12 Things I can Find at my Local Parisian Bazaar

I love my local Bazaar. It has everything, it’s all so mind-blowingly cheap and I could spend hours in there discovering all the random oddities stacked on their shelves. So today I thought I’d take you on a little tour inside with me and perhaps you might understand why it’s one of my favorite shops…

When Hollywood Movie Posters Can’t Be Imported: A Bootleg Retrospective

Far from the gleaming multiplex cinemas most of us are accustomed to, there are places that can’t afford the printers needed for making movie posters, let alone the legal rights to actually screen blockbuster Hollywood films. As a result, locals will try their hand at drawing the posters for their bootleg screenings… First let’s take…

And they say Romance is Dead? Rooms by the Hour at the Paris Love Hotel

I‘ve taken the liberty of translating a few lines from the brochure… “Finally rooms that rent by the hour for a gallant time!” – Yes, finally! “Original rooms, a moment of intimacy in the heart of Paris for couples in love.” –I think it’s really sweet how they specify the rooms are for couples in…

Abandoned 1960s French Riviera Film set: A Miniature Underwater City Before & After

A room with uninterrupted sea views? Admittedly, it might need a bit of work but this underwater hotel has become a bit of an institution with local fish who have been checking in since the 1960s. At 30 meters below sea level near a lighthouse called La Fourmigue, off the Cap d’Antibes, lies the remains…

Letter from a Bike Thief

A member of the Reddit community recently had his bike stolen but got quite the surprise when it turned up 3 days later at his home. He found a letter attached to the bike and shared it online … “3 nights ago my bike was stolen. It just turned up back in my yard this…

Free Wine & Cheese! The Ultimate French Road Trip in a VW Camper

I had you at ‘Free Wine & Cheese‘, didn’t I? If you’ve been umming and ahhing over what to do this summer, I might have an idea for you. Through the grapevine (mind the pun), I heard about France Passion, a society of more than 1,750 friendly private wine-growers and farmers across France that invite…

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

1. Hot Wheels: Found! (sitting in a Barn for 30 years) A 1974 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS with 2,910 miles, a 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona with 9,752 miles and a 1977 Maserati Bora Coupe with just 978 miles were all found in the dusty Texas barn pictured below. According the Californian auction house, Mecum,…

Hong Kong’s Forgotten City of Darkness

It was the most densely populated place on Earth for most of the 20th century, where a room cost the equivalent of US$6 per month in high rise buildings that belonged to no country. In this urban enclave, “a historical accident”, law had no place. Drug dealers, pimps and prostitutes lived and worked alongside kindergartens,…

The Beverly Hills of Paris

I remember when I first saw it, Avenue Junot, the cobblestone road that winds up to Montmartre lined with some of the most delicious architecture in Paris. It’s art deco ironwork, those tall glass windows bathed in light for artists in residence, colorful cul de sacs peeking out from behind corners; here is the Paris…

American Girl in Italy: Behind the Iconic Photo

“It’s not a symbol of harassment. It’s a symbol of a woman having an absolutely wonderful time! I clutched my shawl to me because that sheaths the body. It was my protection, my shield. I was walking through a sea of men. I was enjoying every minute of it.” In fact, the American girl, Ninalee “Jinx” Allen…