The view of Parisians’ lives that I have is largely a public one. I see Parisians bustle from one engagement to the next. The spill onto café sidewalks, coffee in one hand, cigarette in another. They squeeze onto the metro at rush hour and read their books. So much of their lives have to happen out and about here because, while charming, their postage-stamp sized apartments are ultimately too small for big group activities or for seeing and being seen.
From my table at a local café I watch Parisians stroll to their next rendezvous, meeting, shopping engagement, and caffeine fixes. Unlike in the US where life happens in these insular, private bubble (home → car → drive through → home → video calls for work → ordering delivery food) Parisians experience life (almost obligatorily) outdoors. After two years of seclusion and interiority thanks to COVID this public aspect to life here is sort of overwhelming to my introvertedness.
Vignettes from café life in Paris:
- A woman walks along the street with a cello on her back that’s at least 1.5X as big as she is.
- Two women catch eyes. One sits inside a café, the other walks by on the sidewalk outside. They recognize each other. The woman inside rushes outside to say hello and meet her friend’s new, twin babies for the first time.
- A fluffy shiba inu dog pokes his head out of a cyclist’s backpack as she rolls past.
- A cat that I swear looks just like Taylor Swift’s Meredith pokes her head out of a man’s tote bag. She is either the happiest cat in the world or scared out of her mind. Either way I can’t tell. She is a cute cat with a sweet, round face. Her owner meets his boyfriend at the café, gives him a peck on the lips, and they take their cat back home.
The Paris Project
I’m Sarah, a travel and wellness writer based in the US. Join me on my 30-day journey in Paris as I post something new each day. You can follow along here on my blog or subscribe to my newsletter. I’ll send a weekly missive to all my newsletter subscribers while I’m here of all of my favorite Paris discoveries and adventures.