace ~ Many thanks for your kind appraisal!

My dear and Most Enchanting Mme Fermier ~ M. Chariot has you on speed dial!

Mlle Roddick ~ How funny; I just got a chatty call from your son and grandson on Tuesday last!

M. Mistake ~ In M. Chariot's mind's eye, you are always dancing a jolly little jig!

Mlle Artfish ~ I believe we have a pearl-encrusted model just for you!

Mlle Roulette ~ Shimmery ladies seem to be on a certain wavelength, no?

Mlle Lane ~ It takes a sophisticate to register the nuanced impression.

M. Mendel ~ The hermit crab model you mention attaches to the ear!

Mlle Troll ~ I think we may require a very very very tiny custom-made Pearl Umbonium conversion.

Mlle Persephone ~ And a comment from your most fashionable person makes M. Chariot's night!

I wish my shellphone had gold leaf on it! Talk about bling!

Methinks something in mother-of-pearl may be more your style, Mme E!

Brain tumors. They will all get brain tumors.

I'm just so glad you're back. So glad.

Marsha

Mme Stella ~ As I understand it, one needs a "brain" to get a "brain tumor".

Mlle Song ~ What a kind welcome! Mercí ma cherie!

So I hear.

Once again, I realize that someone was looking through my boudoir window in my cozy little ocean cave near Santa Barbara. Privacy is so hard to find. And to see the look of boredom on my beloved's face while discussing the groceries, certainly, I should have gotten the video shell phone just to keep him amused.

Muy bien M. Chariot!

rated

My dear Mlle Freeborn ~ I very much enjoyed your little seaside reminiscence. Mercí!

Now that's what we're talkin' bout!

Welcome back, my dear Monsieur Chariot.

Ah! My dear Monsieur Lazar!

Well, I've arrived so late everybody up there has stolen my comments!
M. Chariot, these are beautiful...I love them!

Why thank you my dear Poetess Maliha! I tried calling to let you know the post was up, but your shellphone was busy.

You never fail to delight.

Ah! The effervescent and intriguing Mlle Black! Thank you!

The men all look like they are thinking "How did she get my number? I'm unlisted!"

love the art...

Lovely idea, beautifully rendered.

The gold leaf just pops from the background. Lovely. I use gold and silver a lot for that same reason. I wish I knew some real French so I could compliment you appropriately. Ooh! But I have a French last name. Does that count? :)

Bad Kitty
Here I get distracted for a few days with that dog thing and you create this lovely thing. Oh well better late than never.
You don't mention wether the shells are occupied or not. If not? Conch bisque perhaps? I'd love to share.

Such unexpected surprises from you. Always a treat to be savored.

Like the big kitty I have been otherwise occupied. I'm glad to have stumbled back to find this, though.

Much more attractive than the phones pressed to ears today. Abominations, in my opinion. Better a shell phone any day.

M. Chariot,
Truly lovely illustrations on papyrus. I have been much troubled about the ring tones that Medieval Shellphones would use, so I consulted the expertise of The Baltimore Consort. Their lovely album, "La Rocque 'n' Roll" Popular Music of Renaissance France, has several such examples. I've decided that J'ai vu le loup was certainly one of them, but that Ung gay bergere was probably too recent.

*ring ring*

Ah! Monsieur Chariot! How delightful!

Can you hear me now?

Is this better?

Can you hear me now?

Whaaat? I can't hear you! Sounds like you are right next to the ocean!

Call back after the tide changes.

Au Revoir!

M. Chariot has been suffering the most abysmal internet connection problems for the past week, but I have logged on via my dear friend Mlle Hysterique's "Steampunk" laptop, just to say that comments from Mme No Longer, Monsieur H, Mlle Merwoman, mon petit pous-pous, Monsieur Mac, Mlle Mitchell, M. Sanjuro and Mlle Buzz did much to lift the technological funk that has possessed me. And if anyone has managed to work the bugs out of Firefox 3.0.5 (my recent and most problematic "upgrade"), please contact me via the aol address listed under my avatar!

Merci! A bright spot in my day.

Well!!!! Alors! Now I understand why everyone is in love with you. I am so very very late to zee partee. Please forgeeve me. Je suis tres desolee!!!! You are most wonderful and I am most humbled by your presence on O.S.
I remain,

Your faithful servant,

LSW

Echo chambers, yes. But, Shellphones? No. Not without showing a taut string between the two.

Like the pretty gents and ladies, you-all are only listening to yourselves.

It sure would have been intersting. And well within the technology of the times. We all did it as kids, right?

Or have you-all forgotten?

My dears Mlle K8, Mme Warren and M. Fonda ~

Thank you for your charming and imaginative 'messages'!

I hope they had the good sense not to talk on their shellphones while driving their buggies!

Gorgeous. Is that is lino, silkscreen, woodcut, or what?

Mon cher, Cheriot, would that I had a shekel to buy a shell phone, I’d share with you the roar of the Pacific ‘neath the freeze.

My dears Mlle Lainey, Mlle McNeil and Mlle Robinson ~

Thank you for your most amusing commentaries, which have so enlivened my solitude! I am pleased to discover how very many artists and art lovers tarry here on OS. The prints are woodcut, with gold leaf detailing, on handmade papyrus. I have received an unexpected number of inquiries regarding the artworks, which has inspired me to include an image of one of the prints as it appears, framed in blond wood, in my cloistral apartments in Hollywood.

Magnifique!