I wanted to go to Paris…
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…so I went… !(*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑
…to the Parisian locations in Philly hehe.
Did I fool you? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )
As I mentioned in my latest blog post, last Tuesday I was suddenly inspired with an idea for a vlog, and the idea was to create a “Paris vlog” in Philly, because, uh, I’m in Philly and not in Paris unfortunately. You’ve seen those fake Coachella social experiments, but this was more of a creative exercise in terms of production rather than a social experiment with a statement.
That Tuesday night, I texted my friend Victoria to ask if she would like to indulge in a Parisian day with me, and luckily for me, she was game. We quickly put together an itinerary of Parisian hot spots in Philly, and then set off for a full day of content creation the next day.
On our list (in order of appearance in the vlog) were: Petit Jardin En Ville, a Parisian floral shop; Parc Bistro & Cafe, a Parisian brasserie; Rittenhouse Park, designed by French architect Paul Philippe Cret; Rodin Museum, the largest collection of sculptor Auguste Rodin’s works outside Paris; Benjamin Franklin Parkway, often called Philadelphia’s Champs-Élyées, designed by French architect Jacques Greber; and Miel Patisserie, a Parisian patisserie.
I want to reiterate that this day was purely for the content, and that might be frowned upon in this age of authenticity (thoughts on how authenticity has become trendy… let’s save that for another day), but it was so much fun to do as a creative exercise.
As a personal lifestyle blogger, I think that I’ve become too comfortable with only creating content when it’s convenient, i.e. bringing my camera along when I happen to be doing something fun instead of actively seeking out interesting experiences or actively practising and honing my photography skills. You can’t just wait for inspiration; you gotta go after it.
In a similar vein, I think that if you ever want to create something great, you cannot only create when you’re inspired. Which is ironic because this vlog was born out of a stroke of inspiration. But I think that what was responsible for the realisation of this project was not the inspiration but the action. After all, an idea without action is just “another [idea] in the endless list of ideas that never happened” (It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be by Paul Arden). It’s not about making a habit of inspiration; it’s about making a habit of creation.
Related: If you’re relying on inspiration, you’re doing it wrong by Anthony Moore via Medium
I got the idea for this vlog last Tuesday. I created an itinerary that same night. I shot footage all Wednesday. I edited on Thursday, and voila, it was done. Bish, bash, bosh, sorted!
Now that I’ve given my two cents on that, indulge me as I share some fun facts and Easter eggs about my vlog!
- The camerawork was split between Victoria and me. Any scenes without me in them were shot by me. Any scenes with me in them were staged by me and shot by Victoria. Before shooting a scene with me in it, I would get Victoria to act as a placeholder for me, position her how I imagined positioning myself, and take a photo of the beginning frame and ending frame to show Victoria as a reference for how I’d like her to record the scene. That fifth photo–with Victoria in front of the watercolours–is an example of one of those photos I used to frame the video. Getting a nice candid photo of Victoria out of it was a bonus!
- Petit Jardin En Ville was in a different neighbourhood from everything else on our itinerary, but I really wanted to carry aesthetic flowers throughout all the locations, and if I were to carry flowers, I might as well hit up a Parisian florist. We also got some nice shots of cobbled streets in that neighbourhood, so I don’t regret going all the way out there!
- Petit Jardin En Ville always has the most gorgeous seasonal storefront designs, but I didn’t want to get a full shot for the vlog because they had English signage. I got a photo for the blog though.
- At Parc, Victoria and I ordered the smoked salmon tartine and warm shrimp salad to share. Our waiter told us that the warm shrimp salad was voted the best salad in Philly. Of the two dishes, the warm shrimp salad was our favourite (the shrimp was SO buttery omg), but the smoked salmon was more interesting to photograph (still delicious, but not as good as the salad). Victoria and I were very happy with our two orders, because we got both the looks and the taste.
- The walking scene in front of the watercolours was so awkward. It was on the outer edge of Rittenhouse Park, right across Parc, which had sidewalk seating overlooking the park, so I was pretty much walking right in front of the people seated there, and they were witnessing me attempting a oh-I-didn’t-see-you-there-with-a-camera stroll in front of the camera. Twice. I walked too fast the first time and the second time wasn’t much better, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it a third time, so there we have it. I tried so hard to force myself to slow down, but I was so ashamed LOL. I’m definitely not used to being in front of the camera.
- By the time we got to the Rodin Museum, it was closed, but we were able to shoot the statues outside the gates (including the iconic Thinker, so I’m happy with that), and I stuck my camera between the gate to shoot the garden.
- I carried around a French edition of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett for the content. I happened to purchase this edition a few weeks ago on Indie Bookstore Day for $1, before I ever conceived of this vlog. Waiting for Godot is a sentimental read from high school, so when I spotted this edition with such a beautiful cover for only $1, I couldn’t resist, even though I can’t read French. The vlog montage of me fake-reading on the bench was an ode to the play, in which the protagonists spent the whole play waiting for Godot to arrive.
- Yes, I had two cappuccinos that day–one at Parc and one at Miel. By the end of the day I was shaking. Parc, Rittenhouse Park, and Miel were all in the same area, so we actually went to Miel before visiting the Rodin Museum (which isn’t how it was chronologically shown in the vlog, but I thought it made more sense/told a better story the order I edited it). So not only did I have two cappuccinos, but I had two cappuccinos pretty much back to back.
- I ordered eight macarons at Miel just to get the aesthetic box instead of having them bagged, even though I was still full from lunch at Parc.
For the content!! Huzzah!!!