I’ve started a new habit of getting up early while the kids are in bed, turning on my laptop and disappearing into another time and place. In this past week I’ve mostly been thinking about Suzanne Valadon and her amazing journey from painters’ muse to groundbreaking artist in her own right. All in Montmartre during La Belle Époque. It’s …

In 1910s Montparnasse Paris, two young girls love looking out from the balcony of their fifth floor apartment at the bohemian life below them. They see Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, and Jean Cocteau and their friends dropping into the cafe below for coffee, lunch and drinks.

It was an insight into another world, far removed from thei…

While planning future Substack posts I’m taking inspiration from Marguerite Durand, who launched her own feminist newspaper in 1897 run and written entirely by women.

Oh and she had a penchant for big cats, which she would casually walk around Paris with. Including a lion she named “Tiger.”