Paris in the Spring Time

Hello everyone!

It’s a picture heavy post today as you can see!  This weekend, I hopped on the Eurostar and visited Paris for 24 magical hours.  I’ve had this idea in my head for a while, that I wanted to go and lose myself in the historic streets in Montmartre, wander by the Seine and find magnolia beneath the Eiffel Tower, and blossom in the parks.  Most of all, I wanted to fill my camera roll with photographs full of dreamy, romantic photos of the architecture and ancient doorways.  And I finally did it, and it was such an uplifting, liberating 24 hours!

Was it strange going alone to such a romantic city?  Of course not!  Yes it’s an incredibly romantic city which also happens to be full of tourists and folks going about their daily business.  I walk the streets of London alone, so why not Paris?  I found the whole experience, exhilarating, empowering, and sometimes emotional, because I was so happy to be there viewing these incredible sights, in sunshine that felt like summer

My love affair with Paris…

A very brief history of my relationship with Paris is as follows.

Age 13/14 I went for about four or five nights with my school, and I fell in love with it there and then.  Plus we had dormitories so it felt like we were in an Enid Blyton story.  I can’t even remember what we did, I just remember trying Orangina for the first time and having pillow fights.  I have no photographic evidence of this trip whatever.

Age 18 – I went for a trip with my art college.  Can you imagine!!  100 art students let loose in Paris.  So much fun!  And weirdly, we stayed in the same hostel that I’d stayed in before, so it was dorms again.  I remember sketching in the art galleries in books I’d made out of recycled paper and brown carrier bags in oil pastels.  The Monet Museum blew me away completely.

Age 26/27 on a romantic mini break.  Climbed the Eiffel Tower, drank the famous Bloody Mary at Harry’s Bar, saw the Mona Lisa.

I knew it would all feel very familiar to me.  It was like seeing an old friend.  In 24 hours I walked just over 20 miles.  This is probably a tactic I would not recommend, as I felt pretty broken by the time I got home on Sunday!  But it did enable me to find some smaller parks, where I found some blossom.  The cherry blossom trees were not ready for me yet – drooping with fat, pink buds, ready to explode with frothy pink petals in the next week or so.  Next year I plan to time a trip to capture those!

 So before I write my next post, if you have any questions, please do leave them in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer them in my post.  In the meantime, in case you missed it I will be sharing photography tips at the Country Styling Workshop in Norfolk two weeks tomorrow.

Tamsyn x