France Archives - sateless suitcase

That Paris Feeling

It seems so surreal now, but in February 2020 I traveled to Paris: An extended weekend getaway to one of my favorite cities with my mom and sister. From a Central European perspective, the pandemic was just around the corner in mid-February, yet still seemed too far away back then. My sister wanted to do something special for her birthday, my mom hadn't been to Paris in 30 years and was eager to go back. I was desperately looking forward to a year of travel and weekend getaways to catch up on everything I had missed in 2019. So we [...]

By Julika|2021-12-12T18:48:26+01:002020/10/14|Categories: Destinations, Europe, France|Tags: France, Paris|4 Comments

Five Times in Paris

In my teleological view of life, I have to be I'm convinced I'm at the best I've been yet: I love looking back and connecting the dots that led me to where I'm now, to understand how I got here in the first place. It's fun to see how I changed over the last decade, and how my travel style changed accordingly. And it's even more fun to look at old photos and visually notice the changes -- especially since many of those moments are well-documented on this blog. When I returned to Paris for the fifth time in January of [...]

By Julika|2021-12-12T18:28:12+01:002018/09/21|Categories: Common|Tags: France, Paris|2 Comments

Around the World in Coffees: The 2015 Edition

It's the most wonderful time of the year! And by that I mean: I get to look back on the last year through the coffees I drank! Ever since I wrote my first blog post about traveling and coffee, my yearly coffee round-up has become an article I look forward to writing the entire year. I love how a collage of my coffees always tells stories from my kitchen table in Göttingen to far-off places all over the world. The changing of scenery, light, cups, tables, or sweet treats on the side are always part of my favorite memories, because with [...]

By Julika|2016-01-03T15:57:24+01:002016/01/03|Categories: Specials|Tags: Berlin, Europe, Florence, France, Germany, Hamburg, Italy, Jordan, London, Luxembourg, Middle East, Paris, Turkey, UK|15 Comments

Paris in August via Instagram

There was a time when I was really into writing Instagram photo blog posts, but I haven't been doing a lot of them lately as I felt like my images were becoming too repetitive -- even though I'm still old-fashioned and take photos with both my dSLR (for the blog) and my phone (for Instagram) at the same time. However, I didn't want to be boring and share photos of the same place several times so I didn't write any Instagram round-up posts for my last trips. With my newest realization that I don't bother bringing a wide-angle lens on most [...]

By Julika|2015-08-17T12:04:43+02:002015/08/17|Categories: Destinations, Europe, France|Tags: Europe, France, Paris|12 Comments

Of Baguettes and History – Jardin du Luxembourg

Most of the time, it just takes a pretty picture on Pinterest or a scene in a movie and all of a sudden I'm not able to get my mind off of Paris. This city is everywhere -- in the movies, the commercials, the fashion magazines. And every time I see it, I'm reminded of how I cannot wait to go back. For me, Paris is the almost surreal contrast between picture-perfect movie settings and the edgy urban agglomeration. Its beauty is so out there and so subliminal at the same time, that it is almost impossible to describe Paris in [...]

By Julika|2014-09-22T23:52:36+02:002014/02/11|Categories: Destinations, Europe, France|Tags: Architecture, Art, Europe, France, Paris|12 Comments

My 2013 Highlights via Instagram

I've done a lot of review posts this year and you might hate me for it already. Fair enough. But I love reading reviews and I also love writing them. The idea of the year ending makes me nostalgic. I like reminiscing. And honestly, I'm one of those 21st century people with the attention span of a Buzzfeed list -- I mean, what offers more entertainment than a list of photos with witty headlines? Especially during the holidays when there's not much time to spend hours reading online in-between all the family dinners? I'm won't go all "27 Inappropriate Outfits [...]

By Julika|2014-03-09T23:46:39+01:002013/12/30|Categories: Specials|Tags: Europe, France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, The Netherlands|20 Comments

Around the World in Coffees: The 2013 Edition

About one year ago, I collected all my coffee photos from my previous years of travel and combined them in a photo essay called "Around the World in 80 Coffees". This post didn't cover the whole world, nor 80 coffees, but it presented a view of the world through the eyes someone who loves coffee and travel equally. From fantastic Portuguese galois on the beach to spectacularly good espressos in hip London coffee shops like Prufrock, 2012 was a great year in "caffeine travel" for me. So I ended my 2012 coffee post with the resolution to travel more and [...]

By Julika|2014-03-20T09:21:40+01:002013/12/09|Categories: Specials|Tags: Belgium, Europe, France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, The Netherlands|24 Comments

Photo Essay: Midnight in Paris

First of all, sorry for the cheesy title. As I literature and art geek I obviously loved Woody Allen's movie and I honestly wish I could time-travel to Paris of the fabulous 1920ies. But the movie aside, these photos were literally taken at midnight in Paris. My whole day in Paris was already perfect: I strolled along Canal Saint-Martin at noon and spent the afternoon in the shade underneath the Eiffel Tower picnicking with friends for no less than five hours. After watching the sunset at Champs de Mars, my friend Edna and I strolled along the lively streets of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, [...]

By Julika|2013-09-30T22:35:39+02:002013/09/30|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: Europe, France, Paris, Photo Essay|12 Comments

Photo Essay: Musée Rodin in Paris

Paris has some of the most amazing museums of the world, and when re-visited Paris for the third time earlier this summer, I challenged myself to see as many museums as possible. But the weather was so perfect that I didn't want spend too much time inside crowded and gloomy museum hallways -- summer in Paris is just too magical to not experience it outside. So I was really glad when my lovely museum date Edna suggested that we should go see Musée Rodin. This museum in the 7th arrondissement wasn't originally on the list of museums I wanted to [...]

By Julika|2013-08-31T21:11:26+02:002013/08/27|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: Art, Europe, France, Museums, Paris, Photo Essay|9 Comments

Photo Essay: Sainte-Chapelle in Paris

Every once in a while I just have to go back to the roots. Back to my roots as an art historian. I can't go too long without writing about my beloved Gothic cathedrals. If you have read my little art historical background you know that I decided to become an art historian while being moved to tears in the shimmering ambulatory of Basilique Saint Denis, one of the most magnificent Gothic cathedrals of all times. Medieval churches are my favorite places, my emotional safe havens. They are places to calm down, to think, to catch your breath, to be still. To [...]

By Julika|2015-05-11T09:10:56+02:002013/08/07|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: Architecture, churches, Europe, France, medieval, Paris, Photo Essay|14 Comments