Paris and Amsterdam

Paris and Amsterdam

Paris

One thing that living in Spain has afforded me is the luxury of spending a day in Paris, almost as if it were a nearby neighborhood. With my dear friend Chris as my partner in crime for an adventurous European weekend, we arrived to a stunningly sunny and deliciously crisp Paris morning and headed straight to Montmartre to drop our things and delve headlong into some of our favorite Parisian neighborhoods.

Memories of freshly dressed and poised Parisiennes came flooding back as we popped over via Metro to grab lunch and peek into shops along rue Saint-Honoré. Colette was as always a pleasure to explore – the 900 euro YSL boots and the painful extrication from my iron grip notwithstanding – with its mixture of art, fashion, design objects and toys. The gallery featured an exhibition titled Off Off Bowery showcasing a collection of works by young artists, including some familiar pieces by neckface and Ryan McGinley.

One delicious outdoor nicoise salad later, we headed to Marais to admire charming art galleries and Paris boutique fashion at their finest. Suffice it to say I would be one poor woman if I hadn’t had the unfortunate luck of spending the majority of our time in the Marais on a conference call whilst browsing.

We had a quaint dinner with a fantastic array of friends, new and old, and after a nightcap back at the apartment rested up for the journey to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam

Another painfully civilized and fantastic feature of European travel is the accessibility of train travel. We spent a few quick hours watching as northern France, Antwerp, Brussels and the Netherlands flew past us and founds ourselves in center Amsterdam – yet another beautiful and sunny arrival.

We timed our trip to attend ADE – the annual Amsterdam Dance Event. A huge festival featuring a wide variety of DJs from around the world, the event takes over every venue in the city for four days. While there is significant attendance, the spread out nature of the event allows the venues to remain comfortably full while not inundated. As with most festivals, the hardest part is choosing which events to attend.

Probably my favorite party was at Paradiso for Trentemøller and the Danish group Lulu Rouge on our first night. Paradiso is an old theater featuring two mezzanine levels overlooking the dancefloor and stage. Some of the most amazing seats in the house were accessible to all and allowed for a lot of great vantage points and resting spots for tired legs. Lulu Rouge was the big surprise of the night, with a truly original sound and fantastically offbeat lead singer. A delicious mix of downtempo, dubby sounds, rumbling basslines and evocative vocals by Alice Carreri Pardeilhan, the end result is a moody and signature sound with true personality. A really great discovery.

Trentmøller really delivered on a high energy and eclectic set playing everything from banging techno to reggae, pop and drum and bass, there was plenty of room to dance and share in the energy with a dancefloor filled with smiling faces.

We spent the weekend with a perfect balance of great design and fashion shops such as Droog, Frozen Fountain, For our Friends, and SPRMRKT (my personal favorite for fashion), delicious meals at local cafes and design favorites like Nomads (drinks to die for) and Envy (delicious small plates), and of course the occasional stop to warm our toes and relax at laid-back coffeeshops.

One of my favorite features of Amsterdam is the seamlessness between private life and public life that comes from its scale and the openness of homes to the street. A walk at dusk affords intimate glimpses into private home lives and allows the quiet energy of the street to take on a new backdrop of families busily preparing dinner, couples sipping wine at a kitchen counter, or children racing around a living room, and I took great pleasure in the pastiche of those little vignettes of Dutch life.
Life in general takes on a rather peaceful yet collective spirit in Amsterdam.

Between the graceful intermingling of bicycle traffic, pedestrians and a seemingly small handful of cars and the at-home spirit of so many retailers and restaurateurs, one can’t help but feel as if you have joined a large family while visiting the city.

edit, April 2009: GOOD LUCK TO MY FRIEND CHRIS ON HIS MOVE TO AMSTERDAMMY!!!! xox