So I’m back with more metro people.

But this time it isn’t I who’s capturing the many splendored specimens from our fabulous Parisian metropolitan, it’s master sketch artists.

Paris-based site De Lignes en Ligne, is an online forum expressly created for etchers of the underground.  It’s a magnificent collection because each artist has his or her own style, and, yet all these artists’ drawings combine to form such an accurate, varied, colorful, and comprehensive portrayal of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the metro.

In perusing these drawings, I find myself musing… “I swear I’ve seen that guy before…” and… “her face looks so familiar.”  After all, we Parisians spend so much time on the metro. “Maybe it was on line 10…”  The artists generally specify on which line they found their artistic fodder, so you have to wonder…

(Yes, I’m totally going to keep checking back to see if one day I turn up in one of their etchings. )

The talented artists featured above (from top to bottom): Bandini, Santiago Bordils, Simon, Lapin, Jean Matthieu Tanguy, Paul Poutre, Luc Grateau, Isabelle, and Boulet. 

Join De Lignes en Ligne on Facebook. 

Join City of Annie on Facebook!

Well, I think it’s time you knew…

I’m turning Japanese.

Some of my favorite sweet spots here in Paris are Japanese owned and/or inspired, and the newly opened, Mori Yoshida, is no exception.

Mori Yoshida marries the decadence of French traditionalism with clean, artistic Japanese flair. Sweetly situation in the shadow of Napoleon’s tomb, on the east side of Avenue Breteuil, it is the 7th arrondissement’s new secret.

I discovered this little gem as I do most places these days… zipping by on my trottinette. “What was that?” *brakes screeching*

Suddenly, I’m carefully walking my trottinette home with a full box of pâtisseries to try… (gratefully I had roommates to help with the arduous task of eating them all. And by arduous I mean fantastic. )

In a city where gaudy, ancient decor and decoration reigns (and we love it), Mori Yoshida‘s clean and utilitarian shop offers our eyes a stark and zen retreat, and showcases their delicious chocolates, cakes, pastries, and viennoiseries with aplomb. Every confection is an artistic feat.

…Plus they have a silver tray of chocolate truffle samples. La classe !

The mastermind behind this unique and creative bakery is Morihide Yoshida, a young, award-winning Japanese pastry chef in his mid-thirties. After winning the grand prize twice on a Japanese television show, and opening a bakery in Shizuoka, Japan, Morihide decided that Parisians would be the next to benefit from the fruits of his genius. (And we’re happy about that, trust me.)

My favorite of the bunch was the pistachio saint honoré (pictured above.) It was incredibly decadent–the cream puffs were filled with a raspberry-ish custard, and the pistachio cream? Holy cream balls.

Also pictured: passion fruit custard tarte, and hazelnut mille feuille (curiously called a “Napoleon” outside of France), chocolates, and brioche feuilletées.

65 avenue de Breteuil, Paris, 7th.

Arrigato, Japan.

This is fascinating. Dove hired a forensic sketch artist to draw women, entirely based on, first, the woman’s description of herself, and then, a description of her by someone who just spent a few minutes with her in a waiting room. So interesting, and what a genius that forensic sketch artist is!

Fabulous advertising. It’s about time that an advertising campaign inspires people to appreciate their beauty.

Bravo, Dove.

 Dove Real Beauty Sketches. 

My Dear Readers,

Spring has finally sprung in Paris!

Oh, you thought the beginning of Spring was March 2oth?

HA!

We had snow in late March.

Yeah, it was rough. But… yesterday, finally, all of us Parisians crept out of our apartments like grizzly bears after a long winter’s nap. Windows were opened. Birds were singing. Suddenly people were picnicking, biking, and lounging along the sides of the Seine. Even “bike man” was out and about in Le Marais.

And Berthillon? Ever the ice cream tourist trap, this warm-weather hot spot was in full form with a long line stretching around many corners. (What the tourists don’t know is that they can get artisan gelato at Pozzetto in Le Marais, a hop, skip and a jump away with a fraction of the line and so much better! Shhh! An Parisian insider secret! Mouhaha!)

Click to see a quick video of the crazy Berthillon line:  city-of-annie-berthillon-line

Vive le printemps!

I am so delighted and honored to be portrait #100 of Studio MME’s 365 Portrait Challenge!

Megan, the artistic mastermind behind this clever challenge, is an illustrator and magic maker out of San Jose, CA. 100 days ago today, she embarked on this creative journey of portraiture and so far the results have been… illustrious!

What do you all think of the portrait? Leave a comment below and let me know!

Please check out Megan’s work, and join her on FB and Twitter.

P.S. In other news, please check out Missing You, a song I just uploaded to SoundCloud that was written by the über-talented Rachael Lawrence and Debra Ellen of PerfecTune, (and sung by yours truly. )

You probably don’t need me to tell you that the stuff we own often owns us. That in working ceaselessly to acquire, we actually mainly lose.… the many elements vital to our contentment: peace of mind, freedom, clear-headedness.

Now… I love a book-filled bookshelf and lovely handbags as much as the next person, but let’s face it — most of us would do well to shed a couple layers of excess baggage (see: superfluous stuff,) and would, in fact, totally thrive with less.

Photographer Huang Qingjun had similar sentiments, and sent himself of a photographic mission: photograph modest-living families in remote parts of China with all of their worldly possessions in front of their humble abodes. It took him over ten years to convince and photograph these families and their belongings but…

The result?

Positively flooring photographs. They make me want to remove my entire armoire from my bedroom and fling its contents around like confetti over developing countries.

Let us all laud the sustainability and freedom that minimalism provides for a moment… and maybe go through our sock drawers.

P.S. Many thanks to Ben Thomas and Amalia Rotheschild for the inspiration.

I’m such a fan of people. Aren’t people amazing? Not to flatter my own species or anything, but we are incredible! And this guy is one of us!

I mean… if Nick Pitera can sing like this, doesn’t that just expand your preconceived notions of what is humanly possible?

Nick Pitera is actually a 27-year-old 3D modelor at Pixar Animation Studios, but in his spare time, well, he makes amazing YouTube videos (and released his first single this past December.) Oh, and he was on Ellen.

Yeah.

Thanks, Nick… a) for loving Disney, and b) for sharing your talents with the world.

Find Nick on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.

With its rows of elegant produce, honeys, and handmade tarts, Marché Bio is thee place to be on a Sunday morning here in Paris. Stroll along the aisles, eat a galette or two, and wash it down with freshly squeezed orange juice. C’est beau, la vie. 

Marché Bio Boulevard Raspail 75006, Paris. Between rue du Cherche Midi et rue de Rennes.

Today I looked for green.

And I found it.

…Though it should be noted that any and all green that I found wasn’t due to any sort of St. Patrick’s Day festiveness, just the beauty of color variety in my day-to-day Paris life.

But it’ll do just fine.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, from a 15% Irish lass.

P.S. Ways to go green, ways to eat green, why we should all drink green tea.

I recently returned from a delightful long weekend in the heart of Catalonia.

“Barthelona,” as the locals call it, was a welcoming and warm retreat from Paris’ freezing-sorry-excuse-for-a-March joke,  and gave me the chance to catch up with good friends, eat chocolate, and convene with the fishes.

(Fish. Fishes. You say ‘eether,’ I say either.)

Anyway, you’ve all seen the Gaudi masterpieces, so I decided to show you some other sides of city: tires, clouds, Spanish busts, phallic buildings, and merry-go-rounds… plus introduce you to two of Barcelona’s gems: The Museum of Chocolate, or Museo de la Xocolata, and the Barcelona Aquarium.

Adventures in Choco-land:

A bar for thick, dark hot chocolate. (My kind of bar. We hung out. It was awesome.)

And… adventures in Fish Land:

Overall, que divertido.

Thanks to my friends Jenn and Daveed for the lovely weekend.

Of course, then…

…my flight home got cancelled due to a snowstorm in Paris, and I ended up having to take a TGV (a 6 hour rapid train) back home with my new French friend I made in the airport. Which is a whole ‘nother story, worthy of a tea and a languid afternoon. Hit me up.

(Note: The Picasso Museum was closed on Monday when I was trekking about. I’d been there before–fabulous–but it was still a very sad loss. I was assuaged, however, by copious dark chocolate consumption.)