Through the Lens of Egypt’s Early Bird Tourists

Here at MessyNessyChic, I try to take you on a journey with me every time you visit our corner of the internet. And for today’s journey, I’ve decided we shall go to Egypt– a century back in time, that is. Picnicking in the temples of Luxor, clambering up the pyramids of Giza for afternoon tea…

One of Europe’s Greatest Treasures Hides in a Sleepy French Village

Conques was never supposed to be found. Or at least, not easily. The sleepy village had been presiding over the French Midi-Pyrénées mountains since the 7th century, when a monk named Dadon decided it would make the perfect place for sacred hermitage. Not only was the valley close to a legendary Roman spring, but it…

Rooftops of Paris at Twilight (and other Fairytales)

You know that feeling when you see an image so appealing to your senses that you just want to climb inside right then and there? That’s what the art of Russian painter Evgeny Lushpin does. I want to be standing on that rooftop at twilight; with the warm glow of home on my back and the cool…

The Mountain Wizard of Woodstock

What happens when you put Rip Van Winkle, Robin Hood and Paul Bunyan in a blender? You get Clarence Schmidt, the iconic outsider artist who spent a lifetime building an eccentric folk art kingdom on a mountaintop in Woodstock… Schmidt was originally from Queens, but he split for the country when he inherited five acres of…

Wandering Through the Oldest (and Emptiest) Hospital in Paris

Notre Dame has a very unusual neighbour that no one ever visits. If you’re facing the cathedral’s famous facade, surrounded by a sea of tourists and selfie-sticks, turn to your left and spot the blue door behind the chestnut trees, marked “Entrée“. And enter you must! This blue portal opens up to the Hôtel Dieu, Paris’…

When Paris Built the Greatest Show on Earth

Forget the Olympics. Forget PT Barnum’s legendary spectacles. It was Paris, in my opinion that wins the prize for putting on the greatest show on Earth. Photographs of the Universal Exposition of 1900 never cease to make my jaw drop. The unrecognisable monuments, the dazzling profusion of electric that earned it the title of “City of…

Living the High Life at the Mushroom House

Peering out of the tree-tops in Pittsford, New York is a collection of pods whose aesthetic falls somewhere between Alice in Wonderland and War of the Worlds (if the aliens were hippies, that is). Locals have crowned it “the Mushroom House,” and for a price you can put down roots there yourself… Built in 1969, it was…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CCLXXXII)

1. Frank Kunert’s Surrealist Miniatures His work is so good. Discover it all here (also find prints for sale). 2. How Medieval Churches will Improve England’s Wi-fi As part of an initiative to improve internet access in rural stretches of England, churches in remote areas will be outfitted with Wi-Fi connectivity. Following an agreement…

A Postcard from London

I‘d stayed away too long. I was born and bred in London and yet, I left the city that raised me without a second thought, a sudden and swift and cold-hearted break. Seven years passed, we had fleeting reunions, but I’d found a new love – Paris – and there wasn’t enough room in my heart for…

Unearthing Hollywood Treasure in an Arctic Ghost Town

Dawson City, Canada’s favourite “living ghost town,” is finally starting to flesh out again after decades of falling into ruin. The Yukon settlement located about 350 miles south of the Arctic Circle was born from the glory and greed of the Klondike gold rush, and ushered in 40,000 people in just two years. Today, its story…