La Minette Anglaise

A walk along the canal in the autumn sun

Today, a walk along the canal, soaking up some of the autumn sun. I love the Canal Saint Martin and especially the Basin de la Villette, home to two of my favorite little cinemas, the MK2 Quai de la Seine & Quai de la Loire.

Half of Paris was out enjoying the sun, playing pétanque, or nosing around the rather expensive, but worth a visit  Puces du Design - a kind of flea market for design that happens 3 or 4 times a year.

Further up the canal on the way to La Villette an amazing lifting bridge

Subtle palest blue stripes painted on a building at the side of the canal

The wonderful bridge over the canal at La Villette

Taking in some rays at the canal side.

My new little Etsy shop

Those who know me well, or have seen my photos on flickr, know that I can't pass a brocante or flea market, antique shop or charity shop, market or braderie without having a good rummage around.

It is by far, one of my favourite pastimes. And here in France, much to my delight, you find a whole different mix of things.

Since my appetite far exceeds my storage space, I decided to open a little Etsy shop, La Minette Anglaise, selling the best of the wonderful vintage things I have found.

I will be adding more things all the time and even some of my jewellery.

So please do visit, let me know what you think and don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions...happy browsing!

Oh..the flattery..!

When I moved to Paris, I left behind a beautiful apartment.  An apartment with roof top views, huge rooms and all day sunshine.

A few months after I got  here I realised that, it's not quite like all those dreamy apartments you see in cool French films. Not everyone lives in huge Hausmann-style apartments with beautiful plaster mouldings and carved marble fireplaces. Well, it burst my bubble just a little!

Two years later and we are living in a modest, small but not too small, light filled apartment in the 11th arrondisment. It's what is known as a "quartier populaire" and I love that I have everything I need right on my doorstep.

So, surprised and flattered I was when I got an email via flickr from Victoria over at sfgirlbybay asking if she could write a little something about my apartment on her lovely blog.

It is now on-line, so check it out on her great blog here.

Bureaucracy

I think it must be the French who invented bureaucracy. Form-filling, proof-of-postage certificates for piles of documents, endless hours of standing in queues are national pastimes. Where one set of information is required, please fill it out in triplicate...and that is just the beginning.

Since I moved here, I think I have filled out more forms, photocopied my passport and sent off more information about myself than I ever have before. Getting married required at least seven trips to the Marie with various bits of information and now that I am setting up my business here, well, I better get used to it!

However, there are a few advantages, like coming across the interior of the Greffe Tribunal de Commerce de Paris - an imposing building on the Ile de la Cité, sandwiched between the Conciergerie and the flower stalls in the Place Louis Lépine.

I was there to collect yet more forms from the Registre du Commerce and I couldn't resist taking a few photos of the amazing central staircase.

On the same note, and in the same week, a visit to my notary.

Again an amazing, sumptuous office.  I couldn't resist taking a sneaky photo (below)

Now I just need to find some time to fill out all those forms...