My Pont Alexandre III where have you been?

I don't know why we had waited that long, but twas just only recently we visited the extravagant historical monument 'Pont Alexandre III' built in the late 19th century... which took I think 3 -4 years to built, ready in time for the then renown Universal Exhibition in 1900 for thousands to admire from around the world, and wow what a sight still today!

For those unfamiliar, it's an arch bridge spanning the Seine named after Tsar Alexandre III Emperor of Russia from the late 19th century ode to the Franco-Russian Alliance 1892. What a breath-taking experience! Though I wish I could have my favorite chair with me there with a freshly brewed cuppa tea to hang out for the afternoon, surrounded by Art Deco in the open air watching boats pass along the Seine whilst blogging too. Wonder if they'd thought about Wifi on pont since there's now Wifi in our local parks!?

If you're a fan of the Art Deco period than this is a must to visit, note that down people. One cannot ignore it's influence from that era by it's exuberant lamps dotted along the bridge in their multitudes which can be seen from afar, figurines characterized by nymphs, cherubs, frogs, winged horses and some gold gilded on parts, just gorgeous. I feel like I've stepped into a set, but forgotten me period costume. Geeshh everything was so well made, and well maintained enough for us to drool all over still. I wish things are made with as much care and quality these days.

What more can I say but enjoy the pics. Oh yeah, the locks! well we've seen a lot of those happenings along other bridges as well, apparently it seals ones love for each other by scribbling your name and yours truly on the lock, THEN locking it on the bridge and throwing the key away. Awwww sick romantic puppies!

Lunching at Mademoiselle VerteAdelie's

VerteAdelie aka Veronique(V)... real-life identity revealed. Who reminds me so much of the character of the film Amelie!

Last week, I had a special lunch invitation by lovely V whom I met through an exhibition of a mutual friend of ours Berenice (whom you'll see 'flipping' in one of the pics) chez hers. So unlike me, she was the perfect host, an ambassador of Paris to an expat lady like moi; she openly invited me over not only to munch up all her yummy concoction over chit chats, but also to view her wonderful, breathtaking, not to be missed Parisian view from her apartment. This was all from the 7th floor of one balcony where one could see not only see a little Eiffel tower but Sacre Coeur and half of Montmarte, city view of Paris, grassy hills etc. Perfectly planted in the heart of Paris' fabric/haberdashery area where countless numbers of these stores congregate, ahh heaven. How weird is that that's the area where 'Amelie' was filmed too.

Home made lunch courtesy of V was tops not to say the least! But here I surrender some pictures I took with my lil camera. Unfortunately it couldn't capture the full 180degree view from the balcony so here's a little teaser of Sacre Coeur in the background and beautiful Paris apartments in the foreground. Wouldn't you like that as a view chez yours?

For a silhouette illustrated version of her Balcony view check the top banner to her Blog!

Thank you Veronique for being such a lovely hostess with the mostess :x

Where have I been?! Santorini of course :)

Ok, I must apologize for the lack of attention I've been paying to my own Blog but I have been busy! With work first and foremost and secondly visitors to Paris, 6 sets of them thus far. We've just had our first week + weekend last week without any commitments to meeting or showing anyone where, how, when, what... in Paris. Actually we didn't know what to do with ourselves for a change. But thank you lovelies I feel blessed for your time far far away from home :) gros biz xx

Here are some pics of my trip I'd managed to squeeze in with my not only lovely but talented Australian friend Ella to Oia, Santorini in one of the Greek islands for my birthday :). What a treat indeed and how lucky am I. Apparently the only way to get to the island 2 years ago was via a 7-8hr ferry ride from Athens but since they've opened up an airport every Tom Dick and Harry is packing the tight cobbled streets of Oia, and especially for the sunset considered by many as one of the most beautiful in the world, making it little hard at times to walk and see anything! The only locals I saw were the ones working in the restaurants and stores understandably I would run away too if I were them eeek!

The local cuisine I found was easy to get addicted to; the Greek salads, battered squid, stuffed peppers, local dessert wine Vinsanto thanks for Ella's wee bottle in the fridge;) And here's a little run down on the way most Greek salads were composed of and how... as it's not the way I knew them to be from Melbourne, Australia where I'd lived where there's a huge population of Greek immigrants.

In a nutshell:
• a sprinkle of baby capers or some juicy caper leaves
• quarter cut your tomatoes(chunky) and not too many of them but more than cucumbers so 2:1 ratio
• a small handful of cucumbers and cut chunky also
• olive oil and lemon juice of course to your liking
• ONE BIG slice(about 3x3inches) of Greek feta cheese and on top of the salad
• don't forget to NOT mix the salad like you normally would
And voila!

Here's a little interesting history of Santorini if you'd ever consider going. And you should!
x

200 rings exhibition!

If you're ring fanatic AND you're in Paris from the 4th of June, this exhibition is not to be missed. 200 rings made by 20 creators from Paris exhibiting at the Goutte de Terre Gallery from the 4th until the 17th of June, that means you'd still have time to get you plane or train ticket still!

And of course my jewelry and I will be present there, so drop by and say hello. Below's the venue details:

Galarie Goutte de Terre
46 Rue Godefroy
Cavaignac Paris 75011
Metro Voltaire

Minicyn at the May Hotel Boheme Expovente!

Excellent! I got into the next May 29th-30th Hotel Boheme Expovente, starting from midday Saturday and Sunday 'til 8pm:
6 Rue Beauregard
Paris 75002
Metro 'Bonne Nouvelle'

Unfortunately though I won't be around myself as much as I would much prefer being a little of a perfectionist myself, but my faithful partner and a good friend(Lunaticart) will be helping me out... what are friends for eh ;) So come along to Paris, yes you heard me! Go get yourself a train or plane ticket and come support hand made.

Trompe l'oeil by night in Paris

The literal translation of 'Trompe l'oeil' in English is 'mislead the eye' (that's from an online translation engine)... I guess it's more like 'trick of the eye'. I've seen more 'Trompe l'oeil' in Paris than anywhere else in the world up to date and I've clocked about 30 countries so far. Here's one I managed to quickly take from the car as we were weeeezing through traffic the other night. It's for an ad. by Internet Explorer, done in such a way that it blends in well with the structure of the building, nice one guys.

In a nutshell, 'Trompe l'oeil' is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions, instead of actually being a two-dimensional painting.... want to learn more about the history of it? just ask Wiki, or simply type in Trompe l'oeil in Google/Google image and you'll see tonnes of clever takes by contemporary artists today!

ciao bella x

Welcome to Parc de Bagatelle!

On Sunday we decided to get away from the hustle and bustle of Paris in search for everything that encompasses nature;peace, quiet, tranquility, fresh air and space. But we were more than surprised by our search!

I felt so lucky to have stumbled across a second hand guide book about the magnificent gardens of Paris, and was immediately taken by the first page I landed that had beautiful pictures of Parc ou Jardin de Bagatelle on the edge of Paris; not too far to get to by bus... what luck we thought. There were breath-taking pictures of small bridges, water-fall, well manicured flower beds, vegetable gardens, log-like alcove bench etc etc. more than what we were after! And true enough, the real thing is beyond words and my pictures. Even though Jardin du Luxembourg has thus far been one of my top 3 favorite but this is definitely above them all I have to say. Peacocks were the highlight as they were the last thing anyone would've expected.

Here are some pics of my pictures taken on a cloudy day... more on those lovely flowers in my Flickr :)