a sunset at notre dame

rediscovered this stash of photos on my laptop just this morning - they were from a few weeks ago, when neesh, frida and i caught up after work for a crêpe (just for a change). we lazed about, wolfing our crêpes down....then regretted not savouring every last delicious bite (every time! after 5 months in paris, i still can't eat a crêpe slowly...). these photos sum up how we spend our mid-week evenings: tasty food, eachother's company & a ridiculously beautiful backdrop. while strolling from saint michel to notre dame, we crossed the river and looked down on the riverbanks - where we saw (& heard) several people strumming away on their guitars, while others were pulling baguettes, cheese & red wine from picnic baskets. i love this pocket of paris, where the everyday hustle & bustle seems to stand still - i know that for me, in any case, those early evening hours is when i can stand apart from it all and really admire & appreciate paris' beauty.

it had been one of those hot 30º days, so the setting sun had a glorious warmth in it as we watched it ever so slowly, but surely sink towards the horizon. it's weird to think that i'll be leaving paris soon, and with the weather dropping lower every day - it feels like this little chapter of my time in paris was an age ago! 

will definitely miss these stunning sunsets, reflected in the rippled waters of the seine...

bises,

S.

hunchback frida

seine booksellers

lining the riverbank from pont neuf to pont des arts are the green, wooden boxes of the seine river booksellers. at night the little boxes lie dormant, but during the day they open up into a snaking line of miniature stalls overflowing with old books, new books, big books, miniature books, foreign-language  books, etc... 

although that part of the booksellers is self-explanatory, the little shops/stalls also sell prints of famous artworks, copies of famous magazine covers & iconic images dating back to the 20s, both new & pre-loved postcards (i bought an old print of the arc de triomphe with a barely legible love letter from the 70s written on the back. cute), old keychains made up of random recycled advertisements from previous decades, amongst a sea of other oddities.

the booksellers run right up to pont des arts - the "love-lock" bridge, so the stalls leading up to the pedestrian bridge sell locks of all shapes, colours & sizes that passers by can then attach to the bridge's railings. i somehow always seem to lose track of time while strolling along the banks of the seine...i get caught up rummaging through old prints of paris (of which there are literally thousands), flicking through the  impressionist prints dangling from the roofs of the little boxes & snapping the same photos time and time again - everywhere i look just seems to capture a new moment of the quaint little existence of the seine river booksellers...

à bientôt,

S.

looking across the seine to the musée du louvre

a street busker playing a piano-ish type of instrument i've never seen before

pont des arts

words cannot explain how much i love this bridge! the pont des arts is a narrow, pedestrian, boardwalk-bridge next to pont neuf & the île de la cité, and it's known for its 'lovelocks'. visitors attach engraved/signed padlocks to the bridge's railings, and then throw the key into the depths of the seine below. it's all very romantic, except for the fact that there are now too many people attaching locks, so that the french council has to come along and chop away a heap of the locks...so much for everlasting love!  if you're lucky, yours will be left in peace...but don't bank on it...

this bridge is hands down the best place to watch the sunset over paris (even better than on the steps of sacré coeur, which is saying something due to my slightly biased love for montmartre...), with la tour eiffel in one direction, and notre dame/île de la cité in the other. the golden sun bounces off the stone buildings & reflects off the water...words don't do it justice - you have to see it for yourself!

the pont des arts essentials: a camera & a bottle of champagne. so that's exactly what i had on me when we got here yesterday evening to celebrate lotta's last night in paris, before she headed home to finland today. a mixture of sad & happy times in one of my favourite places in paris. what could be better??

bon retour lotta & à bientôt,

S.

looking towards île de la cité & pont neuf (right)

the air is always filled with music, merci resident buskers

the bridge

champagne overload

lovely ladies

frida's neglected vogue