Lucia Pica’s downtime is filled with yoga, culture and fine food …
My weekends are always quite different – sometimes I work, sometimes I’m in London, or Paris, or Italy. On a perfect one, I do some yoga when I first wake up. I’m doing a lot of yoga at the moment and I try to do it in the morning, as it makes me feel happy and starts the day well; I feel like I’m more productive and have more energy. Then I go out and have coffee with a friend. I love to visit a gallery or an exhibition, too. In Paris, I tend to go to the Musée Rodin, because I love both Rodin’s sculptures and his watercolours – I’m really drawn to anything that is quite strong and romantic. I also like the L’Orangerie, where you can be surrounded by Monet’s garden paintings, and L’Atelier Brancusi on the Place Georges Pompidou. Other favourite museums include the Jeu de Paume [on the Place de la Concorde] for modern art and photography, and Musée Bourdelle, an elegant art museum with three sculpture gardens in the 15th arrondissement; Antoine Bourdelle was a sculptor and a pupil of Rodin.
For lunch or dinner, I like to go to a little place called La Cremerie [9 rue des Quatre Vents, 75006] – they do an antipasti, with burrata, cheeses and charcuterie and they have organic wines. I also like Clover Green [5 rue Perronet, 75007] which is very healthy but very delicious. And being Italian I have a passion for da Graziella [a traditional Neapolitan pizzeria in the tenth arrondissement] and for Cibus, a friendly organic Italian restaurant in the 1st Arrondissement with only 15 seats; the truffle linguine is so good. That’s if I can’t have my mum’s homemade gnocchi, which is my favourite … I would fly to Naples for a day just to eat that.
After lunch I love to take a nap – especially in Italy after pasta! I really like to do very down-to-earth things at weekends – being in nature, being with friends, cooking – so I love having people round and making lunch; I make a good bolognese. I also tend to do a walk or hike during the weekend, gravitating towards green spaces such as the Jardin des Plantes. I’m happy being at home reading or watching movies, and I’m definitely a homebird. In the evening, too, I’ll be hanging out with friends, or going to a concert or cinema – it depends on the energy of the weekend – but laughing is the most important thing.
Generally at weekends I wear lightwash vintage Levis with a white T-shirt or a navy cashmere polo-neck and Superga trainers, or two-tone beige pumps. I have a big red puffer jacket for winter, or I wear a military jacket. I do keep my jewellery on – and I always wear lipstick, even at home, just for me. I love it. I wear Eau de Cologne from Les Exclusifs collection – I don’t like strong perfumes and this one I can reapply throughout the day and it just feels fresh. And sunglasses, of course: you never see an Italian without sunglasses!
For my autumn/winter 2019 make-up collection, Le Blanc et le Noir de Chanel, I wanted to celebrate the city and spirit of Paris, and I started with black and white, which are the pillar colours of Chanel. I think Paris is one of the ultimate black and white cities – so monochromatic. For me, Paris is sexy, quite strong, a bit urban, but still quite classic. There’s a very underground, sensual side to Paris. I’m influenced by visual things, from black and white photographs to French movies like Inferno. I also love to browse in bookshops like Le Comptoir de l’Image, a very small shop on rue de Sévigné that’s piled high with old books and magazines that have a photo and fashion focus. The owner here really forages and has treasures – I love this place.
I’m going to Italy for the next few weekends and was back home in Naples recently to see a Juergen Teller photo exhibition that was showing in a villa on the waterfront. If I’m in Naples, I’ll have lunch looking at the sea – Trattoria da Cicciotto at Marechiaro is a favourite sunny spot specialising in super-fresh fish, right on the sea. And I visit the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, a huge museum with stunning works by Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi – it’s set in a peaceful park with great views over the city. Back home, I just take time for myself and hang out with my friends and family in the sun and feel that warmth – and they laugh a lot in Napoli which is good thing!
The end of the weekend is always quite sad, but I try to start strong with my yoga. I’m becoming a morning person: I go to bed around 11pm unless I’m going out. I love sleeping. And it’s good for the skin! I might drop in to Boulevard Raspail on Sunday – there’s an organic food market there. I try to keep Sunday afternoon/evening to chill. I’ve done a few detox retreats – I did the Yeotown hiking retreat recently (www.yeotown.com), in Devon; I love nature walks and meditation along with the yoga. I’m looking into doing a yoga retreat – just doing something that’s good for my body and my mind. I believe in intense exercise detoxes, followed by a retox in Italy – you always need balance!
Le Blanc et le Noir de Chanel Fall 2019 make-up collection launches on August 2 at counters nationwide.
Sarah Halliwell