Hole in the wall

I recently read about this art project in Paris by Juliana Santacruz Herrera. And I think it’s great! She fills holes and cracks in the pavement with brightly colored knitted pieces. Sadly I haven’t run into one of these small street art patches yet, but it must be funny to accidentally 

walk over it.

Photos from Flickr

And you know what’s funny, while doing some research on this artist, I found about another artist called Jan Vormann and his ‘Dispatchwork’. This German man travelled through the whole world during 2007 until 2010, visiting cities like New York, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, St Petersburg and Rome. His mission was to rebuild the crumbling walls of monuments and buildings. With Lego. Yes, the toy you (probably) played with as a child. His colorful reparations attract a lot of attention from by passers. For instance, in Berlin, he filled the gun holes in the walls from the Second World War.

I like street art a lot (that is, if you don’t count ugly ‘I was here/kill this/fuck that/love you’- graffiti), mostly because it’s fun to just run into it. When you go to a museum, you expect to see art. When you’re just wandering around in a big city, you don’t.  

Book love

Taschen, Rue de Buci 2, Paris

Photos from taschen.com

The main reason why I’m writing this post is to let you know how super excited I am about the opening of a Taschen store in Amsterdam this summer. I’m a huge fan of their book collection and can’t wait to visit their shop (P.C. Hooftstraat 44).

            Ever since we’ve ran into the Taschen store in Paris a few years ago, I always want to go there whenever I’m in Paris. It’s located in the heart of St. Germain des Pres, at Rue de Buci (a really cozy street filled with a lively open-air market everyday).
            Even though I tried, I never walk out Taschen empty handed. There's always something in that store that I really really really want to buy. I love their design and architecture books, but most of all their great selection of photography books. I already got a few of their books about one of my favorite photographers Robert Doisneau. I just adore everything about his work, so if you don’t know he is, please google him and get enchanted by his romantic, funny and beautiful photographs.

            Still definitely on my wish list are Taschen Paris or/and Taschen New York, an amazing collection of great shopping, restaurant and hotels tips collected in a book filled with pretty drawings and images.

P.s. Got exhausted after shopping at Taschen (or at any other nice boutique at Rue Buci)? Go to the cocktailbar right in front of the store (forgot the name, sorry!) and order yourself a delicious strawberry mojito! 

The perfect basics

Brandy & Melville, 59 rue Notre Dame des Champs, Paris

I read about this store somewhere on the internet and when I visited Paris last January, I had to find it. Mostly because they only have a few shops in Europe (the most of them in Italy, since it’s an Italian brand). Their store it located on rue Notre Dame des Champs, behind Jardin Luxembourg, next to mostly shops for children, antique and housekeeping.
            At Brandy & Melville you can find great basic shirts, blouses, skirts and dresses made of nice fabrics for a good price. I only bought some stuff of their basic collection, but they also got a few special items and some accessories (like scarfs and hair ribbons). In my opinion it’s definitely worth the walk, especially when you walk through Jardin Luxembourg since that park is nice visiting itself.

Lenny Kravitz’ favorite (too)

L’as du fallafel, 34 Rue des Rogiers, Paris.

If you’re in Paris and happen to feel like having a healthy snack, then I know the right place for you to go. A few years ago we ran into this place accidentally, but forgot to write down the address. The following year we tried in vain to find it again and after two days we eventually did. So now, the location of this restaurant is engraved in my memory.

It’s located in the Jewish quarter (which in itself is worth a visit because of the nice vintage shops and the bakeries with their sweet pastries you find around there), at a small cobblestone street called Rue des Rogiers to be exactly. You can hardly miss it, since there’ll probably be people outside waiting for their order. It’s a bit crowded inside, so you can also decide to order at the walk-up window and walk around eating your fallafel. 

            When you order the Fallafel Special (for only 6,50 Euros), you get a large pita bread filled with tasty fallafel, hummus, grilled eggplant (delicious!), tomato, cucumber, cabbage and radish. You can definitely taste their dedication to each dish they make, since everything tastes so fresh and  well prepaired. 

            So, whenever you visit Paris, try to find this great place for lunch, dinner or a late night snack. And that’s an order J!

We have a winner

Pizza Marinara, 46 Rue Dauphine, Paris

Okay, just looking at these photos makes me want to drive back to Paris immediately. Marinara, a family run restaurant down at Quartier Odéon, definitely serves the best pizza I’ve ever tasted outside Italy. (well, except the one my dad makes..)
They make their pizzas in a wood fired oven and they use great ingredients, like buffalo mozzarella and Prosciutto di Parma. They open at about 1 or 2 o’clock and most of the time it’s already crowded within an half hour. If you want a window seat you definitely have to be there on time.
            If you still have room left for desert (which you always should have), try the tarte tartin (they also make it in the wood fired oven) or the profiterole. Walk around a little bit after dinner in this neighborhood, it’s very cozy and full with nice shops, bakeries and bars.

Ps. The metro exit is called Odéon.When you get out, follow Rue de L’ancienne Comédie. Keep walking until you reach café Buci, walk past in on the right (Rue Buci) and you will see in on your left in just a few meters..