(Paris sous la neige, 2009)
In Paris, you always see the Tour Eiffel in the background.
Buildings are not tall in Paris so it’s kind of true. But unless you are in the area near the Tour Eiffel or on the Seine, you see only lights in the sky at night when it’s illuminated. A view on the tower is of course expensive.
French people wear berets. Men have mustaches. People ride bicycles
For the bike part, a bit more since the Velib (public bike rental service) was set up in Paris.
In Paris, everyone wears vintage cute clothes, or eccentric outfits
Quite the opposite. In Paris the use is to underdress a bit and to follow trends only in soft hints (just watch Charlotte Gainsbourg or Inès de la Fressange). French people are very critic so it’s frown upon to stand out too much. In general, too much is the worst you can do.
Women tend to be more elegant than elsewhere. For example they don’t wear sweatpants except in the gym. As for vintage clothes, it’s just like everywhere else. The romantic image of the French women with knee-long skirts and col claudine blouses come from movies about WWII.
In Paris, everything is written in a pretty cursive font.
One thing is true, French children learn to write in cursive script with a fountain pen. It’s really one thing I like here, but sadly, nobody ever hand writes now.
In Paris, everyone eat macarons and fancy cakes
In fact, the macarons where out of fashion for a long time. It became all the rage in the whole world thanks to Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. The trend hit France the same way it did everywhere. However in France, we’ve always eaten chocolate éclairs and mille-feuilles as a treat, where in the US you would eat a donut I suppose.
I don’t mean to depress France lovers but really, I feel that Sophia Coppola and Ladurée gave a false image of Paris. I really love Paris but you have to know it’s bad sides before coming and being disappointed by grumpy people, the smell of piss in the metro and dog poo everywhere. If you have questions, I’d be happy to answer them.
