The best of Paris, via Instagram
Paris is a city that’s endlessly photographed: the icons, the sunsets, the stately terraces and crumbling facades. It’s a city that inspires artists, writers, tourists; it’s the most-visited city in the world.
For me, Paris is a city of crowded metros and unexpected details: a place where I feel at home and completely foreign. I love that I can make my way through the twisting laneways of the Marais without a map, and that I can still discover new restaurants and cafes that seem like an extension of me. As I wandered through neighborhoods that I know by heart and ones that I’ve never set foot in, here are a few of my favorite iPhone captures:
I met up with my friend Lindsey of Lost In Cheeseland for a mint tea and baklava at La Mosquée: just steps away from the mosque, this shady courtyard is filled with geometric designs, cheerful chatter and plenty of tiny birds. Arrive just after prayer adjourns to see an empty street fill up in mere moments.
One of the best juxtapositions in Paris: a massive Jef Aerosol mural, next to a crumbling church, next to the ultra-modern Centre Pompidou.
One of my best pastry discoveries: the rhubarb meringue tartelette from Sébastien Gaudard. Best enjoyed on the steps of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in full afternoon sunshine.
I love the collection at Centre Pompidou at any time of day, but I fell in love with the sweeping view of Paris rooftops at dusk from its upper floor.
The Promenade Plantée seems to be a green oasis in a sea of gray, but looking down from the rose-lined walkway shows that tree-lined boulevards in Paris are the rule, not the exception.
So this is my perfect morning: a latte served in a glass comme les Australiens, a crisp copy of the International Herald-Tribune, no Wifi to distract me and the whole of Paris to explore just outside the open window. Teléscope, you complete me.
The chaos of les soldes below is a distant memory on the peaceful Galeries Lafayette terrace.
When the weather turns chilly, a glass of red wine and a bowl of steaming French onion soup oozing with cheese is the only remedy.
What’s your favorite Paris Instagram photo?
