Visiting Ashlynn in Paris...

I was thrilled when Ashlynn invited me to visit her just a few days after my return from Nepal. My window of opportunity was small because of her nearly frantic schedule of castings for Paris Fashion Week, but it was an offer that I couldn’t pass up. Last minute train fares were quite high, so I took a long-distance bus for the first time, which took about seven hours. I was pleasantly surprised that Ashlynn was there to greet me as she’d instructed me to meet her at the studio apartment in the Latin Quarter that she’d rented from AirBnB for three weeks. 

She was very excited to show me her neighborhood, so we walked instead of taking public transport.  We came across a brass band practicing under a bridge and an outdoor dance class along the Siene.

We also passed Notre Dame, which is especially majestic in the dark.

After pulling my suitcase along for an hour, I was relieved that I didn’t have to carry it up to her sixth floor flat.

The elevator was so thin that it was difficult to maneuver both the suitcase and my body inside.

It clearly must have been squeezed in next to the staircase many years after the building was constructed.

The tiny elevator barely prepared me for how tiny the apartment was. Ashlynn was absolutely beaming when she opened the door to show me the very first place she’d ever lived on her own. Inside was a desk, bed, table, chair, kitchenette and shower. It was definitely a good use of the small space.

The toilet was shared in the hall. As there was only a single bed, I spent that first night on the floor since she had to work the next morning and needed her beauty rest.

It was truly compact, but was quite nice with an excellent view. That evening we ate at a traditional French café in the Latin Quarter.

While she was off at castings, I took the subway across the city to La Defense, Europe’s largest purpose-built business district. I dropped our bags off at CitizenM, my favorite hip budget hotel where I had found a fantastic price for a long weekend, and met her back in town. This photo was actually taken the next morning as she prepared to leave for a long day of castings...

...and this was taken that first night as we enjoyed welcome drinks in the bar.