Joyeux Noel from Paris Christmas Eve in Paris is busy and festive. Rue de Rivoli and the department stores are heaving with people, wrapped up against the winter’s cold and rushing about doing last minute shopping for presents and food.!!! Tourists wander around in awe, snapping up photos of window displays and Christmas lights and …
A rendezvous at the Musée d’Orsay with my friend Julien and a simple dinner afterwards at my apartment was on the menu today. Awake hours before the crack of dawn after an early night and a good nights rest gave me time to set out on a short stroll that I had devised, intended for my …
Why Did the Girl Stand In The Middle of the Road? The simple answer to this question, is to get one shot. This shot. But that isn’t completely true. The girl, being me, is a long stretch of the imagination to begin with and I didn’t take, ‘just one shot’. Last night I was reminded by …
Seeing a café called Bonne Nouvelle wasn’t unusual considering I was in the area of Bonne Nouvelle but it felt like a sign and I smiled as I snapped a picture of it. It was indeed good news and I was already off to a good start. Waking up feeling so much better than I had …
Attending a musical at the Chatelet Theatre each year is something I look forward to. I always manage to secure the same seat on the first balcony, the theatre is glorious and the audience are so responsive which adds to the experience. Tonight’s performance of Singin’ in the Rain raised the bar for any performance …
This was my mission for the day. Two tiny buildings, sandwiched at a T-intersection on Rue Galande in Paris. I don’t venture over to this part of the left bank often, it might be the multitude of tourists or the kind of ‘je ne sais quoi’ that I can’t put into words but it feels like foreign territory to …
Paris Greeters is a great initiative. Local residents volunteer their time to take fellow visitors like myself around their neighbourhood and bestow a bit of culture, interesting facts and sites and warm Parisian friendliness. This is my third consecutive year to donate to the cause and learn more about the city of Paris through the eyes …
One of my secret pleasures is to poke around private courtyards, narrow passages and the charming covered passageways of Paris. Especially when I happen upon one that I wasn’t expecting. I have been known to gasp out loud, much to the amusement of passersby. My Paris Adéle itinerary, as I affectionately call my mapped out walks, was shorter than …
THE FRANTIC METRO STATIONS Chatelet and Hotel de Ville were almost void of people on Christmas morning and when I approached Boulevard Haussmann to visit the large department stores, Galleries Lafayette and Printemps, it was equally as quiet. If I said that I woke at the crack of dawn this morning, that would be lying, although I …
Having a penchant for cemeteries does not make me unique. However, perhaps getting excited about exploring the city’s undertakers may appear like a strange way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Feeling slightly guilty that I had slept in this morning, with this being one of my final two full days that I have left in …