Wandering Wednesdays: Latin Quarter & Hydrangeas

I’ve been trying to get myself out into Paris at least once a week lately, as the home-commute-work-commute-home routine gets old really fast, and I’ve succeeded so far.

First, I wandered around Beaubourg and stumbled upon AntiCafe, which you can read about in my previous post.  Great Success.

Then, on different day, I met a friend at Place Monge, indulged in a crepe the size of my head at Au P’tit Grec on rue Mouffetard, the interior of which is hung with vines, and then strolled through the surrounding streets while UBER-overindulging on a Nutella crepe for desert.

Read more

AntiCafé: A Fresh take on the Coffee Shop

One of my favourite things to do when I was at college in Long Beach, California, was to sit at a coffee shop for hours, either talking with a friend or studying.  I particularly loved Portfolio CoffeeHouse;  They used to have this old, heavy desk, full of drawers.  It was the perfect place to plop down with a stack of Art History and theory books from the library and write my research papers, which inevitably, were left until the last minute.  I was a good student.  :p

I’ve always felt like there was a serious lack of these kinds of places in Paris – communal living rooms where one can have a capp, nibble a scone, and relax.  Yes, Paris is rife with cafés, the kind of cafés with little round tables and rows of wicker chairs facing the street.  These are great, but they just don’t have the same purpose, vibe, or possibilities of a coffee house.

Read more

Visual Diary – Anonymity of the Crowd

It seems like I can’t start a blog post without mentioning the weather.  It’s been a strange combination of rain and sun, like the sky just went through a breakup and is alternating between debilitating depression and sheer joy of what possibilities lie ahead.  I’ve never experienced a true spring, but I think this might be it.  I’m starting to miss the sun of California a little more now.  I’ve been slacking on the blog, feeling unmotivated, discouraged, and uncreative since I started a babysitting gig.  I haven’t been enjoying myself the past few weeks, but I’ve managed to gather some images for this Visual Diary… they are one of the easiest and most natural types of posts for me to write.

These pictures show the bipolar nature of the weather over the entire month of May, but I think they also reflect the detachment I’ve been feeling lately.  Only one image contains evidence of a human presence, instead focusing on solitary motifs or inaccessible constructions.  I’ve been feeling invisible in the world lately, when I’m in the busses and trains, I can just fade into a corner and almost not exist.  The foreign conversations around me mean nothing, so that it all becomes white noise; I avoid eye contact in public transportation because supposed cultural rules taught me that looking at a person in the eye can come across as either creepy or flirty; I walk past the same restaurants, shops, and train stations everyday, but I don’t know anyone; I see little windows on buildings bedecked with flowers and wonder who could possibly live there and what their lives could possibly be like, and if they’re happy; I’ve become annoyed with the French people and their way of life; and I wonder why I’m here and no longer really believe that I’m strong or interesting or cool for moving here.  Even though I blend into the crowd, looking and acting like a Parisian, I feel more disoriented and alien than ever.

Read more

The quirkiest restaurant in Paris, Derriere

The Quirkiest Restaurant: Derrière

If I were to show you pictures of this place without any explanation, you would think I had lunch in some hip Parisian’s private home, perhaps the home of a graphic designer or art director; but in fact, you would be mistaken.  This restaurant, called Derrière (translated: behind) for its placement in a courtyard behind street-level shops, has the mysterious allure of a speakeasy, but the accessibility and congeniality of your best friend’s house.

What you see when you first walk in is a leafy courtyard with green chairs and yellow umbrellas, which is charming enough on its own.  Keep walking, don’t be intimidated, and you’ll duck into a large, open room, sectioned off into different areas.  There’s a kind of living room with a lip-shaped couch, a salon with a full-size ping pong table and shelves full of wacky trinkets, a couple romantic corners, a dining area with long banquet table, and a tiled kitchen with a bar overlooking the chef’s space.  If that isn’t enough for you, just wait, there’s also a second level, complete with secret wardrobe. But we’ll save the best for last…

Read more

Visual Diary: Rainy Days, Petit Palais, and other Life Things

Visual Diary: Rainy Days, Petit Palais, and other Life Things

The past couple weeks have been quite drizzly, blustery, and chilly. I find that time seems to be passing more quickly and naturally now – I’ve stopped counting the passing weekends, and stopped feeling panicky about the unknown future. The residence card should be in the works as we speak, and I’ve got a babysitting job lined up for the fall. I’ve even managed to pick up a little side job for a couple months, which will fund both my student loan payments due in June, as well as my summertime-BFF-Spain trip planned for August. I am far from having everything figured out, but who ever really does?

Read more

Wandering Wednesdays

Did you know that in French, one walks in a street, and not on one? I think that’s quite poetic. To be in a street suggests that the road, the buildings, the trees, the people, are surrounding and enveloping you. You’re not just present in a place, but part of it.

If you couldn’t tell by the large title image, I’m starting a recurring series called Wandering Wednesdays. I can’t say that I’ll have pictures of miscellaneous Parisian street scenes every single week on Wednesdays, or that I’ll literally be doing the wandering specifically on Wednesdays, but it made for a good title, so I’m sticking with it! And when I do have some lovely pictures to post, I’ll post them on Wednesdays!

Read more