This article was published 11 years
Bonjour mes amies! We hopped over the channel (well, technically under the channel) for a little jaunt to Paris for my birthday recently. I love going back to a city you’ve been to a couple of times, so there’s no pressure to see the sights – you can just live like a local for a few days and enjoy it!
From top to bottom, left to right:
- We stayed in an area called Canal St Martin (which sounds so much better in a French accent!), which I can only describe as the French capital’s answer to Hoxton – it’s where the cool kids hang out, so naturally(!), that’s where we were!
- I couldn’t go to Paris without checking out design destination store, Merci. I was pretty excited, but it completely exceeded my expectations. From colour co-ordinated bedding and chairs on shelves to an exhibition of Indian textiles by Bess Nielsen, and from a library café filled with floor to ceiling books to slouchy yellow sofas, this design geek was in heaven. I highly recommend a visit – it’s right up there with Milan’s 10 Corso Como.
- I found a fabulous little design bookshop in Canal Saint Martin itself called Artazart, where I got happily lost in books for hours. It was especially exciting to see a copy of Print & Pattern Geometric, featuring lots of up-and-coming designers I’ve featured on the blog, like Kangan Arora, Jessica Hogarth and Sian Elin – and of course the fabulous Lisa Congdon.
- One more little pic of Merci – sorry, it was just bursting at the seams with beautifully styled little details like this one!
- Even the seats on the Metro platforms are well designed in Paris!
- I loved these floor tiles in Canal Saint Martin’s beloved Hotel du Nord, where we had a fabulous lunch on our last day, followed by coffee sitting on a pavement table watching the world go by.
- This bakery had a queue outside every time we went past and is rumoured to be the best bakery in Paris, so one day we had to join the queue and find out for ourselves. I haven’t personally tasted the baked goods from every bakery in Paris (more’s the pity!), but this one has got to be in contention for the title!
- Colonel is a gorgeous little design shop, again in Canal Saint Martin, stocking a lot of Hay products and more besides.
- And finally, no trip to Paris would be complete with a visit to Colette. It’s a little more fashion-focused than design, but some interesting stuff none-the-less
There was all that plus jazz, cheese, galettes, good coffee and good times. Merci Paris, we had a ball!
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- out and about :: stockholm
- out and about :: twelve at stockholm furniture fair 2015
- out and about :: ambiente frankfurt
- out and about :: greenhouse, sff15
This article was published 11 years
