Plurabelle à Paris

On Sunday I leave for Paris, where I will spend the month of July in a tiny sixth-floor apartment in the Marais. A long time ago I lived in France for a couple years and to this day I still know no better place to go to focus, gather inspiration, and revitalize my creative energies. Even though it's only six months along, 2012 has already brought what feels like 6 years worth of developments – some of them exciting, some of them sad. Last month I completed the biggest and most thrilling undertaking of my career (more about that to be revealed here soon!) and now it's time to recharge, reboot, and refresh with one month of Paris summertime and god-only-knows how many croissants.

In a recent surge of nostalgia, I unearthed (from the depths of my hard drive) the folder of my old Paris photos. Above, clockwise from top left: an example of my favorite neighborhood graffiti artist's "Amour" tag on a Métro car window; a much younger me at my Marais window; the Vedette de Paris sign, pointing the way to boat rides on the Seine; a picnic at Parc André Citroën.

And if looking through old photos weren't enough to get me in the spirit, I've recently started baking baguettes. Below, my first attempt. While they were actually better than I'd hoped, they were still nothing like the real Paris boulangeries!