Ladurée Paris

So when I was in Paris I was invited to brunch at Ladurée, which is a very famous tea shop in Paris. They’re famous for their macaroons and are apparently listed in every Japanese guidebook because in the 10 minutes I spent waiting for my brunch buddy, I watched a constant stream of Japanese people taking photos outside the shop (but only a few going in to buy something).

Brunch was around 30 euros, and included breads, pastries, macaroons, sandwiches and eggs. I had scrambled eggs, which were nice but a little bland. I loved everything else in the meal, though. The breads were really great and the pastries were sugar-coated-nom-ness. I especially enjoyed watching the Japanese father at the next table take a bite out of the stick of butter, thinking it was some kind of sweet.

The tea was awesome, too. I had the Marie Antoinette tea, which I loved. I may even buy a tub of it some time so I can enjoy it whenever.

It’s a little on the pricey side, and apparently not everyone got the same nice experience I did there, so I guess it’s not for everyone, but I’d go back there for sure. It’s right up my street with the quaint low ceiling, the antique furniture and the tiny tables full of yummy food to eat.

There are various locations for Ladurée, and even some that are not in France! Check their website to find the one closest to you!

Parisian Train Stations

When I was in Paris (yeah, more Paris spam – I have so much more!) I used the Paris Metro to get around. The Paris Metro is a strange thing. Firstly, it’s HARD to go about on it with luggage. I have no idea what a person in a wheelchair would do. I’d heard multiple accounts of people jumping over the ticket barriers and riding for free – you only have the wicket at the start of your journey so it’s easy to skip paying if you can jump high enough.

But along the way, I found (with the help if my Paris guide book, which I will blog about later) some really interesting stations. I thought I would share them with you!

First off is Concorde (above) which has excerpts from France’s declaration of human rights on the walls. It has no punctuation at all, so it’s pretty tricky to read… But still pretty cool!

This crudely taken photo is at Palais Royal, near the Comédie Française and was made in 2000. Isn’t it pretty?!

At Montparnasse-Bienvenüe there is the fastest moving walkway in the world at 12 kilometres an hour.

Lastly, Metro station Madeline gets a special mention for being quite possible the STINKIEST station ever. Probably the stinkiest place I have ever had the misfortune to be in. Seriously.

See?! Why go to museums when Paris’ Metro stations are cool enough!!

A Handfull of Bookshops

While in Paris I came across two amazing bookshops and just had to share them with you. The first was a Japanese bookshop called Junku, a Japanese bookshop. Walking into that shop was like walking through a dokodemo door to Japan. There were all the fashion magazines I loved. There were the stacks of books by that author I like. There were the Japanese study books I’d been browsing online. Heaven.

I found one book I wanted to buy, a translation book that looked really useful. It was ¥900 normally but over 20 euros in that shop. I decided against buying it – not because I couldn’t afford it, but because I flat out disagree with them pricing it over double what it would normally cost. If they had more reasonable prices I would have spent a whole lot of money in there.

If you are in Paris and are ok with overpriced Japanese books (or want to have a look around like I did!!) then you can find Junku bookshop at 18 rue de Pyramides 75001 Paris France.

Walking a bit further from Junku, I came across an “American” bookshop called Brentano’s. This place was HEAVEN. There were SO many books I wanted to buy there that I had to limit myself and take photos of the others I wanted to buy, so I could pick them up at another time. I got an amazing travel guide for Goa, a really funny travel diary and many other little trinkets I found in the shop.

It starts off as a normal bookshop, then as you wander through it takes you through art, diaries, postcards, ornaments and lots of other little things at the back. As I paid for my stash, I told the woman I could become very poor in her shop, to which she replied “Good! It’s good business for us!”

I really highly recommend this bookshop – Find it at 37 Avenue de l’Opéra  75002 Paris

The last bookshop was a place that I almost didn’t go to. Shakespeare and Company was recommended to me by my friend, but I wasn’t really in that part of town (just opposite Notre Dame) to be able to visit. On the first floor, the bookshop has books crammed into every little space. It was a shame it was also crammed with people in every little space, because I could have spent a LONG time in there.

Upstairs there is a piano (when I was there it was being played by a handsome young man) and two typewriters for people to use. Little scraps of paper with messages on are pinned all over the walls and ceiling; I’d liked to have stopped to read them a little more but I was being dragged around by my tour guide (who was a minor French celeb – a guy from a reality tv show! Get me!)

Shakespeare and Company is well worth a visit (though probably in the morning when I guess it would be much quieter) and can be found at 37 Rue de la Bûcherie  75005 Paris.

My First Sephora Experience

About a year ago, I noticed bloggers from other countries talking about this place called “Sephora”. I didn’t get it… I even asked one blogger to explain what it was. Sephora is a (high end) beauty shop – like the cosmetics part of the department store… minus the department store.

Sephora apparently tried opening in Britain, but didn’t do so well for some reason (well, with Boots and Superdrug around I guess everyone is sorted on the beauty front…) so I’d never seen one before. I knew they had stores in Paris so I was SO excited to go check it out!

As I entered, there were two rows of staff welcoming me. I found in general the staff are pretty annoying there; I can’t take 2 steps without them asking if I need help. I just wanted to look around for a while and take it all in – I had no idea what I wanted to buy. And there was a LOT to take in…

Look at all those lipsticks!! That’s only Sephora’s own brand ones, as well!

I saw some brands I’d not come across in the flesh before, like Bumble & Bumble haircare, so I splashed out on a hairspray from them. I was really shocked at how expensive their stuff is – 25 euros just for a shampoo? And the same again for a matching conditioner?! I know it’s a common rant of mine but I have no idea how the beauty blogger girls do it – that’s just way too much!

I also ended up treating myself to the Urban Decay Naked Palate as well, as a little Christmas present to myself.

All in all I was a little disappointed with Sephora… the staff’s constant questions made it hard for me to just relax and look around, but the things there were all really high end stuff… It would have been nice if they had a wider range of things, and some cheaper brands too. I think I’ll stick with my favourite Douglas!

Paris on Christmas Day

One of the things that drew me to Paris over Christmas was that I was quite excited for the “challenge” of doing things in Paris on Christmas day. The night before my friend and I made a plan so that we could still manage with left over bananas or things stolen from the hotel’s breakfast if the local restaurants weren’t open.

We needn’t have made those plans.

As soon as I exited my hotel on Christmas morning, my nose caught the most delicious smell, and I found an open bakery. I was pretty sad that my quest for food had been so easy… And with that we set out to find things to do. We took a walk around the Louvre, and into Cité – where there were a surprising amount of shops still open. Not just bakeries and cake shops but also regular shops too. Looking in the windows of the gorgeous antique shops was also pretty fun.

I was surprised at how many people were out and about – I’d wanted to take a photo of a Parisian street with no people on it, but it was just as busy as on any other day. Not just Asian tourists, too – Western tourists and even locals were milling around, eating, drinking and just relaxing on Christmas Day.

The area around St Michel was all alive and kicking and there were endless opportunities for dinner. All in all, it was quite a let down on how easy the whole day was!

If you are planning to visit Paris over Christmas in the future, I’d say go for it – as you can see, there were no problems at all. And I certainly had an amazing time there during the festive period! In my research before I went I saw a lot of websites saying that nothing would be open and that I had to book a table at an expensive restaurant in order to eat – that’s all crazy talk. I booked nothing and managed – and you can too!

Parisian Department Store Windows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on 2012

As the sun sets on 2012 here in Frankfurt, I thought I should just think over the past year. It’s been a crazy one, but one that I think will still shape me in the months to come.

The highlights of my year were when I went to see my Japanese students graduate – surprising the whole school with my visit, and when my first game came out and I went to see children play with it in the shop.

It’s been a really tough year in a number of ways, too, with the loss of my uncle only a month or so ago still playing on my mind all the time. I think 2012 was a year that made me grow up a little bit more, become a little stronger and find out who I am just that little bit more, as well.

My new years resolutions will be -

1. Travel more. I enjoyed my time in Paris SO much, I need to do it more often. I will start by going to more German towns and then working my way out from there.

2. Chill out and enjoy life. I should stop worrying about what I’m doing and what I think should happen and just enjoy the now.

3. BE BETTER AT GERMAN. Seriously. I need to get this down. I want to be able to have a proper conversation by June. That is my goal.

What are your new years resolutions? And I wish you all a good night and a happy 2013!

Scenes of Paris (Daytime)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Tag

The lovely Luchessa tagged me for the Christmas Tag and so now it’s Boxing Day I think it might be a good time to do this!

1. Which holiday do you celebrate?

I celebrate a strange watered-down expat version of Christmas. I’ve been sad that I’ve not really felt Christmassy this year at all but I guess that’s partly my own fault…

2. What are you doing for the holidays this year?

Well I’m in Paris! I came here on Christmas Eve and I’ll be leaving on the 30th. I don’t have any plans other than to go to Disneyland with a colleague on he 27th. I just want to chill out and take in the magic of the city.

3. What’s your favourite holiday drink?

Uhm… I don’t think I have one. I had some nice beers with an old friend when I was back home and that was nice. I do like Starbucks’ Christmas offerings though!!

4. Candy cane of gingerbread men?

Hmm.. neither. These are very American!

5. Favourite Christmas song?

A Fairytale of New York by The Pogues. Every time.

6. What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received?

Last year for secret Santa at work I got a kind of game with jelly beans that were poo and sick and nappy flavoured. It was from someone I really cared about so I was kind of annoyed that they hadn’t bought me a gift that reflects on me personally… Unless I make people think I’m the kind that is into disgusting flavoured jelly beans…

7. Have you ever made a snowman?

Yes, of course! Though not this year. Maybe it’ll snow in Frankfurt again soon and I’ll be able to.

8. What’s your favourite winter fragrance?

Ugh, I don’t know. I know this is about perfume but let’s make it about room smells! I love Christmas edition plug in air fresheners! They are awesome! I pinched mum’s Glade orange scented candle when I was back home. I can’t wait to light it in my room.

9. What is top of your list for Christmas?

Well it’s over now, but I really wanted a new coat, and I got one! Mum bought me the one from Miss Selfridge that I really wanted, but the size was too small! I had the 14 but it didn’t fit over my chest so we went to change it and decided on one from Red Herring (not online) which fit perfectly in a size 12! Just goes to show that sizes are crazy.

10. What’s the most important thing to you during the holidays?

Seeing family, mainly. But also getting a good rest, putting on a few pounds and doing a bit of Christmas shopping!

 

I’m not going to tag other people as it’s after Christmas now. But if you want to do this tag then please feel free and link back to me so I can see it!