Portraits of booksellers by Alain Cornu, Paris. French photographer Alain Cornu photographed nearly 170 booksellers in Paris between 2021 and 2024 – mostly the bouquinistes along the river Seine and their distinctive green boxes. The Paris Booksellers’ Cultural Association is holding an exhibition of the first photographs of their guild, taken by photographer Alain Cornu.Continue reading “Portraits of booksellers by Alain Cornu, Paris”
Category Archives: Opal Hush
Place de l’Odéon: A Cultural Gem in Paris
Place de l’Odéon: A Cultural Gem in Paris. Nestled in the heart of the 6th arrondissement, just steps from the Luxembourg Gardens, Place de l’Odéon (Odeon Square) and Le Théâtre de l’Odéon (Odeon Theatre) form one of the most historic and charming corners of Paris. Marie-Antoinette commissioned the Odeon Theatre in 1779. Architects Charles De Wailly and Marie-Joseph Peyre designed it, completing it in 1782.Continue reading “Place de l’Odéon: A Cultural Gem in Paris”
Ode to the Poets of Paris
Ode to the Poets of Paris. A poem for the pigeons of Paris … an excerpt from my latest book If Paris Were My Lover. Ode to the Poets of Paris They say the poets of Paris are found In attic rooms with slanted light, Scratching words into yellowed pages, Drunk on absinthe, lost at night. Continue reading “Ode to the Poets of Paris”
Launch Day: If Paris Were My Lover by Martina Nicolls.
Launch Day: If Paris Were My Lover by Martina Nicolls. Today is the day! If Paris Were My Lover is officially out in the world. This journey began as a whisper – a lingering question about the ways we fall in love, not just with people, but with places, memories, and the versions of ourselves that only exist in certainContinue reading “Launch Day: If Paris Were My Lover by Martina Nicolls.”
Christofle: A Legacy of French Silverware
Christofle: A Legacy of French Silverware. Paris celebrates Christofle, one of France’s most celebrated silverware houses, in the exhibition: Christofle – A Brillliant Story. From November 2024 to April 2025, a dedicated exhibition shines a spotlight on Christofle’s artistry, tracing its impact on French design and its global legacy. Founded in 1830 by Charles Christofle, theContinue reading “Christofle: A Legacy of French Silverware”
NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2025: DOES THIS PARIS BOOK HAVE A TITLE YET MARTINA? – Blog 35
NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2025: DOES THIS PARIS BOOK HAVE A TITLE YET MARTINA? – Blog # 35. Some books arrive fully formed, like a sudden epiphany. Others unfold slowly, like a long Parisian evening – filled with unexpected encounters and secrets. My book is in the latter category. The book I have been workingContinue reading “NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2025: DOES THIS PARIS BOOK HAVE A TITLE YET MARTINA? – Blog 35”
Parisian food trends worth trying in 2025.
Parisian food trends worth trying in 2025. Paris is a culinary capital and people are familiar with its traditional French food but there are many contemporary food trends worth trying if you are visiting Paris. Organic wine: Wine is part of French culture, and a rising trend includes the new wave of natural, organic, andContinue reading “Parisian food trends worth trying in 2025.”
Montparnasse Tower: Paris’s most controversial skyscraper.
Montparnasse Tower: Paris’s most controversial skyscraper. The Tour Montparnasse – the Montparnasse Tower – is one of the most divisive landmarks in Paris. Rising 210 metres (689 feet) high, it was the city’s tallest building until 2022, when it was surpassed by the Tour Hekla in La Défense district. When Paris sought to modernize in the 1960s, theContinue reading “Montparnasse Tower: Paris’s most controversial skyscraper.”
NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2025: EMOTIONAL ARC – Blog 34
NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2025: EMOTIONAL ARC – Blog # 34. An emotional arc is a character’s inner journey – how they go through change and grow by the end of the story. A novel’s strong emotional arc taps into universal emotions, like love, grief, regret, and hope as the character makes a transformation inContinue reading “NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2025: EMOTIONAL ARC – Blog 34”
An Interrupted Friendship – Modigliani and Zadkine on the cusp of artistic greatness in Paris
An Interrupted Friendship – Modigliani and Zadkine on the cusp of artistic greatness in Paris. In Montparnasse, Paris, two extraordinary artists crossed paths in 1913: Amedeo Modigliani, the Italian painter and sculptor, and Ossip Zadkine, the Belarusian sculptor. Their meeting, although fleeting, was one of shared creativity that defined Paris at the dawn ofContinue reading “An Interrupted Friendship – Modigliani and Zadkine on the cusp of artistic greatness in Paris”