americainefrenchie

Sundays are always a bit of a drag because it means the end of the weekend! If you’ve been living in France, you know that Sunday is probably the most important day of the week. Not only is everything closed on Sunday (not everything though), but you will strangely see many people out and about walking in the city unlike many Americans who treat Sundays as a day to catch up on sleep, cleaning, errands, etc. No Sunday, or le dimanche in French, is regarded and treated as a special day here.

It’s been known as a sacred day of rest to many, but for the French it’s a day meant to be spent with family. Whether it be a family Sunday lunch prepared at home, to Sunday brunch at a brasserie in Paris, or spending time in the city: Sunday is France is very much dedicated to family. It is probably one of the things I love and admire most about this country. Anyway, I decided to take a walk and wander around in my neighborhood since my family is far away (Lyon/California).

Strolling in one’s quartier is probably one of the best ways of discovering Paris. Having lived in the 5th almost 6 years ago, rediscovering Parisian life on the left bank was something that was long overdue. As I currently live in one of the most populous and congested parts of Paris (Rue de Rennes), a stroll on Sunday was the best time to familiarize myself with the neighborhood. Living in the sixth arrondissement has its advantages, but what I probably hate most about my area is it’s reputation of pretentious upper-class snobs and Parisian elite that popular culture love to depict and glamorize (i.e. Gossip Girl!). However,  from Da Vinci Code’s St. Sulpice to my local Monceau Fleurs on Vaugirard, to the Institut Catholique I attended years ago, I discovered that the 6ème was not as suffocatingly bobo as I thought it to be. Worn down buildings, more ethnically diverse than before, and a quick look at the prices on at a real estate agency showed me that the sixth had evolved into a more tolerable and modern quartier!

I digress, however, as the point of this post was not to prove how the 6ème has changed for the better. What I really wanted to say was that my stroll sparked the magic I saw in this city a long time ago that I hadn’t felt or seen in years. From the boulangerie selling pistache tropezienne and eclairs (so yummy) to people sitting and having a cup of coffee in the middle of Jardin du Luxembourg, I realized how idyllic and charming this city is and how that will never change. It may have been a while for me to reaffirm my love for the City of Lights after being away for so long, but I finally felt that giddyness that one feels when roaming the streets of Paris on a beautiful fall day like yesterday. My Sunday stroll in Paris reacquainted myself with my quartier, but also helped things in a different light and in a more appreciative way (like the yummy eclairs at your local boulangerie).

The tropezienne was so good! A must try!