Magical moments in Paris

Motivation has been difficult to come by lately which means - for the first time in ten years - I have been lazy in feeding my blog. Inspiration is lacking albeit living in a worldly city such as Paris. For nearly a decade I  have been spoilt picking up the Parisian vibes as they come and taking advantage of all that the city of lights has to offer.

Eclectic as I am, rarely do I miss the occasion to adventure out to experience something new. My palate has been blessed with wonderful emotions and memorable stories: theatre class, cooking course, chocolate workshop, wine tasting, photography lessons, essay writing group, samba dancing, literary evenings, musical performances, classical concerts, jazz sessions, ballet premières, behind-the-scene opera insights, warehouse light shows, city tours, historical visits, UNESCO gatherings, Grand Palais openings, charity events, cultural encounters, ambassador's' receptions, consular lunch invitations, business networking hubs, peaceful manifestations, fashion shows, foodie gatherings, garden parties, heritage days, National Christmas bazaars, Foundation vernissages, Europe's largest flea market, the flavours and colours of the fresh produce "marchés" and I am forgetting many more.

However, the most memorable moments remain the magical terraces views: from the roof top yoga class looking onto the Eiffel Tower, to a farewell picnic on top of the Arc de Triomphe. A clandestine champagne brunch on the Eiffel tower's second floor springs to mind as does the unforgettable grand opening of the Peninsula Palace or the well-deserved pink champagne glass in the rose garden on top of Hotel Raffael. The first visit to the Louis Vuitton foundation and its many level terrasses was breathtaking as is the view of the St.Jacques tower in the city center. The ice rink on top was the Eiffel Tower was another fun moment.

So, the lights have gone out for a while but I am ready to jump into action and start "flaneusing" around town as soon as the portals open up again... and it looks like it will happen soon... slowly but surely. Stay tuned!

Tour de St.Jacques

Centre Pompidou

Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

Tour de St.Jacques

Arc de Triomphe

Tour Eiffel

Fondation Louis Vuitton

Peninsula Hotel terrace

Eiffel Tower

UNESCO building

Maison Blanche roof top yoga session

Galeries Lafayette roof top ice rink

Lockdown No.3

Well, twelve months on and we are back into lockdown - for the third time. Every time it's a little different and even if President Macron refuses to use the term "confinement" we all know how this will go down. No restaurants, bars, theatres, cinemas, discos, stadiums, galleries or any other social gatherings allowed for another 4 weeks.

The attestation is now TWO pages long and has so many option you do not know which one to tick without getting into trouble. Fortunately, even the government realized this and less than 24 hours later word has spread that we do not need an "attestation de deplacement" as long as we remain within a 10km radius of our home. Merci M. Castex.

Given you are allowed out the house for exercising, all of a sudden Parisian have become sporty. A year ago the population took to the bikes as our green city mayor took full advantage of the trend extending Paris' bike paths to over one thousand km... literally!

Today the river banks were overflowing with joggers, bikers, boxers, zumba dancers, yogis, weightlifters and capoeira athletes working out in the sun.

We will all be fit and ready to hit those restaurants when they finally open... in the meantime, my Swiss chocolate stock is diminishing rapidly as my exercise level intensifies.

A view down the Seine onto Le Grand Palais

All that is left of the tourists... lovelocks!

Working out in front of Musée d'Orsay

Picture perfect

Time for lunch on the go

Enjoying the last rays of sun...

before the clouds take over! 

Busy in the mountains

Motivation zero!

Never in the past ten years have I ever lacked inspiration to write and share my adventures on my blog. However, these past three months have been tough. Sitting down in front of my screen to fill an empty blog page was way down on my priority list. Finding the motivation is challenging. I do not blame the pandemic nor the bad weather, rather the general daily routine that has become monotonous.

Paris has been essentially closed down since October 2020. No cultural activities, no sports events, no concerts, no meals out, no meeting friends. Museums, cinema, bars, restaurants, gyms, all closed until further notice.  

I have avoided public transport all together and riding the bike in winter is no fun which translates into the same daily route just to get a minimum of exercise. My bonus is a jog under the Eiffel Tower, down the Champs de Mars and back up past Trocadero a couple of times a week. When I feel particularly energetic a run through the Bois de Boulogne does the trick.

With nowhere to go the daily highlight has become the grocery shopping possibly during a time with the least people around to respect social distancing.

So, with all that Paris has to offer and none of it available, I might as well move to the country side! At least, I would get to enjoy the exceptional snowfalls...

Where has everyone gone?

Paris feels subdued. Although nobody really wants to admit it, this city might actually start missing its tourists. 

Whenever did we have Fashion week and Roland Garros the same week and both virtually went unnoticed! These events are huge happenings for France's capital and even if you don't care about fashion or know how to play tennis you can't help noticing the extra excitement in the air as the city's social scene along with the traffic step up into 5th gear.

Unlike New York and London’s city centres, Paris’s heart continues to beat in every quartier, Covid or not, and whether people work from home or not. This city is made of a mosaic of buoyant villages. The risk of Paris becoming deserted is nil.

Nevertheless, this melting pot with a meli-melo of cultures and races, does get an extra buzz of the sheer quantity of people running around all year long. Paris' tourist season has no real beginning and end to it, the locals have just learnt to absorb the masses and live with it.

The local residents - forever complaining how overrun their city is - never quite realized how much they had adapted to their visitors' pace. All of a sudden, we can start navigating in a lower gear and it seems unnatural!

Kukuwa, my latest discovery

So, you've heard of zumba lessons and maybe even barre classes but what about Kukuwa?

Covid-19 had forced us to exercise indoors and I can't help but think back to the days when Jane Fonda instructed us how to grapevine on her VHS video tapes. Home fitness has been shaping our lives for longer than we think only now it has taken on a much more conscientious part of our daily routine. 

Clothing brands, apps, and trainers were all offering workouts for free on various digital platforms. Given the amount of chocolate being consumed in our household during confinement, I had decided to launch myself into the exercise offer online trying everything from Vinyasa yoga to Zumba and from mindfulness meditation to African dance. 

At the top of the list and by far the most fun discovery of my quarantine is Kukuwa! A dance workout blending African soukous, makossa, and soca rhythms into a low impact, high energy cardiovascular, fun-filled energetic class that challenges my fitness ability and my coordination. It feels like I'm on an exotic expedition through Cameroon, Zambia, Namibia, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Malawi all the while moving my boomsey!

The workout is great fun. The moves are sexy, fast and really get those muscles in shape and that heart rate up! The music is upbeat and the instructors a good giggle. 

Kukuwa is definitely the best discovery during my confinement. What 's yours?

A reconnaissance mission

What to do when your hubby's snoring wakes you at six am on a Sunday morning and you cannot get back to sleep? You sneak into Expat Girl's room to pinch her Vélib card and head out into the deserted streets of Paris to soak in the sun rays.

After living in Paris for nine years I have finally rented a Vélib from the city's public bicycle sharing system which has defiantly risen to the challenge over the past months by providing citizens a way to get around during general transport strikes and confinement rules. Apparently during peak hours more than four Vélibs are picked up from a station every second?!

On a reconnaissance mission before the new normal sets in, I decided to enjoy Paris to myself one last time before all the governments restrictions are revoked...

A heartwarming "Welcome back" greeting from the Mayor of Paris

Palais de Chaillot bathing in the sun at 7am on a Sunday morning 

The Eiffel Tower all to myself

Majestic view onto a very calm River Seine

It's just my Vélib and I

Place de la Concorde, Paris' largest square is abandoned 

Paris' Town Hall

World-famous Café Les Deux Magots should be back in business next week

No tourists on Place St. Germain

Paris as it was in the olden days....

All of Paris' parks and gardens are opening today after three months

One of my favourite Parisian icons: 

public drinking fountains designed by Sir Richard Wallace and sculpted by Charles-Auguste Lebourg 

Not a soul in sight

Place de Fürstenberg, labeled as being one of the most picturesque squares in Paris

Rue de Rivoli has just been declared off limits for cars this month.

Biking through Paris has never felt better!

Iconic Champs Elysées deserted by tourists, cars and public transport.

It's a beauty!

Merci Paris pour cette sublime ballade un dimanche matin.

Parisian bikes are called la petite reine

Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants to make Paris the world’s most bikeable city but we are a far cry from Amsterdam or Copenhagen. During France’s 46-day transit strike last year, however, many metro-goers switched to cycling, doubling the number of cyclists on the roads. Le vélo became known as la petite reine (the little Queen).

Then, Paris rolled out emergency bike lanes for the use of key workers during the lockdown. A total of 650 km of cycleway - including a number of "pop-up corona cycleways”- were readied when déconfinement began two weeks ago.

Bicycles were very popular in the French capital up until the 1940s. They were then gradually squeezed out by war and the boom in the auto industry. Bikes are now back in business with a 131% year-on-year rise in the number of cyclists. Car use in Paris is falling for the first time since the 1940s!

If Paris' mayor has her way, we will become the "Ville Du Quart D’Heure" (City of fifteen minutes) an ambitious plan promising that every street will have a cycle path, every bridge will have protected cycleways, and every resident can walk or cycle to get anything they need. Stay tuned...