Maggie in Paris
The realities of living in Paris + a vlog!
Bonjour!
If you didn’t know, I have been living in Paris since September of this year and I have much to discuss. Only having been to Paris a handful of times before for two-ish weeks +/- at a time, spending three months here was an experience! I came in on a one-way ticket and expected to be home within the usual timeframe….that, that clearly didn’t happen. I left my dry cleaning in New York! That’s how little I expected this move. Life of a model!
I stayed in Paris on the premise of work, but being it my first time truly living here, I got to play too. Without further ado…
Notes on Paris:
Places that always have long waits:
Chanel Stores — I swear Chanel could have a store in the basement of the metro and the line would still wrap around the blocks.
Cedric Grolet — a tourist’s hotspot for croissants. I overheard one woman arrived 30 minutes before opening and waited one hour in line.
Mamiche — a local’s hotspot for croissants.
Angelina’s — absolutely worth it, see vlog video for proof.
People don’t f#@king move out of your way — I’m not sure what is in the mind’s of Parisians but no one seems to have space awareness, or worse yet a care to have it. The French will look you in the eye while beelining straight ahead into you?? The sidewalks are very small people!! Very different from New York where everyone is accustomed to the bob and weave tactics.
The metro is the most festive thing in town at Halloween — at each stop the metro’s voice operator cackles like a witch!
Bonus tip: don’t throw away your metro ticket, you will get a fine should the metro police do random checks.
Bonus rehtorical tip: don't ask me how I learned this lesson.
Its so grey — I’ve never lived somewhere that is so monochromatic. I’m sure that in the summer the blue skies would help this, but for the time I’ve lived here it’s a sheet of grey, beige and tan. The Seine? Grey. The Sky? Grey and light grey. The buildings? Grey. I bought a hot pink scarf in protest.
“It’s good?” — this phrase has been used so many times. It doesn’t have any other meaning than exactly what it means. Yet for some reason at the tail end of every conversation it’s said. I always found it funny, it doesn’t sit right in my mind for whatever reason. To me it sounds like broken English, but I still partake in its use. “It’s good?” “For me, it’s good” “Au revoir!”
I can’t fully say if Paris is my absolute favorite city as I’m a staunch believer that a place is only as good as the people in it. Right now my favorite people are 3,000+ miles away in the U.S., which has made living on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean quite difficult. I shared a montage of my first few weeks on Instagram and it of course was a highlight reel only. Paris makes me a sappy romantic and I have truly indulged in viewing the city through rose colored glasses. However, that life has certainly not been my every day reality. There have been tears and letdowns, there have been serendipities and deep moments of existential questioning + naps, lots and lots of naps. In fact, 90% of what I’ve gotten on to here in Paris has been PRIVATE.
Until now.
*drum roll please*