Like the arrangement of its terraces
1. THE TERRACES
In terms of land in Spain we have done everything wrong: we place them on a slope and centimeters from the cars . In addition, we surround a table with twenty chairs, thus generating uncomfortable chicken coops. Parisians have spent decades perfecting the art of the terrace. They place them against the wall, not the street. Each table has two chairs, a good number to hold a conversation. Both are oriented looking in the same direction, not facing each other. In addition, they maintain, like El Corte Inglés, a perfect temperature in winter and summer . But this is not what most surprises those who travel there, but the non-existent space between tables. If that were attempted here, (in a country where it seems that we are all spies of the CESID) a mutiny would be organized.
Why do we insist on making sloped terraces?
two. CLEANING
Homework for the next trip to Paris: let's look at the floor and the bins. paris is clean . It could be slightly dirty because it receives, according to data just published by the UNWTO, 26 of the 29 million visitors to France . That's a lot of people walking around and consuming. No trace of that wear.
3. THE FLORISTS
They dot all of Paris. They are part of supermarkets, they are inside shopping centers or in hotels like Costes. They are not reserved for big occasions, but are part of everyday life. We try very hard here and it just doesn't work out, but every time we go there and see places like Vertumne , Vertige , Moulié Fleurs , Sébastien Mengozzi, Un Jour de Fleurs (by Eric Chauvin) or any neighborhood flower shop, we promise ourselves that coming home, We will buy fresh flowers.
A Day of Flowers
Four. THE GREEN CONSCIOUSNESS
We do not travel to Paris to spend the morning in its parks, as we do in London, New York or Madrid. Very bad. **Paris is the capital with the most trees in Europe (478,000 trees) ** ; for having has up to two forests, Vincennes in the east and Boulogne in the west (does your city have a forest?) and 400 parks . your mayor Anne Hidalgo she is hell-bent on raising the ecological awareness of Parisians. Her anti-pollution plan foresees delimiting a "low emission zone" to gradually prohibit the traffic of polluting vehicles. More interesting figures: Paris has 200 km of bike lanes and 30,000 litter bins . The City Council has invested 8 million euros in promoting urban agriculture and the city has more than 100 shared. And, most importantly, Paris has something that does not appear in the statistics: civic awareness.
Forest of Boulogne
5. RESPECT FOR CLASSIC LUXURY
Whereas here, through us or the brands themselves, luxury has been stripped of its essential values: craftsmanship, staying power, or culture, in France it is embraced as part of the national heritage. **Brands like Hermès or Louis Vuitton ** have been able to explain what they are and Parisians accept them naturally and with pride. Parisians do not understand luxury as ostentation but as another cultural arm . Exhibitions like 'Volez, Voguez, Voyagez ' — Louis Vuitton, to be held from December 4 to February 21 at the Grand Palais They become a family event. There, the great exhibition spaces of the city are dedicated to the celebration of these economic and cultural agents. Here, every time something similar comes up, the forces are lost justifying it.
6. YOUR POOLS
Paris is full of swimming pools that are photogenic and in use. The Molitor Pool, a 1930s resort was resurrected in 2014. It has been photographed ad nauseam; well, it's not true, we will never get tired of seeing the Molitor. This is not the only example, **the Joséphine Baker ** (already the name is fabulous) is exterior and is on the banks of the Seine. La Pontoise Inside, it's another 1930s gem; Commander Cousteau used it for his first dives . Today it is still open and even night baths are allowed. The Hermès store at the Lutetia hotel (still closed and undergoing renovation) is built in an old swimming pool. And we stop now, because this topic deserves much more than this humble paragraph.
The pool that Tarzan inaugurated converted into a hotel
7. THE ANGRY TAXI DRIVER
Of course, we have tried to copy it in Spain and, sometimes, it has even worked out for us. But not as-as good as in Paris. But that genre is like the gray sky, indissoluble part of Paris.
8 LOCAL TRADE
In Paris there are more than 60,000 local shops . Paris has the highest rate of neighborhood shops in all of France. The shopping there is one of the best in the world (of the five best? of the three?). This is partly thanks to the abundance of brand names and small shops that can only be found in that city. **We are talking about places as extravagant as Deyrolle **, as contemporary as La Boutique in So Pi (in the south of Pigalle) or as small as the haberdashery under our hotel. It's easy to find stores gloves, candy stores, stationery stores, corsetry stores, shoe stores, perfume stores . Another fact: there are more than 35,000 bakeries throughout the country, and Paris has a huge percentage of them. Except for the Champs-Élysées, so park-themed (yet so full of French classics like Guerlain), the rest of Paris continues to protect its own. And this brings us to the next point.
Taxidermy in the center of Paris
9. THE EUROPEAN HERITAGE DAY
One day a year, Paris opens the doors to places that are not normally easily accessible. They can be from the back of classic Poilâne-type bakeries to a subway tunnel through the “armadillo” designed by Renzo Piano for the Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé. That day thousands of spaces are visited by thousands of Parisians. It has no sponsor nor does it have an economic purpose. No invitation or VIP pass is required and most are free. Mayor: How complicated would something like that be here?
10. WEAR A SCARF
All of the above is difficult to fulfill, but something we admire about Parisians and Parisians is their ability to wrap a scarf around their necks. It is probably made of cashmere or good wool, it is ten years old, gray, black or beige, and has no adornment, ** but in that way of wearing it, almost reluctantly, brushing against disheveled hair**, there is a whole way of understanding the world.
eleven. AND FOR DESSERT, CHEESE
We have a lot of copiable songs left in the inkwell (oops, on the keyboard) ; for example, the reassuring uniformity of Haussmanian architecture, the cult of French cinema, the ease with which oysters are ordered, gastronomic spaces, department stores, onion soup, the ease with which Parisians wear flat shoes, etc. But we cannot end this topic without taking our hats off to the custom of closing a meal with cheese, with that perfect phrase that is assortment of fromages . The best dessert consists of wine with cheese, if possible creamy and with a strong smell; a brie or a camembert can serve . That is one of the great lessons that Paris has given to the world. The Enlightenment is also that. Pay attention to the windows of L'Afinneur Affiné or ** La Vache dans les Vignes. **
A most flirty cheese bar
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