paris - the marais and beyond

paris - the marais and beyond

22 Jul 2016

I had 4 full days in Paris and I tried to use them as wisely as possible.I stayed in the 9th arrondisement, a new area for me. Whilst scenically it wasn't the prettiest area, it was very well located for the rest of Paris. I revisited old favourite locations such as the Marais; tried out some new to me art galleries as well as taking a day trip to Fontainebleu. I took lots of photos so there'll probably be a few posts devoted to my stay in Paris.




Let's start in the Marais, where I found this amazing door.




Walking along Rue St-Antoine, I spied some gorgeous flower shops.





and the fruits of summer.



The shop Merci is on the edge of the Marais so I began my day there before walking to the Musee Picasso.



I love the book lined walls of the cafe and of course the signature Fiat out the front.



Inside I discovered there were some new more muted colours in their famed range of linen.



But I had a museum to visit so I walked from Merci to the Musee Picasso.



The museum was closed for renovations last time I was in Paris.



It's still the same peaceful place I remember from before.



I thought the recent terrorist attacks might have changed Paris.



Thankfully, that wasn't the case. The cafes were full of people enjoying themselves.



I'll be back some time next week with more images from Paris.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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merci - mini shopshoot

merci - mini shopshoot

13 Jun 2014

Hi Every-one,

well I'm back home in Sydney and battling with jet lag. There's nothing like being wide awake at 2.00 a.m. but what a fabulous time to blog!



When I was in Paris, I decided to revisit some of my favourite places and one of those places was Merci. I thought it was a popular place before but now, it's quite frantic and obviously the place to shop in Paris. 



They were in the process of installing their new display, Heliotropic so I revisited the store to see the outcome.



24 hours is a long time at Merci. Completely new light fittings had been installed in this display.





The store is nothing if not eclectic. It stocks everything from furniture, fashion, linen, hardware, cosmetics and stationery as well as 2 cafes.



and of course it's trademark brightly coloured linens.



I love their line of Brooklyn tin wallpaper.



I'm looking for a new light fitting for my living room so these lights were a source of inspiration as is the rest of their store.



If you like what you see, Merci now has online shopping or they can be found at 111 Avenue Beaumarchais if you happen to be in Paris.

See you all again next week with some more images from my time in Paris.

Have a great weekend.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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bamboo magazine

bamboo magazine

25 Jul 2012

A few months ago, I received an email from the editor of a Brazilian design magazine called Bamboo asking if they could use one of my Merci images. To date my Merci images have appeared in publications in Hong Kong, USA, Sweden and now Brazil.



My copy of the magazine arrived by post a few weeks ago looking a little the worse for wear. I asked the editor if she could send me pdf's of the article and magazine cover to share with you.



My image is on the far right of the page. Now my Portuguese is as fluent as my Swedish so I can't read a word of the article but the page looks very pretty. By the way, I love seeing my work in print, so one of my goals in 2013 is to have my photos published in an Australian food or design magazine or even better, in both.

I'm off to watch the final of Master Chef Australia so see you all again next week,

Jillian

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allt i hemmet - published

allt i hemmet - published

18 Apr 2012

A few months ago I received an email from Allt i Hemmet, a Swedish magazine, asking if they could use one of my Merci images for a feature on Paris. Sweden is a long way from here so I'd not seen a copy of their magazine before.



Of course I agreed and the photo appeared in the April edition of the magazine. My copy arrived last week and although I can't read a word of Swedish, the magazine was filled with all kinds of loveliness.



Here's a copy of the page lay-out and if you read Swedish, you can read the article below.

It's a lovely magazine and I'm very proud that one of my little photos appeared on it's pages.

I'll check back with you all next week so until then,

Jillian

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design bureau

design bureau

2 Apr 2012

Have you heard of the magazine, Design Bureau? Well I hadn't when I received an email from Sarah at Design Bureau magazine last October inviting me to contribute some of my Merci photos to their magazine. Design Bureau is based in Chicago and I live in Sydney Australia, which is why I'd not seen or heard of the magazine. Seeing my images featured in print still gives me a thrill, so I agreed to send along a few images.



The images were to feature in their March/April issue and a copy of the magazine landed on my front door step last week.



Here's the lay-out they designed.



I thought they did a really good job. If you'd like to read the article, here is the pdf. Many thanks to the staff at Merci for allowing me to photograph their iconic Parisian store.

See you all on Wednesday with an Easter inspired treat,


Jillian

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merci, merci obscura magazine - published!

merci, merci obscura magazine - published!

10 Aug 2011

Have you heard of Obscura magazine? Well I hadn't back in June when I received an email asking if they could use some of my Merci images in their magazine. Since then I've discovered the magazine is produced by a team in Hong Kong.



My copy of the magazine arrived on Monday and here is the final lay-out.



It's always such a thrill seeing your work in print. I haven't had a chance to look through the magazine properly yet but I hope to this coming weekend. What the magazine didn't know - I was on my way to Paris to shoot more images of Merci.




Holly from decor8 has just done a lovely piece on her blog featuring my images. This is my take on Merci.



You may notice the images are a little different from my normal style. How different? Well those of you who've followed my blog for a while, know that it's all about the detail with my work, but not in this case. I received very specific instructions that I was to shoot 'panoramiques' only.



I tried my best to fulfil the brief, but gosh it was difficult.



I bought a few little treasures for myself from Merci and yes, some of the items are still waiting to be unwrapped, so no photos for now I'm afraid.



Lots more to come. I still have 2 more UK shopshoots to share with you as well as my black and white film images from Paris, so stay tuned!

Jillian

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shopping in paris

shopping in paris

8 Aug 2011

As you know, I love to shoot shops but when I travel I'm more of a window shopper than an actual purchaser. I travel with a backpack on wheels so that restricts what I can buy. Here is what caught my eye.



When I was in London, I paid a visit to Petersham Nurseries where I found this display of Astier de Villatte ceramics. Astier de Villatte was on my list of shops to visit in Paris but it took me 2 attempts before I found the store. Memo to self - take address with you when trying to locate a shop in a foreign land.



The shop is located in a ramshackle old building oozing with character. I hope they don't ever decide to renovate the store as it's just perfect the way it is.



Their ceramics are gorgeous but expensive and there was no way anything purchased would survive the journey home.



Have you ever been completely intimidated by the staff in a shop? Well the staff in the flagship Bonpoint store had me quaking in my boots. Considering it's a children's clothes shop, they were terrifyingly severe in their demeanour. It's a gorgeous shop filled with beautiful children's clothes shoes and toys with amazing displays. 



As I stayed in the 10th arrondissement again, I made another visit to La Galerie Vegetale (now sadly closed). This time I was without my french speaking travel buddy so I was a bit hamstrung by my lack of French. The shop is as lovely as ever - part florist shop/part art gallery.



Of course I had to revisit le petit atelier de paris, one of my favourite shops (now sadly closed). It has very limited opening hours so unless I raced from the train the day of my arrival it wouldn't be open again during my stay in Paris. So that's what I did and I managed to restrain myself and not buy out the shop. Le petit atelier de paris now has an online shop but unfortunately the shipping costs to Australia are prohibitive. 2014 - unfortunately le petit atelier de paris appears to have closed it's doors but it still has it's online store.



Two of the parcels contain gifts for friends and the larger parcel contains bowls that no doubt will appear on my blog sometime in the future. For now, they're still safely wrapped up in their brown paper packaging tied up with string.



Of course no trip to Paris is complete without a visit to Merci. I did a shopshoot there, so there are more images to share with you later in the week.

So until then,

Jillian

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Merci

Merci

11 Aug 2010

As a special treat during my recent holiday I stayed in Paris for 6 days at the sweet little Hotel Taylor. I'd heard about the Merci store in the Marais and was keen to see it for myself. The store is currently shrouded in scaffolding, so I walked straight past it.



What did I find inside? An intoxicating blend of fashion, furniture, homewares, plus 2 cafes. I was so impressed I visited the store twice.



This is what I came home with, a pretty scarf to brighten up my winter wardrobe and a few necklets to thank the special girl pals who joined me in Paris.

Thanks to Holly for featuring my Merci photos at decor8 today.

I'll be back again on Friday with a few more photos from Paris.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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