Summer Reading List

Earlier this summer I borrowed the book Making Ideas Happen from my friend Elena. This week Elena managed to raise over $33,000 on Kickstarter for her documentary film, The Illusionists looking at body image in the media. She read this book before she put together the campaign, so I can only hope as good of things are around the corner for me – some really good ideas inside. (p.s. There's still a week left to donate to The Illusionists!)

Then my friend Rachel lent me Just My Type. It not a relationship book, but an insightful and humorously geeky look at typography. Leave it to a Brit to share this fun read with me which I loved so much I had to get my own copy. Just as a heads up, it's not out in the US until September (but the UK cover - pictured above is way cooler if you ask me). So continuing on my type kick, I figured it was time to pick up a copy of the classic Elements of Typographic Style. I'm totally ready to savor the intricacies of type in my down time.

The other inspiration for my design-related summer reading is that I'll be teaching a 3-day intensive design module to non-designers this fall. It should be an exciting challenge for us all. I'm actually really loving creating the curriculum, but I wanted to pick up a few books for added inspiration. Ellen Lupton is the Queen of design if you ask me, so I decided it was time to round out my library of Design It Yourself and Thinking With Type with Graphic Design: the New Basics and the latest addition, Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming. All of Ellen's books reflect a stellar collaboration with talented students, in addition to having fabulous websites which are resources in and of themselves.

What about you? What are you reading this summer?

Tour de France: Verdun – Le Fabuleux Destin de Brenna

A chance to teach English in a public elementary school brought Brenna of Le Fabuleux Destin de Brenna to France. While I did the same thing, but for a high school in Paris 8 years ago, I envy Brenna's opportunity to truly immerse herself in French culture with fewer distractions (& expenses) of big city life. As she says, "When I first moved to Verdun, I didn't didn't find it to have the allure of the tranquil sunny south, nor the vivacity thriving under the bright lights of Paris. But I've slowly come to love my tiny historic town in Lorraine." And so our 'Tour de France' series continues around France to prove there is more to France than just Paris. Between the rowing and molecular cuisine, I sure think I'd enjoy Verdun.

Image above: Aerial view of little Verdun.

{Victory Monument in the center of town; right: In the Faubourg Pavé French cemetery, you will find the tomb of seven unknown soldiers. One of these soldiers was taken to Paris and lay to rest under the Arch de Triomphe in Paris, a day the Verdunois will never forget.}

{Architectural detail; right: The effects of the war are still written on the buildings.}

{Centre Mondial de la Paix/The World Center for Peace}

{The battle of Verdun was the longest and bloodiest battle during World War I. One thousand men died daily for three hundred days straight. Douaumont is where the remains of the soldiers lie.; right:The beautiful Meuse River runs through our town, which hosts talented rowers. You might even bump into our "famous" bronze medalist in the 2008 Olympics (as well as other rowers who were Champions of France for the 11th year in a row!).}

{L'Estaminet is the local brewery, were Alain makes all the house beers. Come on a Thursday night for a blues concert.}
{A tasty amuse-bouche of basil sorbet at Epices et tout, where the chef was named one of the "best young talents" in France for 2011. He focuses on molecular cuisine, but anything on the menu is inventive and refreshing.}

Worth checking out in Verdun:

• Epices et Tout - 35 Rue Gros Degrés
• L'Estaminet – 45 Rue des Rouyers

Thanks, Brenna!
Guest post by Le Fabuleux Destin de Brenna.
@fabdestinbrenna on Twitter

Summer in the City {Paris}

While most French people are busy discussing where they are off to on holiday next month (3 week minimum, bien sûr!), I'm happy to spend the summer in Paris. Last week the 10th edition of Paris Plage opened with its artificial beaches along the Seine near Hôtel de Ville, and further up at the Bassin de la Vilette in the 19th. Even despite the cool summer temperatures (see below playing a rousing game of petanque in jackets and scarves over the weekend), at least it stopped raining and is an enjoyable urban "getaway." Countless activities are planned throughout the summer from the summer concert series in front of Hôtel de Ville, to paddle boats, a photo marathon (sadly too late to register for this year), sand castles or just lounging in the sun (I can't wait to try one of the 10 super-sized beach chairs along the Seine).
If beach and sun aren't your cup of tea, here are loads more ideas fun summer fun (and mainly free!):

• Paris sur Seine is a free expo inside Hôtel de Ville (enter opposite BHV) which looks at the quais of Paris before the days of Paris Plage. I for one wish I could travel back to the 1930s when there were swimming and rowing races in the Seine, and even boat "jousting" and acrobatic divers! (Through Sept 17th).
  
• When it's not raining Cinéma en Plein Air takes place at Parc de la Vilette where a range of movies are projected onto a giant inflated movie screen through August 21st. Join the Hejorama crew for a picnic and during one of the travel/location based flicks [see website]. (The Paris Cinema Festival has already come and gone, but note to self for next year!)
  
• From Montmartre to Montsouris, the Forum des Images projects movies in different districts of Paris for Cinéma au Claire de Lune . Through August 21st.
• Chartres en Lumières comes alive as 27 sites are magically illuminated at nightfall (through Sept 17th). Similarly Le Mans comes alive at night with La Nuit des Chimères where monuments become the backdrop for fantastical lighting projections inspired by tapestries to modern minimalism.
  
• Paris Quartier Eté is a festival of spectacles on now through August 9th.
• Rock en Seine - a major music festival August 26-28.
  
• METRO...Ticket Pour une Expo at Musée Arts & Métiers will surely satisfy my love of public transit (now through Jan 1).
• Find the best terraces + sun through this handy app!
  

Missing anything? Leave a comment and recommendations below!

A Tale of 3 Cities

Splitscreen: A Love Story is the beautiful creation of filmmaker J.W. Griffiths traveling between Paris, NYC and London. What is even more amazing is that the film was shot entirely on a Nokia N8 moblie phone (no surprise that it won the Nokia Shorts competition 2011). To get an inside look at how the film was made, don't miss the "making of" video below.

Boarding Pass – Jess of Skip Town

After a brief hiatus, I'm so happy to be back in full force with Boarding Pass, my weekly column exploring the creative ways people see the world. Today we kick things off with Jess Lillico of Skip Town: an online resource for creative travelers. As a graphic designer with a love of photography Jess's blog is "dedicated to skipping town, to explore, enjoy and document the world." The site is often a collaboration with her photographer boyfriend, Sean Fennessey, and they've combined their passions to create a fabulous (and well designed!) Field Guide to Photography. The whole site is a great example of my own love of design meets travel – read on! Thanks, Jess!

{A rainy day at Shibuya crossing}

last trip taken:
My boyfriend Sean (photographer and Skip Town contributor) and I recently went on a five day drive around the South Island of New Zealand. I’ve never seen such blue lakes!

{Mt Cook National Park, New Zealand}

next trip on deck:
Japan (via South Korea) for my good friend Emily’s wedding. We’ll stop in Seoul for three days of serious eating and shopping on the way over, then it’s off to Sapporo, Hokkaido, for the wedding. I'm looking forward to spending a few days in the city and a few days touring the rest of the island, including a Japanese music festival!

{Tokyo photobooth with Emily and Sean}

one place you would go back to again and again:
It seems that the answer to that question must be Japan since we’re currently planning our third trip! It's a great all-round destination - wonderful food, great shopping, history and enough of a culture shock to make things interesting. Also, it's really not as expensive as its reputation suggests.

{Unicycle troupe, Osaka}

Place you'd most likely recommend a friend go visit:
Perhaps my island home, Tasmania! Hobart is a lovely pocket-sized city (have you heard of MONA? It's a really exciting new museum and gallery) and we have some really beautiful wilderness that you can explore without mega-crowds.

{Bay of Fires, Tasmania}

preferred method of transportation:
Rail travel is not that common in Australia (we fly between cities since they're all so far apart) so I always get a kick out of high-speed trains when I'm abroad. I like being able to relax and watch the scenery go by.

{From the train to Bodo, Norway}

{Ballooning in Love Valley, Turkey}

place you've never been but dying to go:
Italy, regional USA, South Korea, Portugal... I could go on!

{Pony rides for hire, Goreme, Turkey}

place you'd never go back:
Maybe Shenzhen, which is a city in China just over the border from Hong Kong. I went there for a day trip and the attention you get from people trying to sell you things is incredibly overwhelming.

{Shopping centre, Shenzen, China}

most memorable trip in 2 sentences or less:
In 2008 I spent 6 months travelling around Europe and the US. I have so many good memories, but if I had to pick one, it might be my visit to the Lofoten Islands way up in the arctic circle in Norway. After two 8 hour train rides and one ferry ride, the mountainous islands finally appeared on the horizon and I spent four days hitch-hiking around by myself (don't tell my Mum) which was kinda lonely but lovely.

{The amazing Richie’s tavern in Ballyduff, Ireland}

how do you prepare for a trip?
I read blogs, maybe buy a guidebook, and make a list of all the interesting little shops and galleries I want to visit.

{A rooftop in Brooklyn}

{Typical café seating, Vietnam}

{Lantern stalls in Hoi An, Vietnam}

how do you record your travels when you're traveling?
I take photos and collect interesting flyers and packaging. For my first couple of overseas trips I kept really detailed diaries complete with collages and drawings. Now I just try to write what I did each day in one paragraph as a memory prompt, so that I don't forget.

{Spread from my journal showing Helsinki bits and pieces}

{Manga café waitress, Tokyo}

what is your favorite thing to photograph in a new place?
Being a graphic designer, I like taking photos of details, patterns and signs. Sean takes amazing portraits so I usually leave that to him.

{Sunglasses at Venice Beach, Los Angeles}

{Photographing the fox-gloves near Lake Tekapo, New Zealand}

on an average, how many pictures to you take on a trip?
Not as many as some people - about 30 a day, perhaps. Sean takes many more.
{Celebrity photo-ops at Santa Monica, Los Angeles}

{Selection of crowd at folk festival, Riga, Latvia}

what's in your "designer travel kit"?
I take my Olympus Pen (digital), Sean takes his Canon 5D, and then we usually have a little point-and-shoot for going out at night, and an Olympus Trip 35 (film) camera for fun. The results really vary – which is why the photos featured here all look so different. I also take a little notebook, pen and glue-stick.
{A post-card collage of my first big round-the-world trip}

what do you do after a trip? how long after a trip does this happen?
I usually edit my shots down to a 'facebook' folder (the bare minimum snapshots I think my friends and family would be interested in) and then another folder with my personal favourites. Many of these will eventually be used on the Skip Town website or blog. [This happens] within a month, maybe.

{Souvenir collection, USA}

favorite souvenir/thing to bring back?
Fabric, magazines, packaging. postcards… I have a big shoe box full of stuff that I can’t bear to throw out.

{Check out the Skip Town Field Guide to Photography - available for download}

{At the beach near Hoi An, Vietnam}

Links:

• Website: skiptownonline.com
• Blog: skiptownonline.com/blog
• Twitter: @Skip_Town

Check out more editions of Boarding Pass on the column to the right!

Tour de France: Paris by Arrondissement

20 arrondissements and 19 guest bloggers later the 'Tour' de France, Paris edition has come to a close – for now. All my guest bloggers did such an awesome job sharing their neighborhoods, I wanted to put them all in one easy to find place, and create a giant resource, whether you're looking for some weekend inspiration or a new Paris read. Mille mercis to everyone for their great work! Bon week-end à tous!

The last 2 digits of Parisian zip codes refer to the arrondissement or district. There are 20 total. The arrondissement appears at the top of street signs, making it quite easy to find your way around the city. Click on the image or zipcodes below. Happy exploring!

75001 – by Melissa, an American expat working in France and author of Prête-moi Paris.

75002 – by Velib fanatic Emma Bentley who is making good use of her studies in order to live in France.

75003 – by Kasia Dietz who is designing fabulous bags when not off exploring Europe.

75004 – by Franco-American photographer Kali Vermès of Grow Little, who creates beautiful plant worlds.

75005 – by Italian filmmaker Elena Rossini.

75006 – by Jenny Sundel who decided 33 would be her 'Jesus Year' and moved to Paris.

75007 – by SF creative couple Jordan and Paul Ferney who moved their family to Paris for the year for a new adventure.

75008 – by Sharon Graber, aka Scout Paris.

75009 – by yours truly, Prêt à Voyager, a look at the neighborhood I call home.

75010 – by Brit Adam Roberts, author of Invisible Paris, an insider's look at the city, the architecture and happenings.

75011 – by Lost in Cheeseland's Lindsey Tramuta, an American expat who knows this city like the back of her hands.

75012 – by French textile/product designer, Sarah Caniot of Ma Mamie Hippie.

75013 – by Elena Rossini, filmmaker, feminist, founder of No Country for Young Women and creator of The Illusionists.

75014 – by photobooth obsessed urban explorer Meg Gagnard of De Quelle Planète Est-tu?

75015 – by cocktail crazed Forest of 52 Martinis.

75016 – by Jane who runs La Cuisine Paris cooking school.

75017 – by Cat of Sugar Daze, who brings cupcake joy to all expats in France.

75018 – by Brit Kim Laidlaw Adrey, hot spot scout and author of I Heart Paris.

75019 – by Paris by Mouth's founding editor & food tour guide, Meg Zimbeck.

75020 – by American expat writer Sion of Paris (Im)Perfect who shares the real side of this city.


Quick reference:
75001, 75002, 75003,75004, 75005, 75006, 75007, 75008, 75009, 75010, 75011, 75012, 75013, 75014, 75015, 75016, 75017, 75018, 75019, 75020