Researching and planning for Paris has become a hobby and an addiction. My house is littered with enough books on Paris to fill a bookstore. I trawl the internet and anything I can get my hands on for information and then, I have a hefty, work in progress document, divided into categories and arrondissements. It sounds anal, organised …
For some strange reason I tend to avoid Rue Montorgueil but now that the throngs of tourists have thinned out, I decided to take a little wander and a closer look. Over the last fews days, each time I drag open the giant heavy front door to my apartment block, I am confronted with …
Cold and dirty, hobbling around with a broken toe and the wonder shoe makes me feel like a homeless person. My stylish brown coat albeit many years old now, has either stretched, or I have shrunk and the uneven, tapered hemline trails along the ground. I notice Parisians looking me up and down, look at the coat dragging …
The first thing I did when I woke up this morning, was to pull back the curtains. Peering out the window, I found my wish had come true, a thick blanket of snow, settled over Paris. A white wonderland. Perhaps walking in the snow sans, sexy lime green umbrella last night, was not one of …
After leaving Jim’s and The French Historian, last night, I had to go to my favourite bar to say goodbye to my friend Bouba. It was his last night at work before heading off on holidays. Tired and cold but I could not miss the opportunity to thank him for his hospitality and kindness. We …
Paris: designed with thought, oozes style, has surprises around every corner, with wide sweeping boulevards, tiny cobbled alleyways, rustic ancient zinc bars, where you can spend the day, dreaming, drinking coffee and watching the world go by, and as the sunsets, she turns on her golden, sparkling charm, proudly, lighting up her monuments. The New …
Living or staying in a small arrondissement or area has it’s advantages; you tend to favour your favourite boulangerie, buy last minute items from your local Epicurerie, and you have your favourite, bar, cafe or tabac that you frequent and a relationship develops. And of course, there are your neighbours, whether you know them or …
Travelling light is a good thing, as long as you don’t wait until you have nothing clean left to wear, and places to go! Fortunately, last night, I had a pretty new skirt to wear to dinner. En route to meeting The New Yorker at Café Panis, on the left bank, left me a few …
My walk around Paris with the stranger, left me with a head cold. Waking Sunday, feeling miserable, wasn’t an option, I had to prepare for my friend’s visit from London. Dashing off to the Bastille markets to buy up some supplies, fresh chanterelle mushrooms, farm fresh eggs, country yoghurt, creamy French butter and a quick …
On my first day in Paris, there is a ritual I undertake. I stand on Pont Zero, the brass disc in front of the Notre Dame. There is a belief, that if you stand on this small brass disc, you will always return to Paris. Three days had passed, and I had not done …