Some quick snaps from the area around my apartment, which is amazing, I love it here. My apartment is in St. Germain-des-Pres, in the 6eme, and I absolutely love the area. It’s vibrant, fun, and there’s so much to explore. I love just walking around the winding little streets to stumble on old bookstores, cafes, and stores.

Paul is a super popular boulangerie here, and, after trying their baked goods, you can easily see why. Their baguettes are delicious!!

I get to see the Beatles’ smiling faces, and Einstein with some nice words, every day.

Currently one of my favorite windows in the city. Yes, I have favorite windows. I’m really a sucker for climbing vines, from back in my horticultural days.

There’s a Taschen store right around the corner from my apartment. I’m now pretty much doomed to lug home a ton of books.

I also love the old bookstores, full of musty old treasures.

There’s a great floral stand just across from the Taschen store, it makes me want to have fresh flowers in my apartment all the time.

Amarino is supposed to be the best gelato in Paris. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but it looks amazing, and the almost flower-like way they shape the ice cream is so pretty.

Yes, more windows.

I saved the best for last: the Isabel Marant store happens to be 3 minutes from my apartment. So amazing and so dangerous at the same time.

So there’s a taste of where I live!
Bisous,
Lauren

I thought that living in Paris would encourage me to dress better. The constant staring (yes, people are constantly staring at you here, it’s still VERY unnerving.), the super-chic people, the sheer beauty of the city itself, I figured this would be a time to really step up my sartorial game. But it’s weirdly turning out to be the opposite, for several reasons.

1) I walk a lot. And I mean a LOT. I think, for people with jobs or just a couple errands to run, it’d be possible to wear heels on a regular basis, but for me, I just don’t think it would be a good idea. So far, most afternoons after I get out of class, I spend at least an hour or two just wandering around, sometimes lugging my giant camera, looking for stores, street art, cool buildings, and generally just pounding the Parisian pavement. This much walking means flats, flats, flats, and my brother forgot my Givenchy sandals at home, so for the moment, I’m limited in my flat shoe choice. I’m also afraid, because the streets here DESTROY shoes, and I am not about to destroy any of my beloved heels.

2) The weather is just so odd. It’ll be rainy in the morning, warm and sunny at midday, windy in the afternoon, and pleasant at night. I hardly know how to dress here, plus the metro is always pretty warm and muggy.

3) I realized that I BROUGHT NO CLOTHES TO WEAR. You know how sometimes you just hate all your clothes? Well I didn’t bring all that much clothing, and on top of that, I’m having one of the worst cases of closet ennui I’ve ever had. I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR. EVERYTHING IS UGLY.

4) I’m honestly pretty unconcerned with my clothes here. There are so many other things to pay attention to, whether it’s my horrendous French pronunciation, which metro stop I’m getting off at, what street I’m on, or which pastry I’m going to try next, that I just don’t really care.

The other night, I actually went OUT, as in, to a club, wearing my DUNKS. Now, don’t get me wrong, Nike Hi-Dunks might be my Favorite Shoe of All Time (yes, that’s right, I said it), but there was no way I was about to wear them to a club. A French club. Filled with French people. Wearing French clothes. But, in the middle of a nice Saturday afternoon spent practicing my DJ-ing (really, who needs clothes when you can spin awesome tracks? It’s my new obsession), my friend suddenly said, “We’re leaving in 20 minutes, OK?” 20 minutes? I had to go out wearing cutoff jean shorts and DUNKS?? I WHAT?? But I did it. And it allowed me to dance my butt off all night, impress my French friends with my Energizer-bunny stamina, to not really care when the club became so sweaty we all left looking like we took showers, and to wake up the next day with no foot pain. Turns out I don’t really care how many disdainful looks I got from perfect chic (read: borinnggg) French girls, I danced like crazy all night. Now, I admit, I’ve worn my sneakers out at Stanford, but, pfff, it’s Stanford. Wearing Dunks practically is dressing up. People wear sweats to class. Now THAT I will never do.

Bisous,
Lauren

Random note: I was pretty happy the DJ’s played some dubstep at the club I went to on Sat. Although French kids don’t like dubstep.

Excision & Datsik Deviance by Lockhart

There’s no dearth of street art in Paris, it’s nearly everywhere, you just have to look around a bit. I love street art, so I have a probably odd-looking tendency to stare up at empty walls a lot, or down in the corners of doorways. There’s some great art on these buildings, now I just have to wander the streets at night and find the artists…

This building was amazing, I have no idea what it is, but I will find out soon…

And a Shepard Fairey!

This is one of my favorites. I actually love when street art is done on or near the ground. Maybe because I’m so little. Hah.

But the real king of the streets, the most prolific artist I’ve seen so far, is none other than:

Space Invader.

I’ve developed a habit of checking every street corner above the street sign, I swear that if he keeps putting his work up, in a couple years every street corner of Paris will have a cute little 8-bit creature.

And, though I’ve seen tons around, I still get excited for every one, make a big fuss about taking a picture of it, and confuse a whole lot of passing tourists in the process. I think that, because each one comes as a bit of surprise, because you’re never quite sure when you’ll see a bit of street art of what it will be like, it retains that spark of excitement and discovery.

And this one with the horrendous picture, is my favorite, because I found it in a tiny little private back room of a bar I was in.

I’ll have more street art discoveries to share soon, I’m sure!

Bisous,
Lauren

Eek, no real post yet as I’m busy lugging my suitcases into my new apartement, but here’s what’s stuck in my head at the moment! Wish I could’ve seen him at EDC…

Chuckie & Hardwell ft. Ambush – Move It 2 The Drum (Original Mix) by DJCHUCKIE

Bisous!
Lauren

Over the weekend I took a long (wayyy too long for how early it was on a Sunday morning, I was definitely NOT in the mood) car ride up to Normandy, to Etretat. It was a cute little town, though there were far too many tourists for my liking, and the beach was a bit of a letdown (a narrow expanse of rocks does not a beach make, in my opinion). It was fun to climb up the cliffs and see the view though, especially since the French seem to care little about safety railings and the like. I actually got to sit on the edges of the cliffs and look down, which, though probably dangerous, is much more fun than peering over anti-suing safety railings.

Alexandre’s looking quite emo, isn’t he?

I’m sorry my posts have gotten so Tumblr-y recently (nothing wrong with Tumblr of course, but I know that long posts are nice as well, and somehow I feel like my life looks boring in pictures), I’ve been incredibly busy finding an apartment (I’ve finally found one, I’m moving in on Saturday!), walking, walking, walking, going out far more than I expected given that I have so few friends here, and generally getting settled in. I will try to write a nice long post with lots of stories soon, and I also have some film to develop and upload. Now, gotta run, there’s soldes at Le Bon Marche that are calling my name!

Bisous,
Lauren

Of course, a stereotype of any city is usually untrue, or at least a very shallow impression of the city, which is why I tend to want to avoid stereotypical Parisian things. But, try as I might, I find that I’ve already had a little bit of that typical Parisian experience: hanging out on bridges, long, late dinners, Lanvin ballet flats, Laduree macaroons, eating far too many baguettes, the Tour Eiffel…

Which, I have to admit, is beautiful at night. I’m pretty impervious to any Tour Eiffel hype (been there, done that), but seeing it lit up at night, especially up close, which I’d never seen until a couple nights ago, was pretty breathtaking.

And of COURSE I had to visit Laduree, seeing as I didn’t get there last time I was in Paris, and I am a bit obsessed with macaroons. They are quite delicious, and satisfy my love for beautiful packaging and airy, cloud-like pastries.
There are a few more stereotypical, tourist-y things I need to do in Paris, like visit, oh, every museum, have a kebab, ride a Velib, and have wine and cheese on the Champs du Mars (why does everything here involve food?).
I am sadly (or maybe gladly) lacking in outfit photos, as I still have no tripod, but I have some fun things to show you as soon as I get one!

Bisous!
Lauren

A couple days ago, my friend took me to see where his aunt works. To LANVIN. Just being in the boutique was amazing, but I also got to go upstairs and see some of the inner workings of Lanvin. It was amazing, I got to see all the spring pieces about to be put in the archives, the press office, and the rows of beautiful new fall clothes that were used in the fall ad shoot. I was too busy hyperventilating or drooling to take many pictures, but I did get myself a simple pair of seafoam green Lanvin ballet flats. I’m really not much of a classics person, but I can already tell these flats will be useful on the cobbled, shoe-destroying streets of Paris.

My friend’s aunt gave me a spring press book, which is pretty much absolutely useless to me, and quite bulky, but I’m just dorky enough to love it anyway.

I’m so obsessed with Lanvin’s packaging. The shoe boxes are beautiful in themselves, and it’s those small design details that really set great brands apart from the rest.

I’m still ridiculously jetlagged, and I’m now becoming sleep deprived (people in Paris stay up late!!), but I should have more pictures tomorrow.

Bisous!
Lauren