L'hiver est là.

Bonjour! A few random photos from our weekend. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, the air was freezing, and we the light was... dear (for the sake of rhyming, eh). First time this year it actually felt like winter. We hung out in our neighbourhood all weekend which was delightfully relaxing. I know we aren't moving into our new place until another couple of months, but I am already starting to feel nostalgic of our vie de quartier. I suppose it's normal though, right? After almost six years (blimey, six years!)...time flies.

ps: 1. Pompom garland (which I've finally hung) from this lady (whom I hope is having a baby right now!); 2. Dried bouquet I received when L. was born; 3. Blanca Gomez's city prints (I've got Paris & London).

Paris snapshots.

I had to snap a few photos of Paris on our way back home on Sunday. After five years, I love that I can still so blown away by the beauty of this city.

11.11.11.

Our neighbour's cat this morning. Getting his daily dose of fresh air. Him and L. have awesome staring competitions.

Weekending - in the city.

After a glorious weekend (someone up there must have heard my whining on Friday), it's gone cold and rainy on us again. So much for enjoying all the great summer activities in Paris whilst we are childless. Speaking of which, August is quite something around here. No matter how many years I live in Paris, I am still struck by how life comes to a sudden halt as of August 1st. The streets are empty, shops are mostly closed but, parking is free (true luxury!). Little L.'s childminder has taken the entire month off work so he'll be spending the next few weeks with his grandparents. I miss him so much already, it'll be hard not to be in a totally ecstatic mode when he comes home in two weeks. In the meantime, we at least get to be with him at the weekends in order to avoid an acute baby L withdrawal syndrome!

Here are some photos from Paris which I've been meaning to share for quite some time.

Siberian summer in Paris.

I am not happy. We are three days away from August and the weather is still cold and grim in Paris. I don't think that summer should be allowed to come and go as it feels. I get it - we are 'paying' for having had such great months of April and May. But that's enough now. We are the end of July and I expect it to be sunny. I am tired of wearing socks, trousers, jackets and scarves, and that the main topic of conversation amongst people is the weather. Damn you people who were smart to take your holidays in July. We've still got a whole month to wait to go anywhere... but then we're off to Greece. Ha, I can't wait. In fact, we'll be booking our hotels&co this weekend so if you have any recommendations, drop me a line. I'd love to hear!

Bon weekend peeps!

Paris vs London.

Two friends, Xanthe who lives in London and Irene who lives in Paris, have recently started a photographic treasure hunt to share the beauty of day to day life in both cities. For obvious reasons, the Franglaise I am is totally smitten with this new blog!

Ps: it reminds me of Paris vs. New York series from last year. Remember?

{via exPressso / images London vs Paris}

Anish Kapoor in Paris.

After months of sunshine, the weather has not been great here lately so we’ve been sending a lot more time indoors. On Saturday, L & I were supposed to go watch Mr. Franglais play in a music festival in Sèvres but the minute we walked out the door, it started pouring buckets of rain – huh. So it was indoor fun for us again. We did manage to go out on Sunday and in fact the highlight of our day was yet another indoor activity: Monumenta. Have you heard of it? Each year the French Ministry of Culture, invites an internationally-renowned artist to create an artwork especially for Paris' Nave of the Grand Palais. This year Anish Kapoor was invited to challenge the 13 500 m2 of the Nave, thirty years after his very first first exhibition in Paris. As you can see from the photos, Leviathan is a giant PVC sculpture and seems like an object straight out of a sci-fi movie. The monumental size of the artwork was captivating. So much so, we actually spent a long time walking around it before deciding the go inside.  Whilst we queued to enter the artwork, I found it fascinating to watch every other visitor be so completely immersed in this contemplative experience. We all stood there in absolute awe in front of this gigantic "baball", as L. called it. Once we were inside, a whole new experience began. It was all red, warm and peaceful. It felt like being inside a human body (some say the womb; I felt like it was a pair of lungs). It was truly incredible. Luckily for us, our little fella also had lots of fun: running around with the other kiddies when we were outside the scuplture and surprisingly when we were inside, he became all calm and cuddly, almost falling asleep (did it remind him of the womb then?!). If I had time, I would go back in a heartbeat and relive the experience again. Should you happen to be reading this and are in Paris this week, go to this exhibition - you will not regret it. We saw another Kapoor exhibit in London back in October 2009 which was also enthralling but with Leviathan, the British artist takes us to a whole new level of grandeur.

ps: and I'd like to smack myself for forgetting my camera. What a silly girl. Here's what it really looked like (all photos are © designboom)

And more photos here if you are interested.

Monumenta
Nef du Grand Palais
Avenue Winston Churchill
75008 Paris

From 11 May to 23 June 2011, 10:00 - 00:00
Admission price is EUR 5, with concessions EUR 2.50.

Midnight in Paris.

Did you know? Over here, Woddy Allen's new movie is out in cinemas: a romantic comedy set in Paris! I already have too much on this week to have time to go to the movies but I will be shooting over there first thing Monday evening to check it out.

And speaking of Paris, you may have noticed that I created a new category on my blog a couple of months back called "Paris city guide". It is pretty scarce at the moment but I will, in the near future, start posting more about some my favourite spots in town*. I enjoy so much receiving e-mails from readers asking for recommendations on things to do in Paris but I am mostly crap at replying. I was bad enough as it was before, but motherhood has permanemtly damaged any sense of time I had left. As my friends and family know by now, if I don't reply to e-mails immediately then you'll probably never hear back from me (I might be exagerrating a little when I say "never" but you get my point). That's my reality at the moment: running after time, counting every minute, trying endlessly to find my wonder woman outfit. So to avoid my silence "sounding" rude, I thought you'd be happy to find some Parisian treasure on my blog instead. And of course, it goes without saying that I'd love to hear some of the places you've visited in Paris and which you would like to recommend to me!

*note that my days as a party animal are over, so if you are looking to find out more about the Parisian night life, you will be disappointed. These days, I'm more interested in finding secret cafés and yummy restaurants than the latest trendy bar & club. Times have changed!

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Hello! I'm back again. What have I missed this week? Not too much I hope. Can you believe tomorrow is Friday already? I'm a little confused with the days this week as we had Easter Monday off. Three-day weekends should be the norm', don't you think? I took a day off work the week before as well so that's two long weekends in a row for me. It's been great to have a bit of extra time to relax and spend en famille. After almost a year back at work from my maternity leave, I still find it so hard to see my little boy only a couple of hours a day. But, in just five weeks we'll be on holiday all together, which seems like an eternity right now but close enough to start counting down the days. And while we impatiently await the dolce vita on the Côte d'Azur in June, we've been lucky to enjoy amazing summer-like weather in Paris these past weeks. I love going to markets this time of year as there is such a large choice of fruit and veggies and it's a great way to teach the colours to little L.! I've also been on the look out for some plants to brighten up our balcony because it is looking pretty bare at the moment. My favourite summer herbs are already planted though: basil, mint, and coriander... hmmm, those smells, that taste are heavenly! Like most Parisians, we've been having a lot of outdoor fun thanks to this gorgeous weather. In fact, we've been spending quite a few Saturdays outside of Paris as we are becoming less and less tolerant to the city crowds and fumes. We have never gone far - places like the Bois de Vincennes, Bois de Boulogne, Bois d'Arcy - but it makes such a huge difference. Especially for our little monkey who just never gets tired of living the adventurous life of an explorer. It is fascinating to watch him observe the world so keenly.

{Veggie photos inspired by my friend Alienorbd}