So I was coming home on the train from Rennes back to Lyon, after my amazing HelloWorld adventure reading some emails on my phone when I got the shock of a lifetime. Kristin, from OnlyLyon had emailed me to say that I’d won the “Stars and Heroes” award of “one star” (helping others to know about Lyon). When I got told that I was a nominee I was already shocked because I’ve only been in Lyon since late March and I barely know anybody here. Who would vote for me? Amazingly, the lovely Ambassadors of Lyon did, so I took out the prize in this category. I am extremely humbled and touched that so many people voted for me.
The event was held in Matmut stadium and just as I arrived there was a skywriter drawing a heart in the sky. Awww… The venue was decked out in black and red and many people wore red accessories (to go with the theme and the OnlyLyon logo).
I felt like a celebrity and I wasn’t ready for that. So many people wanted to speak to me and meet me. It was cool and the time seemed to go very quickly. It was truly nerve-wracking going on stage and speaking in front of around 2000 people, but exciting at the same time. I didn’t really know what to expect but it was really cool to receive this gold lion trophy! Merci OnlyLyon 🙂
Afterwards I got to mingle a bit and try their delicious canapés (created by Pignol) presented in the theme of different countries. It was a really great night, je vous remercie !
Links:
- Article on Aderly OnlyLyon (in French only)
- Article on Lyon People (in French only)
- Lyon, France Facebook post about the event
- OnlyLyon Twitter post and a silly photo of me on stage with my Little Prince
- Flickr photo album
So, I guess it’s appropriate here to write a bit about my story. Many people have asked me how I came up with the idea of the Little Prince instagram account. I’d seen photos of travelling plush toys or figurines over the past few years and I always thought it was cool (plus I just love cute things). I guess my inspiration came from that, but not only that. I also wanted to create an account where I would stay on the one theme and I had to make it easy enough so that I could update it regularly. I also wanted to do something with Lyon and one day, while browsing a souvenir store in Vieux Lyon I saw lots of Le Petit Prince souvenirs and a lightbulb came over my head. That’s it! I’ll use the Little Prince, because the author of the book, Antoine de Saint Exupéry was born here… and that’s how it started, one beautiful, sunny day in June 2015.
At first I wanted to stand the figurine up everywhere but sometimes it became difficult if there was a bit of wind, as his feet are tiny! So in the end I resorted to holding him up at eye level. Where possible I do try to stand him up on his own, though.
I’m really happy that people like my photos, as the message from the book is so beautiful and I try to portray a sense of joy and wonder through my photos and by looking at the world through the eyes of a little prince. 🙂
You can see all my recent Instagram photos of the Little Prince here.
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