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AU BASSIN DE LA VILLETTE





































Anne and I went for Sunday brunch at the new hoppin’ yesterday, and I must say the exterior and interior really caught my eye. We also had the pleasure of surprising the beautiful Lauren, rocking her barista skills.

The canalkeeper’s house was taken over recently by Sinny & Ooko, the mastermind’s behind , and made into a local hangout with drinks + simple grub. Situated on the quai de Loire, just on the Bassin de la Villette, le Pavillon des Canaux is a fully decorated and magical house with tables inside and out, perfect for events or just your brunch, lunch or coffee in the afternoon with dear ones.

Each of the rooms is decorated with colorful patterns, wallpapers and light fixtures, artwork on the walls, flowers in contrasting vases and perfect wooden tables… each with its own flare. The door to the hustly bustly kitchen upstairs is wide open – with checkered tiling on the floor might I add – with formica tables covered with the daily specials on mix and match plates. Every one of the living rooms caught my fancy, with the pops of color and flea market-like trinkets on shelves and tables left and right. It’s a cozy DIY haven and you’ll feel like you’re in a country home far far away from Paris when you pay a visit.

The 24 euro brunch includes : bottomless warm bevvies, juice and tartines, with a big plate filled with salad, homefries and an english muffin topped with a fried egg & bacon. Oh, and bottomless cake!

If you’re going for brunch on the weekend, I suggest arriving before 1pm, as they can be quite busy and even potentially run out of brunch grub. A stroll down the canal afterwards is a must, especially if the sun is shining.


39 quai de Loire, 75019
Métro: Laumière (5)

CAFE AU SELECT

I do love the coffee scene in Paris that has popped up over the past few years, however I think I’ll always have a spot in my heart for the art deco classics of the city.

I always loved the lights of Le Select and it’s neighbor La Coupole. The bright pastel lights and perfectly retro font always caught my eye, so with mom we popped by for an espresso & café crème en terrasse on our way over to the Luxembourg Gardens.

Le Select
99 Boulevard du Montparnasse, 75006
Métro: Vavin (4)

PAUSE BIERE

Sometimes a few good chilled beers is all you need to bring over to a friend’s place for an impromptu apéro & beer tasting… ideally after a quick stop at one of Paris’s beer shops (post of all of my favorite beer spots coming soon).

Photographed above are the fabulously labeled bottles of Brasserie de la Senne, one of my current fav’ European brasseries right now, located Brussels. It’s the ultimate Belgian craft brewery.

Stay tuned for my favorite beer stops in Paris, coming soon.

A NOTE ON SUMMER

It’s always a mystery where the time goes. But for some reasons thinking about previous summers always feels like it was just last week. Summer in the city is rough. I’m slightly sarcastic when I say that. Paris gets hot, and one a handful of places have A/C, August is a no man’s land… the list could go on. But I love it in the summer, parking in some grass and just enjoying the sun and people watching somewhere lovely like Montmartre.

One thing I love about summer is people coming to town. It’s considered “normal” to travel in the summertime, right? Last summer my dear friend Rachel added Paris to her list of European destinations, as you’ve probably seen here on the blog as I’ve posted a few more of our adventures. For Paris, summer is almost like a homecoming season. Having gone to University in Paris, it is more common than not that people who left the city swing back by to get their fill of Paris before heading back to their busy lives elsewhere. I find it to be so lovely, little apéros filled with familiar faces, catching up over some rosé…

Now let’s talk about time real quick, summer this year has already been thrown into full swing out of NOWHERE. I am strill trying to catch up. We went from gray skies and light jackets to the hot hot heat and BOOM the Parisians are gone and it’s that season where the city seems pleasantly asleep. I kind of wish time would slow down a bit. I remember when the end of the week felt like it would never come, now I’m hoping to take advantage of time with dear friends and people I care about, admire and enjoy spending time with. Sooner than we know it it will be winter again and this year will be history.

I feel like growing up, and even up until recently there’s that one thing that “marks” your summer, for example my family would drive out to some random roller coaster because my brother was a huge roller coaster fan. Flashback to just last year I had a brilliant trip to the Rockies (proof + proof), a pit stop in Hawaii for some adventures, Rachel visiting… this year as I’m in full swing with the new job, I’m not sure I’ll have a big travel marker of my summer. Perhaps a calm summer en ville will do my soul equally as good. Staycation. At least mom came to visit, which was pure magic. I couldn’t be happier. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more at home as I do now, this summer.

A LA MAISON: SASHA AND MATHIEU

Sasha and Mathieu’s nest is filled with knick knacks and photographs – a life together. They also are the only people we have ever met with the same couch!

On the first floor of a precious building tucked behind a precious and floral courtyard is their wood floored Parisian paradise. As you enter past the first set of doors, you wouldn’t think your in Paris: plants arch over the rugged pathway, with random flowers left and right and a little gnome to greet you.

The wed couple has maximized their space, with shelving with stacked books and adorned walls with posters and photographs of them when they were young, their parents… Their royal blue couch is topped with geometric pillows, and their coffee table with coasters from travels and other trinkets. All of these little things make their apartment their own, and gives off nothing but the feeling of coziness.

Gaspard, their precious pup, roams freely and loves company. Having tea parties with Sasha is as cozy as can be. Sidenote: how amazing is their bar cart?

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