Today celebrates the birthday of the Eiffel Tower, as it was 126 years ago when her gates were opened (or steps rather) to the public. To celebrate this momentous date, here are just a few of my favourite photographs taken by myself of the Tour Eiffel.
It has been a while since I have managed to sit down and write a blog post, and to my lovely readers I apologise! The last few weeks have been busy, and despite all this chaos, we are finally catching the first glimpses of Spring here in Paris (aka. Printemps en Francais). It may not be April just yet, but we are indeed experiencing more rain at the moment – sigh. Moving on from weather issues… As I mentioned, my somewhat hectic schedule has been a fun one! Two weekends ago I was blessed to have my parents come and visit me in Paris. As it was both Mother’s day on the Sunday, as well as Mum’s birthday, we made the most of the time we had together. This included venturing to the Marché aux puces de Saint-Ouen and the Puces de Vanves Marché, which both have amazing trinkets and antiques on offer. For those who don’t know my father, he has a little (‘little’ being gigantic) passion for collecting records, and so these markets were …
Recently I was lucky enough to go away on holiday with my Au Pair family for the week to their house in the Alps. Getting there required an 8 hour car journey from Paris, with an overnight stay near Lyon. After spending the majority of the journey sleeping or reading Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, one can only imagine the sheer excitement that I experienced once we turned a corner and the beautiful snow-covered mountains welcomed us. My Au Pair family’s house is located in a small city in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, called Barcelonnette. Here, you are surrounded by mountains, of which the peak of the highest is around 3412m – very high indeed! Once we arrived at the house, it was clear that it had snowed for a long time before our arrival. Therefore, we had to make the most of it! After loading everything into the house, the kids and I put on our snow gear, grabbed a sledge each, and headed to the nearest hill for some sledging! (Which in French is: faire de la luge) That evening, the eldest …
It feels like such a long time since I sat down and wrote a blog post, and oh how I have missed it! My blog, I guess, has become somewhat of a diary almost, except a very public one which friends and family (and others obviously!) can come along with me on my journey. The last two weeks has definitely included many a journey. As you may already know, I have been on holiday for the last two weeks, and I really tried to make the most of my time off. For the first week of my vacation, I was lucky enough to be invited by my French family to go with them skiing! They own a property in a small town called Jausiers, which is located in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence of France. I had an amazing time, and cannot thank them enough for taking me away on one of the best holidays of my life! Whilst there, I fell in love all over again with skiing (having been many years ago), and hope that I get the chance to do it more …
Continuing on from the newly created tradition of exploration Thursdays, this week me and Kate ventured off to districts of Belleville and Ménilmontant. Having never been to this part of Paris before, I was interested to see what exactly it was like. Both Ménilmontant and Belleville are charming cosmopolitan districts which emanate a wealth of cultural diversity and offer a great deal of chances to experience vibrant street art. Our day included heading to the Parc de Belleville, which provides beautiful views of the cityscape. We did a lot of walking around the various streets, becoming fully fledged flâneurs for the day. During our exploration, we also went into the gothic inspired church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Belleville which offered a peaceful sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding area. Overall, we had a lovely time getting to explore new parts of the city, and I will definitely be back to this arrondissement not only to take more photographs from the Parc de Belleville and the various street art adorning the buildings, but also to sample some of the diverse cuisines on …
Whilst exploring Belleville the other week, we also ventured to the Parc de Belleville, which is reported to host some amazing views of Paris. Situated on the hill of Belleville, to attain these reputed views, one must climb quite a few stairs to get to the top. This strenuous and somewhat taxing experience (well it was for me, but I am positive that after a bit more exercise, it will be much easier!) was well worth it. Unfortunately, it was still hazy over the horizon the day we came, but we still managed to gain an impression of how magnificent the views can be. I’m just upset that I didn’t take more photos – I blame the stairs, all that physical exertion distracted me! However, on a beautiful cloudless day, one will be able to see notable monuments and buildings such as the Musée Pompidou and Eiffel Tower, as well Le Panthéon and Tour Montparnasse. I would definitely recommend coming to the Parc de Belleville, not only to see some stunning views of Paris, but also to get some exercise at the same …
Róisín Astell 