The Lure of the City of Lights

For anyone who has ever wondered what a travel blogger does when they aren’t travelling, this is it. We look at pictures and wax poetic about the places we have been before. Tonight I dream of Paris.

There are some places that just get inside of you and forever draw you back. Places that for one reason or another wrap themselves around your soul and just refuse to let go.

Paris is one of those places for me.

From the first moment that I arrived in the ‘City of Lights’ I was smitten, and it is a love affair that hasn’t cooled since. It is a city that I could return to again and again and never get bored with, and never feel as though I had figured it out.

Paris is a city of cool aloofness. A city of beguiling mystery and elegant disorder. I think this is precisely the crux of Paris’ appeal – it’s a city where everyone and everything seems effortlessly cool and completely indifferent to your very existence. I don’t know why that is so appealing but it well and truly is.

The Food of Paris

Oh, food, glorious food! A life lived without delicious food just isn’t worth living, and this is more true in Paris than almost anywhere else I’ve ever been. Amazing food in Paris isn’t just about fancy restaurants and big prices, it’s about street markets, neighbourhood bakeries, and little fromageries. Everything in Paris just seems that little bit better than what I can get at home. The yogurt is rich and creamy and served in adorable little glass cups. The strawberries are like tiny red jewels and a single berry is packed with the flavour of an entire grocery store punnet. The wine. The cheese. The bread. The pastries. The list is just never ending!

As I’ve said before, if I lived in Paris I would quickly be the size of a house – a soft, comfortable, and satisfied house. In the past I’ve always stayed in a hotel in Paris, but the next time I’m determined to stay in a self-catering apartment like the ones on All-Paris-Apartments so that I can properly take advantage of all the gorgeous produce and cook to my heart’s content.

The Grandeur of Paris

gran·deur
/ˈgranjər/
Noun

1. Splendor and impressiveness, esp. of appearance or style.
2. High rank or social importance.

Nothing in Paris is done by halves. Everything is more elaborate, more ornate, shinier, and just generally more impressive. Of course there’s the Eiffel Tower, the l’Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre, but grandeur is not limited to these grand state buildings. Everything in Paris seems to have that je ne sais quoi that just sets it apart. Fences are mazes of elegant spirals and side street flower boxes overflow with blood-red geraniums. Even the cemeteries are some of the most romantic I’ve ever seen. Other cities are grand, other cities are elegant, but none of them do it like Paris.