la valse d'Emilie

I went on a long walk yesterday, and these are some of the things I saw.  In the little court-metrage I made (below) are parts of Paris all within a short, thirty minutes walking distance from my apartment.  The music is Yann Tiersen's "La Noyee" from one of my favorite movies, Amelie (see here).  Walking around with my camera rolling nonstop, I felt like Jean Luc Goddard in his scene on the Champs Elysees in Breathless (see here and here).


On this walk, I start at my apartment, go through my family's flat, down rue de Passy, then rue Benjamin Franklin to the Trocadero, the Eiffel Tower, then avenue Kleber to the Arc de Triomphe, with a glimpse of the Champs Elysees somewhere in there.  Enjoy!

le bon pain, le bon vin, la bonne vie

Whewwweeee has it been a while since I’ve written on this thing.  I’m glad to be back, though, and especially to be writing from France.  Paris, France.  Wow.  It still hasn’t gotten old saying, “I live in Paris.”  I live in Paris.

Blinkinfig has it right: In Paris, France it’s impossible to be lost; that implies being unhappy when you find yourself not where you planned.

Generally, I don’t think one can be unhappy anywhere in Paris.  Each quartier has a distinct personality.  Here in the 16eme, there is such small-town charm…walking around my neighborhood, it doesn’t even feel like I’m living in Paris; that is, until I turn a corner and find a magnificent view of the Eiffel tower.  I’m a bout de souffle every time I unexpectedly catch a glimpse of it.

For now, here are a few initial observations:

1.  Not only can you tell a good baguette by the way it sounds, a good baguette can forecast the weather.  No lie.  It’s like magic.  How neat is that?! (see YouTube: Neature Walks...)

2.  Color-blocking is really “in” this fall.  In particular, the French are quite into bright blue pants like this:

photo courtesy of Wendy's Lookbook

3.  If there were a Real Housewives of Paris, it would be in my neighborhood.  Picking up the kids after school is basically like standing in a sea of Hermes Birkin bags.

4.  The best bottle of wine I’ve had so far was 2€.

5.  There are RAVES in the catacombs of Notre Dame. (!!!!!!!!)

I'm obviously still on my honeymoon with Paris.  As the weeks go by, it's really going to settle in how far I am from my loved ones, so I really do hope this serves as a means to communicate with everyone.  Remember, I love emails and letters and skyping!!

save water, drink champagne

'nuff said.

ACHICALIVING

sister

Went to New Orleans for the weekend with sister.  Isn't she a beauty?

field notes: mississippi

The other day I went to Square Books to restock on my Moleskin journals, but instead my eye caught these bright Mississippi Field Note journals.  They come in a pack of three and provide a plethora of Mississippi facts on the back cover.  I really like the vintage/boyscout look of them.  

So, I bought a pack (of 3) for myself, and then I decided to buy another pack as a gift for the eldest son of the family with whom I will be living as a fille au pair next year.  I'm really proud of this gift because it's really hard to find gifts for 11 year-old boys!

I still need to find a gift for the little girl (age 7) and boy (age 4).  Ideally I'd like to give them a little piece of Mississippi (like these notebooks).  Any ideas?

5 wishes

So, it's summertime and I've had a lot of free time to......make lists of things I want.  Here we go:

1.  Isn't this Tangerine Kaftan from Topshop lovely?  I really want it.

2.  Big and Gold.  That's all.  Kenneth Jay Lane hammered gold necklace from Neiman Marcus.

3.  This is more of a fall item, but I am looking forward to having a pair of Isabel Marant Dicker Boots for the fall in Paris.

4.  This has been and will continue to be on my list for a long time unless someone decides to buy it for me or I inherit a lot of money from a long-lost relative.  One day I will own a Chanel Quilted Lambskin handbag.

5.  I recently bought my first bold red lipstick from Amy Head.  As lovely as it is, I'm ready to upgrade to this Chanel #64, "Enthousiast."