Autumn in Paris: La Vie en Orange...

After a short heatwave in July followed by a brilliant Summer of warm sunny days, Paris, as brazen and impetuous as she is beautiful and beguiling, decided before the end of the season that it was a fine time to switch wardrobes... and so just like that we fell into Fall and autumnal rituals - hot chocolate, thicker blankets, added layers, the crackle of falling golden leaves underfoot.

Here we go ready or not!.... have you cozied into the new season?

p.s. To celebrate Fall, enjoy 20% off your purchase at The French Kiosk! As always, free shipping worldwide. Use code "FALL20" at checkout.

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Rentrée and the First Signs of Fall

School is back in session... and so we return to the jolting rhythm of schedules and routine. The shift is sudden and surprising, even if it happens every year, my family never seems to get used to it.

There is alas a season for all things, and now we rise before the sun and have breakfast with the dim glow of dawn. The boys have readied their desks for homework and reading, and my eldest is already having to memorize poems from Jean de La Fontaine...

The light and temperatures have also signaled a change, Fall is certainly making its way into the landscape. Are you ready?

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Traveling towards Home...

Do you find that throughout your travels, no matter where you go, you discover a piece of Home... a plane of wider context, a connectedness and familiarity, a space that leads you closer to who you're becoming and reveals how marvelously you fit into this amazing world.

Au revoir August and new discoveries and slow summer days with my boys... until next year. 

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Mallorca, Spain: An Ode to Summer & the Sea

Like our Parisian neighbors, my family headed to the sea in August... and in those moments under the Mallorcan sun, we knew only to follow the trails of sand and succumb to the clear blue water. 

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August in Paris

If you were to run out on a weekday afternoon during August in Paris, why, you'd wonder if you missed the announcement to abandon the city. It is that quiet (outside of the main tourist attractions anyway). So empty of cars and pedestrian traffic I can almost cross the street without looking! Many Parisians are away for the month on their annual summer break, boulangeries and neighborhood boutiques are temporarily closed, and even pharmacies and dry cleaners post signs announcing limited hours...

So essentially much of the noise of the city dies down, along the streets of one's quartier it's quiet, and the hum of summer floats through Paris in a wondrous rapture.

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In summer, the song sings itself ― William Carlos Williams

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