About

About us

Claire : Mélanie and I met 10 years ago, during our first year at the University in Paris. For four years, we shared our studies and economical problems, as well as a lot of fun. Now we share another leisure (I think I can say passion), Photography.
We both already have a blog about our first passion. Melanie is A little Owl in the Kitchen, blogging about cooking and showing us appetizing pictures. I have a blog talking about horses, horse riding and my association of horse riders, les Ecuries de la Maladrerie.
Through this new blog, we want to share our mood, the places we like, the moment we liked...with pictures. As we are not professional photographers, I hope you will notice our progresses with your daily visit on "country and the city".
You can contact us either at cl_anxionnaz at hotmail dot com (me) or nanni_33 at yahoo dot fr (Mélanie).

Why the blog

Mélanie : In France, July and August are the months for the “grandes vacances”. It’s time for (almost) everyone to leave home for a well deserved break, heading for the beach, visiting some exotic places… And because this time I was not, I realized I was living in an “exotic place” to visit. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always appreciated living in a beautiful city, admired worldwide, but I barely know it. It’s time to change this!
So I bought some tourist guidebooks and maps… and I’m going to visit my city! This blog is my way to share with you my surprises, the things I like, some tourists stuff, some funny stuff… I hope you’ll see it in a new light, recognize some souvenirs, or want to come visit too…
But let’s be honest : living in a city is nice, but can be a little stressing and overwhelming. Otherwise, why would the Parisians go out of town during the week-end? Hint : It’s not to avoid the other Parisians, as they seem to all go to the same places… No, it’s because we all need some green, some oxygen, quietness, to relax. A totally different scenery that we love too. When it comes to countryside, I immediately think of my friend Claire, who enjoys it most. She takes beautiful pictures, and she will share them with you on the week-ends.
Picture by picture, day by day, we’ll show you things we appreciate in our environment. We hope you’ll appreciate them too.

About these places : the country and the city

Mélanie: Claire is more the “country rat”, while I’m the “city rat”.
The “city” is actually Paris, where I have been living for 4 years. I’ll be posting pictures of my walks every working days of the week (Monday to Fridays!), with the place where they have been taken. You should see some parts of every “arrondissement”, from the Seine and the posh 2nd arrondissement (near the Opera, where I work), to the quiet “ateliers d’artiste” in the 14th, or the busy markets in the 18th. If you have any question about Paris, something you want to visit, or a shop you need to find, who knows, maybe I’ll find the answer during one of my strolling! So feel free to leave a comment or to drop me an e-mail. Any technical advice is also welcome...
Claire : Yes, I am a "country rat". Since I was a child, I have been for almost every holidays and week-ends in a small village, 200 km far from Paris, between Auxerre and Troyes. I still go there, and I have now one more reason : my own horse is waiting for me on Saturdays! So this is where most of the “country” pictures are taken… If not, they are probably from the South of France, near Montpellier, where my boyfriend's family lives. I like this part of France because the landscape is different, quiet, and relaxing...
I enjoy the countryside and that's why I will naturally show you the different things I can see during my week-ends! I hope you will enjoy. And as Mélanie said, feel free to leave a comment and ask questions about my pictures.

Petit résumé en français
A propos de nous :

Mélanie et moi, nous nous connaissons depuis notre première année à l’Université. C’était il y a 10 ans.
Nous avons toutes les deux créé notre propre blog à propos de nos passions réciproques : la cuisine pour Mélanie, le cheval et l’équitation pour ma part.
Aujourd’hui, avec ce nouveau blog, Country and the City, nous souhaitons vous présenter une passion commune : la photographie, tout en partageant avec vous nos humeurs, nos envies, les endroits et les moments que nous aimons.

Mélanie habite à Paris depuis quelques années et y travaille. Elle redécouvre cette ville qui regorge d’endroits surprenants, amusants, émouvants, fous ou touristiques. Elle a tout de suite souhaité présenter des aspects connus et méconnus de Paris. Et en pensant que la verdure, l’oxygène et le calme était un besoin pour beaucoup d’urbains, elle a tout de suite pensé à moi pour vous faire découvrir la campagne puisque j’y passe beaucoup de temps depuis mon enfance. Finalement, Mélanie le rat des villes et moi même le rat des champs, nous vous présenterons une photo par jour : la semaine, des photos de Paris, le week-end des photos de la campagne française, prises au gré de nos promenades.
En espérant que vous apprécierez nous rendre visite quotidiennement pour nous donner votre avis et découvrir notre si beau pays et voir nos progrès en photographie,
Amicalement

Mélanie et Claire.