10 Things You Need to Know About Paris

A friend of mine is coming to Paris to study abroad for a month this summer. I've been trying to figure out what advice to give him, and in doing so, I realized I wouldn't be sharing advice. I would be sharing the things I've learned about Paris, the things you can't exactly find in a normal guidebook, but should nevertheless be included.

1. Crêpes are the best judge of location.
No, seriously. You can judge where you are in the city by the price of a crêpe avec le sucre from a    street stand or a restaurant to-go style stand.

• 2 Euros: any normal part of Paris (shops, cafés, actual Parisians)
• 2,50 and up Euros: Touristy area. Someone will probably try to either pickpocket you or sell you a    million mini versions of the eiffel tower. Find somewhere else to eat. 
• <2 Euros: You're probably by the suburbs, in a very sketchy neighborhood. You might want to leave.

2. Coffee is always worth the money, a baguette sandwich never is.

They know their caffeine here. They won't give you much, but it will be good, it will be in an adorable cup, and they'll give you enough sugar to make you wonder how the Parisians aren't fat. But either way, Paris is a city you need to be awake for. 

The baguette sandwiches, on the other hand, are always overpriced, and they barely put anything in them. You end up basically eating a sliced open baguette, and I can never tell if people are eating a chunk of bread or a sandwich. Go to a bakery and get a quiche, a tarte, or just buy a baguette and use it to try out the fromageries, charcuteries, italian traiteurs, or offerings at the market. 

3. Some stereotypes are true

Yes, in Paris they really do walk around with their daily baguette under their arm. They put cheese and cream in everything. Florist shops are everywhere, because several times a week you will see a man carrying flowers to give his girlfriend. Those idyllic parisian cafés, brasseries, and bistros don't just exist, they can be found on every other street corner, and yes they are adorable. And finally, they really do wander around playing accordions, usually on the metro. Oh, and yes, the Parisians DO dress better than you. And I don't admit that very often.

Even the boys dress better. Take notes, gents...

4. Parisians really do snack, they just like to lie about it.

You know how they say French women don't get fat, because they are good at portion control and don't eat between meals? I'm going to have to embarrass them by telling you that they snack almost worse than Americans. Most people on the metro are snacking. Some on 'biscuits' (cookies, usually with a LOT of chocolate, and merit an entire aisle in most grocery stores), which they then stuff back into their box and back into their bag. Some start ripping off pieces of a baguette, then flipping it around in the bag to hide the broken end. And a large number eat chocolate from the 'selectas' (vending machines) in the metro stations, stuffing it in their mouths before stashing the wrapper somewhere undetectable. So even if you don't see it, trust me, they are snacking. 

5. It's not a fantasy land. It's a big city

Paris is usually presented as 'the city of light', though this refers not to the philosophical movement but to Paris as a glowing city of wonders. Which it is, but you also need to remember it's a big city, too. The metros smell like urine, sometimes there is trash on the streets, it has a tendency to rain as much as London in the spring, and you will probably have a drunk homeless man come at you at some point. This sounds like a downer, but it isn't; be prepared that it isn't a fantasy, and you'll love the huge number of beautiful things and stop really seeing the rest. 

6. Normal rules don't apply.

PDAs: If I laugh too loudly on the metro, I will get glares from about half the car. But the couple being more intimate than many PG-13 movies allow won't even get a second glance.

Drinking: A friend of mine tried to explain to a class the phrase 'it's 5 o'clock somewhere' and they simply didn't get it. In France, they take wine with their lunch and it is completely legal to drink in the streets. I'm pretty sure that the 'somewhere' in the phrase refers to France, because it seems to be 5 o'clock all the time. 

And finally, for some reason, even sex shops have opening parties with food and champaign. I passed this walking home from school, and still can't quite wrap my head around it.

7. You will literally never see all of the museums.

Apparently, it would take 100 days to see everything in the Louvre. And that is just one museum. Sure, you have the big players, such as Musée d'Orsay and the Centre Pompidou. But these are just the ones you know about. With my classes, I have been to 4 museums I've never heard of, people at my center have mentioned at least 4 I haven't had a chance to visit, I've seen ads for another handful, and my 'to-do' list of museums includes another 6 or so, just off the top of my head. The only solution is to visit Paris again...

 

8. Pay attention to details, and bring a camera.

The Parisians are known for their attention to detail. Walk into any bakery, even the smallest, saddest one, and you will see works of art in the form of food. With the occasional exception, every non-fast-food restaurant is impeccably decorated, and drop dead gorgeous. And don't get me started on the gardens... So at the risk of being a tourist, take your camera literally everywhere. There is always something that will surprise you, and you really do need to expect the unexpected. 

I mean, this really is too pretty to eat:

9. People make the place.

I had a conversation with a friend about how you can be in the most amazing place on earth and if you aren't with people you enjoy and care about, it almost means nothing. And the worst place can be made better by having great people. Make friends, share things with them, and be open to people. You'll make friends you can't believe you survived without, hear crazy stories from strangers on the metro, and get an extra pastry in the boulangerie for being friendly.

I still wish I asked this guy how he ended up doing this:

10. YOU ARE IN PARIS. If you haven't passed an arch, obelisk, fountain, church, or manicured garden, something is wrong. Enjoy it.

There are a million other things, too, but some things you will just have to find out on your own. And don't forget to write them down--a random restaurant, bar, street, whatever. If you like it, you'll want to come back, or you'll want to pass it on to the next person who gets to enjoy this crazy city.

J'ai besoin d'une petite pause...//Saint Germain des Pres

Sometimes, even in one of the best cities in the world, you need a break. A little break from schoolwork, a little break from 'real life' (or whatever that means in study abroad terms). Luckily, since I'm in one of the best cities in the world, I don't have to travel very far. Not much farther than 2 or 3 miles, in fact. Because one of the most magical parts of Paris, for me, is Saint Germain des Pres, part of the 6th arrondissement. It never fails to put a smile on my face, and shoe me something wonderful.

During the first half of my program, this was the area one of my good friend's fathers was staying in. Lucky for us, he let us have free reign in the kitchen... My baking buddy and I got to indulge in our (slightly unhealthy) baking obsession, and many of our other friends got to benefit:

A cake for our friend's 21st birthday:

 A friend helping with a cleanup:

The bakers, failing at cleanup:

 Last week, I took my much needed break there, wandering around the streets, taste testing the two powerhouse macaron boulangeries (Pierre Hermé and Lauderée, bien sûr).





And, of course, a little window shopping:

And as I was walking away from Ladurée, I got a nice little surprise. I always study the menus at promising looking cafés, and this time, someone called me on it. A guy passing by asked me (in French) if the café was any good. Since I window shop food, as well, I told him I had no idea, and he promptly asked if I'd like to find out with him. So I got some coffee, enjoyed the sun, and practiced my French. I can't remember his name, and the conversation itself wasn't much to remember either, but it was a nice surprise to end a break from life. Any other day I would have said no (aren't we supposed to avoid strangers?) but that day was a break, and after all, when in Paris...




The final magical moment I've had here is one of my favorites on the trip. After my class at the Sorbonne, I decided to wander down Saint Germain, just because. And lucky I did, because I stumbled across a Ralph Lauren photoshoot, I believe for his new line. For a fashion lover, this was a bit like winning the lottery. It might be an every day occurrence for Paris, but for me, it a little gift from the big city.







Later, I realized I was reading the blog of the model I saw doing the shoot... Life is funny sometimes.

Art in Paris

Paris, it is safe to say, is known for its attention to detail. But for me, this isn't quite accurate. You can pay attention to details and suck the life and magic out of something; imagine going over tax returns or double checking answers on a calculus test. Paris isn't like that; it's more of a Jackson Pollock painting than a mathematical proof. And like a Pollock, it's a mess of everything, scrambled together yet done with the utmost attention and thought behind it. There is an amazing amount of reasoning behind his work, sometimes unseen or unnoticed. And that is the Paris I have been seeing. Sometimes a jumble, sometimes a mess, but every bit beautiful and intentional. And every bit a work of art. That, to me, is the best way to describe Paris, as a piece of art. Not a Pollock, of course (though it sometimes seems one of his paintings was used by the city planners for the layout of the streets), but a piece of art in its own right. And within Paris there is every kind of art imaginable. They do pay attention to detail, but the Parisians live this way because if their surroundings are pieces of art, those surroundings must be filled with art as well.

I have gone to the Musée d'Orsay and the Centre Pompidou, I've seen a decent number of monuments and monumental architecture, and these are all wonderful examples. I spent an entire visit with my friend Annie and only made it through the first floor of the Centre Pompidou. But to say that Paris's art scene ends with its museums is to discredit many other, less obvious pieces of art.

The obvious art (Centre Pompidou):

The Building:

Art from Floor 1:

Less obvious--the street art: 

The Decorative Arts: Mosaics on a Hotel Wall in Montparnasse:

The art of design and the fashion houses:

The art of food and presentation (pain perdu/french toast):

Shopping in Paris: How to 'lèche-vitrine'

I used to love shopping. Since a very early age, I could spend hours and hours at the mall (I apologize to the friends and family unwillingly dragged into this). After a while, that changed. Around the beginning of high school, I stopped liking shopping and buying, and began to prefer what I suppose could be called 'shopping vicariously'. Anyone who went to the mall with me can confirm that I had, at most, one small bag for every three of theirs, and I am an expert at rationalizing why they should buy something. This morphed into me being taken along as what you could call a personal stylist; I was brought along on shopping trips with everyone from my friends to my brother and consulted on what they should buy. As I got more and more into fashion (and less and less willing to impulse buy) I began to dislike shopping. Don't get me wrong, I love clothes; but it became such a time sucker that I preferred looking at styling online and finding the perfect piece from the comforts of my own room. Nothing at the mall was ever what I wanted, so rather than waste my time, I simply found exactly what I wanted online. It became about having the piece and getting to play with it in my closet, not spending hours traipsing through a disturbing amount of sequins, leopard print, and that weird neon mesh trend that couldn't go away fast enough just to find the perfect shirt.
But Paris, as it often seems to be, was a game changer. It isn't about buying things or owning them, it's about the adventure. I have been doing a lot of what they call 'lèche-vitrine', or directly translated, licking the windows. When you are surrounded by all the big names, from the classically french Yves Saint Laurent (or, Saint Laurent Paris, thanks to Hedi Slimane ) and Chanel to the lesser known Zadig and Voltaire, the Kooples, and a million other names that are out of most people's price range, you can't do much actual shopping. In fact, the only thing that you really CAN do is drool, making the term 'lick the windows' quite accurate indeed.
I may not be able to buy, but Paris is bringing back the magic that is window shopping. Wandering through aisles and looking at the glittering pieces with impeccable stitching and getting that little itch that comes when you see it... that itch that, for me, makes me want to be more a part of these places than can be achieved by simply purchasing. It's like standing in an art museum. If you can look, but you'd better not touch... that means it's time to start creating your own.

Laduree (the Kind of the French Macaron...):

 Spiral of doom (for wallets):

 Racks of sparkling pieces (both literally and figuratively):

 Le Bon Marché:

 A tiny perfume boutique:

 The Fashion Royalty:

And the King, bien sûr:

 The most beautiful place to shop, Gallaries Lafayette:

And suddenly I was doodling again...

Paris 2

Something I've been learning about Paris: Don't think you know anything. You can be walking down the street next to a McDonalds (Or 'MacDo' as I guess I should start calling it) and a Starbucks, and out of nowhere the street will open to one side and there will be a beautiful monument towering over you. The funny thing is, the people here don't seem to notice them. I suppose if you live by so much beauty and history, it becomes the norm. Me, I'm immune to the MacDo and Starbucks, to the people on the street walking slower than me, to pigeons and grey skies. But we don't have intricate doors, towering stone buildings dedicated to a long lineage of dead kings, thin people dolled up in fancy coats, or a Chanel store around every corner. It's humbling, it makes me feel so much smaller; if no one notices these walls of stone, how does anyone notice anything? But on the other hand, maybe their lives are just that full of beauty and history. It becomes something that is so much a part of you that you don't need to stop and take a picture, because you already have it memorized.

What I'm used to (MURICA):

The New Norm:

The Centre Pompidou

 Bridge details (view from the Seine)

Light post detail in the Champs-Élysées

 You know what it iiiis...

You know what it iiiis...

Basilica of Saint Denis:

Marie Antoinette's tomb:

 Door detail in the 9th arrondissement:

A Parliament building:

Getting surprised on the street by this:

What I've been wearing: (excuse the selfies):