Random things lately

The spring has went by too fast, the summer arrived to Paris last week with temperatures rising way over 25 degrees! Suddenly all the greenness is just overwhelming. The little one is now crawling everywhere and standing against things, and us parents have been kept busy running after him. Yet some random things have happened lately:

• I applied a while ago out of curiosity for the Berlin coding challenge organized by Ironhack, got accepted, and have been learning HTML and CSS so far to my geek husband’s great amusement. I never thought I would be interested in coding, but I have found it weirdly addicting, seeing the results immediately. I’m behind the schedule but planning to complete the challenge at my own pace.
• We almost entered into marital crises after I found out that hubby has been watching Casa de Papel behind my back! So now we are stuck with Marseille, unfortunately the second season has been a bit disappointing. Luckily there is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. We are still watching season 1, the baby and the coding project have sadly eaten up all my Netflix time. In addition to Netflix we’ve end up watching Scènes de ménages conveniently just after baby’s bed time on M6. Maybe we’re getting old, but it’s actually hilarious and at least in French.
• I love the Marimekko x Uniqlo collection! I have not been a huge fan of Marimekko clothes (apart from one silk shirt), but especially this collection of T-shirts and cute pants were great.
• After my latest post about social media rehab I got back into my old habits. Seriously considering deleting the social media apps again. The lack of self-control and all those mama groups…
• With the baby our cultural sorties have been much in decline. We did go to couple of expos, but it was not always a success. Once a loud video installation woke up a napping baby, once baby’s baby friend ate the museum ticket, once there was an installation about US army war training center that I judged suspicious for such an innocent little one. But now everyone is talking about the Klimt expo in Atelier des Lumières, we are planning to check it out soon! Stay tuned for obligatory Instagram material…
• This week our nanny is off, so I’ve been at home a couple of days. It’s been great, just to be at home without travelling and spending precious time with the little muppet. After getting back to work you truly cherish the time spent with the kiddo, that’s not a bad development.

Good things lately

Meanwhile Spring has arrived to Paris and we’ve had +17 degrees and sun this weekend, yay! Warm enough to take the winter jacket off when you find a non-windy spot in the sun. We tested this weekend the mazy garden between Louvre and Tuileries, worked perfectly. After a long grey winter, here are some good things of the moment:

• Spring spring spring! Some trees are already blooming (don’t ask me what are those) and the magnolias will be blooming in a couple of days.
• First ice creams of the year eaten outside. McFlurry and Amorino are always safe choices. Amorino is the best though.
• Park lunch to assure the daily sun intake, food always tastes better outside.
• Tulips from Lidl for 1,99 euros in all colors. I buy them every week.
• Listening to Gangsta rap in the metro. Nothing cheers you up in morning metro like N.W.A. Ok there is a reason to this, I’ve been of course following the Norwegian teenager TV series SKAM (like everyone else it seems) and then downloaded the series’playlist on my Spotify. Slightly embarrassing, I admit.
• Following malamutes on instagram (they are like huskies but cuter). Try @lifewithmalamutes. In this era of too many depressing news, some malamutes make my day. Yet I think I will go to malamute rehab now, too much cuteness.
• Did I not mention our weekend trip to Venice already? Oh Italy. I just realized this was the 4th time we went to Italy in 3 years time. There is a reason, food and the dolce vita in general. In Venice I loved not having cars around, but I could not spend too many days there as there is no greenery, at least in Paris we have trees! Of course the city is ridiculously pretty and romantic, just perfect for a weekend getaway.

That’s pretty much what’s up here, long walks in the city are my favorite Spring activity, with ice cream stops of course. I should take my camera with me more often, I am a bad aspiring blogger. Oh well. Next time.

Have a lovely week everybody!

Brunching in Barbes

It’s been a while since I wrote something on the blog, it’s been hard to find motivation lately. It’s been still cold and grey in Paris, so basically I have been spending most of the time indoors. If I have dared to venture outside, it’s straight from place A to place B. Meanwhile we have also celebrated a wedding in Tunisia and for work I have traveled to Alger, the rest of the time I’ve been pretty much curled up on the couch. Needless to say I have a lot of Netflix recommendations, currently I’m hooked on the American Crime Story. That O.J Simpson case is fascinating. To my defense, I’ve also managed to almost complete a course in Coursera, after all you can do this also from your couch, not disturbing the hibernation.

Yesterday we ventured bravely out and headed to Barbes, a previously threaded neighborhood in Paris were you can easily buy illegally imported cigarettes or even drugs (they say, I’m not buying of course). I needed to fix my Samsung’s screen that went black and my trusted (ok the cheapest), phone repair shop is in Barbes. In one hour they fix everything and you end up paying way less than in official repair (in your face corporate giants who always find a reason why your guarantee does not apply). Already last time while visiting the area I noticed that bobo Parisians have adopted Barbes, the eventual destiny of all formerly shady neighborhoods, and a new brasserie has opened in the corner just outside the metro station. As we had one hour to wait for my phone to be fixed, we went to test it.

Brasserie Barbes was a nice experience all in all, service was very friendly and the brunch formula, 18 euros for a few salty pieces that was sufficient for lunch and dessert pancake, was not too bad at all. Food was not exceptional but correct, we both enjoyed the meal. Other than brunch they have a traditional bistro menu with sandwiches, salads, burgers and a few other dishes. Best thing was nice decoration and cozy atmosphere, there is even a fireplace, you’re lucky to get a table in front of it on a cold winter day.

Since we were already in the North of Paris far from our hoods, we went to check Pavillon des Canaux as I had red about an exhibition “Gueules de Parisiens” that was going on in there. The exhibition itself turned out to be pretty small, but the place was the cutest! The pavillon has two floors and several rooms that are decorated in different random styles, you can even enjoy your coffee or beer in a bath tub in a decorated bathroom. I will definitely come back to sit on a terrace when the weather gets better, they also do brunch in the weekend.

To end the city day well, we headed to movies to see the Moonlight in MK2 in Stalingrad. The movie theater is actually in two buildings on the opposite sides of the canal and there is a small ferry ride between them. No need to say I’m always excited to take this ferry to the movies! Moonlight was worth watching, after napping a bit in the beginning of the movie (oops) the rest was captivating.

The weather is supposed to get better next week, I’m looking forward to end the winter hibernation period and discover more things in Paris! Have a nice Sunday you all xx

January blues

January is my most dreaded month in Paris. There is only one word to describe it: grey. Until the new year life goes on in Paris as usual, the city is charming in all its Christmas decoration, people are merry and you can keep yourself warm by sipping the famous vin chaud. Usually in December the temperature is still decent. Suddenly after new year’s it seems like the whole city has woken up with a collective hangover and is brooding. Or at least dieting. The weather is cold and grey, the city seems hostile, you just don’t want to put your nose outside of the door. What makes it worse this year, it has been extremely cold since the new year’s weekend, we’ve had a few minus degrees every night. The city hall in our district needed to put on signs to a nearby park to alert people from approaching the fountain that has perhaps 1 mm thin layer of ice on it. Hilarious. Mostly it has just been cold and foggy, or cold, foggy and rainy.

Then, because you come from Finland, every other person is telling you how much you must feel like home now when it’s cold. At first I tried explaining to them about the dry cold we have up North, about double windows, central heating and so on, but then I just gave up and started nodding and smiling with them. They wouldn’t understand why I feel uncomfortable wearing two pairs of woolen socks at night, putting a cloth under the front door because the cold air is coming in straight from the stair case or being cold in my kitchen in the morning as the electric heating doesn’t quite reach there. As I cannot be cold since I come from Finland! Truth is that the only time I’ve been more cold is while I was living in Tunis one winter, there was no heating at all in my flat so it was +13 degrees inside too. After sleeping for a week with most of my clothes on I finally went to Carrefour to by a heater. What a luxury. If people only knew how comfortable it is in a Finnish house even when it’s -20 degrees outside.

So what can you do in Paris in January? You can go discover cozy new cafés. But don’t take it for granted that you will be warm in a café or in a restaurant, at least if you are sitting by the window. Yesterday I found some new places by Canal Saint Martin, cute vegetarian café / restaurant called IMA and Pouya, French-Iranian cultural center, such a pearl. Cozy atmosphere and you will get delicious dates (by date I mean the fruit, not a date date, even if that might be possible too) with your hot drink. Food smelled pretty good too. You can also finally visit museums, perfect time to catch up with all those exhibitions you didn’t have time to see before.

Otherwise you can just console yourself that the winter here is soon over. In February you already have glimpses of sunlight and promise of the Spring and in March, if you are lucky, you can be sipping rosé by the Seine in your T-shirt with your sunglasses and a big smile on your face (ok you will risk being sick the next day but it is worth it), making your friends up North jealous. I’m waiting for this moment to take my revenge for all beautiful snowy landscape and skiing pictures that Finns have been posting for the past few days. Snow of course fell in Helsinki only after we were back in Paris from Christmas hols.

So good luck with January and have a happy new year you all! ❤

Parisian Winter Day

Lately it has truly felt like winter in Paris, we’ve had sunny and cold days, even a few minus degrees during the night and early morning. This is the Parisian winter I like! Today we wondered to Montmartre for an afternoon stroll, it is  one of my favorite places in Paris before Christmas to have a cup of vin chaud or hot chocolate. Despite all the tourists it is worth it, just to see the amazing view over the city. There is also a Christmas market close to Sacre Coeur church that has an oyster and wine bar. Classy eats for charity! We didn’t have oysters this time (well I never eat them actually, I can’t stand the idea of something living in my throat), but instead we opted for hot chocolate in lively Rue Abbesses. If you want to combine strolling with shopping, the shops are open on Sundays in this area.

Too bad that next week it’s getting warm again.. I prefer this kind of wintery days!

Discovering Herb Ritts

A few weeks ago we passed the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Marais and I told myself that I will have to go check it out soon. In Paris we have too many museums with huge collections of historical paintings in them, but I’m more into contemporary style and I especially like photography exhibitions and museums. Last Saturday we finally decided to go check MEP out. We were a bit surprised to find a queue outside on a normal Saturday afternoon, but the reason quite obviously was the Herb Ritts exhibition going on in the top floor.

I didn’t know Herb Ritts before, but I was definitely happy to discover him. Celebrities’ favorite photographer, you can find many interesting celeb pics from this expo. But not only that, I also liked a lot his pictures from Africa, he had quite some talent. Pictures are easy to watch, no surprises there, but they are captivating. Male visitors seemed to be very much fascinated by the famous naked supermodel picture that includes Naomi, Cindy and some other gals, actually this one might explain the queue outside..

Anyway, go check out the exhibition before the end of October! In MEP there were also a few other interesting exhibitions to see. 8 euros well spent I say. The Maison actually feels homy and atmosphere is tranquille unlike in some other museums invaded by crowds of tourists (yes, we Parisians dislike tourists, sorry about that). Nice bonus is the neighborhood, you can’t go wrong with Marais on a beautiful September day.

Ps. If you do go to Marais, eat falafel in Mi-Va-Mi in Rue des Rosiers, it is just the best!

Qi Gong and stuff

This weekend started zen with a Qi Gong practice in 104 center in north of Paris, Riquet neighborhood. It was now the second time that I went there, it just makes me feel good. 104 is an inspiring place, it is a cultural center hosting theater, dance and visual arts, spectacles and exhibitions. The place has a really good wibe, you just feel comfortable and welcome there. Qi Gong classes take place once in a month and the crowd is a nice mix of grannies and random people. A friend took me there once last Spring and ever since I’ve wanted to go again. Best thing is that the classes are for free!

If you want to hang out in the center after the class, you find the Grand Central bistro that is not bad at all for a late brunch. If you are lucky there might be some exhibition going on or you can just watch people dancing. This time there was a bio market selling vegetables, bread and cheese in the courtyard. 104 center is in 19th arrondissement, close to Canal de l’Ourcq or bassin de la villette. So after the Qi Gong class we headed with a friend to a café by the canal to enjoy some fresh orange juice (I was tempted to have prosecco but was wise this time) and felt really zen.

It appeared that we were not the only ones enjoying the sunny day by the Canal. There were many people picnicking and playing petanque and mölkky. Yes, Parisians love mölkky, probably because it resembles petanque but it is way more hipster. They don’t know that in Finland it is only played in cottages wearing jogging pants that have seen their better days, haha.

The day continued in the Marais district, more about that later. I ended up hanging out the whole day in my yoga, sorry Qi Gong, leggings. They were so comfy to wear that I might repeat that. I just need to buy longer tops, my husband said I look like a teenager on my way to the technoparade that was going on the city at the same time. Oh well..

That’s it for now. I’m off to watch War and Peace, BBC miniseries recommended to me by my mother. I’m not sure what to think of my mom giving me recommendations for TV series, seems that she is more IN than I am. But the series is good, strong recommendation to this one.

Have a good night! x

Calm weekend (tranquilo)

When you start using expressions like hijo de puta and plata in your daily life, you know you’ve been watching too much Narcos.  Still one episode left of the second season. Good thing about this TV marathon is that my Spanish is coming back, all those two beginners courses that I took back in the Uni. I’m not sure when I can use my revived skills though (*dreaming of a holiday in Mexico…) and if people will appreciate the gangster Spanish I’ve learned.

Day trip to Chantilly

We’ve been lucky to have still great weather in Paris, so last Saturday we decided to get out of the city. My favorite weekend getaway places from Paris are definitely in Normandy area (Sea! Do I need to say more?), but this time we wanted to do just a day trip within a short distance. The town of Chantilly is only 30 minutes train ride away from Gare du Nord and it is definitely worth visiting to see the famous Château de Chantilly as well as the vast area of gardens and forest surrounding it.

It’s getting hot in herre

Hi dears! After making a big fuzz about starting a blog, I haven’t updated it for almost two weeks now. Reasons are threefold, first of all it’s been damn hot in Paris. We’ve experienced a crazy heatwave and it’s been more than +34 degrees for the last 4 days, meaning that temperature in our rooftop apartment is around +32 celsius. Only thing you can do is take a cool shower, lay down, have a cold drink and repeat.