

Dispatch from London: hello grass, strawberries, “pop-up” sculpture and a world premiere
The season for the grass has arrived even if there may still be pretty pink blossoms in some places. The grass feels greener in this year when we feel extra joy about roaming the outdoors. What this means, if you are in London, is that the Wimbledon tennis season is upon us. But wait, rumours are that Read more

London and its theatres: getting together and sharing stories again!
(photo credit: Unsplash) We so miss going to concerts and theatres! (And you know, we do not think we will ever fall out of love with London’s theatres). Don’t you? It’s finally happening: London’s theatres are reopening (here is a rolling list) and we are hopeful this would be a real one (after the disappointments from Read more

Now is the month of Maying: walking, cycling, secret gardens, and velo being an anagram of love …
Many of our friends around the world – perhaps the luckier ones – are spending the month of May on vaccinations and the related worrying. Our Parisien friends in the meantime have been getting onto their bikes (or “vélos”). The talk-of-the-town in recent months have been about vélo – the French word for bikes – being Read more

“Travels” in walkable neighbourhoods
We here at Madeleine’s love walking cities – whether it’s travelling “in”, “through” or “across” those urban spaces! In fact, we think meandering one’s way across a city and running the risk of getting lost (whether armed with maps or not) is an art that needs to be recovered and rediscovered! In this year where Read more

Rethinking cities #3 – the daily commute part II: Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong
IV. Beijingers and Tokyoites: walkers Despite the low cycling statistics for two of the most famous cities, Paris and London, all is not lost. There are other noteworthy trends and possibilities, including an ultra-high 46% walking modal share for Paris and almost 30% for London, according to Deloitte’s City Mobility Index. In fact, we find Read more

Rethinking cities #2: the daily commute part I – from Copenhagen to Paris to London
What is your ideal city to live in? Well, it might be a good idea to start with the daily hassle of “going to” and “getting home from” work. Despite this being an unusual year when for months many of us have simply “gone to work” in our home office or a corner of the Read more

Dreaming of a Tokyo Christmas
We at Madeleine’s did entertain the possibility of spending Christmas in Tokyo …. But quarantine restrictions still made us hesitate … But, we are dreaming about it …. Tokyo has some wonderful Christmas markets and Christmas fairs as well as spectacular winter illuminations befitting its status as a great city … In this year of Read more

Rethinking cities #1: Ommmm in Paris, the 15-minute commute in Milan, and Amsterdam in a doughnut
As cities are coming back to life with summer drawing to a close and Covid restrictions relaxing …we urbanites and city-dwellers are looking forward to some of the magic that cities offer … chance meetings in the street, lazing at kerb-side cafe tables looking into the streetscape, accidental tableside conversations that spark an idea, chit-chats Read more

Love of maps, making globes, and the art of getting lost
(Thank you @marjanblan for use of this image; we’ve called it the “geometric art map of the world”.) In this year when it’s so difficult to travel, we are reminded of these things called maps. In fact, we are crazy about maps, and in that spirit, are sharing “Dancing with the spirit of Marco Polo”, a Read more

Dreaming and walking in the time of the coronavirus
In this month of June when Parisians are starting to get comfortable again with the idea of sitting in a café (on my count, we are on the fourth weekend of the city’s “return to life” even if with restraint?) and enjoying the beautiful weather (“savor more than coffee”, as the New York Times put Read more