The Parisienne #1

 "Qui a dit que la Parisienne était un mythe?" / Who said the Parisienne was a myth?....

You don't have to be from Paris or live there to be a Parisienne. It's a look, a style, a state of mind. - Inès de la Fressange and Sophie Gachet La Parisienne (2019)

 

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Once again the elusive Parisienne is in the headlines, diluted and democratized by those who will never accept the entrance requirements. Like the Southern Belle, she belongs to a category entirely her own, one that no diversity seminar can manufacture. Being a Parisienne is an attitude, a style, an unapologetic Frenchness, an unyielding essence that can’t be minted. Rebrand her all you like; she’ll still be leaning against a zinc café counter in her decade-old trench, surveying the circus with the faintest lift of an eyebrow. Some myths simply can't be. focus-grouped into oblivion. - BPJ

Tomorrow:
Are you a (cliché) Parisienne? Check the chart

 

Update: see December 14, 2020 post

Parisienne rules

 

 

 

 

A Paris butcher

 

 

Head bowed in reverie, a butcher prepares a roast for pickup.

Touch of spring

Bright mimosas on the sidewalk in front of a Montmartre florist.

Striking

Today ends almost two straight months of non-stop strikes protesting the government's proposed retirement reforms. For now. Despite endless civil upheavals, encroaching homeless and migrant populations, pollution and soaring crime, like the Eiffel Tower, Paris always manages to keep its head held high, and for visitors, its clichés - fashionistas, dawdling for hours at cafés, baguettes, fabulous wines, cheeses, small dogs, macaron-nibbling Parisiennes and sexy French lovers - remain intact. For now. - BPJ

 

Carpe diem

An expresso, a café crème and to share, a luscious Saint Honoré pastry.

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"The ant had wasted its life and its beauty hoarding for winter only to discover a world of beautiful, carefree grasshoppers." 😱 - Coffee partner and local philosopher J. S.

Au revoir Alsace

Until the next time.

Below: entry wall; vestiges of a Christmas market; local police go retro; a canal view; zimmer frei

Official website: Tourism Alsace

Cat on a balcony

A cat makes its way to the neighbor's.