The Eiffel Tower goes up for Auction!

Okay, okay so maybe Europe isn’t that financially down in the dumps that we need to start flogging our cultural icons but technically, part of the Eiffel Tower is indeed going on sale today at the famous auction house, Drouot. Every last stick of furniture including the porcelain plates, glasses, tablecloths, tables, chairs and wall…

The Story of an Expat Girl in 1960s Paris

“Nadja à Paris” is a short 13-minute film by a French New Wave director, Eric Rohmer, following a young overseas student as she wanders around Paris. Nadja talks us through her daily life on the Left Bank in the first half but later swaps the gentrified Saint-Germain des Près with it’s café intellectuals for Belleville,…

Welcoming the Parisian Winter Nights with Brassai

With the nights in Paris getting longer, the trees looking more naked and the cobblestones glistening with rainwater, I can’t help but be reminded of Brassai’s Paris de Nuit. The Transylvania-born photographer came to city of light in the 1920s to capture its notorious creatures of the night and what he found went on to…

A Day in the Life of a Female Taxi Driver

I‘ll admit I’m one of those people that is taken aback when I get in a taxi with a female driver. I’ll sit there for the entire ride wondering how they got into such a male-driven industry. Diana Diroy decided to stop wondering and start asking.

The Amphibious Car that Lives on the Seine in Paris

The shiny red vintage car that sits proudly on the back of a houseboat in Paris, is a sight well known to Parisians that take time out from the bustling boulevards to walk along the banks of the river Seine. It’s a bit of an urban oddity that no one really knows the story behind.…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (No.2)

Bonjour! Let’s try to forget that it’s Monday and get straight to the weird and wonderful findings from my morning dig on the internet… 1. Hidden Victorian Pet cemetery in London Did you know there is a Victorian pet cemetery located in Hyde Park? Dating back to 1880, the cemetery is home to hundreds of…

The Tale of the 1970s Fashion Apocalypse

Because seriously, what were they thinking? The earliest signs of infection: People standing around in spread eagle pose, looking upwards. Soon men started hanging out together in tight, colorful underpants: One word people: EUROPANTS. Nothing made sense anymore… Oh so that’s why nothing is happening … I’m not wearing Eleganza. Men in shiny shirts began…

A Day in the Lives of 3 Mermaids

So I’ve been sitting here, writing blogs and stuff when I could have been a mermaid this whole time! Meet Lauren, Erin and Katie, three full-time mermaids at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. And a Katie’s mom rightly points out, it’s way better than being a hooker. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdRJNm3pOqU] … In other mermaid news… Save…

In Berlin, Don’t be a Tourist

Like many of you, I hate being a tourist. When I’m visiting a new city, I’ll admire the great landmarks from afar and keep on moving in search of the smallest backstreets and the hidden local haunts. And this is why I write my Paris blogs, for all of you who would rather be discovering…

If Superheroes had been there…

What if we did have superheros? What if they had been there to help us (or turn on us) when the world most needed superheroes to stamp out the villains of the real world? What may have been just a fleeting thought for us has become an artistic fantasy for Indonesian illustrator Agan Harahap. Merging…