I love paris, a city of indulgence
turns out, I am capable of having a relaxing, content, slow weekend day – I just needed to be in Paris. this is day 1.
Let me take you through what I just did for four hours in Paris. I landed yesterday, did a tiny grocery shop, then just worked. I knew it would be my only solo weekend of this trip so this morning, I took the opportunity to sleep in… until 1pm. Fabulous. Then, I walked around for 4 hours and I’m already in love. Here’s what I noticed.
“Most of us are lucky to see Paris once in a lifetime. Make the most of it by doing as little as possible. Walk a little, get lost a bit, eat, catch a breakfast buzz, have a nap, try and have sex if you can, just not with a mime. Eat again. — World Travel: An Irreverent Guide, Anthony Bourdain
I had seen this quote in a Substack Note over the past few months and realized, yes, this is what I’d like to do, truly live my days in Paris with leisure. I also love the endorsement from Anthony Bourdain, and if that’s not permission to sleep ‘til 1pm before wandering, then maybe you’re more type A than me.
I’m quite sure I missed my 9am alarm. Did I even set an alarm for 9am? Who knows.
I definitely woke up again at 11 or 12. Then to ensure I didn’t sleep until 3pm, I set an alarm for 1pm.
1pm: good morning
I dilly dallied, looked around, and slowly started moving. I boiled some water, and waited for the ‘click’ to signal me to keep going. I spent my time looking at the eiffel tower in the distance.
I poured a glass of hot water — oh, when was the last time I intentionally waited for my hot water to cool? When I’m at home, I make a tea at 9:50am before my 10am meeting then I usually take my first sip at 10:30am once I re-remember, oh yes, I made myself tea. I do this every weekday.
Water was consumed, and after walking around the little apartment several times ensuring that I was ready to head out, I unlocked the door and headed down the five flights of stairs.
2pm: onwards, to the 6th arrondissement.
I wandered (with purpose!) through the 14th arrondissement, noticing the road signs and how many of them are named after people! And not just that, they also have a little subtitle, telling you what they’re known for! One of them said écrivons et un homme politique (or something like that, I swear it was écrivons but google translate does not tell me that that means writer. anyway.
Times like these are when I really appreciate having great direction sense. I could be more humble here but why do that when I know it’s a strength? Maybe I was trained this way in my childhood, tasked with those giant yellow maps and flipping frantically to relay directions to my dad. I looked at Google Maps when I left my building, then I only checked again after making 2 turns to ensure I was travelling relatively North.
As I walked, I was impressed by just how many restaurants and cafes there were. They’re on every corner, they’re every other store. They mostly have menus outside their door, or on the window. They have people! People sitting out front with a café au lait ou espresso at 2pm! Maybe I’m in a particularly full and lively area? That I won’t be able to claim until later this trip.
When I thought about Paris in my daydreams, I would have glimpses of the Eiffel Tower (check!) and the landmarks but mostly, the classic Parisian apartment facades. The juliet balconies, the plants hooked on for dear life, the window shutters, the ornate finishes, the sculptures seemingly randomly etched beside double doors, the double doors!
I started thinking about whether I like this city more than Vancouver, or if I thought that it had the potential. On my taxi ride into the city, we passed by some relatively flat land, some office buildings, some tunnels. I thought about how it reminded me of Mississauga. Extrapolating from that, I wondered if Paris would stand a chance among my list of top cities, even while landlocked, even without mountains.
Something about the city you choose must inspire you. Typically for me, that means a mountain-ocean city (for clarity: a city with both mountains and oceans, preferably one where you can stand at the shore and see both the mountains and the cityscape). À Paris, they have the architecture and a homage to the generations before them that I simply haven’t seen before.
2:30pm: sit down for coffee.
Checking the time stamps of these photos, I’m surprised it was only 2:30pm. It felt like I’d walked a lot longer than that before sitting down but I bet my body was fooling me because it was probably starving.
In January, I laboured for hours and made french onion soup! One of my friends said that it was better than the french onion soup he’d had in PARIS. And I’m proud to say that I agree, I made a better french onion soup (richer, more homey) than the one I had today. But I could not beat the delectableness of the gruyére layer from this café. They win in terms of cheese (as they should). Also while waiting for the bill, these three dogs came out of the café interior which is wonderful to see because a) French dogs are welcome in many places and they’re so well-behaved and b) there were THREE. Also, I learned today that you ask for the bill by saying “l’addition, s’il vous plaît.” (Why didn’t I learn this over my 9 years of learning French?)
While eating my soup though, I put on the Paris section of World Travel, as quoted way up top. This is a city that loves to indulge, so isn’t it just logical that an indulgent person like me loves it back?
3pm: Le Bon Marché
wow! also it had a space on each of its three levels showcasing smaller businesses and partnerships all for a theme on dogs! now imagine if all malls or department stores did this! Also I found the cutest little snoopy for 43 euros which sadly meant I did not take him home.
4pm: walk around the arrondissement
I bought a mille feuille and a baguette and my daily croissant. Then I wandered around the block, saw some guards guarding something, then wandered around a gated, walled park that was a dead end. :)
4:30pm: La Grande Épicerie
This was the main attraction. I will be back for a second haul, likely for butter, but also to check out its second and third floors in depth. I haven’t even tried the salami or the cheese I bought but the butter section (that has gone big on tikkytok so thus had a CROWD of people around it) really delivered. I bought the yuzu and demi-sel butters today! I’ll be back for the chocolate nibs one, the caramelized onions one, the seaweed one…
5:30pm: walking back home
On my walk home, I had a fun realization: I saw two instances of me today. On my walk towards the 16th today, I passed someone who looked exactly like the essence of me — headphones, similar height, Asian girl, jellycat croissant keychain, large crossbody bag. I thought, yes, we have the same taste. That’s someone I could be friends with. And that’s a lovely thought to have on my first day in a new city.
Then on my walk back from the 16th, I passed by a girl who was wearing the exact Patagonia rainjacket I have (except mine’s coral, hers was blue) and the red Gregory hiking daypack I have. It was so uncanny to see her in the wild amongst a city that largely does not wear hiking gear everywhere.
I guess it’s not really a realization but moreso an acknowledgement that there are other people out there with a similar taste to me which makes this new city a little less unapproachable.
This must also be the time that the boulangeries start having their end-of-day sales. Two bakeries on my street had lines out the door! I must join them one day…
6:00pm: home
then a little bit of sitting, a little bit of writing, and a little bit of tv.
I worry I am being very loud and doing a lot of this content thing to try and capture being in Paris (which really is kinda not the most insane thing it really was not hard to get here) but if it’s just a fun little hobby and it helps you discover just how easy it is to make a Reel and just how lovely it is to do one activity then rest for the day, then really, what’s the harm. But in the future, don’t expect 3 pieces of content from me a day. Today was a rarity. So indulge me for once, but I hope you enjoyed!