Journal

Breakfast in Paris – Pain pain

It’s Thursday and time for a new breakfast in Paris! Me and Andrea keep on trying the breakfasts around Paris to let you know which one is the best. This time it was up to me to recommend a place and I had walked by a newly opened place called Pain pain here in Montmartre a few times looking very cozy and inviting with gold letters on the windows.

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meillure_baguette_de_paris_painpainPainpain is a patisserie/boulangerie that is well known for having the best baguettes in Paris – they even got a prize for it in 2012!  andrea_painpain_petitdejMy Petit dej companion sitting in the window sofa. Very snuggly interior. pain_pain_paris

Since it is more of a bakery than a café they did not have that much of a breakfast menu. So this time we just had a very French breakfast. Juice and pain au chocolat for Andrea and a delicious corn bagel and almond patisserie for me. It was very savory!
painpain_patisseriesYuuuummm. I would rather recommend this place for buying the bread and pastries for making your fantastic breakfast at home than going there to eat – which is something I am sure they could improve on (having a little bit more of ready made sandwiches) and benefit from. But now I know where to buy my baguette at least! 🙂

Blogcoaching by Betterbloggers

This day started with a blog coaching session via Skype with the very inspiring Linda from the Swedish network for bloggers Betterbloggers. Linda is a blogger guru with loads of insight and years of experience in the blogosphere. The session made me realize a thing or ten about this blog and you’re gonna see a few changes soon! I am so pepp and stoked right now about this blog and the possibilities it means and to give YOU the inspiration I am actually capable of!betterbloggers_coachI’ve felt a little bit lost at times with what I want this blog to reflect and to give in means of inspiration. Having someone from the outside (and an expert like Linda) look at your blog really sheds light on the blog’s strength and weaknesses and the potential. Can deeply recommend having a blog coaching session with a mentor in the field. Get ready to meet the new and improved sandranicole.se soon!

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Antibes, Cannes and Nice

Lördagen och söndagen förra helgen spenderades ju på rivieran och vi lyckades klämma in rätt så mycket utav den på bara två dagar. Efter att vi tog en tupplur och ett bad i havet (sjukt!) så åt vi på en restaurang på stranden i Juan Les Pines. Vi tog varsin enorm Moules frites, och åsamkades båda stor matkoma (Oscar höll på att avlida då han är ett halvfan till skaldjur, men är man på rivieran så måste man äta skaldjur). Efter det hoppade vi in i den Fiat 500 vi hyrt och njöt av en road trip förbi fantastiska vackra Cap D’antibes och rullade in i Antibes gamla stad för att ta en prommis runt i hamnen där alla *host skrytbåtar host* lyxyacther ligger. Vi åt ännu lite till på ett lokaltstammisställe dit Oscars familj brukar gå och äta ankbröst med grönpepparsås och potatisslantar – supergott! Efter det var vi fruktansvärt mätta kan jag lova.

So on the Saturday and Sunday of this past weekend we managed to see quite a lot of the French riviera. After taking a nap and dip in the ocean (! I know!) we ate lunch at a restaurant by the beach in Juan Les Pins. I had the biggest bowl of Moules and Frites I’ve ever seen. After that food coma we then hopped into our rented Fiat 500, enjoyed the beautiful road of Cap D’antibes and rolled into the old town of Antibes for a stroll around the mighty yachts and picturesque streets of the town before eating even more. Yummy grilled duck breasts with potato chips and green peppe sauce. It’s a place Oscar and his family usually goes to in Antibes and it was approved by locals, which we could tell by the full seats.

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escargots_antibes antibes_watching_rugby antibes_duck_breast

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Antibes by night

Nästa dag bestämde vi oss för att beställa in roomservice på rummet i och med att det var vår sista dag där. Och vilken dröm som rullades in! Allt man kan tänkas kunna göra av bröd och massa gottigheter. Något att minnas för livet!

The next day we decided to order room service breakfast as it was the last day of our stay. The bread basket was some sort of dream with brioche, mini doughnuts and a cake, muffins – pretty much everything you can do out of dough. Sooo much yum.

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Efter detta sa vi tack och adjö till Belles Rives, en helt fantastisk upplevelse rikare (förmodligen den bästa någonsin) och styrde kosan mot Cannes. Där åt vi glass och shoppade lite, och sedan har vi såpass gott om tid att vi besökte en liten by som heter Byotte ute i kringelikrokiga berg längre innåt landet. Ja vi hann t om med en prommis på Promenade des Anglais i Nice och införskaffande av ett gäng blåsor på fötterna innan hyrbilen avlämnades och det var dags att flyga hem. Jag kan verkligen rekommendera att åka hit i början av Oktober – lugnare och mer avslappnat men lika vackert!

And then we said goodbye to Belles Rives, a fantastic hotel experience richer (probably the best one ever!!) and headed for Cannes. There we had an ice cream and did some shopping. And then we even had time for a visit in a small mountain village near Nice called Biot before heading back to Nice and strolling along Promenade des Anglais and with our feet full of blisters decided to go back to the airport and say goodbye to the wonderful riviera for this time. I can really really recommend going here in the beginning of October. Much more calm and relaxing and equally beautiful!!

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Ice cream & Shopping in Cannes

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Lunch in Biot

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The ever so beautiful Place Massena in Nice <3

Greetings from Juan Les Pines

Under de senaste 24 timmarna har jag återigen fallit hjälplöst för den franska rivieran och speciellt för Juan Les Pines. Den här lilla staden kanske t om är ännu bättre under lågsäsong, färre människor och mer lugn. Det blir lite kallt på sena kvällen so du behöver en jacka eller en tjock tröja men solnedgångarna här är lika underbara som alltid och väl värt att frysa lite för. Den här gången vart vi så tursamma att vi fick ett rum med utsikt över havet på tredje våningen så vi kunde fånga de sista minutrarna av solen därifrån. Helt magiskt! Man blir gråtmild för mindre och kanske att jag börjar undra hur/vem som kom på allt detta, och vilken jäkla tur vi har som får uppleva allt det här. Och hotellet i fråga är helt jäkla otroligt, det känns som taget ur en film – eller kanske ur Tender is the night…

During the last 24 hours I’ve again fallen helplessly in love with the French riviera and especially with Juan Les Pins. It is maybe even better during off season, less people and more tranquility. It gets a little cold during the evening so you do need a jacket or a thick sweater but the sunset is as magnificent as ever and well worth freezing a few minutes for. This time we are so lucky though to have a room with a sea view and on the third floor. So we could watch the last of it from there. “What a wonderful world” starts playing in your head and you cannot feel anything else than blessed (even though I am a terribly stubborn atheist, somehow I did feel blessed). And this hotel is something from a movie or a book – you can feel the ambience from the art deco era that actually has lasted through the ravages of time. We are blown away.

view_juan_les_pins piano_bar_belles_rives breakfast_belles_rives belles_rives_juan_les_pins sandra_colombian_juan_les_pins juan_les_pins_beach

 

Efter den där vidunderliga frukosten over är det nu så dags att gå en promenad längs stranden. Och kanske ta ett dopp i havet, det sägs att det är 21 grader varmt – vilket är typ så varmt det blir i havet i Sverige på sommaren. Önskar er en fin lördag!

After that magnificent breakfast we are now about to head out for a stroll along the beach. And maybe a dip in the ocean, it is supposed to be 21 degrees which is around as good as the water gets in Sweden during summer. Wishing you a happy Saturday!

At the Airport

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På flygplatsen och väntar på att få boarda flyget till Nice. Vanligtvis tycker jag det är ganska härligt att spendera kanske nån timmas väntan på flygplatsen om den har lite trevliga shoppar och cafén. Orly airport hör tyvärr dock inte till dessa flygplatser men jag hittade en croissant och ett ställe med gratis wifi så jag överlever 😉 apropå flygplatser och flygplatsstil så släppte Stil i P1 nyligen ett avsnitt där de snackar om just det, och det släpptes några ynka dagar innan Mr Lagerfeld himself skickade ut sina modeller i flygvärdinneoutfits på en catwalk som förvandlats till en flygplats. Det kan du lyssna här, och kolla in Chanelvisningen här!

At the airport waiting to board the flight to Nice. I generally don’t mind spending time at the airport, if it has a few nice shops and cafés. Orly airport here in Paris might not be one of those airports but I found a little snack and a spot with free wifi so I’ll be okay Swedish radio show Stil i P1 recently covered the airport and it’s role in society and namedropped a few movies filled with airport fashion flair, and that was just a few days before Mr Lagerfeld sent out his models in flight attendence style at a runway completely transformed into an airport. Clever as always! Check out the Chanel collection here and find the Stil i P1 program here (in Swedish). Have a lovely Friday, now I’m off!!

Mini vacay in Juan Les Pines

Så himla pepp på den kommande helgens minisemester. Att komma bort lite är förmodligen precis vad jag behöver just nu och att vi kan dra nytta av närheten till den franska rivieran är ju körsbäret på toppen! Vi kommer att bo på magiska Belles Rives i Juan Les Pines, det hotell som förr i tiden fungerade som F. Scott Fitzgeralds bostad när han skrev Tender is the night. Vilket är rääätt jäkla coolt in my humble opinion 😉 Här är några bilder på hotellet!

SO excited on this weekend’s mini vacay. A getaway is probably exactly what I need right now and taking advantage of the close proximity the French riviera is in makes it even better! We’re going to stay at Belles Rives in Juan Les Pins, the hotel where F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “Tender is the night”. Which in my opinion is the. coolest. thing. ever. HA, I’m not much of celeb gawker but I do think that’s fascinating. But whatever, to the hotel. I stole some pics from their website. It looks like a marvel and can’t wait to see it in real life.

packing_juan_les_pins belle_rives_room belle_rives_juan_les_pins belle_rives_restaurantÄkta Art Deco i kvadrat och kubik. Ska bli så himla kul och jag kommer givetvis ta en hög med bilder från hotellet och staden. Stay tuned!

Real Art deco from top to toe in this hotels. I’m so looking forward to it and I will of course take loooads of pics. Stay tuned!

 

Paris College of Art – Couture craftsmanship

I wanted to show you what’s going on in my class called Couture Craftmanship here at PCA. It’s one of my favorite classes and very experimental.

Today we are bringing in our research file and inspiration for the contest we are doing together with the French federation of Lace and Embroidery. Lace is a very big thing here in France and there are a few Lace couturiers here in Paris that only work with lace. The theme for this years contest is Sensations. There are three categories to chose to compete in; fashion, art and product design. I have two different ideas, one about a lace candle and the second one about lace in music. Here’s my mood board.

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It’s a lovely theme and I will update you on the progression of my products. Check out this site with even more inspiration about textiles!

Måndagspepp

Hello Monday! Slept pretty much like a baby this night which was well needed. I have had trouble of falling asleep, probably because of stress and new surroundings. Can’t really get used to hearing everything my neighbor does (including singing opera, loud and for many hours). Guess that’s part of life in Paris 🙂

So Mondays usually mean måndagspepp or Monday motivation. Here are a few links to things I recently discovered which hopefully you will like too and make your Monday a little nicer!

Laurel went to Versailles.

One of my classmates at PCA is Laurel Symone, a super talented fashion design student from Arizona. She does AMAZING dresses, put them on AMAZING models and works with AMAZING photographers. She just visited Versailles and took pics of the… yes amazing decor. You find her blog here, make sure to check out her work.

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Podcast: Susanne Ljung interviews Kim Hastreiter of Paper Mag.

During this summer Swedish radio show Stil i P1 did a different version of programmes with interviews of big fashion stars like Acne’s Creative director Johnny Johansson and H&M’s Margareta van den Bosch. The interviews were although in Swedish but I really recommend them to Swedes. She also did a few in English, with Kim Hastreiter, Rob Halford, Suzy Menkes and Kanye West. I have listened to Kim’s and Suzy’s and I love them both. Extraordinary women being super inspirational. Find them here!

Book – Diane Von Furstenberg – The Woman I wanted to be.

I have been wanting to read this since one of my former colleagues at Gina Tricot put up a pic of her summer reading on instagram, deeply praising this book. So now, when I finally have my name on the door, I am ordering it from ebay. I worked with her clothes during the summer and I find her work very inspiring. A true businesswoman with a strong joie de vivre. Will come back with a review!

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An app called Soon.

I got a tip on Facebook to download the app Soon (remember your future), a place where you can store all the things you want to do/read/see. I love the interface, so much nicer than just writing long lists in notes (which I do, a lot). The developers are from Stockholm and I think it’s fairly new because some kinks are still needed to be worked out, but I just love the idea. You can also get new input by checking what’s trending and you’re supposed to be able to link it to your Facebook (which doesn’t work for me, yet).

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As always, I’m ending with a furry creature that melts my heart. Have a nice(r) Monday!

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Birthday party in Paris

Yesterday was a pretty maxed out Saturday. It started early with a visit to my local bank office (the fourth visit, since in France you cannot just march into a bank. You have to make an appointment.) to start the process of opening an account. It will take another couple of weeks, because I need a droit de lieu (proof of residency). So they will mail me a recommended letter and once I have collected that from the post office they can open my account. Haha, the bureaucracy here, it’s mind-blowing.

After that I had a three hour long safety introduction in the 3D lab in school and when that finished me and a two classmates went to shop even more supplies. And had a nice very late lunch and apero. It was Saturday after all and the drinks were cheap, 5€!

Then I came home and flopped on the bed expecting a quiet night in, but my Swedish friend Jennifer asked if I wanted to join her to a birthday party and the night was very unquiet haha. Yolo, carpe diem and all that! The party was in the fifth with a lot of nice French friends of Jennifer so I had the opportunity to soak up the French language. (There were also two very cute dogs there, a lil remedy for my dog abstinence haha).

jennifer_jag birthdaygirl_paris jennifer_vän cavalier_king_charles houseparty_paris_sixth

We later joined one of the girls called Camille to a newly reopened club at Rue Matignon (the place was namned Matignon, very convenient) which was nice but very crowded and the club was in the basemen (there’s also a restaurant) so superhot!

matignon_club_parisraspoutine_paris_club

After half an hour or so we instead headed over to Raspoutine.  A very un-Swedish club where the Monsieur in the door points at people who get to go in. A culture shock, again. But Jennifer knew him so he let us in and WHAT a place! It’s a former Russian restaurant complete with babushkas and a lot of Russian all-in OTT glamour (an image googling here, my pics are a bit blurry, following the night’s over all theme. Blurry. Ha no, just kidding Mom, I wasn’t that drunk). It was great for people watching. The one minus was the volume, it was too loud. (I’m saying this in a non-granny way, the music was hurting from the volume ya know). Around 3 am I was totally spent and we shared an uber home. I love uber. Not as expensive as a taxi and it feels much safer.

Anyways, I’ve taken a very quiet morning in, time to get started with some homework and then we’ll see if we can muster up the strength to go museum philandering – I want to go to Fondation Louis Vuitton before they close some of the floors for a while. Hope you have a chill Sunday!

Friday and sunshine

I’m having a stressful Friday here, went out running this morning to try to blow some steam off. It was lovely running in the morning with less people (no catcalls!) and little bit fresher air. And the sunshine. But I havent been running for a while so albeit the beautiful scenery it was an experience close to hell. But I did it *patting myself on the back*.

Then I did an errand, some homework and had an interview via Skype. So tricky to follow a conversation when the sound breaks up or the video freezes. Anyways, I’ll know how it went on Monday.

Just another 4 hours of 3D design (more of pinning lines to mannequins) before the weekend. And more homework 😉

Indulging in puppies on Pinterest to keep the spirit up! Have a nice Friday!