The calendar page has turned, the light has changed, summer is waning and melancholy colors the air. September, while beautiful in Michigan, is also a great season to explore the world. The need to wander has reasserted itself after a few months of enjoying Home and everything that entails: beach walks, late night swims, homegrown juicy tomatoes and crispy cucumbers, falling asleep to the sound of cicadas and thunder. Now, I’ve retrieved my suitcases from the attic, purchased a new pair of walking shoes, and spent the last weeks researching and reading in preparation for my next trip. To France!
Preparing for a journey to France has been quite different from previous travels. First, the packing. My usual travel uniform would not suffice, after all France, and Paris in particular, is a well-known bastion of high fashion and I knew I did not want to be the conspicuous American in shorts(or half-pants as the French not so endearingly call them) and beat up tennis shoes. For many reasons I intended to blend in but also I love to dress up and France would give me the opportunity to let my creative spirit manifest itself through flowing skirts and sexy heels, not to mention the ultimate French accessory, the casually knotted scarf. I was even planning to ditch my beloved Patagonia daypack in favor of a black leather satchel that the most industrious pickpocket would have trouble invading. What I did not anticipate was the level of organization and forethought this would require. When I travel, I usually pack a set of interchangeable active wear and upon arrival, each day I choose my outfit depending upon mood, necessity and weather. France posed a conundrum. I needed to carefully plan each day’s attire if I was to avoid checking a mountain of luggage. Also, my current suitcase situation would not do, my NorthFace bag was battered and bruised from years of adventure travel and uncaring baggage handlers. So after careful consideration, I settled on the Thule brand luggage, ingeniously designed to fit plenty of shoe ware and accessories. Best of all, I was able to purchase it locally!
Once I had the packing details taken care of, I turned my attention to the itinerary. Four days in Paris, 3 days in the French Riviera, one week on a Viking Cruise on the Rhone, my first foray into river cruising. I prepped myself by reading tons of books on France. Everything from Peter Mayle’s classic, A Year in Provence to Paula McClain’s The Paris Wife. I devoured several books by John Baxter, a droll and sarcastic Aussie expatriate who writes on everything from the perfect French meal to the most beautiful walk in the world. Then there was David McCullough’s The Greatest Journey; Americans in Paris, an exploration of the impact an influx of American writers, artists and doctors in the 19th century had on the intellectual and artistic scene at the time. I especially enjoyed a book of essays titled City of Light, by female authors who had written books with Paris as the featured character, each essay detailing a favorite first person experience they’d enjoyed in the city. I downloaded a few guides to Paris on my Ipad, but my intent was to go to without an itinerary, to do what many of the books I’d read suggested, to roam the picturesque back streets, to sit in cafes and gaze at the multi-hued tableau parading before me, and to eat, to manger. Basically, I wanted to employ me senses in full for the few days I was there. I was committing what some may say would be sacrilege, I would not be visiting museums, I would neglect the beckoning of shops windows, I would avoid the tourist lines. Instead, I would seek out whatever presented itself.
The only concession to planning was my research into eating in Paris. On this subject I consulted a variety of books and blogs. Chocolate & Zucchini is a favorite of mine I’d been following for years and Clotilde Dusoulier’s book Edible Adventures in Paris, was an invaluable resource for local neighborhood boulangeries, fromageries and chocolatiers. Beyond the usual articles in NYT, WSJ, and the Guardian, my favorite discovery was a website called Paris by Mouth that listed the top five places to dine in categories such as Modern & Creatives, Classic Bistro, and Haute Cuisine. Paris by Mouth also runs comprehensive walking food tours by arrondissement and I could not resist booking a tour in Saint-Germain-de-Pres, a neighborhood adjacent to the Marais but across the Seine on the Left Bank, traditionally a haven for artists and intellectuals.
The inspiration for my non tourist itinerary was another book I read this Spring, Flaneuse, a book by Lauren Elkin about the ancient pastime of perambulating in cities, historically attributed to the male pedestrian, but in this case, applied to the feminine persuasion. I was inspired by the idea that walking a city would bring endless pleasure. Simply put, I wanted to walk the city of light and see what I could see.
Finally, I had downloaded Babbel, the language app that is advertised daily on NPR. I’d heard good things about it. 12 years ago, the last time I’d been to Paris, I had a few of those classic distasteful confrontations with waiters sneering down their nose at my inadequate pronunciations so I did not want to take that chance again, though I had heard that times had changed. Nevertheless, I wanted to make an effort. By the time departure date loomed, I was getting stressed because I’d only made it through Beginners Course One. I had a few pat phrases down. But honestly, I considered the most important to be “Je voudrais un verre de vin blanc, s’il vous plait.” ( I would like a glass of white wine, please) After all, priorities.