Paris Through Your Own Eyes

When people come over to visit me/us in Paris, they often say things like: "I want to see what YOUR life in Paris is like! I want to live like a Parisian through you!"

I completely understand the sentiment and the implication behind it; knowing a "resident" means there exists increased opportunity to really "live like a local" in a foreign environment. There is a certain cache and appeal to being "in" on what the natives do or know. It seems often that people return from travels boasting about finding "little out of the way" places, restaurants "full of locals", and ways they managed to "avoid all the tourist traps".

These sorts of post-vacation tales are a precious source of pride and a way to prove that you really made the most of your experience, that you really know how to travel. And I think this behaviour is a quite reasonable and healthy approach to travelling. At least I hope so, as I have totally been one of those people--on more than one ocasion.

So I can appreciate my friends and acquaintances looking to me/us as a faster means of attaining that, often elusive, vacation-insider-knowledge.

But, the thing is: no one can actually wants to, nor even practically can, live like a local if they have only a few days in Paris. And seriously: no one actually REALLY wants to live my day-to-day life in Paris if they will be here for only a limited time.

Because whatever romantic notions visitors have of my life a Paris, it is really not as spectacularly romantic as it may sound. Proof?

On a typical day, I get up, I eat some combination of yogurt/cereal/fruit and I make coffee. I drink said coffee while checking email and/or doing some writing. Then I shower, dress, prepare a face to meet the faces I will meet, and usually walk around for a bit (that part they might enjoy as the sites are often incroyables). I then spend a typical afternoon doing some grocery shopping and often taking care of some aspect of an inevitable bureacratic problem that has surfaced as a result of my being an American in Paris. So an hour or two is devoted to trying to make headway on whatever the problem du jour happens to be and usually only leaving such an interaction with nothing to show for it except further proof as to my non-fluency in the French language. In my newly humbled state, I then do some more work, reading, or walking in the late afternoon, often go to the gym, and finally return to my apartment to make dinner. After eating, I do some more reading, perhaps some watching of YouTube videos, and maybe a little Skyping with my mom.

Umm, yeah. Paris is SO glamourous isn't it?

Granted, a couple of days a week, the routine is broken up by a visit to a museum, monument, or exhibition. I'll have lunch or dinner out at least that often as well. And when I do all this walking about it could be in such amazing places as the Jardin du Luxembourg or along the Seine, and I always have the option to grocery shop at wonderful little fromageries, boulangeries and boucheries...not to mention the fact that a scrump-dilly-umptious little croissant is always waiting for me around any corner. So there are those noteable perks. I will give you that.

But what I assume people ACTUALLY want to do when they express their desire to "live my life in Paris" is to get away from their mundane "regular" life in the United States. Through me, I imagine they would like to validate the hope and belief that life need not be banal. Having a contemporary who is really "living the dream" in the form of a fabulous Euro-life in one of the most incredible cities in the world is a wonderful thing to think about. And to go and join him or her or them in that exotic and exquisite life for a few days would be really magnifique--proof that life can be continually exciting.

I certainly don't blame them for thinking such things. But nor can I offer them solid proof that living as an ex-pat in Paris is all that they have cracked it up to be in their minds in terms of romance, riches, and restos. Not to completely spoil that pretty little thought or anything.

It is also been my revelation that what they really mean when they say they want to "see it through my eyes" is that they want me to show them around (which I am more than happy to do) so they do not have to worry about either language or navigational issues and can thus be assured of seeing all the "greatest" sites and eating at all the "best" places without taking the time and effort that is usually involved in the planning of a visit to a foreign place. And because I am presumably "in the know" we can do all this sight-seeing and eating without ever being suckered into the dreaded, and rather prevalent, tourist traps.

And, again, I hardly blame them. It is quite a good deal for the vacationer if such works out as planned. I have certainly reaped the benefits of visiting cities where I know people and the experience is usually infinitely better than trying to feel out a city on my own.

Plus, my job is easy; I love to show off Paris and she does show quite nicely, after all. But the Paris I am showing off is not necessarily the Paris I live on a day-to-day basis. If someone is only here for a few days or a week, they should dine at the more venerable restos, walk down the most glamourous shopping streets, easily skip from impressive monument to more impressive monument. They definitely should try to see the latest greatest exhibitions and generally soak up la creme de la creme in this gorgeous city.

Paris wows people really well. And you should definitely take advantage of the time you have here to be sufficiently wowed.

If I could live the high life in Paris every day, trust me, I would! But living that sort of Parisian life--while manageable for a week or a long-weekend--is not exactly sustainable if your bank account is significantly less sizeable than, say, Donald Trump's. Fortunately, I have found ways to live very well in Paris on not a lot of money. But if you are a visitor, then I say to heck with it. Forget living through my eyes: be a tourist, live it up, and enjoy every second of it.

As I said, I am more than happy to show you around, but I will try to show you the best of what is around, and that might mean that you need to forget about "living through me" and just allow yourself to be amazed for a few days while you really enjoy what the Paris of your dreams is all about. I may not be able to afford all the activities I recommend (we do have a lot of visitors and there is only so many times one can go to the Hemingway Bar at the Ritz or enjoy a champagne brunch next to the Louvre on half a weeks wages), and I may only window shop while you really shop, but trust me, I know what I am talking about. You need to see the dazzle of this city and let's face it: my kitchen kettle is not going to wow you. And you really need not Skype with my mom, lovely as she is.