After two weeks in France, getting back onto an EST schedule has been a LITTLE rough. Like… you lay down to take a quick rest at 4:30pm….and wake up at 7am the next day. That sort of thing.

This past trip was the longest consecutive period I’ve spent in Paris, and I’m STILL struggling to adjust to not saying “merci, au revoir!” or “bonne journée!” upon leaving a taxi, departing an establishment, that sort of thing. And I have to tell you- I REALLY miss starting each morning with a literal warm-from-the-oven pain au chocolat. It was heaven!

I’m trying to refrain from waxing on about how incredible The Signature Atelier was, because I want to save it for a future blog post. But I can’t help it! It was SUCH an incredible time! So today’s MMU is all about highlights from our first Paris workshop :).

So, without further ado, lessons learned/events that transpired during our time in Versailles for The Signature Atelier:

• Croissants in France are one of those rare stereotypes that actually live up to the hype. If you ever make it to France, trust me: start your day with a trip to the local boulangerie. And be prepared for crumbs galore, and for the best bread of your LIFE.
• After nine visits to Paris, I finally tried foie gras. Conclusion? Not as terrible as I was expecting! I definitely require something like a slice of baguette alongside it, though, because the butter-like consistency is just a little too smooth to consume alone. Sort of like eating a tablespoon of Land-O-Lakes.
• I don’t know if there’s anything as magical as pulling up to the Eiffel Tower just before dawn with a group of photographers, some of whom have never seen La Tour Eiffel in person (much less at such an enchanting time of day), with pink, purple, and blue skies behind it. MAGIC.
• Having the privilege of introducing that same group of photographers to Domaine de Versailles, including the Petit Trianon? Also magical!
• But my favorite part of the entire week was our Film 101 class! Getting to share my love affair with analog photography, and then putting a medium format film camera into each attendee’s hands during our styled shoot, it was SUCH a joy. Film allowed me to fall back in love with my craft, and seeing some of our girls experience the same rush was a gift. 
• Katherine Bignon is the best workshop partner ever. I have so many praises to heap upon her, and that’ll come with the full recap blog post once my film is in, but I just have to say that I honestly wouldn’t have been able to pull off a feat like this with anyone but her. And I truly believe that if you can find someone who’ll share a room with you for 8 days, listen to late-night [exhausted] ramblings & will brainstorm with you about future dreams at 1:30 in the morning, and leaves the experience STILL wanting to be friends? You’ve found a buddy for life.
• Guys, I shot more than 50 rolls of film over the last two weeks. FIFTY.

Nbd. Just hanging out of a second-story window during dinner. #anythingfortheshot, amiright?

If you want to see more behind-the-scenes snaps + photos from our amazing attendees, check out #thesignatureatelier tag on Insta! I have a feeling that tag’s going to be flooded once our girls get their first rolls of film back from The FIND Lab- I can’t wait to see what they captured!

Back to our-regularly-scheduled blogging program this week!