fête de la musique

in europe, the beginning of summer is celebrated on the 21st of june every year. in france, this day is celebrated with a nation-wide music festival, called la fête de la musique. paris came to life with live, free music events. there was a concert under the eiffel tower, opera at the opéra garnier, folk music in le marais, live music spilling out of café's and bars in montmartre...and this. 

susi, lotta & i were soaking up the festivities in montmartre, and we happened upon this group of singers in place du tertre. maybe they were an organised choral group...maybe they were a group of friends singing for the hell of it, or maybe they were just a collection of random people joining together to sing a few songs - any of the above could be possible. 

such a memorable evening, i'm so happy i was here in paris to experience it! yes, i realise it was a good month and a half ago...but i've only just rediscovered this video. the group is singing serge gainsbourg's "couleur café". i especially love the woman closest to the camera - she gets really into it. enjoy! 

couleur, café. qu'il aime ma couleur....café...

S.

shakespeare and co.

a little book shop facing notre dame, shakespeare & company is a magical place to go to pick up second-hand/new books, or even just sit down and flick through the pages of old, yellowing books.
stepping inside this little bookshop is like stepping into a different era. it's an old 18th century building with uneven floors and sagging ceilings with big wooden beams. there are books everywhere, with couches around the place so you can sit down and read. there's even an old piano up there that you can sit down and play...

there's a little curtained alcove upstairs that has every inch of it covered in notes & messages left by visitors. apparently there's some romantic connection to the old book shop, as lots of people leave love letters to people. notes are left on whatever the person had on them at the time - paper, receipts, maps, metro tickets, tissues, photographs (there were lots of people who left copies of their little passport photos), and are written in more languages than i could count on both hands.

with tables & chairs out the front, i get the impression that it's a common meeting place for english speakers in paris - seeing as the majority (if not 100%) of the books that the shop sells are in english. it's tucked in between shops on either side, and if you're not keeping an eye out you can easily walk straight by it.

with a trip to spain in a few days, i came to shakespeare & co. to land my hands on a couple of books to take with me. i can't begin to explain what a luxury it is to be able to lose yourself in a book written in your mother tongue. managed to find several great ones for just 2€ each. mmmm and they have that old book smell. mm!
will definitely be back here several times during my time in paris...there's this undescribable peacefulness within its walls that i haven't found anywhere else here in the french capital...

with anna & kate spending a few nights with me in my apartment, we decided to splurge on a delicious dinner in one of the many restaurants lining the streets of montmartre. yum, salmon pasta!


bisous, bisous,




S.

a little alcove upstairs with notes left by visitors

another great place for buying second-hand english books is here, in saint michel

definitely a promising, quality read...or not

wandering the streets of saint michel

delicious pasta by candlelight

burano

on our second last day in venezia, we decided to do a day-trip to one of venice's neighbouring island: burano. it's one of the three main ones, and each is famous for their own thing - murano for its glass, burano for its lace and torcello for its calm, romantic atmosphere. we chose burano because several people had recommended it as an island full of "colourful, pastel houses", a change from venice's buildings... but still with canals running every which way through it...

after a considerably long & winding walk to the north of the venice, we found the little dock where our boat would come and whisk us away to the islands. we nabbed the outside seats, so we sat out in the sunshine with the cool sea breeze whipping our hair - watching venice grow smaller and smaller as we made our way further out to the lagoon islands. 45 minutes later we floated up to the island of burano. 

we were met by little box houses in bright red, yellow, peppermint green, purple, sky-blue, magenta, etc, etc...every house had its own individual shade, with colour-coordinated window shutters, flowerpots & curtains. meg fell in love & went snap-crazy with her camera. the most beautiful thing of all were the brightly coloured reflections of the houses, mirrored in the water of the canals.

burano is famous for its lace work, a tradition that has been carried out there for over 500 years. we didn't get to see anyone actually undertaking the painstakingly slow & precise art of lace making, but we were able to admire all the final products: from lace parasols, to bookmarks; fans to scarves. gorgeous.

time seemed to stand still in burano - there was no hustle or bustle, no rush & and there was a hard-to-explain 'quietness' that hung in the air. we strolled around, getting lost, finding ourselves, then getting lost again. looking back now, i'm surprised there weren't more tourists there, seeing as it's such a stunning island...

it was beautiful. it was quaint. it was colourful. it was welcoming. it was, in meg's words "where dreams come true". so happy we got to visit..!

to top off an amazing day, we caught the boat back just as the sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon. there's nothing more magical than sailing into venice at sunset - with the burnt, golden sky silouhetting venice's many cathedrals & bell towers. 

a magical end to an unforgettable stay in venice - the floating city.

addio venezia ♥ ,

S.