...patterns in paris...

...while stomping around Paris last week I got lots of surface pattern inspiration for Summer14!  Heres a peak at a vintage floral I found while hitting up a brocante, & an ethnic geo I came across while snooping at Scotch&Soda. x

...paris bound...

...off to Paris tomorrow for an impromptu visit with my babe...he's what's on my hit list...

...SNOOPING around at Colette, Merci, Fleux, Astier de Villatte, & Isabel Marant among others...NOSHING at Francois Felix,  Derriere & La Maison Rose..oui oui! bon weekend! {image via here} x mvg

...paris in the rain...

...I've been pretty good at the last minute trips lately...this one was multi-layered with pattern inspiration shopping, a work conference for my babe & picking up the much deserved vintage moto for him (a 1971 motobecane) just on the outskirts of paris. 

I always seem to get stuck in the rain when I'm in paris...sans umbrella!  During a torrential downpour I ducked into the 1st shop I could find & it just happened to be colette- what a pleasant surprise!  Such a fun shop filled to the brim with design inspiration of all sorts.  My favorite finds were sydney evans' arrow ring & the le labo products...

The 2nd night we found ourselves at chic side street bistro, francois felix, a must for sure.  The food, wine, & ambience was very parisian...loved it!  {images via here & pattern via here} x mvg

...astier de villatte...

...back in march I wrote about my trip to London & the amazing ceramic collection I stumbled across at Liberty.  Well I happened to run into the atelier of astier de villatte yesterday while perusing for prints...

The collection is absolutely gorgeous....I'm so in love with the textures & the milky washed looking glazes!  I wish I could have a house full of this stuff...headed back south tomorrow...cheers to friday! x mvg {images via here, here, here}

...paris watercolors...

oui oui...watercolors I painted while in Paris...x

...zen & things...

...so I'm not done with my parisian posts quite yet...there were a couple more home decor shops that I made my way into that are worth talking about....

...zen chic had some killer textiles that I was lusting over...the fringed pillows they carry are made from recycled fabric (these types of rugs are everywhere so I'm sure you're familiar).  In the end I purchased 2 of the tropical-esque floral pillow cover above in black...I fell in love with the hand painted feel & the stitching detail.  I have a thing for throw pillows...it's no secret!

... home atour du monde...I have to say when I reached this shop I had been caught in a rainstorm with no umbrella & my map was super soggy so these crumpled city maps caught my eye right away...virtually instructable...I know most of you have iPhones, but since moving to France I've retired mine so this is my vintage mode of transport around cities these days...I'm a dork! ha! xx mvg

...merci beaucoup...

MERCI in paris...everyone I know who has been here raves about this place...no doubt!  The second I walked in I knew it would be an experience.  This place was insane....multi level barn loft vibe with everything unique for the home along with an herb & veggie garden, a cafe, & a restaurant.  I could have stayed at this place for days.  You also get some good karma shopping here since all profits go towards helping poor children on the island of Madagascar...seriously, merci!  A couple of my favorite bobbles, 1 & 2....x mvg

...fleux paris...

I had such a blast tooting around paris solo last week....my friend Julie gave me a bunch of interior shops to check out & FLEUX was one of them.  They actually have 2 stores on the same street across from eachother- they were similar but carried different lines.  I was wishing I had more room in my suitcase for these two fancy finds....1 & 2, & unfortunately I couldn't find either on their website....booooooo!

...paris fleas...

...I wish I had taken more pictures...these don't serve the paris fleas much justice!  I hoofed it to one of the largest ones in Clignancourt- march aux puces last monday.  When the taxi driver dropped me off he told me to beware of pic-pockets...I definitely felt like I was in the "wrong" part of paris initially & definitely stuck out like a sore thumb.  The actual market is surrounded with gimmicky vendors selling tons of crap, but if you just duck into one of the side alleys its the difference of night & day-  it gets super quiet & there is a whole network of alleys within this area that are filled with flea market vendors & antique dealers....Its quite magical actually.  I was definitely a little overwhelmed as to where to start & what to look for, but once I caught my groove I was fine!  There were some real gems to be found here, but the prices were definitely steep...

...paris by storm...

...nice little 48 hours in Paris!  My husband & I jetted off to Paris late last week & stayed in the most amazing area- Le Marais- great boutiques, restaurants, markets, & galleries.  I would absolutely recommend this area to anyone traveling to Paris.  After exploring the Le Marais area we hit Le Louvre & Tower de Eiffel as any good tourist would, but both were accelerated visits to avoid the crowds.  We'd both already been to the Louvre & seen most of the famous works so we decided to cruise through Napoleon III's apartments- luxurious, extravagant, & beautiful!  Fast forward to lunch- amazing little bistro near Le Bastille where we noshed on warm chevre salad, minced steak avec fried egg, lots of Rose, & a creme brulee desert- of course....