Paris

Paris is the ultimate cliché and thank God for that. Hedonism wouldn’t have a home if it weren’t for the naked women performing at Crazy Horse, the music scene in the 19th and the sex clubs dans le marais. Unlike any other place, Paris is a playground for people who live life. 

Londoners will try and convince you that they have all the same things. They’ll believe it, too (mostly because they’ve never actually crossed the channel).

Londoners are masters of brutality. The cabaret à la The Box, with its grotesque performances, the Killing Kittens orgies, only popular because of good PR and a remarkably distant connection to the Queen, and last but not least the claustrophobically loud clubs that smell like cheap chlorine and the aim to send you home deaf. London has the money to buy expensive clothes, Paris has the innate style to make anything chic.

If you don’t believe me, go spend a couple of hours in a laundromat in any area of Paris. I used to do that at minimum once a week. Right opposite Parc de la Villette, there is a small pedestrian street with buildings that look like Hausman was dreaming of summer in Spain. That street is home to a small Italian restaurant, a Carrefour Express, one pharmacy with a very uptight pharmacist and a laundromat.  

For three months straight, I would spend an hour and a half there each week - the exact time it takes to run a washing machine cycle at 40 degrees, followed by a ten-minute dryer. For the first few weeks, I was setting a timer and spending my time at the gym around the corner. This is the kind of behaviour you’ll learn in a city like London. Optimise your everyday life, hoping it’ll give you an extra sense of control or at least an imaginary gold star. 

In Paris, I learned rather quickly, people laugh in the face of “optimisation”. Once that lesson sank in, I began spending my laundry time people-watching at the coffee shop next door. 

A kaleidoscope of people would walk in and out of the room filled with washers and dryers. Nobody had the means to rent an apartment with a washing machine, yet paid to get their clothes clean by tapping a 1200 EUR iPhone to the self-service machine. 

Laidback young people, dads of three, mums of four, dog walkers, people who look borderline homeless … everyone would come in and out. And they *all* had that aura about them. A je ne sais quoi that says “I’m here to live life, and once I’m done doing that, I’ll go”. 

This is what the city of love gave me. The feeling of effortless living. 

List of places to visit in Paris:

Thrift shops:

Apartments in the city of love are too small to hoard. Even the rich regularly purge and when they do, you can find amazing vintage pieces here:

🛍️ Episode
🛍️ Untucked friperie
🛍️ Tucked friperie
🛍️Chinemachine

Cocktails:

🥂 go on top of Gare de l’Est at sunset and enjoy cocktails next to the old train station clock
🥂 you know the cocktails ought to be good when the place looks like a crack den. For the absolute best drinks, visit Le Syndicat

Le Syndicat

🥂 Bambino almost didn’t make my list, but I’ll give it an honorable mention for their playlists
🥂 Hoxton’s courtyard is a little oasis in the centre of Paris, many use it to work during the weekdays, but I can confirm it’s just as nice if you stop by for an after-work drink

Art:

🎨 I first saw Frederic Forest’s art on an instagram page with a few hundred followers in 2016. I forwarded one of his sketches to my flatmate at the time with a text reading “I want this tattooed on me”. Years later, he has a gallery in Paris, a dedicated account for everyone who gets his work inked on them and countless admirers. I have a tattoo of that sketch. 

🎨 To describe Aftersquat as eclectic would be an understatement but that’s exactly what’s so charming about this place. A home to the artists who otherwise wouldn’t have one.  

🎨 LVF gets an honourable mention for the building’s architecture and the possibility of finding yourself an awesome temporary exhibit. I was lucky to go during their Andy Warhol x Basquiat exhibit. 

🎨 Bourse du Commerce is everyone’s recommendation always. There’s a good reason for that. 

 🎨 Palais de Tokyo - few places allow modern artists to have the space to unleash their true creativity; it’s worth seeing.

Answering emails in Paris?

In between the cheese, the wine and the pastries, we occasionally have to find a way to afford them all. If you also found yourself in the unfortunate position of not having a trust fund, a sugar daddy, or a thriving Only Fans account,t here are a few places that are good for opening your laptop.

👩‍💻 Le Pavillon des Canaux

👩‍💻 The Hoxton

👩‍💻 La Bibliothèque nationale de France

👩‍💻 I won’t tell you to go to WeWork and pretend it’s solid advice but I will say that the Spaces office opposite the Opera has 10/10 views.  

Please forgive the typos.

Yours & delightfully dyslexic,

Dimana ✌️