Un Mélange
I finally started to feel like myself today after I went swimming in an underground 50-meter pool. The water was cool and deep. I love how everyone seems to go to the public pools here. There is every age, size, ethnicity, language (99.8% French), and it only costs 2 Euro.
For all the Eiffel Tower lovers out there, I metro-ed over to see it yesterday around 6 pm. It took 20 min to get there.
I video called Nico from the Pont d’ iéna. He was busy eating a croissant at a café in Kenwood. He was like “okay!” and then, straight back to munching.
Last year I bought him a book about le Metro. There is a page he loves with the Eiffel Tower so we thought he might love the real thing. As it happens, he prefers what’s right in front of him. In this case, le croissant.
Still, I had fun. Earlier that day I had my first meeting with WICE, a group of expats in Paris. We met for coffee at Le Sarah Bernhardt, a café solidly in the center of Paris. While I was there, I asked Pam, a local, where I could get the best view of the Eiffel Tower for my petite fils. She said, Trocadero. I thought I knew where that was, but I didn’t. After the call I realized that it was the very next metro stop from where I was at the bridge, so I went up there and wow, it’s incroyable! I’ll have to take Josh there in two weeks. It’s also PACKED with tourists. But, it’s totally worth it. There are gardens and even an aquarium up there so I will have to go back to explore.
Last night I walked around my neighborhood at dusk. The street signs say I’m in the 14th. I’m about a five-minute walk from the Luxembourg Gardens in the 6th and the Montparnasse Cemetery in the 14th. Walking around at dusk is the best time to take photos. Or early morning, but as most people who know me know, “I-H-A-T-E- M-O-R-N-I-N-G” (this is a nod to my favorite Arnold Lobel story).
As I wandered, I found an atelier called ISAPOCKET- yes, I messaged Isabel Streiffer!!!
The lady who runs this shop does collage and sells the cutest little items. As it was dusk, I was simply window shopping, but her vibe really caught my eye. This morning as I sipped an espresso in my appartement, I looked up the shop on Apple maps to get more information. Apple maps told me the store is temporarily closed, but that didn’t seem right, so I kept searching until I found her Instagram account. It showcases her work in a lovely way. Her name is Isabelle Pongitore, you can find her on Instagram at Atelier.isapocket.
She will be teaching a course at a collage festival in Paris on September 25. I’ll still be here! I went to the website and signed up. I got on the waiting list for her course. I did get to sign up for a workshop entitled, Deciphering Your Dreams Through Collage with Léa Luka. That sounds like me.