Henri, Orwell and me - Paris in July

M. Pokora - Le jour qui se rêve (extrait de... by MPokora-Official

Paris in July is about my own journeys to Paris in beyond - my past journeys, and my future journeys. This year I'm making a promise to myself to spend my month in virtual Paris by immersing myself in french language, food & wine, literature, music and travel plans. So here's my plan - each week I'm going to try to do two personal posts, and on the alternate weeks, I'll do a wrap up post of all the Paris in July activity. You'll note that I've added the blog roll to the right hand column of my blog  - so we can all check on what others are doing.

Books on my list include:

• Stuff Parisians Like - this was a gift a while ago, and it's time to have a look inside
• Henri Walks to Paris - this sounds delightful and shouldn't be too difficult to read
• George Orwells - Down and Out in Paris  - my personal challenge to learn more about famous people, and Paris while I'm there... (this is a free edition)

Music - each week I'm going to find a new french artist (or new to me) and share the links with you
Food - I love to cook something on the weekends - so when i can I'll cook something french, and share it with you here too.
Travel plans - When I travel I do my research first. I thought I would like to do some research for my next unplanned trip to France. I'll try and post some of my findings - hopefully on topics like

• best cocktails in Paris
• gluten free in Paris
• Walking in France
• markets outside Paris (there's heaps of websites devoted to Markets in Paris).

One week to go and the tension is building. Cant wait. See you soon in Paris!

Challenges and Buttons

Wow - it just couldn't get any better than this! It's the start of the Japanese Literature Challenge 7 hosted by Bellezza and Karen at Bookbath has made some great new buttons for this years Paris in July - the blogging journey to Paris. Go to Karens Blog to see her great designs.

It's been a busy weekend here in my place - and I had every intention of posting today. I'm sorry - I'll have to get back to this soon - I have started a blog roll for Paris in July 2013 on the righ hand side of my blog, and I'll keep adding as we get more sign up....the meantime - dont forget to post your intentions of joining us for Paris in July by leaving your name here or on Karens blog.

Welcome to Paris in July 2013!

Welcome to the start of the Paris in July blogging event. Karen from BookBath and I are once again looking forward to co-hosting Paris in July, a month purely dedicated to reading, watching, eating, listening to and enjoying all things French. Karen said that ‘although things have been a little quiet around BookBath of late there is one event that is sure to bring me out of blogging exile’. Paris is always good to entice someone out of exile – and for us in the Southern Hemisphere, it gives us a chance to enjoy a virtual summer.

This will be the fourth year that Paris in July has been running and Karen and I are excited to be once again embarking on our virtual trip to Paris with you all.

The event will run from the 1^st – 31^st July and as always there will be no rules or targets in terms of how much you need to do or complete in order to be a part - just blog about anything French and you can join in. Some ideas for the month might include:

- Reading a French book - fiction or non-fiction

- Watching a French movie

- Listening to French music

- Cooking French food

- Experiencing French art, architecture or travel (or remembering travel experiences)

- Or anything else French inspired you can think of...

Karen and I will be writing weekly wrap up posts throughout the month as well as contributing our own Paris inspired musings. As in past years there will be French themed prizes to be given out to some lucky participants too.

Something New! We are also be looking to add another element to Paris in July this year by including special guest posts on our own blogs – if anyone is interested in being an official “Paris in July Guest Blogger” please leave a comment with your blog/contact details on this post and give us some indication of what you might like to write about in your post.

Stay tuned for more details and Paris in July 2013 buttons to pop onto your blogs.

Hoping that you will be joining us in Paris this year!

To join, just leave a comment and link to your blog here or on Karens blog, and we'l collate a blogroll.