The Most Beautiful View of LA

I love these paintings of Los Angeles by artist Peter Alexander. The top one is my favorite. There is only one way to get this view: Taking off out over the ocean from LAX, sitting on the right side of the plane. You can see for miles up the Pacific Coast, past Pt. Dume. Pure beauty.

Returning home is lovely too:


More on Alexander here...

Sofia Coppola Inspiration Board

From French Vogue 2005. I adore all things Sofia...

I hope you're having a lovely Tuesday. I'm meeting friend for lunch in Chinatown, which I think will help get me over these blues. Thank you again for all your beautiful comments on my post about the loss of our dog Murphy. Sending you virtual hugs...

Thank You...

I so deeply appreciate all your kind words today. You are so dear to me. Thank you.


(Photo from here.)

Goodbye Sweet Dog

We had our little dog Murphy for more than 12 years. He was a rescue dog, so we were never really sure how old he was. But he was without a doubt a member of our family. He had been sick for awhile and over the weekend he passed. The house isn't the same without him. Missing him now, so much.

Hurts.

English Muse Vintage Store

My dears, I wanted to tell you that I've reopened my vintage store on eBay. At the moment, I only have eight auctions going, but it's a start! I gathered up a few extra treasures in Paris to sell in the store, so please take a look! It's called English Muse Vintage, which I know isn't terribly original...but you can find it {here}...

Let me know what you think!

xoxo


PS: The winner of the macarons is Megan Maloy!

Happy Weekend + Last Paris Post

One last batch of Polaroids....






Happy Friday my dears! Today concludes my series of posts on my Paris trip. Thank you so much for coming along with me! Don't forget to enter for the macaron giveaway. Will draw a name from a hat tomorrow!! Have a wonderful weekend! What do you have planned? As usual I have a mountain of laundry!

My Paris Apartment: The Details

Hello! As promised, here are the details on my Paris apartment. I found this beautiful place in the 16th Arrondissement last year on the vacation rental site VRBO.com. (I've also rented apartments in Rome and in Washington D.C. through them). I friend of mine recommended the site to me several years ago and I've been very happy with the results.

Each apartment is individually owned and listed on VRBO.com, and while I can't vouch for all the owners, my landlords in Paris couldn't be more gracious or obliging.

If you're interested in renting the apartment, here's the link. The building is aging and has a few quirks, but the apartment is beyond charming. Here's the link to more pictures on my flickr page.

As you'd expect, the rates are lower in winter, when the airfares are also on special. I flew to Europe on Air France with a last minute deal spotted on their website.

The next place I'd like to go is Barcelona.

Paris Polaroids

From my walk along the Seine.
(Photos were taken with my Polaroid OneStep Flash, bought on eBay.)

Parisian Love: This Ad Made Me Teary...

oh, this google commercial is so good!

(Via the beautiful Binary Bonsai...)

Ladurée Macaron Giveaway!!

As a thank you for all your wonderful comments during my trip to Paris, I wanted to give away this special box of macarons -- purchased this week at the Ladurée Champs-Elysees store!! To enter, just leave a comment here. The winner will be chosen randomly on Friday! Merci!

Meanwhile, a few more Paris posts to follow...xoxo

UPDATE: The winner of the macarons is Megan Maloy!

A View of the Arctic

Daylight is brief at the top of the world this time of year, but my flight home from Paris took me over the Polar Ice Cap and I managed to catch a view of moonrise and sunlight glinting off the pressure ridges in the ice. From 35,000 feet, they look like mountain ranges.

Lovely as it was, it was hard not to be shaken by the view of the broken sea ice that followed. It's a reminder that global warming challenges us all.

Home now in LA, with lots of memories of Paris and things to think about....

PS: I'm not sure if I told you this, but four years ago I wrote about this little documentary concerning this subject. I begged the producers to let me do the story while the film was still being edited. No one was really talking about global warming much back then -- except for one man who I had the honor of interviewing. The film turned into a very big deal. I'm very proud that LA Times was the first news organization to have the story. Here are the links to the old clips if you want to see them...

Macarons

On this, my last night in Paris, I went to dinner at Ladurée on the Champ Elysees. I had the best Club Sandwich of my life in the bar (along with a glass of champagne). Of course, I couldn't leave without getting a little box of macarons to take home. It's past midnight here, and the cab is arriving at 7:30 a.m. I'm excited because my friend Elaine, who lives here in Paris, is flying back with me to Los Angeles. And if I can manage to rustle the money together, I would love to come back with her when she returns to Paris in March.

My vacation -- including airfare and my beautiful apartment -- cost less than $1,800 for the entire week. Economical, I think, for expensive Paris. I'll give you all the details on how to rent apartment, if you're interested, when I get settled back in LA. I also have lots of Polaroids of the city I want to scan to show you. So, will see you soon. Thank you for keeping me wonderful company on my trip. I've loved and savored all your comments!

Xoxox

Paris Papers & Ribbons

Most of the paper treasures -- excluding the my spent Metro tickets - were found at the Porte de Vanves Flea Market. (Thank you for suggesting it!) It made for a lovely Sunday morning. Afterwards, I had a croque-monsieur and a hot chocolate at a nearby cafe...

I only have one day left in Paris before I head back to LA. Sigh...


PS: Thank you Kevin for the mention today on LA Observed. Even after a terrible trauma, a girl must go on living her life, you know? Off to have macarons at Laduree on the Champ Elysees.

Carrousel

I've counted three: One at the Eiffel Tower, one at the Louvre and one at the Hotel de Ville. Any others? I don't think the French invented them, but they certainly have perfected them -- like the amusement park equivalent of the macaron!

Louvre & the Musée D'Orsay

My dears, here are a couple more photos I took today while wandering around Paris. These were taken with my iPhone. I took even more with my Polaroid camera (6 packets!) -- which seemed to cause a lot of attention. I looked like such a tourist, apparently, that three people tried to scam me by claiming they found my "lost ring." I knew it was a scam because most of my jewelry involves rhinestones.

Anyway, the top photo is of the Louvre. The bottom photo is a picture of one of the glass canopies at the Musée D'Orsay, such a magical place...



More tomorrow!