Episode 2 : From London to Toronto

In case you missed it, you can catch up on how two French girls ended up in London at the first place here. Grab a cookie, get comfy, here is the second episode of your Scandals-en-chef's story.

London, Wood Green, October 2012.

Our suitcases are heavy, so is the rain, but we don't care. We found a house. It looks cozy (turns out it wasn't), the rent is fairly cheap (for London), the landlord seems friendly (turns out she wasn't either) and the rooms were just re-painted (that was true. Our first night with the smell of the paint is a delirious and hilarious blur. Don't do drugs kids.)

First step was getting a job and quick. Knowing that our English was not that great, our first bet was to apply in bars & restaurants, hoping to get something fast. That's exactly what happened: we looked for 2 or 3 weeks before finding jobs as a barmaid and waitress. This is when the 17-hour shifts and the going home at 2 am started. I am not going to lie, little Scandals, it wasn't easy. But we were okay. We made enough money to pay for our basic needs. We didn't need much and we had each other. Our main activities were cooking, watching movies snuggled in one of the bedrooms (we didn't have heat for the longest time ever, told you it wasn't that cozy), and going window-shopping because with our wages, going real-shopping was out of the question. (They don't tip in the UK, guys!)

This is when you need to know one of the key element to our story: a 5"7 Canadian guy swept me off my feet and gave me the idea to start the paperwork and pack my bags to go over the Atlantic. After giving a lot of tears, time and dollars to the Canadian government, my paperwork went through and 6 months after our British arrival, I was about to leave again.

This situation was quite a bit of a pickle. See, we were kind of used to live together Fanny and I and we even started a wife/wife relationship there (our common shopping cart can be a witness of that).

Thinking of giving it up wasn't easy so Fanny decided… not to.

A blurry photo from when she took me to the airport in London

Toronto, Yonge & Eglinton, February 2013

I will always remember when she told me "you know what, I'll come too". She applied for a working holiday visa, which she got a few days before I left, in February 2013. I landed in the Torontonian winter (during that ice storm we had back then, remember?) and I am not gonna lie, the months before Fanny's arrival were not a lot of fun. Getting accustomed to a new country, a new culture, a new job, while being away from my entire family was tough. Everything seemed just... so far. It was also the first time I was dealing with a time difference between my loved ones.

The minute Fanny landed in June 2013, everything felt like a little more like home. It was even better when she found a place literally across the street from mine. We were ready to conquer Toronto, one glass of wine at the time.

We have now been living for almost 5 years in Toronto, but trust me, it wasn't all pink and unicorns. But that will be the next episode…

It was about time that we wrote about this trip. Don't procrastinate kids. Fanny and I had the opportunity to go to Costa Rica last February, to escape the canadian cold and follow an aerial silks retreat. Because, yes, we also do aerial silks!

This retreat is put together by the lovely Jamie Holmes, The Circus Fix genius and aerialist extraordinaire. If you are following us on our facebook and instagram, you are probably already familiar with her beautiful face! (and if you are NOT following us, it's not too late!)

While it was a pretty busy trip full of workouts and good food, we clearly saw that a shoot had to happen. We had it all laid out right in front of our eyes: gorgeous girl, outstanding country and a brand new business we were starting to nourish.

Now that we had 90% of the elements for a successful shoot, we needed one thing: the perfect spot.

We were located in a super small town called Santa Teresa, where if you don't have any sorts of transportation, you have to use your legs for 45 minutes in average (except the beach. That was across the street!). Been there, done that, Fanny and I started our little adventure for a solid 3 hours. As usual, we climb stuff, we crawl on the floor, and occasionally yell to one another "do you think this is safe???" And honestly, we didn't find what we were looking for. Until we walked home.

Jamie-Holmes-Boudoir-Costa-Rica-Toronto-Aerialist-Scandaleuse-39.jpg

There it was, that super close by, easy to access, little path that no one noticed. Some sort of mini jungle, by a deserted beach. Across from the main street we are staying at.

We walked down that secret trail and fell in love. Everything was magical. The light was absolutely gorgeous at any time of the day. The greens of the jungle were mind blowing. After a thousand "wow" and "WOOOOOOW, we had it.

Side note: do not try to call monkeys there, they will throw coconuts at you. Fanny dodged one.

It felt like the photos were taken by themselves. Despite the heat, it was one of the easiest shoot we've ever done. Jamie did a fantastic job posing and we are so happy we got a chance to give her that. I only wish the shoot lasted even longer.

This is not only a "look-at-our-shoot" post. This is our first boudoir when Fanny and I worked together as a team.

This shoot triggered our love to shoot boudoir outdoors to create those out of the ordinary contrasts. This session showed us how well our ideas clicked together and how solid we are. It's thanks to this specific moment that we opened Scandaleuse a couple of weeks later.