The last time I was in Paris, I was 25 years old, I was staying with my great godmother, who was a very well known yoga teacher, now long gone sadly, at Meudon in the south western suburbs (worth visiting with its beautiful gardens and prehistory, L’Observatoire and fine views) It seems like a life time ago now… perhaps it’s time for another trip! You have given me itchy feet with your wanderings and gorgeous pics!
Thank you SO much for unlocking the secrets of the 2nd. Sounds fab. We’ll definitely be heading back in the Autumn. We ended up taking quirky shots of the (admittedly beautiful and deserving of their standing) tourist sights so we could feel half traveller/half tourist!
I don’t know about the icky. On our last trip a few months ago, I did all the touristy things in Paris 😀and felt excited to be fan-girling over the city. We did walk all over the city too, non-touristy parts included, and I think I’ll need more visits to get to know Paris.
I umm’d a little, and aah’d a lot over the word. I think I was trying to capture our dilemma … we think of ourselves as ‘travelers’ in Paul Theroux’s words, as if - somehow - that is a binary ‘traveller’ or ‘tourist’ situation. I’ve fallen into the ‘pit of no nuance’ in doing so. Polarised myself, which is a bit mad! Thanks for nudging me out of my daftness. Your Paris trip sounds bliss and we too fancy a return or three. I love that JoJo and I are still learning how we travel. We have 3 months of interrail’ing next year so we better be okay at it by then. Let us know if you’re doing Paris and we can plan a trip and learn together!
Looks and sounds wonderful. I’m all for wearing out shoe leather. I haven’t been back to Paris since I was an art student at 19, holed up in a very iffy room-share in Pigalle, and living off croissants and a family-sized jar of Nutella!
I left out the stroll down Pigalle so Mrs F could see the Moulin Rouge sans sails. A couple of (ahem) well-worn ‘hostesses’ assailed the two ‘gentlemen’ walking in front of us with the unforgettable enticement “ooh, la la, let’s go, action”! Let’s go was our retort as we picked up speed!
The last time I was in Paris, I was 25 years old, I was staying with my great godmother, who was a very well known yoga teacher, now long gone sadly, at Meudon in the south western suburbs (worth visiting with its beautiful gardens and prehistory, L’Observatoire and fine views) It seems like a life time ago now… perhaps it’s time for another trip! You have given me itchy feet with your wanderings and gorgeous pics!
Lovely memories, Susie. Another trip for sure. And fellow substackers there too!
For me, Paris the landing and jumping off point for Versailles. That should surprise no one!
We've yet to visit. Another time!
We have a bit of a love hate relationship with Paris but one wonderful aspect of the city is that the gravitational pull of the major sights is such that it’s relatively easy to escape the hordes hell bent on ticking boxes. Next time you go, try the 2eme which stole our hearts: https://open.substack.com/pub/marcoandsabrina/p/paris-winter-2005?r=10ijux&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thank you SO much for unlocking the secrets of the 2nd. Sounds fab. We’ll definitely be heading back in the Autumn. We ended up taking quirky shots of the (admittedly beautiful and deserving of their standing) tourist sights so we could feel half traveller/half tourist!
I don’t know about the icky. On our last trip a few months ago, I did all the touristy things in Paris 😀and felt excited to be fan-girling over the city. We did walk all over the city too, non-touristy parts included, and I think I’ll need more visits to get to know Paris.
I umm’d a little, and aah’d a lot over the word. I think I was trying to capture our dilemma … we think of ourselves as ‘travelers’ in Paul Theroux’s words, as if - somehow - that is a binary ‘traveller’ or ‘tourist’ situation. I’ve fallen into the ‘pit of no nuance’ in doing so. Polarised myself, which is a bit mad! Thanks for nudging me out of my daftness. Your Paris trip sounds bliss and we too fancy a return or three. I love that JoJo and I are still learning how we travel. We have 3 months of interrail’ing next year so we better be okay at it by then. Let us know if you’re doing Paris and we can plan a trip and learn together!
Looks and sounds wonderful. I’m all for wearing out shoe leather. I haven’t been back to Paris since I was an art student at 19, holed up in a very iffy room-share in Pigalle, and living off croissants and a family-sized jar of Nutella!
I left out the stroll down Pigalle so Mrs F could see the Moulin Rouge sans sails. A couple of (ahem) well-worn ‘hostesses’ assailed the two ‘gentlemen’ walking in front of us with the unforgettable enticement “ooh, la la, let’s go, action”! Let’s go was our retort as we picked up speed!
Haha!