Paris

I love Paris.

In Paris, everything is a photograph. Everything. I was like a kid in a candy store. Being from Montreal, Paris felt like home… home on steroids. The food, fashion, culture and architecture was incredible and the French have a contagious joie de vivre. This is how I want to live.

We stayed at a friend’s apartment in the 11th arrondissement and slept with the windows open so we could hear Paris at night. There was so much life going on filling the night air it was incredible to lay there and listen to it all. We walked and walked and walked. One morning I asked my niece where I could get a take-out coffee and she chuckled and said, We don’t do take-out in Paris, we go to a café and sit. The French are extremely communal and they know how to live. We rush too much. The French have got this right. Paris is incredible. Where else would you see a random crowd of people salsa dancing in the streets, people openly in love, and so many little dogs everywhere. I absolutely love Paris.

The thing that struck me most was the entire city is historical. You are surrounded by buildings and architecture from the French Revolution era. It was everywhere you went and it was breathtaking. The Arc de Triomphe was what most affected me. It was so huge, so beautiful, so meaningful.

I love my kids.

As a mom, bringing my daughters to see Europe was the best thing I could give them. I think travel is the best education for young people (stick it, grade 11 math!) and I’m so happy I could give them this trip to show them more culture, more history, more of the world.

I love photography.

As a photographer, over the years you accumulate gear, a TON of gear, and it all becomes a big process. I went to Paris with only my little Fuji X100. That’s it. I shot street photography and I had a blast with it. It was like way back, pure photography, only f-stops, shutter speeds and ISO and it was fabulous. Like falling in love with photography all over again. I had so much fun with it.

Here are some shots from the first leg of our European adventure; Paris.