Stuffed

Sure, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (the Hunt and Nature museum) might not sound like an obvious place to visit, but I have been using Monocle's travel guides in several cities now, and totally trust their suggestions, one of which was this place. It didn't disappoint. I am by no means pro-hunting or a lover of stuffed animals, but if you check this place out yourself next time you're in Paris, I'm sure you'll understand (although make it there towards the end of 2020, as it's now shut for refurbishment) why it's so interesting. It's in a beautiful grand old house, where each room is themed by animals, and mixes the old with works by contemporary artists. It's also a not very known place, so it was nice and quiet when we went. Do you seek out the less obvious places when you travel? What's the most interesting place you've been to this year? I'd love to hear!

Paris people, dogs and a cat

There was a series to be had on this corner. We were sitting at a bistro in Pigalle, resting our feet and re-fuelling, when we noticed several kids walking past in fancy dress. I only got about three kids worth of pictures, and this was the best one.

This guy made us laugh; he was refusing to look at us, and would constantly turn away whilst we took pictures of him. Maybe we should have respected his privacy.

I wasn't sure if this guy was Bill Murray of not (it wasn't), but his silhouette looked so cool with his hat.

I can't see her - can you?

Never in my life have I seen a dog in a bomber jacket and matching trousers before, and I'm kind of not surprised that I saw one in Paris.

Good look.

At Le Petit Keller, where we had amazing Japanese food. The owners' kids were hanging out at the bar as we were eating, which made the place all the more homely.

Les amoureux.

This guy has got his camera face nailed.

A guy sitting with his cat on a bench early in the evening. I wish we'd gotten Buddy used to walking on a leash; I would've loved to be the strange lady in our neighbourhood, walking her cat.

Bonjour tristesse?

Art Brut

Henry Darger

Lee Godie

Mr Imagination

William Dawson

Lee Godie

Merde. I'm four months behind... I guess I can claim I live the slow life - at least here, haha! But I'm sure you're used to it by now, and it's still the holidays, soooooooo... Back to Paris then! These pics are from Halle Saint Pierre, a gallery dedicated to Art Brut, aka outsider art. I so wish we had a permanent place for this kind of art here in London too (maybe we do - tell me if so?). The first five shots are from the Chicago Art Brut exhibition which was all kinds of wonderful (I've linked to biogs about the artists below the pictures, but please note both exhibitions that I mention have already finished). The last three were from the Hey! Modern Art & Pop Culture exhibition they had upstairs, but I didn't really pay attention to who the artists were as we were pretty tired by then. The bookshop and the café looked really good too, but we had to move on ¯\_(ツ)_/¯