I was never an “Emily” or a “Carrie” in Paris.

When Okan asked me about my Paris I was smiling inside. I thought to myself, having a Paris account, wandering around Paris and smiling on the photos he must be thinking we have always had a great relationship with Paris.

My story is a little bit different, and I am happy to share it with you.

I was never an “Emily” or a “Carrie” in Paris. Respected the culture, loved the books and writers, was a fan of movies because of the realness, bluntness… but I was never a oh my Goood I have to go to Parisss type of gal.

To tell you the truth I was dreaming of Kefalonia, Ischia, Florence, Rome, Amalfi or even clubbing in London more than Paris 😊

Then a coincidence brought me to Paris in 2002. I didn’t like Champs Elysées, I didn’t like Foquet, I didn’t like Café de Flore I found the coffee cold, the famous hot chocolate too sweet,overpriced and even then I asked about Les Deux Magots the café nearby, which I still love by the way. If I weren’t a huge fan of Simone De Beauvoir Café de Flore was like another touristic café where no one speaks French. I hate shopping so Galleries Lafayette besides the marvelous architecture meant nothing to me, by the way again no one speaks French in there. I loved Musée du Louvre and went directly to see Italian paintings hence my real wish of going to Florence and Rome. My first impression of Paris was: “the city is beautiful with magnificent buildings but too much “made” everything is prepared like a movie platform” That was exactly the reason why I literally ran away to Naples, Rome, Athens soon enough to find real life.

Years later when I came back, I told people guys don’t take meto those touristic places, I don’t want to do that Champs Elysées, Eiffel Tower, Avenue Montaigne cliché, take me to a breakfast where you would usually go, show me what you do in real life. I am sure none of you goes to Queen and dance in bubbles which is by the way really 90s.

One of them said I know where you will go and fall in love directly and we went to Place des Vosges, started walking around little streets, took a coffee in a real French café. I discovered Jardin des Rosiers where people with naked feet reading a book kissing their “amoureux” I sat on the street and enjoyed a falafel 😊 And for the first time I enjoyed being in Paris far from the “I came to Paris so I have to go to Ladurée” crowd. I discovered Bastille, Oberkampf, Cour du commerce, Musée de la Vie Romantique, Maison d’Isabelle, Passage de l’Ancre, Musée Rodin, all the small streets of Montmartre.

I discovered the word “caviste” from a friend who used to say Mon caviste told me to drink this with that each time he brought wine to an apéro. Never I had a caviste before 😊 I met the guy and he was like for me a savant, a magician 😊

I learned that in Paris people love talking about food, men love cooking and most of the time they are the ones who give you a great receipt. I also learned that in Paris women don’t talk about their beauty secrets like a Turkish girl would talk about her coiffeur, her intermittent fasting schedule but that doesn’t mean that they don’t care. I started to have great massage, hammam, beautician, hairdresser addresses and that they are all for Paleo diet. They wake up at 7 to brush their hair and pretend like they just woke up and left the house in a hurry.

I found out that they don’t like chain supermarkets much they love going to the local markets, touch and smell the food they want to buy.

I discovered Balzac’s home, my father loved Balzac and mom and dad’s flirtations were all about the Lilly of the Valley😊 It became my happy place very quickly.

I discovered all the streets where my favorite French movies were taken. I fell in love with the bridge of Alexandre III, had a girls night out on a péniche and played babyfoot, read a book lying on the sofa of Shakespeare & Co bookstore, waited at the waiting rooms of the doctors who are always late, I met French administration where you have to ask 5 people at least to have one right information, I had a bank person who is in charge of my account! I have never entered in a bank in my life before, we just did everything online. It was such a funny experience. 

I waited in line because that boulangerie is the best in town for baguettes and that fromagerie has the best goat cheese. Eating is not a joke in Paris. You can’t go to a chain coffee shop to drink coffee because it is not real coffee, you can’t grab a sandwich for lunch you should savor whatever you eat, these match me so well. I learned that Parisians are also like me not a real fan of I love Paris wouuuww exaggeration and don’t really go to all those Do it in Paris stuff.

The more I met them the more I liked them. Like me they are against everything, they express themselves loudly, I love the strikes, manifestations, the fact that they never let go off anything.

I love that life stops at 4 o’clock for a huge Pavlova or Religieuse because it is goûter (tea time).

I love the doors in all the colors and shapes and sometimes I stop by to take photos of them. I love taking a walk towards St Germain, asking advice to my caviste (oh yeah, I have one) and on my way seeing my neighbors and gossiping about the politicians. 

All this is to tell you that Paris and I shared lots of fun and sad stories, sometimes melancholic sometimes sunny after all those years still a lot to uncover and always very beautiful in Septembers my dear Paris you are home. 😊

The City that fulfills the thirst for new experiences

I first came to Paris when I was 8, it was my first trip outside of war stricken Iran where I had grown up, and soon after we moved here for good. The contrast was stark.

During the first year my mother took us to visit every monument and museum. My most striking encounter back then was the Musée d’Orsay and it’s impressionists’ collection. I also remember vividly the Centre George Pompidou and the adjacent fountain with the Nicky de Saint Phalle statues and the general atmosphere there. And of course seeing Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triumph and the whole experience of getting up there. I enjoyed the street performances, the old green swings, the merry-go-rounds, the Jardin d’Acclimatation... I also remember hating the smelly cheese at the school’s cantine, the unfounded rudeness of some Parisians and missing the unflinching Tehran sun.

photo by Maryam M.

photo by Maryam M.

photo by Maryam M.

photo by Maryam M.

photo by: Maryam M.

photo by: Maryam M.


I remember understanding my father’s philosophy of life regarding happiness and grasping and enjoying the present, walking in the Jardin de Luxembourg and the parks at the bottom of the Champs Elysées during my student years. I also remember countless hours in cafes drinking expressos and smoking cigarettes discussing small and grand matters with my friends. I always enjoyed discovering Paris through the eyes of others. I remember afternoons where I picked up random metro stations and trajectories to discover what I didn’t know yet.

Then I went to London for new adventures, to get lost again and make new discoveries. I loved London, but I was always excited to travel back to Paris. Then I had my son, and after some time I realized that I wanted to share Paris and the French culture with him, and so we came back when he was 3, and by chance moved to the same street where I had first shortly lived in Paris. I was worried about Paris being too static, to get bored. Every corner has a memory for me, but we are making new ones. I realized that the city changes under its timeless appearance, and so does our experience of it at different times of our lives and with changing mindsets.

Despite having lived in Paris for over 17 years in total, the city continues to fulfill my thirst for new experiences, and I never get used to how beautiful it is. I believe it is a true privilege to live here; it’s not easy to get the permit to stay, the language and culture are not obvious at first, nor is the job market for newcomers; it also comes with high taxes and prices, but for me it’s worth the effort and sacrifices.

Maryam M.

Paris is Paris

Without doubt apart from those who have lost loved ones, the global pandemic has probably hit those of us hardest, those of us who miss sharing a laugh and a toast with loved ones on a seaside bar, always be the last one to leave the table at the tavern, coming back home carrying our shoes, our feet covered in sand, constantly hugging and kissing each other, in other words those of us who really DO love to live.

And it hit us right when we had just moved to Paris, the capital city of the cafés where the culture of socialization has reached a subtle perfection.

Although once we were the last ones to leave a club in Istanbul, recently feeling a little resentful of everything, we had already retreated our tables and long drinks with friends back within the walls of our homes. But, remembering a Turkish saying about how our minds feed from each other, now we find ourselves looking for alternatives to keep ourselves from collecting dust at home, left on our own.

Actually, against all odds, life in Paris is still really not that bad: I’m watching the constructors from the building across the street enjoying a cold beer at lunch on the corner café, still in their overalls. The elderly gentleman of the neighborhood, a coffee in his hand, in his fedora hat and cashmere coat, ordering whiskey or rum shot makes me happy in the morning. It is possible and amazing to watch the sun set and the moon rise at the same time from the top of Montmartre.

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The city culture, which has unfortunately migrated away from my country along with the minorities, makes me feel better every day here, in Paris.

Sometimes I miss the tourist groups hanging around the corner that I used to complain about before.

And of course sometimes, inexplicably on a Sunday afternoon usually, when I feel lonely, disappointed, angry, fearful and sad, I pour myself a double rum or calvados. I look at all my feelings through 40% proof alcohol. I try to keep myself still as a rock, grounded against the current of a river and I start to feel cleansed. Strong, healing, exciting feelings show themselves and flow through me. I feel that the stronger and more traditional drinks flow better into the spirit of these times.

And at the end of the day, just as Vincent Van Gogh told his brother Theo;

“And mind my dear fellow, Paris is Paris. There is but one Paris and however hard living may be here, and if it became worse and even harder - the french air clears up the brain and does good - a world of good.”

I hope that the days when we will spread out to crowded tables on a sidewalk café and raise our glass to good times are not that far away.

Gülçin Sargın Beşer

More Than Just a City

Paris is probably a way of life. European metropolis, cosmopolitan city, tourist magnet - yes, all that is true, but it does not reflect what is special. What is it that makes this unique?

photo by Volker Kraayvanger

photo by Volker Kraayvanger

If you live here, you feel like you're part of a story - a never-ending story, Paris is never-ending. You can choose who you want to meet - the Sun King, Saint-Saëns or Sartre, each era resonates incessantly in this city, literally sweeping those who engage with it. Yes, the charm of some places and spaces is disenchanted by the countless tourists, but even in everyday life, in some places you are fascinated every time to be part of this city. Maybe not exactly on the days when I stand in the crowded metro. But when I'm in a great restaurant, concert hall or park, definitely. 

 The feeling of strolling through alleys, spontaneously sitting down at a small table on the sidewalk, ordering something, only to think that it had to come just like this. Standing on historical monuments, looking at the sand-colored buildings and imagining how everything looks with horse-drawn carriages, ladies with parasols and gentlemen with top hats. Driving fearlessly into the traffic circle of the Place de l'Etoile, honking the horn and experiencing a spontaneous amnesia of all the traffic rules. Amazing. Finally arrived. 

I hope this feeling of having arrived will return on subsequent visits to Paris. A few weeks after I have already "left" Paris, I return for the first time. By car, alone - for a business trip. In the evening, the rush hour traffic has already died down, I have a hotel near the Église Saint Eustache. Much is familiar, the prominent monuments facilitate orientation, the evening sound of wailing sirens and accelerating scooters penetrates through the half-open window into my car. Everything as always. Exactly as it should be. And I am part of it.

Volker Kraayvanger

There’s a Paris for Everyone

There’s a Paris for everyone. And if you’re lucky, you get to have more than one version.

My first time was like for most people, as a tourist. If you don’t fall in love head first with the city there’s only one explanation: you lack a heart. Paris takes control over you, it overwhelms you with its beauty and magnificence. You walk down the street and you are suddenly taken by breathtaking buildings, one of its monuments or simply a little lane that pulls you in, inviting you to find out its every little corner. In Paris, even the beaten path is amazing: The Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, the Notredame. Of course, you’ll never forget the first time you lay eyes on Mme Eiffel. Paris invades you.

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A few days in Paris, and mind you it was winter, I knew I had to come back.

And so I did. Many years later, I was an exchange student in HEC, one of the business schools outside Paris. My suitcase and I moved into a sub-let studio on the 15ème arrondissement, at Place du Commerce. And for the first time, I lived Paris. I explored every corner of the Jardins de Luxembourg, I walked both margins of the Seine up and down. I found out the best financiers of the whole city were steps away from my apartment, a luxury my tiny budget could afford. I met people. Parisians and not, I mingled. I went to Queen on a Monday night and lost track of time and space. I ate crêpe at four in the morning at a corner of the Quartier Latin after a big Salsa night, before crossing town on my way home. There wasn’t a cafe on the 15ème I didn’t know. I walked around the Invalides and I met Rodin inside his museum and from a completely different perspective, I lost myself again in time and space. Paris does that you, stops time and takes you to a parallel universe. If you want to lose yourself to find yourself, walk at night on the streets of the Ile de La Cité, talk to the artists and buy posters in Montmartre. Stroll around St. Germain and le Marais. Spend a day (no, not hours), a day inside the Musée d’Orsay. Find yourself a tandem partner to learn French (and I wish I could say we became more than that but we only really exchanged words back and forth, in French and Spanish. C’est la vie).

Eleven years later, I’m on a plane from Melbourne, Australia, destination Charles de Gaule. I had a little more than a suitcase this time. More specifically, seven pieces of luggage, 200kg of airfreight and a 20ft container that would arrive 3 months later. A husband and 2 children. Life had changed, I wasn’t on a tight budget anymore. My comfortable apartment was situated on the Avenue de Victor Hugo. And again Paris takes you over either you want it or not. At the Jardins de Luxembourg, we spent most of the time in the amazing playground they have (once in company of no less than Marion Cotillard), we also discovered les Jardins d’Acclimatation, the carrousel at the end of Trocadéro, the Ateliers Créatifs at George Pompidou, the playground at Place des États Units and every corner of Parc Monceau (aka Parc Monsieur, according to my son). I collected unforgettable moments like going to the tip of the merry-go-round at Place de la Concorde, only to realize my kids were fine but was terrified by the height. Running like crazy after them flying on their trottinettes under the arcs of Place de Voges. The picnics at the margins of the Canal St Martin. An unbelievable afternoon when exceptionally they opened the nave of the Grand Palais and my kids just ran like little rockets from side to side. And of course when I took them to meet Rodin.

photo by Taciana Fonseca

photo by Taciana Fonseca

photo by Taciana Fonseca

photo by Taciana Fonseca

photo by Taciana Fonseca

photo by Taciana Fonseca

It was a different Paris, busier, more stressful, and rare were the moments to lose and find myself. Burocracy, endless administrative processes, back and forth with several institutions to get things done (from the government to your internet provider) – Paris lacks efficiency, it can waste lots of your precious time. Some people are respectful, many are very rude. The fast pace of the city runs you over like someone who shoves you inside the metro and almost make you trip over your own feet.

There’s a Paris to everyone. And if I can give you one single advice: keep your tourist eyes always on. Don’t let the frenzy, the rudeness of people, the traffic, the fear gets into you. Go to the parks, enjoy the Seine, find by mistake that amazing bookshop at Rive Gauche, and carve time just for you and Paris alone. Even if you have a residency card, be a tourist. Forever. And on a daily basis, let Paris invade you.

Taciana Fonseca