Paris Photo Diary, Day 3: From La Defense to La Tour Eiffel, part 1

This gray, foggy, and chilly day starts at La Defense, an area of Paris known for its skyscrapers and modern architecture. We took the Metro from the 7th arrondisement and emerged at the foot of the Grande arche de la defense. It was quite an interesting structure. We explored a little bit and saw buildings reminding us a little bit of Seattle. The esplanade is also one huge sculpture park with works by Joan Miro and Alexander Calder. With the modern comes a vintage-style Jules Verne carrousel, my favorite among the installations.

 To be continued...

Avril à Paris

It was 5 years ago this month that I first came to Paris. Also, it was a year ago that I decided to open my ETSY shop. Time flew by quickly!

I still remember exactly what day it was when I first set foot in Paris. It was April 16th, Easter Sunday and I just crossed the Chunnel (English Channel Tunnel) from London on the Eurostar. I got off at the Gare du Nord where I got to practice my French for the first time by asking directions to the Metro. It's quite nice when the native French speaker I just spoke to replies in French though it can be also intimidating when it's rapid French. To my  surprise, I actually understood the directions he gave me (lucky me...). I found the guichet (ticket counter) where I bought a carnet (booklet) of 10 Metro tickets and the rest was history. 

Below is a short film/slideshow I made for an evening French class I attended a few years ago after my first Paris trip. Music credit: Tomasz Stanko Quartet.

There is that je ne sais quoi about Paris that made me feel right at home. Though I spoke halting French at the time, I felt that I understood the French and they could understand me somehow. Since then, I have visited Paris and France almost every year whenever I could (and I had a little money saved) and every time, it get's harder to say goodbye. I was never the same since then.

Hopefully, I would be able to visit Paris again later this year. For now, I am quite happy that I am reminded of Paris in the Springtime by these treasures from my favorite ETSY sellers. For more info, click on each photo.

 =(^.^)=