France
🇫🇷 Paris
Cafés, the river, and a city that believes lunch is a form of civilisation.
A bit of music
Downtown — a city at night, even if the street signs are English.
A little history
Paris grew from an island in the Seine. It has been a royal capital, a revolution, an occupation, and a fashion plate. Notre-Dame burned in 2019 and the city treated the repair like a family matter. The Eiffel Tower was meant to be temporary. Parisians complained. Then they kept it.
Things worth knowing
- There are more than 400 cheeses in France. A Paris waiter will not be shocked if you only want one.
- The Métro stations have art, and sometimes a violin.
- “Flâner” means to wander with no errand. It is a skill.
- Booksellers still run green stalls along the river.
What they eat
A baguette should crackle. Onion soup is for cold evenings. A croissant is breakfast, not a personality. Sit with a coffee longer than feels efficient. That is the point.
A local story
Ask a Parisian about “their” café. It will not be the famous one. It will be the corner where the owner knows whether they take sugar. Cities are made of those corners.
A little more
Look at the river, not only the tower. Notice how a small dog is treated like a citizen. If you “learn more”, learn the names of two arrondissements and a pastry. That is plenty for one visit, even a sitting-down one.
If you would like a proper read, this opens a BBC page in a new tab. Come back here when you are done.