Paris

Summer of Desire

I wanted to go to NY so bad this summer, but it’s still not happening. I’m seriously bounded by my expenses until the end of August, when the apartment will be officially out of my hands, which is why I don’t really dare to start dreaming about the (big) summer holiday. But we are going to France and I can’t wait. We’re going to Paris for a couple of days, then Montpellier, where F has family and fond childhood memories and the town will be our base to visit neighbouring places like Collioure. Maybe we’ll go to Nice from there, maybe to Barcelona, maybe settle on a couple of day trips to Marseille and Nimes.

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Christmas gifts for her

The jolly season is around the corner and I´ve put together a couple of gift ideas for the ladies. For my part, I can´t wait! I don´t think it´ll be a very generous Santa, but I´m sure I´ll get a couple of scented candles and perhaps a new sweater, in fact, I´m gonna make sure of that! 😉 

 

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A candle-lit get-together

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Yesterday we invited some friends over for a cosy dinner, to laugh away a dark November Sunday. I made boeuf bourguignon and served it with with red wine, French baguette and butter, in my grandma´s china. Now that´s big for me, since I normally can´t even remember to buy napkins, so everybody´s used to gifting me that every once in a while, or else I present them for a big fat roll of toilet paper. 😉  So there was a festive atmosphere, candle light, “magic bubble water” (we finally got ourselves one of these bubbly water machines), wine and beef stew. Throw in a couple of loud friends, a lovable crew the lot of them, Sam at our feet and Beo stealing our seat as soon as it was left unattended for 5 seconds, and you´ve got the perfect recipe for a long night with lots of fun!

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Parisian Apartment

Although living in Norway for 15 years will definitely affect your perception of style, Parisian apartments remain the embodiment of chic for me. A sucker for all things bourgeois and at the same time a lover of clean lines, I find myself drawn to quirky, eclectic abodes, somewhat eccentric and at the same time where the owner is not trying too hard.

Daphné Desjeux and Dorothée Delaye are the interior architects who renovated this 110m2 place and I think they did a marvellous job! Take a look!

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Normandy

Five years ago we were in Paris for a meeting my husband attended with his work at that time, Le Palais des Thes. And since it was summer and we´d heard so much about Normandy, we decided we should give it a try. It´s only a 1,5 hour train ride away from Paris and the accommodation not a bit as soaring as in Cote D´Azur. We´d seen for us lovely food, sunbathing by the sea and Indian nights. Such poor judgement! The food was amazing in every way and so was Honfleur, where we chose to stay at our friends´ recommendation. The truth is it was lovely in every way, but not exactly what we´d imagined.. After a couple of days of rain, the sea was agitated and swimming not allowed. I think we might have ended up going to Greece after all that summer, just to get our dose of sunshine.;-) Living in a Nordic country means one should take one´s intake of vitamin D seriously! 😉

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Spring dreams

I had a great day today up until I read about the gunfire attack at the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris. It did something to me. I would assume it did something to most of us, but I´m the anxious type, remember? It simply shattered some safe walls inside me. I realized how I take most things for granted. How I just expect to be living until my 90 years´ birthday and live through it all. Don´t worry, I´m not going to say I felt happy to be alive and that from today on I´ll be living every second as if it were my last one, because what I enjoy most is normality. That things stay the same. That people don´t die. That I can count on them being there next year, too. It´s not the scare for tomorrow that makes today more worth living, not for me, at least. It´s the continuity of things.

Back to our subject. I´ve never been particularly brave, but I´m quite outspoken, so I´ve had my share of pointing fingers. It never ceases to amaze me how horrible people can be, though. The world we live in today is just as crazy as a 100 years ago. Things just carry different names. I can´t wrap my head around what people must be thinking when they decide to take other people´s lives in the name of God. I don´t believe in any God myself, but if there were a God he couldn´t be that deranged.

Stay safe!

xxx, Alina

Entertaining light

One of my most favorite activities is entertaining! And what better way to do it than by serving the goodies you´ve just brought home from your holiday? This evening was a bit spontaneous, it happened the day after we came home from Paris. We invited our neighbors and friends Annette and Ryan and their dog, Emi over for a chat. Emi is Sammy´s girlfriend, so she had to be present, too!;-) Over a glass of wine and some vivid impressions from our trip, we devoured saucison (the half dried French sausage), macarons, French cheese, Norwegian jams from the Farmers´Maket, rillette de canard (duck meat spread) and fresh baguette. It was informal and delightful! We should do that more often, we concluded! What do you serve from your trips abroad?;-)

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Paris is always a good idea (part 2)

Now, I haven´t been to NY or anywhere else outside Europe for that matter, but I´m pretty sure few cities can equal Paris when it comes to celebrating one´s birthday! I turned 34 on Saturday and I had the best anniversary ever! I woke up to jazz music just outside our window (we stayed in Bastille) and my husband had been out and bought me a rose, breakfast and cake. Breakfast in bed with Paris at my feet, that´s pretty much of a gift itself!

We were supposed to go to Clignancourt for the flea market, but the lazy morning and the prospects of a lunch date with some friends made the time too short. I didn´t despair though, there´re lots of markets in Paris and as it turned out, there was one just outside our apartment. 😉 Lots of goodies- antiques, industrial lamps, vintage garments, you name it! Although not exactly cheap, the prices were generally better than in shops, at least in Norway. 😉 We bought an antique bronze statue, with marble and ivory, it´s a beauty!

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