paris, je t'aime

Allo Allo {Deux Américains à Paris} from House of Nod on Vimeo.

After my stint as the galley chef crossing the Atlantic, I made a Bounty road trip from Palma - Paris via Barcelona in a VW campervan with my wonderful team mate Flora.

Paris charmed me with her style and elegance. She literally oozed style from every crevice that I almost got a complex. Almost. The food. The wine. The message that despite our sufferings, our high unemployment rate, we still try to keep the idea of ourselves alive and in honesty, she didn't look like she was trying too hard.

Of course my love affair in Paris was tainted with a distinct lack of any cute guy to share it with. Besides my gorgeous friend Cedric but, well, he's my mate however muchly appreciated and a lovely friend to stroll the city with. Nevertheless at points I wanted to hold hands with a handsome man down the streets and share jokes about the red trousers that were getting cooler and cooler every time I saw a person wearing them. Instead I tucked in to a book by Carl Jung about Symbols of Dreams, munched fruit and sat on the ornate bridges reading and watching the world go by. I hung out with Leonardo De Vinci and his mates at Musee de Lourve and treated myself to a sunset canal-side cheese dish and glass of wine. 'If I'm not dating anybody', I thought, 'I am most certainly dating myself'.

Top simple things to do as single lady wondering around Paris:

1. Walk around the city, walk and walk. Walk through the night and feel the incredible craftsmanship that has gone in to the lit up buildings.
2. Spontaneously attend a nightclub on a boat for the fun of it. When you feel like a total loner, get on the dance floor and remind yourself that you may never see these people again and find yourself hugging the lady DJ.
3. Attend the Musee de Lourve and admire, be cultured and get lost in there. See the famously smug Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and have a conversation with her to reveal her secrets.
4. Check out style icon of her days home. Meet Marie Antoinette at the Palace de Versailles. All golden and elegant and amazingly stylish. 
5. Yes. Do admire men wearing red trousers, stripey tops and fancy BoBo shoes. Appreciate just how amazing they are just to be able to don a pair and still look cool.
6. Ask Paris what her problems are. Turns out she's got some serious social welfare issues. Deary me. Unemployment is high. She's struggling.
7. Enjoy a delectable last supper on the canal of cheese and a glass of wine. Enjoy every mouthful and don't feel guilty for it whatsoever. You're awesome. Calories or non.
8. Go to the Moulin Rouge. Sing Lady Marmalade out loud or in your head and take photos.
9. Sunset at La Defense for illuminated skyscrapers and an interesting perspective of the city.
10. Find a yoga studio (thanks to my lovely friend Valerie) and go to a 'Shamanic Free Dance'. Spontaneous, alive and exciting.

Decadent, Paris told me unapologetically. 'Bo-bo' is the term for the bohemian-bourgeois, the consciously self-conscious. For the bicycle riders in stylish twin buttoned camel jackets. Something superficial and yet something real and expressive at the same time. Something that cared so much about caring. A mother to herself in a way. But a really stylish, slim, French model of a mum that all your mates would blatantly fancy.

It may become increasingly apparent that I have the ability to fall in love with everywhere I go and I think in my heart that's what makes the world truly beautiful and to find something to love about places and people. Romantic Paris had me feeling pretty lonely at times but incredibly inspired strolling about in the city and grateful that I could reintegrate myself in to a city after being away from one for so long.

Here are some wonderful quotes on what it is to be stylish from the Daily Love:

“Fashions fade, style is eternal.” - Yves Saint Laurent  

“Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.” - Gore Vidal  

“Don’t be into trends. Don’t make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way to live.” - Gianni Versace

According to a survey this is my city.

"You should live in Paris. The city of lights will appeal to your appreciation of beauty and romance. You are a lover and a poet by nature, and Paris' sensitive charms will be a perfect match for yours."

I guess I will just have to wait and see.