When Paris reveals itself

“How you gonna keep ’em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paris”

Donaldson, Young and Lewis,

Paris is a feast for the senses

When I planned my month in Paris, I had it in my mind that I would spend my days traversing a good number of the Parisian arrondissements to revisit many of the sites that I didn’t fully appreciate in the past. As I mentioned in my last post, I have been to Paris a few times before, but always with somebody different. Typically, we were always on a see-everything-you-can-see schedule. Admittedly, I had a rather shallow view of Paris, made up of the tourist attractions that uniquely belong to Paris.

As I sit down to write this week, I’m looking at all of my photos over the last three weeks. They bring back all of those moments when I was excavating the different parts of Paris beyond the notable sites: meeting the locals, exploring new arrondissements, and doing what many locals do in their daily life. These moments are funny, beautiful and uniquely Parisian.

I thought I’d share a few of the special moments of the last few weeks, and hopefully make you laugh, trigger your inner Francophile a bit and paint a picture of Paris that sits just beyond the veneer of the tourist lens. I hope Paris reveals itself to you as it has for me.

Let’s learn French “Nous apprenons le français”

One of my reasons for being here is to attempt to tackle a little bit of French before I head to my new home near Nérac in October. Here’s the good news, knowing Italiano is a huge jump-start on French. Both are Latin based languages, and they have the same grammatical structures. It allows me to stay ahead of my class and feels much easier than my Italiano classes.

Here’s the bad news, it’s the pronunciation. Oh Dio mio! All of those months I spent perfecting the rolling “R” are thrown out the window, as I now have to guttarly swallow the “R” and produce a phlegm inducing “arugghhh”, which is followed by a facial expression that screams, “Heimlich maneuver!” The R is just the tip of the iceberg. It seems inconsistency and mystery prevail as every word requires its own unique oral skill just to pronounce. If I could film my class doing a French exercise, with their heavy native accents from Indonesia, Russia, Mexico, America, Malaysia, Turkey and Colombia, it would sound like the Tower of Babel was on fire.

What’s different this time is that I’m having fun learning French. I don’t have the heavy pressure on me as I did when learning Italiano, and my experience so far has been that Paris is very accommodating for English speakers. Therefore, I’m getting along just fine, trying my French when possible and enjoying the learning as Paris reveals itself through its language.

Demystifying the Parisians and the “Eye Orgy”

Admittedly, I was a bit concerned that four weeks in Paris would confirm for me that Parisians aren’t all that excited to have foreigners in their beautiful city. I never expected the Parisians to walk down the street with a big Texas-style, “How y’all doing?” smile, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. With that in mind, I have tried to keep a low profile and temper my Americano a bit. However, I have found nothing but discrete kindness in the eyes and behind the masks adorning the Parisian faces. But of course, there’s always a story.

This week I was informed by one of friends in French class that through my kind smiles and eye contact, I have been mistakenly hitting on just about every Parisian I see on the street. This is what I have labeled the unintentional “eye orgy.”

Americans are naturally curious and friendly. Looking a stranger in the eyes, holding their gaze, and simply saying, “Bonjour!” is not unusual. However, seldom does it happen between two Parisian strangers. If it does, there is an agenda at work. You may hear a subtle greeting of bonjour or bonsoir, but direct eye-to-eye contact is very brief, unless there is interest beyond the greeting. There are literally articles on the internet about how to do this correctly. Here’s how it works:

1. The first step is you a see a stranger on the street and make direct eye-to-eye contact.
2. The person will look back at you, and in a split second, send you the advance/retreat signal.
3. If the person holds your gaze and smiles, it means, “Yeah, you might be interesting to me.”
4. If you smile back and hold the gaze for a few seconds, well then you just closed the deal.
5. At this point, the expectation is the initiator will take the lead and open the discussion.
6. This is where I just keep on walking and am clueless to the invitation I just left.

Last week I was guilty of retail seduction. I was at Le Bon Marché, a department store in the chic 6th arrondissement, it’s the place where all the beautiful people in Paris work or shop. The sales clerks are beautiful, the customers are beautiful, the clothes are beautiful. Even the panhandlers outside the store are beautiful. The Parisian sales personnel resemble Vogue models. Tall men with broad shoulders and dreamy eyes and women with flawless faces and narrow waist that can pass through the eye of a needle. It’s a never-ending display of eye candy when Paris reveals itself through its style.

Even though I was looking for shoes, I found myself in the middle of a nonstop eye orgy. I smiled at everyone. “Bonjour to you…bonjour to you…and particularly bonjour to you!” I had no idea that by the time I exited Le Bon Marché, I had left a string of sexual propositions throughout the entire men’s clothing and shoe departments. It was visual prostitution as its best.

My favorite places

But in defense of my gawking, all of Paris is an orgy for the eyes. It seems as though an artist and his paintbrush are continually at work enhancing the city. The buildings, parks, thoroughfares and fountains are simply gushing with beauty. Even the under-kept and shabby neighborhoods look like scenes from a Monet, Van Gogh or Benoist masterpiece. One cannot help to notice the beauty in the animate and inanimate objects as Paris reveals itself to you in its artistic expression.

Paris has 20 arrondissements (districts), and they spiral out several kilometers from the center like a nautilus. I probably have been to about a dozen of them during the last several weeks. I can’t say that I know Paris well enough to sound like one of those well-traveled individuals that can rattle off all of their favorite districts. The truth is, it’s hard to choose just one. So rather than try, I’ll talk about a few areas that have impressed me over the course of my stay.

Montmartre in the 18th

Montmartre is one of my favorite places to explore by foot. It has a reputation for being its own village inside of Paris, brimming with cafes, restaurants, artist shops and a population as diverse as the United Nations. You will find neighborhoods sprinkled with local Parisians, North-African and Middle-East immigrants, along with well-heeled up and coming Europeans. It is a real melting pot of sights, sounds and smells to juice your emotions. There is even a gritty section to make you blush if you so desire. Take a stroll down Boulevard de Rochechouart and you will find the one and only Moulin Rouge and dozens of well-advertised sex shops lining the boulevard. For more on Montmartre, click here.

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart, or Sacré-Coeur as it is more commonly known, sits high atop Montmartre. It appears to be standing guard over this quirky and naughty little village within Paris. From the steps of the basilica there is a commanding view of the city. At night it is brimming with revelers, young and old, enjoying the view as Paris reveals itself below.

Just below the hill of the Sacré-Coeur, the village of Martmontre has beautiful plazas for eating and taking in the views. One such plaza, La Place du Charles Dullin, is where I met two of the most exuberant women from Barcelona, Reyna and Maria. To me, they will always be the “Que Gordita!” girls. Que Gordita apparently is “little fat girl” in Spanish, and of course, the little fat girl was Sofia.

La Coulée Vert in the 12th

I had a tip from a friend to visit La Coulée Vert. It’s a 4 km (3 miles) park that winds through the city. It was a former elevated railroad line that was abandoned and now serves as a green space that starts near the Place de le Bastille (Bastille Plaza) and ends in the Bois de Vincennes (Woods of Vincennes).

I took Sofia there thinking we’d have a nice stroll among the trees and water features and I was not disappointed. Even though the tourists are few and far between, the locals seemed to flock to it to take in the shade as temperatures shot above 35°C. Sofia was mobbed by a group of college students who passed her around like a football and fought to take photos and videos with her.

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Les Jardins du Luxembourg in the 5th

Just a few minutes from my apartment in the 5th arrondissement, is one of the most beautiful parks in Europe, Les Jardins du Luxembourg. It also happens to be one of my favorite places to people watch and take in the sun. Sofia likes the dog activity there, so she has it on her favorite list as well.

Les Jardins du Luxembourg were inspired by the Boboli Gardens in Florence, and were commissioned by Queen Marie de Medici, wife of Henry VI. Queen Marie was actually of the Medici family in Firenze, and she longed for something Florentine. Therefore, she had the gardens designed in a manner that has a Florentine flare.

This is also a place to meet some very interesting people, like Igor and Ikram. I run into them every few days around the garden or neighborhood. At first glance, Igor looks a bit intimidating, but he’s actually a gentle giant with a fondness for Sofia. I can always find him and his chihuahua, Ikram, walking through the park or hanging out with his fellow Polish friends at the local brasserie. Once again, Paris reveals itself through its interesting people.

Paris reveals itself as a place to revisit again and again

France, like Italia, is small in land mass, but enormous in cultural diversity. Paris, with its multi-dimensional villages, residents and experiences, feels like it’s own island. I have barely scratched the surface of this great city, but that means I must return. I think whenever I need to get a city-fix, I will find my way back to Paris. The people, places and emotions that I have sensed as Paris reveals itself to me, leave me longing for more.

I’ve included a few additional photos in the carousel below. I hope you enjoy the slideshow of memories that I will take away with me.

Thank you all for the birthday wishes in the last post. I successfully survived my 50th, and now I’m bridging nicely into the next decade. I also want to thank you for supporting The Spaghetti Diaries. If you want to follow my blog, please subscribe in the box below. If you like what you read, please pass it on to others through your social media page.