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 ExupĂ©ry 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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