Bon weekend.

Today, almost right now i am heading to the sunny heights of Gare du Nord to pick up MP. She's an absolute heroine of a friend and never fails to make me laugh literally out loud. I'm so looking forward to showing her all the sights that Paris has to offer, seeing this city through new eyes is a delight for me as well as my visitors who are darling enough to make the journey.

Happy Friday and have a bon weekend, I hope the weather is a little more peachier with you than the semi-mediocre conditions in Paris. Where has Spring gone?!

MP, I'm coming to get you!










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In the 3rd.

I'm a sucker for the unevenly-paved-falafel-incesnced streets of Le Marais. Located in the heart of the 3rd arrondissement of Paris' snail like structure it buries itself neatly among landmarks such as the Pompidou centre, Place de Vosges and it's just a stone throw away from Bastille. I am drawn to this little pocket of Paris for a myriad of reasons but one of the main causes for my love affair with Le Marais has to be it's relaxed yet happening atmosphere on a Sunday.

With this in mind, BT and I decided to have a working/blogging day so we headed to the 3rd on Sunday, naturally. Despite having productive motives at the forefront of our minds our priorities somewhat wavered. After mere minutes of "working" we were on the subject of summer holiday planning, weekends away and of course scheduling things to do/see in Paris.

Unfortunately the place that we had our hearts set on for our working was full to the gunnels with trendy brunchers and without a reservation there was no chance of a table until much later. Thankfully just opposite, not even ten paces away, we came across Nanashi. It looked deceptively small from the outside but once we were showed to a table for two the place appeared far more palatial.

As we only really wanted to be using this place as a bit of a base for our "studies" we didn't opt for the very tempting looking Les Bento, consisting of rapé carrots, grainy salads and other sumptuous goodies, instead we stuck to boissons which seemed slightly against protocol as the waiters asked surprisingly "c'est tout?!" All the same Nanashi had a great atmosphere and I would definitely like to re-visit to sample their Bento Hambague followed by the Fondant chocolat yuzu which smelt incredible.

After probably out-staying our welcome we decided to re-establish ourselves elsewhere. Luckily as we were in Le Marais we were not short of places to go but us being us we were distracted by pretty window displays and Jo Malone scents of Wild Bluebell and Pomegranate Noir.

Until the next Sunday Le Marais.

 Revision accompanied by a shot of expresso makes it all the more bearable. 

 BT hard at it. 

If you look closely in that reflection right there you can see a glimmer of blue sky. Spring time in Paris is the one.

Mes amis françaises.

Way back in September when I first moved to Paris I was lucky enough to be put in touch with the lovely and totally french Billard family. Unfortunately due to very busy schedules, overlapping holidays and a general flurry of events, it was only until the other day that RB and I made a date and headed into Paris!

I was also introduced to her friend C who was working near to the Notre Dame and met us for a wonder as well as lunch in the Tuileries. Despite my french being put to shame by the fluency of R and C's english it was great to be so immersed, listening to the pair chat away whilst keeping me included by asking me questions or pointing out different significant sights that my non-Parisian eyes had glanced over. 

Of course there were photo opportunities and seeing as it was such a beautiful day, why on earth not make the most of it? 

Voila!

Louvrely. 

The couple in the background definitely having the same thought process. 

Thank you R and C for an utterly delightful day as well as being so patient with all my linguistic errors! Apologies that this post isn't in French too. Bisous.

Secret gig.

Two words that could possible pose a rather intimidating concept; secret and gig. First of all, let it be known that I am not, by any stretch of the imagination an out-there kind of hipster with a clashing Nike Air Max on each foot and some scrunchies knotted in my hair. Far from it. However when I heard that Josh Savage was having another Secret gig in conjunction with his birthday celebrations, I wanted in.

I first saw Josh when he was supporting Johnny Borrell off of Razorlight back in November and ever since I've he's been a regular on my "Recently Played" playlist. Such a great voice and to pick up a guitar and strum away with such ease is something I really am envious of. Josh is set to be very busy in the next couple of weeks with gig dates around Europe but make sure to check out his delectable nuggets of musical goodness on Spotify and iTunes as he deserves some loving for being such a hard working musician.

The evening was really enjoyable with much singing, socialising and general schmoozing. I left along with BT and her very gentlemanly friends J and A, feeling slightly deflated at my complete lack of musical talent. However on reflection, I realised it's always better to leave things to the experts. Thank you Josh Savage and many belated birthday wishes to you!

"The Combat Zone"

Sadly these last couple of weeks have been primarily revolved around revision which leaves little time for general musings, killing time and other discoveries. However, on Tuesday I did find some time to check out a pocket sized exhibition, a couple of streets back from Invalides.

"The Combat Zone" is the name affectionately given to the roughest area in Boston in the 1960's. It was renowned for being violent, run down and at the centre of a racial war. Locals therefore found their little piece of refuge in bars, clubs or games arcades as a way of getting off the streets and into some kind of haven. Jerry Berndt, armed like a war zone reporter, explored the hostile streets of the "The Combat Zone" capturing scenes of poverty, solitude and desperation.

Despite it not being the sunniest of topics, the photos had a certain rawness with no obvious use of extra lighting or scripted positions for the models. Just on the spot shots capturing a moment. 

Head down to the Camera Galerie in the 7th to see this rather ominous yet insightful collection of photos. 

Rose Bakery.

This place is rather cute. If you're in the need of a piece of toast and marmite or a good wedge of moist, crumbly cake, this is the place to go. Rose Bakery has a couple of locations dotted around Paris, BT and myself headed to one nestled in the 11th on Rue Martyrs. Despite queueing for the best part of an hour, we were seated at last on a long table, sharing our dining experience with fellow brunchers and tea-slurpers. The menu is predominately breakfast based with bowls of granola and berries, eggs with smoked salmon and even marmite and toast. Bliss. Prices are variable, for a frothy looking coffee and delectable morsel of cakey goodness you're looking at 5 euros but don't let that put you off by any means. I will definitely be paying Rose Bakery another visit, maybe in a different arrondissement, you know, just to mix things up.

 If you're a tea fan, Pukka teas are definitely a brand to dabble with. I'd recommend the vanilla chai. 

 What a spread of cakes fresh from a loaf tin. 

 Mocha soya, 

 Empty plates all round. 

 What a hunk of cheese. 

The little things.

Hello and Good morning bloggersphere. Currently listening to Maroon 5 Sunday Morning just because it actually IS Sunday Morning, whilst slurping on a brew. Enough of the mundane details though, I thought I'd dedicate this post to some of the little moments that have put a smile on my face this week. I arrived back in Paris on last week and to be frank, I was rather apprehensive however that was all brushed aside with the help of the glorious sunshine, undeniably great company, unexpected post and of course the thought of revision nearly being over for four whole months!

Demain est un nouveau jour. 

I'd like to send a massive thank you as well as bundles of love to HG who is currently gap yah-nig but found the time to send little old me the most thoughtful note. Thank you for making my day. 

Happy Sunday to one and all. Spread some love and send some post.