Holidays in Paris

Back to share a few photos of our recent visit to Paris 

over the holidays. 

Above is the department store BHV 

(pronounced Bay-Osh-Vay).

When we lived in Paris for a year,

we rode the metro down here to the Hotel de Ville stop on the 1 line

every single time we needed something for the apartment. 

They have an entire (basement) floor dedicated to hardware and maintenance. 

Now we have a Castorama right in our hood

so when we need something, we only need to walk a couple of blocks. 

Much less expensive too!

For some reason, 

I never truly feel like I've fully arrived in Paris

until I get myself down to the island, 

the place Paris began, 

the oldest section.

And walk in steps others have tread for centuries. 

Pictures are no longer allowed inside 

Shakespeare and Company

so I can only share outdoor photos now

(though I did sneak a few some years back HERE.) 

Loved this quote from Leonard Cohen outside the store. 

And I usually take this pic because I love this shot of Notre Dame 

behind the bicycles that are ALWAYS parked here. 

And of course

the iconic shot of the Eiffel Tower. 

Will be back next time with a few more of the tower

from our bridge on the river. 

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday

and New Year! 

HAPPY 2019!!

(Photos copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Shakespeare & Co. and Midnight in Paris~ A Respite

On one of my last trips to Paris,

I spent a day going from cafe to church to bookstore to write.

And the bookstore was none other than the famous Shakespeare and Co.

...which feels a little like a place of respite in Paris.

After a day of struggling with the language,

it's refreshing to step into a world of books in English

and young salespeople speaking it.  

Though I know it's not the original location,

it still makes me think of the writers of the 20's who spent time at the original store:

James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Thornton Wilder,

Andre Gide, Gertrude Stein, Man Ray and so many more. 

George Whitman (rumored to be the grand-nephew of Walt Whitman)

opened it as Le Mistral in 1951. According to one blogger (Talkin Travel),

before her death, Sylvia Beach, who started the original S.& Co. called George's bookstore,

"the spiritual successor" to her store. 

She willed many of her books to him and after her death, he changed the store's name. 

~My writing spot~

 Shakespeare and Co. is a respite in Paris much the same way 

the film 'Midnight in Paris' is a respite to our lives. 

A jaded writer gets to travel back in time (in an antique roadster)

and do exactly what so many of us wish we could do:

meet the writers of the 1920's, share a drink with them, 

talk writing with them and hear about their lives and their stories. 

The film touches on a universal theme of the human condition:

wanting what you can't have.

Though I'm not sure I would want to stay permanently in 1920's Paris,

what I wouldn't give for a visit (or two) and access to those conversations.

And although I myself tend to question writer/director Woody Allen's personal motives 

for the gorgeous jewel he has bestowed on his audiences,

he does offer us his fantasy
of the chance to have both that visit and access!  

(Shakespeare and Company photos copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Writing Cafe in Paris~ Missing Paris Day

(Photographs copyright: Kirsten Steen)

My last trip to Paris

I think I told you that I spent one particular day writing

in several cafes, churches and the infamous Shakespeare and Co.

trying purposefully to fit them all into one day.

One of the cafes was Le Champ de Mars

just across the park of the same name

which separates the 15th and the 7th arrondissement

and houses the monument-iful Tour Eiffel.

I have yet to walk through this park without being able to take my eyes off the tower. Funny that something so despised by the French in the beginning should become such a national symbol. Like the Golden Gate Bridge and Big Ben, anyone who sees this symbol in a photo or tv clip knows instantly where they are.

The tree-lined alleys are typically hopping with joggers,

le sport of jogging having 'stuck' in France.

On this particular day, I ordered myself a lait chaud

and set about filling longhand pages in my notebook...





...taking notes on the interior of the cafe...

...the people...

...and, as they were preparing for lunch,

the powerful French aromas emanating from the kitchen.

A friend of ours goes to Paris nearly every summer for two months

to study painting under a Montmartre artiste.

I've made a couple of requests regarding certain scenes in the neighborhood

and I think Cafe Le Champ de Mars might make the perfect subject matter!

Paris definitely has that je ne sais quoi

that attracts artistes of every ilk.

What is it, do you think, that inspires such devotion to artistry in this city?

'Missing Paris Day'~ Shakespeare and Co.

Here we are today at the famous Shakespeare and Company reading what George (the owner) has to say about himself. Just be careful when walking in as I once spotted George peering out one of the windows above the entrance, spitting down below. Could have been aiming, could have been hoping to miss. Who knows! Just be forewarned!

Happy Monday everybody!!

(Photography copyright: Kirsten Steen)