So this post has been coming for a while. I stayed in Paris for almost two weeks. It was the first time I spoke French with French people! Started out timidly but little by little, buying food from the supermarché, pastries and baguettes from the boulangeries, asking people “où est le toilette, sil vous plaît?” I got a bit more confident in using and speaking French. I am by no means off the beginners plate, but much better than when I first arrived. My Airbnb hosts were also great! Really kind and generous. I really felt at hone in their apartment. Small though it may have been, the rooms were a generous size and the shelving in the kitchen and bathroom meant they had really great use of space and organisation. At the time I thought it was a really great example of minimalism. Now that I have read a bit about the KonMari method for tidying, I think they could have gotten rid of some more stuff, but still it is a vast improvement on many homes in Australia. The small space meant that surfaces and items were designed quite well. Shot of the kitchen below. It probably measured 2×2 m?
The lid of the stove folded down to serve as food prep space. The sink is wide and shallow so you can also use it as bench space. You can’t see it, but the tap is actually a length of flexible metal hose coming down from the hot water heater. The length and flexibility means it can was the entire sink surface as well as the space next to the dish rack. Shelves on the wall serve as a pantry, and shelves above the fridge as cupboard space. There are rails under the shelves where hooks hang so anything from pots and pans, utensil bucket to tea towels can be hung. A book shelf in the corridor holds other dishes, pots pans etc. Having such a small space means everything has to serve at least one purpose. I also quite liked the silicone collapsible strainers they had which could also double as a steamer basket insert. Enough about my accommodation. Onto the city itself! Paris is full of life, people and beautiful buildings. The public transport network is pretty easy to navigate and train stations are very close together. The trains run every 2-5 min and they are actually on time!!! The buses are probably every 10 min and they are also generally on time depending on traffic. Coming from Melbourne where trains are every 20 min and can be either delayed or cancelled, this is amazing. I mainly walked to as many places as I could to see more of Paris streets and people. I would recommend joining a free walking tour. There are many in the city. I went with Culturefish and they were great. Its one thing to look at the buildings but quite another to hear the story behind them. These guides can also give you tips on how to interact with locals. Parisians tend to follow traditional manners. Make sure you say bonjour madame/monsieur and wait for them to say it back, before you ask your question. Remember to say merci, au revoir, bonne journée before you leave. Treat the person you are talking to as a friend not a servant and you are likely to get their help. Second tip, observe the scene and act accordingly. People here are normally soft spoken so coming in with a loud voice or cackling laugh is not going to win you any brownie points. There were other tips that the guide shared, but they are probably more useful for people wanting to live in France than visitors.
Mentally speaking, my mind jumped from blissful relaxation to nervousness. There were only a few moments of relaxation where I was eating a simple lunch, alone in the sun. Marked by the thought that there was nothing I had to do but just relax and enjoy. However those moments didn’t last and I certainly couldn’t relax again in the same thought. Nervousness went through my mind because my capability did not match my wishes. I thought I should be making the most of my time in Paris, sightseeing, meeting entrepreneurs, other people. And yet all I wanted to do, all I was capable of doing was just sitting, with nothing constructive to do. So what do I do? Eat. Which then drives the guilt that I’m just eating out of boredom which causes stress that I’m eating when I’m not truely hungry, leading to weight gain. But there is no other activity I want to do. Guilt and anxiety about not usingy time productively, not seeking out the people I had come here to meet in the first place. Stress eating. Vicious cycle.
Eventually I looked up meet up.com. First I went to meet ups for people wanting to practice French or for expats. So the pressure was taken off for trying to meet entrepreneurs. Here I was just meeting people who could speak English, practice my French with and in general talk about nothing. Big load off. It was fun too and I could leave whenever I wanted regardless of whether I had “accomplished” anything tangible. Then I thought to look up entrepreneurs on meetup. My goodness there are heaps! I went to one but it was combined with an expat function and people just seemed to be there to have a drink and meet people. Didn’t see any entrepreneurs. Oh well. Was good to get out. Meetup and other websites like it are a great way to meet people when you don’t know anyone. No need to try and break into a crowd. Everyone is welcome!
All too soon my 2 weeks in Paris were up. Time to move on to another location. Lyon! Hopefully my anxiety would have calmed down by then.
feetandmind 