la bellevilloise

with the name a bit of a give-away - la bellevilloise can be found just off rue de ménilmontant in (you guessed it) belleville. i've been discovering the hidden treasures of belleville (eastern paris) over the past few weeks and this place is definitely one of them.

it's a cultural hub where café/restaurant meets art gallery, meets beer garden, meets live music venue. la bellevilloise has been growing & changing since it was reopened in 2005. we climbed up the stairs to the terrace to kick back on colourful ironware tables & chairs and catch up over a few beers. from up here you get a really impressive view out across eastern paris - tiled rooftops of varying heights, ceramic chimney pots & old meets new with splashes of graffiti.

there's such a relaxed feel about the place...and its vibe & atmosphere reminds me of the abbotsford convent in melbourne. i'd love to come back here to see some acoustic shows, or some of the temporary art exhibitions that are held inside. 

we also visited la miroiterie, just around the corner from la bellevilloise. it has a similar purpose, but is less established, more edgy & has more of a focus on live music & graffiti art. statement art lines the entrance walls & a hodge-bodge selection of armchairs, couches and stools are set around for people to sit, chat & soak up the culture.

we lost track of time in belleville, and by the time we metro'd back to my apartment it was already dark. on the walk up to montmartre, there was a really heavy fog that was beginning to settle over the hill. this cast sacré coeur in a really beautiful light, illuminating it against the deep blue-grey evening sky...

i love montmartre. i love paris.

bises,

S.

very happy  motorbike...

beautiful montmartre

un petit déj à montmartre

back from ibiza, and perfect timing - meg & hat were in paris when i got here! such a wonderful thing to be able to meet up with people from back home here in paris - over 16,000km away from melbourne. a surreal experience that is just as special every time it happens! last time i saw these girls was in venice, back at the start of july...and before then, in march - when hat & i spent some time together in london (this especially seems like an age ago!). now we're spoilt and able to spend a full week together, here in paaaaaaris. ♥ 

the girls arrived at 6am after an overnight bus from amsterdam, so we decided to grab a delicious french breakfast before starting the day. what has become my favourite café, le relais de la butte is just around the corner from my apartment, near abbesses. there's a heap of outside tables & chairs where you can sip a hot drink and nibble (because french people eat slowly, and not much) a croissant or two, while looking out to a beautiful view of paris (montmartre is on a hill). 

we caught up on all that has happened in the past few months, exchanging stories of travels through europe with stories of life living in paris. it was only three hours later when we found ourselves still sitting at the café that we realised how much we really had to catch up on...

post-breakfast we went for a walk around montmartre - through place du tertre with its portrait artists, ducked inside sacre coeur to see the 19th century basilica, then got an eyeful of the magnificent view out over all of paris from the top of the sacre coeur steps.

finished up the day with crêpes at saint-michel, devouring them whilst strolling around the historic quarter of paris. solid day of eating, talking & soaking up the city of light. was lovely to be able to share the experience. loving paris now, more than ever. 

bisous à tous,

S.

very personalised postcard from meg. loving my address. ta!