I know this is an odd question, but hey, took the chance. There must be a few women out there in France that scrapbook. It is a world wide hobby. If they do, I would imagine they have some interesting products that we don't have...Thanks.

Heavens - given your sheer volume of questions (and very good ones, I might add), you have a shot at being the most well prepared traveler in Fodor's history. How have you been able to absorb it and put it all into action?

I was in Paris at the end of March and I don't think I saw any scrapbook stores specifically (then again I wasn't looking). I did however see a scrapbook section in the crafts department at BHV. I don't scrapbook so I don't know how good it was--I just noticed it while I was looking for other things.

See here:
http://bonjourparis.ipbhost.com/inde...showtopic=2644

degas, good question. It is true, I am obsessed with the city. We leave in less than a week (and panic is setting in) and I am filled to the brim and overflowing with curiosity. I am starting to even dream about the board.

How do I absorb it all? This weekend I pulled out a little notebook and started writing things down, circling things in guidebooks, and copying/pasting on Word to print out and bring with.

It has been so long since I have traveled overseas, 12 years, and with only five days in Paris, don't want to miss a thing. And a lot of this is to decide what we must do now and save for my already in the planning stages trip next time.

You would not believe how much I know about Paris and traveling compared to four months ago, when I was afraid to even post on the Europe board until Suze gave me the push to jump in and try it and get off the US board (love them too, though).

You all are a wealth of info. And I will go there feeling somewhat a savvy traveler instead of a country bumpkin, which is how a felt a few months ago.

Thanks all again, for your kindness, knowledge, and above all, sense of humor.

I bought a beautiful leather scrapbook with pages of handmade paper in the stationery section of Galeries Lafayette.

Also bought some beatiful ones at a sationery store on the eastern side of Place des Vosges called L’Espace Ecriture made with handmade papers. I suppose they are really journals but I bought them to use as scrapbooks, gorgeous in various sizes and colors.

I bought pages of old sheet music at a Paris flea market and have used it as accent or background in my scrapbooks. Save your brochures & ticket stubs, and try to get the little 'business' card from every restaurant. I asked for a clean placemat at La Flotille (Versailles) and the waiter gave me two, rolled up neatly with a rubber band to hold it. Bring home a couple extra free paper maps from the hotel desk for backgrounds. Early on, I actually scrapbooked a candy wrapper that was in German and the pretty paper the patisserie used to wrap my first French pastry. Oh, also I scrapbooked some extra coins since we visited several countries the first trip. My husband has been trained to save everything and dump his pockets out onto the bed every night.

There are zillions of places that sell scrapbooks in Paris. I recall specifically Papier Plus on the rue du Pont Louis-Philippe, and another place with leather-bound scrapbooks in the cour du Commerce Saint André. But there are many other such stores.

Travelnut, you have given me, and others, excellent advice. Between your ideas and then maybe finding some special papers, maybe stickers, should have enough to fill a book.

Anthony, though the actual scrapbooks are good to find, I am more looking for the stuff to put on the pages. But as Travelnut said, with all of the "stuff" you pick up when you travel, that will fill a book right there. AND our pictures.

Thanks all. Great info here.

Sure, there are plenty of such stores, but is one on Rue Cler? Oh, I forgot, that one would be three times as expensive as anywhere else.

There's a craft store in the shops under the Louvre.

I do a LOT of trip scrapbooking. I always get postcards of places we go (I take a lot of pics but postcards can have a different perspective), plus from the souvinier shops stickers that look like badges or emblems with the name of the place to title my section (I think some people put them on their cars), the free brochures when you visit somewhere, maps, ticket stubs, and when we used to do the 2 week 7 country trips I would make a copy of the eurail map and highlight the route we took. I also add a section of "fun facts" like - we took 1,000 pictures, stayed in 14 hotels in 17 nights, went to 6 castles, 12 cathedrals, that type of thing. When people look at my scrapbook they find the "fun facts" section fascinating. I also take a picture of every hotel to document where we stayed.

Here in London I can't easily find scrapbooking supplies like I could in the states. I saw a scrapbooking store once in the Cotswolds and I order my papers, albums, tape, etc. from that store online b/c I just can't find one around me. It is the same stuff as in the states, just Being a regular mom who does scrapbooking, I would say it is not nearly as big of a thing in London as it is in the states.

Thanks kmflondon, for your helpful words. Yes, it isn't probably as big in Paris either as it is here. And it is huge here now. Must be a big money making business.

Thanks for your great ideas. I will be on the constant lookout of things to put into the scrapbook. The fun part is Ihave never planned the book BEFORE the pictures have been taken, until now...

kmflondon: You're right. I had no idea what this thread was about until I read several posts. I'm afraid that this isn't something that we're big on. Wouldn't using a photo album be the same thing?

Oh, Tallulah... where have you been? Scrapbooking is the fastest growing hobby in the US, I'll wager..

Here is the difference between a photo album and a scrapbook:
http://tinyurl.com/pxlc8
http://tinyurl.com/m8fc9
http://tinyurl.com/nqhdj

travelnut, are those your pages? Very nice.

Scrapbooking has so much more expression and fun to it then just the pictures on the page. You can also put your souvineers, your ticket stubbs with dates, your business cards, etc, endless to put on the page and make it all a little more personal. They even have European cruises that feature scrapbooking events on them. Wow. It is big money and time here. Scrapbook stores are everywhere in the cities. I have hopelessly gotten hooked on it...

No, those are just layouts on that website... I don't have any pages online, just in the albums.
My sister and her daughter have been going to 'Scrapbook University' where they earn 'certificates' for each subject. She's had the spare bedroom converted to a workshop, which I envy with all my heart. I have to share my worktable with my cat and her fur (when she's not lying under my pc desk, whacking my feet when they accidently poke her).

As an avid scrapper and an ex-pat (having lived overseas for 5 years) - this is a BIG problem. I have tried to track down shops in various cities, but I have finally just given up! There are usually stores around - but they have never been close to where we were staying.



So - let me add a couple of suggestions to what Travelnut and kmflondon have mentioned......

-I have saved placemats from cafes in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul (because it had a great map of the bazaar) and the Khan el Khalili in Cairo (because it had great designs).

- Ticket stubs are good (my husband has even gotten into the habit of just handing them to me!)

- The old sheet music idea is a great one as are maps (subway, neighborhood, etc). Maybe some old French newspapers or magazines could provide interesting backgrounds or accent pieces.

- I use postcards when I can't manage to get just the "right" photo

- Take closeup photos of interesting things and have then blown up and use as borders (I have done this with photos of ceramics from Turkey and grape vines from New Zealand)

- I like to add currency from the countries to my pages.

- If you use any of the above stuff (paper items) on your pages, be sure to spray it first with something like Archival Mist to neutralize the acid.

Finally - when all else fails......you just have ato buy the stuff available in the US. My favorite online site for travel stuff is www.ScrapYourTrip.com

The above site has a lot of Paris/France related papers, stickers, diecuts, albums, etc.

Also - take a look at the Basic Grey papers. I don't know your style, but the Urban Couture and Motifica lines might work well for Paris.

And Provo Craft has a line of chipboard called Etcetera. They have several packages that would be great - "French Quatrters" " Trip to Paris" and "Vintage Tags."

Have a great trip and have fun scrapping!!!

Hi Heavens,

I also scrapbook, and have already found lots of Paris die-cuts/embellishments here in the states (Los Angeles)--my trip is in June! I've also been lucky online...

http://tinyurl.com/ej4n6
http://tinyurl.com/gf4r4
http://tinyurl.com/go8nr

And, believe it or not, Target has a great scrapbooking section.

Also googled scrapbook stores in Paris and got this L'Art du Papier, which appears to be a chain.
http://tinyurl.com/eocnp
(but it's all in French and I can't read it!)

Like others, I always buy postcards, pick up restaurant/hotel business cards or stationery, save ticket stubs, and keep brochures and maps from musuems/other sites.

Don't remember if you have kids, but
I also encourage my kids buys postcards to glue in their journals to inspire their writing.

Can't wait to hear about your trip!
Dina

That's as may be Travelnut, but I'm English and live in London!

I'm sure that I kept scrapbooks as a child but I find it odd that it's somehow become a 'formal' hobby...personally I'm way too disorganised to bother!