heaving cities [part 2]

Do you ever get that moment, where you just realize you're in love

I'm in deep l o v e with Paris

It just tickles me how much I long to be back there.

Maybe I'm just sick of the rain, but something about Paris just really got under my skin.

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Day 5

Day 5 was commanded by my brother, so off we were to the Eiffel Tower. Big mistake. I now warn all of you, very solemnly, do not go to the Eiffel tour. Because you will be forced to wait in a queue for 2 and a half hours, to get into another queue. 

Unfair yes, but totally worth it.

The views were breathtaking, but I do recommend that if you are thinking of going, book in advance, or walk up to the first stage, the queue is minuscule in comparison to the elevators. When we got up there we were met with views stretching up and onwards. You could see all around Paris, all of the landmarks tiny pinpricks in the distance. We even spotted our apartment! It was just so amazing to see the clouds' shadows pass across the skyline, and the tiny little people milling around like ants. 

Descending from our lofty heights we then hopped on the underground home, but decided to then hop off, right at the top of the Champs Elysees. The Arc de Triomphe was pretty damn impressive, but so were the yards of queue outside Louis Vuitton, hehe

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Day 6

We were staying in in th middle of Montmartre, in an arms reach to the Moulin Rouge, and with the sun beating down, we decided to go exploring in our surroundings. Okay so I've watch the Baz Luhrmann masterpiece quite a few times, and never does it describe the barrage of steamy shops that line the high street. It was really quite scary. 

Dashing away from the crowds of creepy bearded men, we headed up the steep white steps, towards the Sacre Coeur. My dad being the architect that he is, was quick to drown us in gothic and new roman (I think that's it) facts, but I was just a little overwhelmed by the shear size of the roof. Paris really does have some amazing sights. 

Afternoon tea was a'calling, so we settled our selves down and dived into some lovely puddings. Now, little fact here, the whole Archer/Rayner household is completely mad for cake, I can't quite understand how we're all not the size of houses,  though my thighs are very much on the way there. We eat a lot of cake. And nothing else really. So when I say I found the most perfect creme brulee, I mean it.

Gosh I such a fatty, haha

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Day 7

Tilly's choice lead us to the Science Park, which was empty. All of the other sights were heaving, sweaty messes of queues and crying children. But the park was almost empty apart from the odd speedo clad jogger (that was scarring). And that was quite refreshing. We lazily wandered up the grid, pausing to look at the red metal buildings and the fairground attraction. They even had a submarine, how cool? 

We left the sun kissed grass in search of some shadow, and refound the entrance, complete with roaring fountain and a little cafe. As much as I love plastic cheese, it does not go well in a club sandwich!

Traveling back to Abbesses, we continued to explore the area we were staying in. This was when I happened upon the dress. The Dress. The most amazing dress upon this planet. Oh gosh it was gorgeous. And nearly all of my savings. 

I think this might be the first time  my mum has ever encouraged me into buying any clothing. And now my lovely little wonder dress is sitting happily in my closet, te he.

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Day 8 

Our final, dreaded day had arrived, so we decided to head out to the Marché aux Puces, the flea market, in Saint-Ouen. The sun had decided to rear it ugly head and you could feel the waves of heat rising off the tarmac. Shade was nonexistent, and the Camden-esque market that had formed a crust around the Marché aux Puces was heaving. 

I do not do heat well, but thankfully a quick change of direction lead us straight into the market of fleas. Well actually not a flea was insight, rather I was met with the gorgeous vision of row upon row of antique shops. I thought I was hallucinating. If any of you have been to the Kingston Antique market, image that times 33. And then you have the Marché aux Puces. 

Stalls upon more stalls filled to the brim with all things antique. There was a stall filled with little odd bits, including babies. Another selling the most exquisite wedding and 50's dresses. Another with completely dedicated to Chanel, complete with a tiny tweed jacketed dog. 

We spent our final night with the world best creme brulee, and the next morning I returned home with a heavy heart and a considerably lighter case.

I wonder why?

te he 

xox Eve-Rei

p.s I've got another post lined up, with pictures of all my Parisian purchases, I thought I might kill you all if I added any more photos.

skylines make me happy [part 1]

When your childhood is filled with toddling round cavernous concrete architectural museums, you get a bit wistful. Its a strange thing to be jealous of a giant bobble head mouse, but I am. 

Our holidays for the past few years have all been in driving distance, I could never complain about the English coast, freckles, Cornish ice-cream and crabbing, but I have been hungering for something foreign. 

And Paris (french pronunciation if you please) is just the place to quench those exotic needs.

A day by day account is the only way to justify a beautiful city, it just  can't be condensed!

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Day 1

The City of Romance is a beautiful place, but the journey there is butt ugly. Being the idiot I am, I decided to bring my body weight in clothes. Case + Clogs + London Underground = Face plant galore. I'm sure it would have been entertaining to watch, but two very kind men offered to carry my case, on two separate occasions. The kind gentlemen still exists! Tehe 

I've been to Paris once before, but never by Eurostar. I really dislike the Eurostar. It made me spill my tea. 

So to pass the 2 hour journey, Tilly, Inigo and I partook in a pose off, resulting in 200 photo of us trying to look like Unicorns, Tyra Banks and 198 other persons.

Our apartment was gorgeous. Beautifully bohemian, my dad's nightmare, but with piles of Vogue, Harper's Bazar and Tatler lines the walls, it was paradise. 

 

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Day 2

Montmartre being just a few steps from our apartment, we whisked our selves away to the Pompidou centre et Les Halles. The queues were horrific, and it acted more like a shelter from the torrential rain than anything. After browsing the gift shop and finding the Diana camera I had been hankering after, I was locked in the weighty debate as to wetaher or not to blow all of my saved euros. I desisted, leaving the shop empty handed but still with a full purse. Y'all should be trés proud of me. Te he

We dived straight into french cuisine and after the rain had stopped we ventured into a small cafe for a crepe. Yom yom, hehe is how is should be described. Tres delish. And lovingly accompanied by the cafe's black cat. 

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Day 3 

We delved deeper into Paris, this time visiting La Fayette, a large shopping center, mainly to lovingly stare at all the clothes, but also to marvel at the breathtaking roof. It was day three and I still hadn't spotted a stylish Parisian, sadly La Fayette didn't yield. We moved on from the store walking past the National Academy. This would be the point where I realized that Paris was full of naked statues. No not just full, bursting. 

We carried on and the rain thankfully let up allowing us to pass through towards the Louvre. It really is a moment where you have to put everything down and just walk and absorb. Passing through the arch and the Louvre's triangular structure erupt from the ground and drive up into the sky is quite fantastic. After frolicking in the courtyard and being appropriately tourist we traveled on, passing through the gardens with the views of the Tour Eiffel in the distance.

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Day 4 

I burnt my tongue on a snail. I think I can safely say that I am probably the only person to ever say that. I can also tick off number 33 on my bucket list, as I have chomped down on a mollusc. And they are delicious. Oh my goodness I love them so much! Haha.  Today we went exploring south of the river, popping our heads into little boutiques and dining on French cuisine, hence the snails. 

Sadly I had no luck with finding a purchase, but I did find a wonderful Desigual shop where I chatted with the man behind the counter about street fashion and good areas of Paris. We then crossed the Seine onto one of its islands, in search of Notre Dame. Following the crowds (always a good thing to do) we so found her, reaching up into the sky impressively and boating a large queue to boot. Mum, being from queue loving England jumped into the queue and we soon gained entry. I'm not amazingly religious but I found the spiritual presence of the place breathtaking, the stained glass and cavernous roof was just outstanding. My brother, not being at all religious (not eating snails is supposedly his) was quick to spot all naked and or headless statues. Thankyou Inigo.

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So those were the first four days of my trip. I'm sensing a photo overload, to give y'all eyes a break I'll upload part 2 of this post of epic length before you can say 'Cornish pasties'. Well maybe a little longer. Hehe

xox Eve-Rei

your love and comments are little sweet little french poodles dyed a candy floss pink

Have a favourite day? Any other snail related problems? Or an explanation as to where all the fashionable people went? Do tell me!

the albatross is gone

Te he I'm back! 

Shock Horror, a small post from Eve? What is this? 

Haha, I just wanted to post a little something to say I'm back from the land o'France

And have just received my GCSE results

I'm not going to post what they are, but gosh its such a weight off my chest, once I got them it felt like some large bird had flown off , GCSEs are over! 

I thought I was going to be sick before receiving them, I literally ran up to the school and grabbed them from my teachers hand. But I get to continue all of my chosen subjects so I'm happy, te he

*Air fist pump*

Well done and congrats to all the teen pips who just received their results, and A levels too! We did it!

I felt like giving into my shopaholic needs and that a good ouch of retail therapy would relieve my anxiety induced sleeploss

First up, I finally caved in a bought The Editors album I was hankering after, once I saw it was a fiver in Banquet Records.

Has anyone else noticed the Dharma Initiative/LOST themed bags that their now giving away. I'm sensing a conspiracy!  

I'm a sucker for lovely photos, and I find that Glamour magazine is so wonderfully charming, even if it was just for its little captions it always makes me giggle. And Victoria Justice was on the front of Teen Vogue, now I'm not like a mega fan of her but I really do like her new series Victorious , so it was nice to find out about the girl behind the name.

It was only after buying the diary that I realized that it looked like a Gideons Bible, oops. Paperchase do really lovely little gift bags, and for £2 I thought this little charmer might make a nice little clutch type thing. And that face, so cute!

My mum being the sweetie she is bought me a congrats pressie in the form of Benefits 'Get Even' concealer. Its Mighty fine! I've used it for a year now and its still my favourite. And is like the only concealer to produce an actually pale shade. Sadly I'm beyond 'porcelain' and 'moon' but the brilliant brains behind Benefit created the perfect shade. Benefit, choice of champions!

te he I'm still on a high, maybe that why I dressed as Little Bo Peep. Not the most flattering of photos, but its one of the vintage pieces I picked up in Paris, and I thought it might be correct result receiving attire.

I'm going to dip dye my hair, to add to my already eclectic look, and I'm stuck between the colours of lilac, blush pink and bleached. What colour would you like to see me go?

I have a post lined up and ready to rumble, all about Paris, so I'll post that tomorrow, I just had the urge to post....

te he 

xox Eve-Rei

your comments and love make the clouds change colour

p.s Do y'all prefer shorter posts? I usually roll a few days into one post to give it length and make it a bit more chatty, but if you'd like I could do more like daily ones, which would be a lot shorter, but more regular. 

au revoir lovelies

The summer is being lovely, and when night falls its always pleasant, no matter what weather preceded it.

I think that twilight hour is my favourite. Where you feel the heat wrap round you like a hug. Its like summer is a belt, and you can feel the weight round your stomach  

Or maybe I'm just getting fat

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'I want you to say hello to my little friend'

tehe, I love that line, it always makes me fall into giggles.

but in all seriousness now I do actually want to introduce you to someone

haha, my little luchador 'El Scorpio' 

My mum let me get him at B&Q cause I didn't object loudly to slug killer. I also got a Hybrid Victoria plant and another little desert plant, who are both named after my two favourite leading ladies, te he see if you can guess who they are. 

Cacti with a Mexican wrestling namesakes, an interesting concept, I might have a collection a'brewing

 tehe

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My fingers are horribly contorted in some kind of crossed hope that the weather in Paris will be nice. 

We might also travel to Versailles, to see Marie Antoinette, so I becoming so giddy with the prospect of leaving. 

I've packed my bag, (i.e my whole wardrobe in a travel form) and created my holiday play list.

The Shins · A Comet Appears

Brothers Martin · The Missionary

The New Pornographers · Challengers

The National · Slow Show

Rouge Wave · Lake Michigan

Editors · The Weight of the World

The Eels · Fresh Feeling

Finley Quaye & William Orbit · Dice 

Of course a little longer than that, but these are my favourites. I just got the Editors 'An End Has a Start' album, mindblowing.

I haven't been that entranced by a whole album since the Howling Bells. Te he, there's a youtube link on each song, so give em a listen. Or does anyone have any other musical suggestions? 

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Seeing as Sherlock is no longer gracing my screen (Oh I adore Benedict Cumberbatch) I have nothing to do than plague my time by talking to cacti and finishing my biology work. Seriously one of the questions is, what organelle looks like a stack of pitta bread.

I hate pitta bread

Aside from my carbohydrate hate I decided to make something from my two fish print handkerchief, from my previous post.

 

Its kinda crap, well not kinda, it is, and not even wearable. Te he Paris does not approve!

Ignore the cycling shorts, I got some tights from Gap kids a couple of years ago, but my legs were too long, so I decided to cut them to make some cute pastel shorties.

Te he, my legs being long? Thats a foreign concept!

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Sadly this will be my last post for a bit. Hopefully there's wi-fi in our apartment en Paris, and I'll also have my camera, so I be sure to take stacks of photos, just for all you lovelies. Ooo maybe, I'll have like a two parter holiday post. How does that sound?

 te he 

xox Eve-Rei

your comments and love are like little French wrestling poodles, out of this world and magical

p.s 150 followers? Hellz Feckin' Yeah!

Hi-five to each and every one of you, gosh I have the urge to bake and send cookies to all you gorgeous people!

humble pie

Grace Kelly is my ultimate style crush 

There is no competition

My mother is a big Hitchcock fan, and I always relished in sitting with her, sipping tea and watching old horrors on the VCR, so I was first introduce to the late Ms Kelly through Rear Window, which still sits at number five in my all time favorite films.

So what better than a day, still sitting sipping tea with my mum and watching her elegance, but rather than an old shed, the V&A?

So after eating lush my fish pie and the remains of  my mum's chicken pie, we decided to wonder over to the fashion section.

 I must have been to that section way to many times, but it still enthralls me each time. 

After starting at Mr McQueen for what could have easily been half an hour my mum dragged me off to the shop, to see if we could buy any more pattern booklets. Sadly they were too expensive, but I did find a lovely pink kimono for the very generous price of £140, hehe.

We then went to see the theatrical costumes and set, which is my second favorite exhibit and then after that the fabric archives

At 2 o'clock we we then allowed into the Grace Kelly exhibit, which did not disappoint. Though the collection was small it was still perfect, showcasing some of my favorite outfits, such as her famous Hermes bag, a collection of her hats, and a short film, including scenes from Rear Window. I really wish there was more of her outfits and ensembles, but it was still a pleasure to stand less than a foot away from them, and there were a lot of photos and lovely little information points. I really would recommend it, even if you're not a fan, she really was a breath taking woman, and the collection really does display that.

Of course being the camera happy person I am, I completely missed the no photography sign, but successfully captured half of the collection before being tapped on the shoulder by an angry looking attendant. I won't post any, as I'd rather not piss of the V&A. 

te he, I've decided to turn over a new leaf and try and spend less. So it was off to the Monday market  on a bargain hunt. And a bargain I did find, bagging a little crop top number for only a pound, yipee!

I then traveled to the menswear section of M&S looking for a suit for my dad, when I spied a fishy beauty, again for only a pound. And whilst at home, watching Gok coach several naked women, I fashioned a neck feature from my pillow handles. Yes pillows have handles! 

And finally after a luxurious trip to London avec mes amis I picked up a new pair of  maroon pumps from urban outfitters for £28, now named Nigella and Phillip

And such has been my week. I've been hurriedly trying to finish all of my holiday coursework, which is a lot, but that what you get by taking 5  A levels. But I have to get it done as  my family and I are planning to go to the city of romance, Paris!

I am so so so so so so so so excited, like my brain is going to burst! 

I've got to get together 11 outfits, so any suggestions, past outfits you've liked? Any ideas for new combinations or just certain pieces you think might impress the french fashion crowds? Also any places I should go? I've been before but to different districts, but mum's decided to try out Northern Paris this time.

te he, yip yip yipee!

xox Eve-Rei

p.s I'm currently sitting here, cutting up the latest Vogue to go on my wall, but sadly cannot go in my room due to sheer terror and fear for me life

The largest, most poisonous looking spider has taken up residence in my room, so I've slept in my sisters room for the past few days, only to wake up at 6:30 this morning, to find Meme sitting next to my arm taking a good 'ole piss. Thanks babe, way to go and comfort my arachnid fears