Friday 2 April 2010

Paris, finally


Leave work early on a Friday afternoon, board a train with a tall, dark, handsome not-so-stranger, complete the G2 crossword, read for awhile, make a few plans, and before you know it you look up and you are pulling into the Gare du Nord. Oh the joys of Eurostar.































Paris. Winds that whipped icy cold. Bright sunlight on water and bare branches. Constantly retreating indoors for chocolat chaud, vin chaud, anything to thaw our hands and warm our insides. Vintage clothes shops full to bursting with glitzy dresses, crocodile skin bags and strappy shoes for dainty feet. Sour citron presses and grilled goats cheese salad for lunch. A lazy breakfast wrapped in coats on a pretty balcony overlooking a quiet courtyard that would have been perfection on a warm morning in June. Pyramids of oranges, baskets of endive. Delectable cakes and pastries, regal looking in glass-fronted patisseries. Brusque waiters and tiny dogs. A butter yellow Citron parked near the river. Shutters and grey stone. Cobbles and art nouveau metro signs. Chickens in the rotisserie, thyme scented. Aperitifs before dinner with little bowls of salty nuts. Saxophonists on the metro, accordion players too. Breathtaking displays in all the florists, tulips and hyacinths but out of season flowers too - boughs of scented lilacs, imported roses in vivid hues. Greeting the taxidermy animals at Deyrolle, discovered via Wee Birdy, deciding, with regret, not to purchase a 300, 000 Euro stuffed polar bear to prowl my living room. Coo-ing at the Merci-Liberty collaboration, the exquisite prints, the beautiful displays. Sunset over leaded rooftops, seen from our hotel room window. Standing on a bridge, wind whipping our hair, fingers frozen, just to catch a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, proud and upright in the distance. The chirping, tweeting, screeching at Sunday morning's bird market, the bright plumage of those on sale a sharp contrast to the smug pigeons sitting on the stall rooftops who may have looked drab compared to such finery, but at least were free. Huge goldfish swimming tight circuits in plastic tubs, guinea pigs with bright eyes nestled in the corners of straw-filled cages. Walking and walking, despite the cold, soaking it all in. Pushing through crowds in the grounds of an old chateau trying to spot our friends among the thousands of runners at the end of the Paris half marathon. Sticky toffee apples and sugar-dusted churros at the finish line. Hot chocolate served in bowls for breakfast, with thick wedges of fluffy brioche and sweet, runny jam. Ornate carousels on street corners. Clear skies and a sage green river.

Ah, Paris, we romanticise you, but you always give us reason to.


All photos by me, except me sipping a bowl of hot chocolate, Anna and I walking in the Jardin des Tuileries, the Liberty print car with flower outside Merci and the Eiffel Tower, which were taken by M.

13 comments:

  1. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!! you went to deyrolle! I saw that post on Wee Birdy too, I really want to buy a box of butterfies! so creepy, but so pretty too!
    We're on the verge of booking to honeymoon, which half of will be in Paris, so I've indulged and bought 'paris: made by hand' and started poring over blogs that review paris too. all your photos, as ever, beautiful, the flowers and cakes and sunlight, oh my!

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  2. AWEsome. The roses picture and the one below it...latte? with the bread and jams? Looks so cozy! Paris can be very lovely indeed.

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  3. Wow. Your photos are so well ordered that they tell a story without need for words and then your description of Paris is so exquisite that you hardly have need for accompanying images. But then you've given us both together and bam! I'm right in the heart of the city sipping the coffee and smelling the flowers along with you.

    I hope this makes sense, I'm very tired!! What I'm trying to say is wonderful post!

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  4. Awww guys, thank you, I'm blushing :)

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  5. Your photos are wonderful. I love the rooftops (nowhere does rooftops like Paris) and the cafe au lait best of all, I think.... and the flowers, oh my. The light in the last one is so warm and evocative, too. I really do think that Paris is best of all in the cold weather and it seems like you did a grand job of keeping toasty and warm. I'm suddenly feeling rather tempted to whisk myself off to Paris (!). Thank you for capturing it, in all its colour and style and tireless romance, and for sharing!

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  6. All those pictures -every single last one - made me desperate to jump on the train/plane/ferry to get to France and buy/snap everything I saw!

    You are very lucky, what a wonderful trip.

    xx

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  7. What a beautiful set of photos, stunning. They brought tears to my eyes, what a delight it must have been. Thank you for this lovely post.

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  8. Oh! These photos are so fantastic! Just beautiful. My best friend is in Paris at this very moment, and I am all the way on the west coast of Canada, wishing I were with her... Le sigh.

    Looks like you had um temps magnifique! I'm so glad...

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  9. Your pictures are gorgeous! I want to go back to Paris right now, and have hot chocolate.

    The tower of oranges is my favourite.

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  10. lovely photos - its felt like i was back in paris again! great job capturing the essence of a paris trip!

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  11. beautiful, becky! so lovely! and so jealous of you i am, for i've still never been...

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  12. Beautiful collection of photos! Thank you for sharing these. Looks like you really know how to enjoy the city. I'm visiting Paris for the first time in September. How envious I am of the quickness of travel within Europe. From Chicago I have to pay $900 and board a scary plane for 8 hours. But it's worth it!

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  13. such lovely details in this photo!

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