Solli in Paris

Me, just about going out for dinner, in Paris May 2011 when I was living at Avenue Carnot. I miss those days dressing up and going out for dinners. Here where I live now in Sweden I would never put on my heels from Prada..the cobblestones would destroy them immediately…and I really don’t do my hair anymore since the rain here seems to follow me wherever I go…and besides…where I live there are no restaurants at all. Changing Paris into living in the countryside is a challenge…

Staring on the interior – the first thing I do rather than checking out the new collection…that’s me in a nutshell. This is one of my favourite stores in Paris, All Saints! Love the old Singer sewing machines they have in their shopping windows, the bricks on the walls and the industrial lamps. Besides their interior I love their boots (I have some pairs) and their printed shirts, leather jackets and outerwear…. I would describe the style of their clothes as vintage meets industrial with a warm and soft touch of bohemian.

All Saints – 49 Rue Étienne Marcel  75001 Paris

Café Charlot in Paris is one of my favourite places for having an utterly delicious brunch at. It is a place I discovered when I moved to Paris in January 2010 and ever since I had my first brunch there I fell in love. Love affair deluxe I would call it…

As you can see in the photo above, me and my friends all went for their classic brunch menu: fresh squeezed orange juice, hot chocolate (to die for! Thick and creamy texture….), pain perdu, toast, cherry tomatos and shallots, fresh fruit salad, scrambled organic eggs with smoked salmon and soft chive cream cheese. Can you ask for more? This is THE place to bring your friends for some Sunday chillaxing and gossiping (ofcourse! we all want to know what happened last night at the party if your memory failed on you…) while endulging yourselves with a delicious brunch.

Café Charlot is located in the Marais district and is situated just across the Marché des Enfants Rouges (the oldest food market in Paris). It is a bistro with a retro interior and a very fashionable clientel…oh yes, this is the place were you can see the trendy Parisians almost fighting for a free table inside Café Charlot…..

It’s definately the place to be, either if you want to have a delicious brunch…or just be in the middle of a fashionshow ;-)

p.s. I’m not into burgers BUT Café Charlot‘s actual specialty is the cheese burger...which all my friends gives the thumb up for. So if you share the same passion, Café Charlot is the place!

Café Charlot – 38 rue de Bretagne, Paris

Today its May 1st and it is also the day when French people are waving these beautiful porte-bonheurs (lucky charms) through the air and wishing each other good luck!

La Fête du Muguet (muguet = Lily of the Valley) and La Fête du Travail in France, are a public holiday to celebrate workers right and also an occasion to present the fragrant Spring flower, the lily of the valley to loved ones. When I was living in Saint Germain in Paris I remember that some representatives from Croix-Rouge française (the Red Cross) used to sell this fragrant Spring flower on the street. The photo above is acctually the muguet I bought from them on May 1st in France 2010….

Wish you all a bonne fête du muguet!

View from my window in my apartment at Boulevard Saint Germain, Paris

While some people are fascinated by skyscrapes and other extraordinatry views I was and still I’m fascinated by the view over the Parisian rooftops. No building ressembles the other, time and history has clearly left signs…the window shutters are my favourite ones (please let them never be changed into ugly new ones)…and the “l’œil de bœuf “s in zinc…I remember when we were selling those in the gallery I used to work at. People use them as decoration in homes, by putting a mirror in them. Sometimes I wish I could turn into Mary Poppins, open my umbrella and just fly in the sky above all these beautiful rooftops in Paris :-)

“Chem Cheminée Chem Cheminée Chem Chem Tchéri,
Pour avoir d’ la chance, prends ta chance telle qu’elle vient.
Chem Cheminée Chem Cheminée Chem Chem Tchéro,
Dans vos mains je trouve chaque fois mon étoile d’or.“

(Mary Poppins, “Chem Cheminée”)

View from my window in my apartment at Boulevard Saint Germain, Paris. You can see the two towers from the Saint Sulpice church and the Montparnasse tower.

Rue Jacob is a charming street in St Germain in Paris and since there was a period I was working at Ladurée Bonaparte that is situated in the intersection of Rue Jacob and Rue Bonaparte, I was walking on Rue Jacob pretty often. While working at Ladurée and I had my daily breaks I always used to go out and have a 15 minutes of walk exploring the area and looking in the display windows of the boutiques…..often dreaming about the beautiful Hervé Léger dresses in the Hervé L.Leroux boutique next to Ladurée…or just being fascinated by the beautiful buildings…decorated with typical French shutters, antique lanterns, boutique signs and the building facade covered with the dirt of exhaust fumes, they all showed signs of the years that had passed….

Les nuits sont longues à Paris (the nights are long in Paris) and that is so true. The photo above is taken when I was living at Avenue Carnot in Paris…with the beautiful view over L’Arc de Triomphe. Paris by day and Paris by night…I enjoyed Paris anytime. I really don’t know what more to say than…tu me manques beaucoup Paris (I miss you alot Paris).

Cherry blossom trees in Paris

Paris in pink! The beautiful cherry blossom trees are finally in bloom…..

Cherry blossom trees in Paris

A few days ago I wrote about the Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs exhibition in Paris. Jorge Ayala, the founder and director of [Ay]A Studio, an International design studio based in Paris, has taken some beautiful photos and covered the exhibition very well and I’m happy he gave me the permission to share his photos with my blogreaders.

The exhibition is more or less comparing the past and the present, the founder (Louis Vuitton) and the actual Creative Director (Marc Jacobs)…click here to read more about the exhibition and have a look on the beautiful photos below:

Photo credits: [Ay]A Studio ,  [Ay]A Studio Facebook page

Photo credits: [Ay]A Studio ,  [Ay]A Studio Facebook page

View from my French balcony at Avenue Carnot in Paris

In 2011 I was living at Avenue Carnot in Paris, with other words, I was the neighbour of L’Arc de Triomphe. Having that beautiful monument just outside the window couldn’t be more Paris! Imagine opening up the windows and just be infatuated of living and feeling Paris…the noises from the cars from the streets and around L’Arc de Triomphe….the warm feeling of the sun that was reflected in the windows in the opposite buildings…..listening to the people down the street… leaning towards the French balcony and just seizing the moment was the first thing I did every morning. It was like having my morning dose of Paris ;-) (and the very polluted air)

View from my French balcony at Avenue Carnot in Paris

Solli 2011

Me in the late Spring of 2011 when I was living in an apartment at Avenue Carnot, right behing L’Arc de Triomphe. When this photo was taken I was about to go and visit my dear friend Jo who was living just a few blocks away. Living in the 17th arrondissement in Paris was quite a difference from St Germain (6th)…but Ladurée at Champs-Elysées was just minutes away (even though it could never replace my Ladurée Bonaparte in St Germain) and Jardin des Tuileries was not that far either….and then I was dangerously too close to le triangle d’or …which was not financially good for me if you know what I mean ;-) But strategically I was very well positioned for the Fashion Weeks in Paris when I was taking lots of photos…

Les Douceurs d'Odette à Odéon

Les bonbons, c’est tellement bon (=candy is so good)…and the sweet smell of it even better :-) When I was living in the area of Odéon  at Boulevard Saint Germain in Paris I could always scent the sweet smell of the candies from the Les Douceurs d’Odette’s small outdoor candyshop. You can see it in the photo above, a small red lighted tent behind the red-lights. I’m not into candy and I never bought any candies there…BUT if I close my eyes I can almost feel the scent of their candies and that brings me to my time at Odéon. And the créperie right behind it…where you can scent the freshly fried crépes with toppings such as butter, sugar, chestnut and Nutella. Sweet memories….et les bonbbons, c’est tellement bon like Jacques Brel sings in his song Les Bonbons.

Rue Grégoire de Tours (the corner of the building I was living in)

"Sous le chapeau" by LAPIS Andras, this statue of a seated woman can be seen outside the Hungarian Embassy in Paris at 92 rue Bonaparte

Just because I will not be living permanently in Paris doesn’t mean I will not blog about Paris anymore. I still have so many photos to publish and yet so many stories to tell, so don’t worry on that part ;-) And I will go to Paris a couple of times before this year ends…for short weekend visits…so I will have even more things to write about. With other words…the Paris blog continues ;-)

Jardin du Luxembourg

Early morning in Jardin du Luxembourg….the park I used to visit almost everyday when I was living in St Germain in Paris. And according to me one of the most beautiful parks in Paris :-)

Jardin du Luxembourg

Jardin du Luxembourg

Jardin du Luxembourg

Buttes Chaumont

Early Spring in Paris is just amazing. These photos are taken in the park Buttes Chaumont, go there in the afternoon….enjoy the late hours of the sun and be amazed of the spectacular view over Paris and the beautiful Sacré Coeur ;-)

Buttes Chaumont