Journal

Breakfast in Paris – Claus Paris

Time for the yummiest day of the week – Breakfast in Paris is here! This time we tried out Claus Paris – La table du petite déjeuner, a place that has gotten tons of praise for its brunch. They can actually boast with both a café and a store – just across the road (L’epicerie) where you can buy all the breakfasty ingredients needed. Smart huh!

Breakfast in ParisClaus has different set menus, perfect for brunch. But we usually take a few things from the assorted menu. So we decided to tried out the different granolas, and as you can see my granola is a little bit different from the others… WHAT. When I first saw this I thought I’d cry, but luckily it does not taste like porridge (I hate porridge). I suppose it’s some kind of speciality that the owner brought in from his home state Bavaria. I don’t know, but I do really think this should be specified on the menu.

Breakfast in ParisI also tasted the cinnamon brioche, and although it was good it really has nothing on the Swedish cinnamon bun. So a liiiiittle disappointed on this breakkie, probably because of really high hopes. The detox juice was superb however. Breakfast in ParisThe interior was cozy and airy and we could enjoy the breakfast in a calm atmosphere.
Breakfast in Paris
Breakfast in Paris

Breakfast in ParisSome floor love here too!

Breakfast in ParisWhen we left the place got a little more crowded. A tip is coming early (Paris early…) around 8.30 to be able to choose any table. Have you been here? Any thoughts? 🙂

Couture craftmanship: feather work

Yesterday we started working on feathers in the Couture craftmanship class, an artisan work that has almost been forgotten. In the beginning of the 20th century there was around 800 plumasseries (feather ateliers) in Paris but now only a handful remains. The house of Chanel has since the 90s embarked on a journey of saving the artisans’ craftmanship by buying the small ateliers so they can remain financially stable. 

My music lace project with the feathers I bought for this class. Love the pale blue/grey one. Will be interesting to see what everyone can come up with!

If you would want to work in a plumasserie you would first have to do 2-4 years of apprentice ship to acquire all the skills needed to be an artisan in feathers. It’s a magical world! Here’s a video with one of the few remaining artisans Nelly Saunier who’s worked in the field since she was a teenager.

Shoe envy: Jonak x Wear Lemonade

I a typical Swede when it comes to dressing myself. I am quite simple in my taste and I rather go for the minimalism clothing and classic garments – maybe someone would even say I’m a tad boring from time to time. But there are a few areas where I don’t mind going a little bit crazy, one of them being SHOES. When I stumbled upon this French brand Jonak‘s latest collab with brand/blogger Make my lemonade I was mesmerized. (Piiiiink and glittering shooooooeeeesss omg.)

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pauline_darley1The boots might be a lil homage to Saint Laurent – but they’re more than half the price. Give ’em to me!

 

The awesome sauce pictures shot by Pauline Darley.

Monday pepp and tips links

Trying to go back to normal today after this weekend. PCA is open again so it’s back to class for me, will be good to see classmates again. And there has never been a Monday more in need of some pepp and som happy links I believe. So here we go!

Louis Vuitton City guides

Louis Vuitton released their famous city guides on itunes as well, 1/3 of the price comparing to the real ones. AND the one about Paris is free! So let’s keep on dreaming about Paris and planning that trip here and download the app in itunes now.

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Leave your mark

A book tip for the social media crazy ones (like me), Alizia Licht, former DKNY PR Girl, who created an online persona to sell the DKNY brand spills her tips and secrets to leave your mark, land your dream job and rock social media.

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Drivet podcast with Nina Åkestam

Drivet is a new Swedish podcast that focuses on women in their careers. Nina Åkestam, a researcher with in advertising, was recently a guest of theirs and she talks a lot about being young and female in a male dominated industry and about her burn out and book “Meningen med hela skiten”.

A last thought

letthe_monsters_see_you_smileThe best revenge on anything is really to be happy. So get out there and show that grin to the world! (And if you’re not feeling happy, you can always check out this pinterest board with fluffy animals before you head out. Works like a charm.) Have a nice Monday!

 

My Parisian home

Because of Friday’s sad events I have spent a great deal of this weekend at home, in my room skyping and messaging with friends and family. And it occurred to me that I haven’t showed my little Parisian home on the blog. It’s tiny, the room where I spend most of my time, but maybe it’s nice to see where I live. It also gave me a reason to clean the room a little 😉 My Parisian homeMy Parisian home

My Parisian homeMy Parisian home

My Parisian home

My Parisian home

My Parisian home

My Parisian home

My Parisian homeMy Parisian homeThis is my thriftshopped mirror, found it leaning against a wall in the street. I really needed a bigger one but this will do until I get my hands on a large one. I like the shape of it. Bought the little Eiffel tower today in a tourist shop here just by Sacre Coeur. The weather was so lovely so I went out for a quick walk around the neighborhood. Loads of people outside today. Gives me hope!

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P1070118Hope you have a nice Sunday!

 

Paris – je t’aime

Last night I left school and the 10th arrondissement around 19.30, feeling a bit down and only longing for a quiet night in. By night the area around the school in the 10th and especially around Gare du Nord is a bit scary so I hurried home bundling up in my scarf. The weather was not behaving well, rough winds were blowing and I told Oscar on the phone that a storm was brewing. I came home, had some dinner and around 21.20 a fellow student at PCA messaged a study group telling us “There are shootings in town around the 10th. Make sure to stay safe if you go out tonight.”

At first I thought it was gang related violence, but when I started checking other social media and the news reporting of the attacks, only growing in numbers, it was clear that this was something else. The awful and spine chilling word terrorists was circulating.

We barricaded ourselves inside, messaged everyone we know and frantically kept up with all the news outlets possible. The feeling of helplessness when watching the live broadcast with people who’s lives had been torned apart, or hearing the witnesses’ reports was unbearable and suddenly I got a little glimpse of how living in the midst of a war would be. Horrible, to say the least. I fell asleep around 2.30 am to the sound of sirens and helicopters hovering the city.

Today has not been much better, reports of the attacks and mourning people have flooded the feed. I saw three policemen checking the doors to the apartments across the street, heavily armed and talking to each others in walkie talkies. As a Swede, coming from a country that has been at peace for 200 years this is quite shocking. I went out for some food shopping earlier and I felt a twinge of fear. The area close to Sacre Coeur is usually high security and I met several police vehicles flashing blue lights while kids were playing in the street and blowing soap bubbles. The contrast was striking.

I’ve tried to understand why this would happen to Paris, or why anyone – in any name, would want to cause harm to innocent people. But I seriously cannot bend my head around it. From what it seems now these terrorists attacked Paris because of it being a symbol of our western civilization. And for being a city of love. And that, together with them harming innocent people unable to defend themselves makes me so angry. And it makes me love this city even more. There is no way I will remain afraid, like the kids in the street blowing soap bubbles I will go back to doing what they hated about this city. Love, laugh, dance and drink champagne in the honor of those who lost their lives. Love will conquer, as always.

And just so you now Paris – Je t’aime, and it’s forever.

14 november 2015

A night at The Hotel Bachaumont Paris

Weekend is here! What better way to celebrate weekend than writing a lil about last weekend? And our luxurious hotel stay at Hotel Bachaumont, a new and hip hotel here in Paris. I say hip because favorite blogger Camille over the rainbow hangs here. Camille is one of those girls that has that je ne sais quoi and partially probably because she is Parisian from the beginning. So, if a real Parisienne vouched for this hotel we were confident it would be a lovely stay.
Hotel Bauchaumont Paris

 

Hotel Bauchaumont ParisThe interior is art deco updated and the hotel reception is lined with book shelves in mirror glass and marble. A coffee table book nerd like me got a lil crazy when I saw all these b-e-a-utiful books. Come to mama.

Hotel Bauchaumont Paris

 

Hotel Bauchaumont Paris

 

Hotel Bauchaumont ParisAnother voucher for the hipness of this hotel was the hotel bar and restaurant, buzzing with trendy people and serving nice cocktails and beers. I do really love hotel bars.

Hotel Bauchaumont ParisWe had a room with windows facing the street which was a little downer. Someone kept whistling for the dog at 7 am on a Sunday morning haha.

Hotel Bauchaumont Paris

 

Hotel Bauchaumont ParisGrayish greens, marble and brass decor, no faults in the interior here. Even candle holders from Swedish Skultuna, this hotel is certainly dans l’air du temps!

Hotel Bauchaumont ParisThe hotel restaurant has a brunch on Sundays for 30€, we were very much tempted to try it but saved it for some other time. Thanks for a nice stay Hotel Bachaumont Paris!

Breakfast in Paris – Bob’s juicebar

This week’s breakfast in Paris post is about a charming little place just a few steps away from Holybelly called Bob’s Juicebar. I wanted to show Oscar Holybelly but the line was too long so we ended up at Bob’s which was a very happy turn of events.Breakfast in ParisBreakfast in Paris

Behind the counter stood an American man (Bob?) serving delicious shakes and bagels. We tried a blueberry/raspberry/banana shake and the avocado bagel. It was fantastic.
Breakfast in ParisBreakfast in Paris

Breakfast in Paris

Mmm. It looks simple but it was so good, home made, freshly baked and boiled bagels with avocado and a little lemon juice on top. Yum!!! You have to go there if you stay close to Republique. And make sure you order the avo bagel. It was Bob’s favorite too 😉 

My best stress relief tip: Getting organized

Today is Armistice day here in France which means day off. Woop! After checking my health status (ok, but feeling that tiny soreness in the throat that can develop to a full on tonsillitis) I decided to do nothing but boring things today. Stay in and catch up on the maintenance we all need to do once in a while. When you move to a new country the administration in life seem to add up and it also takes a WHOLE lotta more time because enter new language (French is quite complicated to begin with when only wanting to order a sandwich.) Hence: Today I got organized.

Hoffice of the day

I got the tip a while back ago (thank you Oscar) about a task management method where you list all the things that you need to do and the one thing that is the most stressful you do first. Straight away, first thing in the day and then you can relax a little bit more. And then you just continue down the list. And as a list writing person from the age of 5 this little trick hasn’t been obvious to me. I usually dread that phone call or writing those emails and tend to worry about them longer than needed. This really works. I’ve gone through every single boring bit on the pressing to do list, contacting the bank, the mobile phone supplier, the landlord, the French government and so on and so forth. And the RELIEF I feel right now, being on top of things. I even did laundry and put up some pictures and frames on the walls and now I’m going to go through the pictures from grandmas birthday party which have been on the to do list for months.

So from me to you, my best stress relief tip:

  • Designate a time when you will administrate. Nothing can come in the way of this time!
  • Write down the to dos, start with the most pressing one and feel the stress float away from you as you can check off the things on the list.
  • While you do this, place the phone and all social medias faaaar away from you. And get shit done much quicker.

Hoffice of the day

Getting organized is so much more fun when you do it in pink. I got a early christmas gift this weekend: a laptop case from Smythson with my initials on it! Finally my dear macbook has a home. Very chic one too. I also bought a pretty notebook for all my blogging ideas, because pretty stationary makes the world brighter. And after reading Linda’s post where she mentioned bullet journals I’m curious about starting that too and just had to buy som golden washi tape. (And also because: washi tape!!! J’adore.)

Do you have any golden tips about getting organized? 🙂

 

Paris city snapshots

Since I had my love here this weekend I seized the opportunity to see a little more of the city I have now lived in for more than two months. It’s somehow easier to be a tourist when you have visitors cus then you really have to say no to spending time in the studio at PCA instead. Sad but true 😉 And when you do spend time out on the streets in this city you cannot help but take a hundred of photos of all the fantastic architecture and decor. Parisians know how to do it!

So here’s a couple of snapshots from the weekend.
Paris SnapshotsWe walked around for a couple of hours in the up and coming area around Canal Saint-Martin in the 10th arr. It has a lot of lovely cafés, small restos and boutiques.
Paris SnapshotsIt also has a lot of murals in all kinds of colors.
Paris Snapshots

Paris SnapshotsWe also checked out one of the many markets in town, Maché Couvert Saint-Quentin (a market hall near Gare du Nord.) Found these lovely flowers, for a very good price too. Could just imagine myself buying a lot of them for a lovely French home. Just missing the lovely French home haha!   Paris SnapshotsCute kitty in a resto window. Paris Snapshots Aah the balconies here! Paris Snapshots

Paris SnapshotsAnd the architecture… A golden statue of Joan of Arc just by Hotel Regina at Rue de Rivoli.

Paris SnapshotsThe Tuileries garden is beautiful in fall too. Paris SnapshotsWe also ate nice hamburgers, had a few drinks at The Experimental Cocktail club and stayed at the very lovely Hotel Bauchaumont, but I’ll save that for a later post. Bon soirée!