Oh how I love the ease with which everything is 'close' in Europe! Culture-hopping is the norm on any given weekend for adventure-lovers and though my back-packing days are behind me, we did have reason to visit Paris on my recent trip - meeting new family for the first time! We fumbled our way through language barriers and I was thoroughly spoiled by their hospitality. Here are a little of my wanderings, it often takes the unfamiliar beauty of new/old surroundings to inspire creativity...
:: castles...even in suburbia
:: The Louvre...art+architecture+age=perfection!
:: In somewhat gaudy contrast, the christmas carnival of the Champs-Élysées
:: love the retro metro!
:: we were lucky enough to enjoy local family hospitality while in Paris - the food was some of the most extraordinary I have ever eaten! There is a unique attention to and enjoyment of good food+wine here - a reminder to make every meal a celebration - there is such creativity in food!
:: charmed by the cafe-culture - our wanderings punctuated by which cafe to have our next aperitif at!
:: Art is romanticised in the streets and given serious attention in boutique galleries (this is a piece my brother is considering purchasing by french artist Francoise Nielly)
:: and then there is the decidedly romantic and uniquely parisian architecture - I just couldn't get enough of it - I attempted to capture it with a dream-like over-exposure on this wandering, just how I was feeling this day..
:: Yes, the quintiesential Eiffel tower photograph... my second daughter is quite enamoured with the steel masterpiece and required a close up - of course you don't need me in focus, just the stunning night-lights! As irony would have it though, on the night we visited friends living nearby, the tip of the imposing structure was engulfed in cloud! I love this photo it makes me smile!
