So, I went with a relatively new friend to Paris. Let’s call her Anna because her name is Anna.
The purpose of our trip one might ask?
Very basic for me, take pictures, sit in cafées, walk along rue de Saint-Honoré and take the metro randomly around Paris to visit different branches of my favourite department store Monoprix. Ps That is where French women secretly get their reasonably priced good quality fashion showing them off as high end. Also one or two compulsory cultural visits to show myself that I am not just shallow.
Anna had a longer list. She did the whole cultural itinerary in seven days. And documented every single step from Marais to Montparnasse and back via Monet to the gardens of romantic walks, the Tuileries. And absolutely everything in between.
Anna also managed to step up her game as a model in front of my camera somewhere in between. We took pictures on the streets of Paris, in cafés and -for the Grande Finale- on the Pont Neuf, the sun setting in the background over the Eiffel Tower and the river Seine. All loved up by romantic thoughts Anna’s modelling rised to unpresendented levels. Stay tuned for the pictures featuring French Fashion.
A few of my favourite things to do:
-Buy a lukewarm salmon sandwich from Franprix, eat half of it on a bench in the gardens of Palais Royal thinking it’s a ham and cheese sandwich wondering why it tastes so funny. And have a refreshing drink A Jean Nicot in rue Saint-Honoré. Both locations, watch people.
-Go 5 times to 5 different Monoprix and try on the same leather gloves, cashmere jumpers, too tiny boots in the wrong colour, leopard-patterned funny packs, summer coats on sale because on sale.
-Buy 2 cashmere jumpers at Monoprix. Plus that short summer trench on sale. And some other knick knacks.
-Sit in cafes and talk to strangers convinced that they will be my new bestest best friends.
-Wake up in the middle of the night thinking it’s raining romantically. Turns out there was a massive leak in the bathroom from the upstair guy having a midnight shower.
-Starting the day with one spoon of quite slimy grey chia seeds soaked overnight in water in order to make my stomach face one or two pain au chocolat and a café crème for breakfast.
-Talking or shall we say slightly aggressively nagging myself past security up to the roof terrace of luxury hotel telling them I knew the pianist (not entirely untrue since I new the pianist’s friend) in order to see the sun setting and have a really expensive and tremendously low quality dirty margarita in said bar.
The view from the bar in the ultra-luxury hotel Cheval Blanc owned by the LVMH Group. 
Added bonus. Talking to younger loudmouths Finnish it-guys in the bar after secretly listening to them and walking up to them saying, Hi I am from Finland too. Could be embarrassing but Ce comme ça! Oh la laa!
By the way, I happened to sit next to Anna some weeks ago in a cafe in Helsinki. And then we went to Paris.
Read her weekly essays ¨Love Letters from Helsinki Journal¨ on Substack to get her side of the story.
So, about the cultural stuff…
The Irving Penn photo exhibition Penn&Fashion in the MEP Maison Européenne de la Photographie, on until 17.01.2027.
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Go and sit on a bench and read the Master and Margerita as a young girl did in this little secret garden in Marais only to discover it is actually the garden of a little museum called Musée Cognacq-Jay (link)
Link to photo gallery: Gallerie Zander on instagram
Link to Silk&Cashmere on instagram: Silk&Cashmere
