French Californian

March 25, 2015

Hannah Wilson

Wandering Wednesdays

On Monday, the sun was out and all I needed to keep warm was a light jacket. I was on the hunt to find Easter treats in the chocolateries of Paris, but I also stumbled across tons of other great things! I walked all the way from Boulangerie La Moulin de la Vierge on Rue Saint Dominique, to the golden doors and dome of the Hôtel des Invalides, to the spring window displays at Ladurée, and the beautifully designed restaurants of Saint Germain and Saint Michel. I felt happy to be alive, and I think this batch of photos might be my favourite yet.

March 9, 2015

Hannah Wilson

Travel Diary – Sweden

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Our week-long trip to Sweden is winding down; tomorrow we head back to France via car, train, plane, and then another train.

This trip was essentially one big, continuous circle of fika, or coffee, sweet cakes, and light conversation. Of course, most of the time I didn’t have any idea what was being said, since I don’t speak Swedish! Knowing about five words – speedbump, frog, sausage, and beach – doesn’t get you very far in a real conversation.

I am in love with Swedish cakes, however. Nothing like texture of French pastries, the Swedes like softer things, much like their temperament. Sugar cake with a layer of butter in the middle, vanilla-cinnamon muffins with custard on the top, and cardamum rolls. They take their coffee strong, but not too strong. Not quite espresso, but way darker than the American cup o’ joe.

February 11, 2015

Hannah Wilson

Wandering Wednesdays

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Wandering Wednesday is back! It’s been a solid few months since the last one, but let’s just focus on the present, shall we?

This Sunday, I ate a scrumptious and very American brunch at Breakfast in America. Bacon, root beer, pancakes, and salsa on eggs – we always thoroughly enjoy our trips there. We went to the location in the lower Marais; the dining rooms are a bit less packed-in than the location in the Latin Quarter.

Afterwards, we took a walk down towards the river and over the islands, through the 4th arrondissement. I love this area of Paris. A good chunk of it, aside from the immediate vicinity of Notre Dame and Berthillon ice cream, is so quiet and calm – or maybe it was just the winter chill that kept people away. I remember attempting to get ice cream this summer and the main street of île-Saint-Louis was PACKED with tourists. When there’s barely any people on the street, it feels like your own private world. I loved it. I kept an eye out for more color that day, since so many Paris pictures seem to be dominated by shades of white, gray, and taupe.

January 18, 2015

Hannah Wilson

Travel Diary – Amsterdam

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What better way to kick off the new year than travel to an undiscovered place? One of my goals for 2015 is to travel more around Europe, to discover it while I can, while I live so close to it all. Amsterdam was a spur of the moment trip, booked 1 month before, and it was exactly what I needed.

The first thing that struck me was how easy it was. I’m so accustomed to international trips being a huge production, very expensive, involving long plane rides, annoying layovers, and credit cards that may stop working at any moment. Living in the US, most people are so far removed from foreign countries that when the time to travel comes, one must uproot themselves and plan, plan, plan.

January 5, 2015

Hannah Wilson

Bonne Année

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2014 happened, and I lived through it. The time that has elapsed and the things that have occurred exist and will forever exist in the space-time continuum – or whatever else you want to call this strange thing called reality. One could even argue that this entire world is just an illusion or a dream, if you wanted to get really philosophical.

Whatever this is, I have been a small piece of it. Whatever effect my actions had on the world around me, I’ll never quite know, but they must matter, simply because they happened. Sometimes I have to stop and take notice of my existence. Sometimes I forget to see myself as a piece of the puzzle. Oftentimes I don’t realize how wonderful it is to be alive and 24 years young.

December 15, 2014

Hannah Wilson

Road trip to San Francisco – A Travel Diary

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Last week Erik and I took Highway 1 – a short road trip to San Francisco. Pacific Coast Highway is the road that hugs the pacific ocean, dangerously close at some points. It provides amazing views along the way though, and the curves in the road force you to slow down both literally and mentally.

We stopped in Big Sur, the Overlook Trail of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to be exact. It wasn’t so much of a hike, more of just a pathway to a lookout point. If we had more time, we probably would have done a proper hike, but this view was amazing regardless. That water was incredibly turquoise, which is really unusual for the Pacific ocean, at least for the beaches near LA. I’m used to the water looking a dark murky green.