Tag: paris

Hannah Wilson

Wandering Wednesdays

1 Comment Paris, Wandering

Last week, I took a 4 hour-long walk through Paris, which is about 3 miles, according to the google map I made for myself.  The objective: photograph some specialty pastry shops for a blog I just started writing for (here’s an article I wrote for them).  I did end up finding the pastry shops I had intended to visit, but a couple of them were closed for the summer holidays (damn you, August!).  More importantly, I thoroughly enjoyed wandering somewhat aimlessly through smaller streets.  I made sure to wear comfortable shoes so that I had no reason to cut my day short.

The weather was absolutely crazy, the bipolar kind of crazy.  Every 30 minutes, there would be a sudden shift between sunny and stormy, and vice versa.  I think I managed to capture the extremes in these photos.  Since I took so many photos that day, I’ll just include half of what I captured; the other half will come next wednesday!

P.S. Two things I learned from editing these photos:  I really LOVE doors and windows.  Something about the possibilities that lie within, I suppose…

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Hannah Wilson

Artist Studios

Comments Art, Paris, See & Do

I decided to have a proper wander through Paris yesterday.  I started near Rue du Bac (7th arrondissement), made my way through little alleyways in Saint Germain des Près, stopped in at the Medieval Museum, and ended up on Rue de Rivoli, just a block away from the Louvre.  But more on those explorations later…

What I was NOT expecting was to find an entire building FULL to the brim with art studios.  The front door itself stands out like a neon sign on a dark night.  Painted in every imaginable color, the door wide open, beckoning curious passerby inside.  I think most people are a bit taken aback to see such a kitschy/ostentatious façade nestled among the monotonous trail of international-chain shopping stores that a huge chunk of Rue de Rivoli is (H&M, Forever 21, Zara, Mango, etc.).  I was feeling the adventurous vibe, so I went in.  Rainbow colors and open doors seem friendly enough.

I didn’t get a picture of the front door for some reason, but I did get many others from inside.

First off – the staircase was painted in a mismatched, haphazard way all the way up to the top floor.  The text below reads “follow the dragon. ”

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Hannah Wilson

Unique Parisian Restaurants: Floyd’s

Comments See & Do

One of my favourite things to do is try out new, unique estaurants in Paris.  Yes, the food is certainly an important factor, but I actually tend to get more excited about the interior design, to be honest!  Especially when you walk into a fresh, empty dining room, before anyone else has arrived – I was able to photograph this place without interference!  Like my own personal showroom.

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Hannah Wilson

Paris Concept Shops: Usagi

Comments Paris, See & Do

I’m a sucker for a good “concept store,” although I’m getting a little tired of the term.  Can we come up with another name for them that sounds less – pretentious?  Regardless, all the aspects that make them distinct from “regular” stores are also what make them so fantastic.  You can find things you’ve never seen before, and perhaps products that are exclusively sold in that store.  As far as gift-buying goes, these types of stores are the place to go.

I stumbled across this gem, called Usagi, on a dreary, rainy day a few weeks ago; one of those annoyingly cold days that just doesn’t belong in July.  The minty green colour of the facade and image of a doll-faced girl with “bubbles” in her eyes immediately caught my eye.  I didn’t have time to go in until a week later, when it was much sunnier. When I did finally step through the door, I politely asked if I could take some photos of the place for my blog.  I was fully prepared for rejection, assuming for some reason that I wouldn’t have enough authority (?) to step in and photograph, but the man who helped me was more than welcoming.  Gideon was his name, a painter and musician hailing from New York (you can see his work here).  It’s always a pleasure to come across fellow Americans while out and about in Paris, and honestly, it’s not that hard of a thing to do – this is a very international city.

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Hannah Wilson

Wandering Wednesdays

Comments Paris, Wandering

I’m sure you all have been positively aching for some charming snapshots of Parisian streets, so I’ve hooked a sister (or bother) up!  :p  To be honest, this collection of photos didn’t actually require much “wandering” at all – they were all taken within a couple blocks of one another, on streets I’ve visited many times before.  But that doesn’t mean they’re familiar to you readers!

Odette is one of the cutest pastry shops in this city, so much so that it almost warrants the use of the term “adorbs,” but I won’t subject you to that kind of debauchery at this time.

As for the song above, it’s a classic from my high school days.  The song reminds me of summertime, so it was an obvious choice.

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Hannah Wilson

Friends in Town: How to Spend a Day in Paris

1 Comment Paris, See & Do

It feels strange to say that this weekend, some friends from California were “in town,” as if Paris, with all its aura and majesty, is just a “town” that people casually enter and exit. I suppose it has kinda reached that status for me, it’s just the place I live now.

Nevertheless, I was super excited to show them around, and wanted to make sure they had the best, least gimmicky experience possible.  You can use this as a very rough itinerary for your own travel plans to Paris, because I think its a pretty good, non-overwhelming day.

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