Report from Paris – Mutedly Festive, but Still Delightful…

December 20, 2024

I got home last night (I’m writing this on Thursday…) after 8 p.m., and it was an exhausting day. I forgot just how far one has to walk in airports – especially Charles de Gaulle in Paris!

And stand in line. Oh. My. Heavens. Could someone with some planning and logical skills get in touch with these people and sort out how they get you from the curb to your airplane?

But I have warm and happy memories of my trip, and that’s what matters! You’re not going to travel without some effort, right? Unless you’re shamelessly wealthy, which I will never be!

My favorite moment? I went to a rugby match – yes, by myself – at the Stade Jean-Bouin, a lovely stadium in the far south-west corner of the city. I walked the 10K from my hotel to the match…

Here I am, with my sign to send a message to Belovedest, which is really just a printed piece of paper. But hey – I carried it from Chicago to Paris, and then in my pocket across the city!

Yes, this was “screen-grabbed” from the television broadcast! I was actually on the screen for a very long time, because at half-time, the camera above and behind me tipped down and was LOCKED on where I was sitting… I was spotted dancing…

This was cold – while I was walking I was fine, but sitting in a gigantic cement bucket with a few thousand of your newest friends can get nippy. How did I manage?

I’ve got to share this, because it really was a game-changer for me – ZIPPERED POCKETS! I literally did not carry a handbag at ALL when I was in Paris – wallet and passport in one pocket (zip!), and phone in the other pocket. (zip!) It was delightfully carefree…

How did I fit a wallet into my pocket? I bought a skinny, flat wallet from the company paperwallet, which held some Euros and a credit card, and the receipts that I remembered to grab. I had no ticket for this match because it was a digital thingy on my phone…

Under my coat, I wore a black cotton turtleneck, jeans, and a sweatshirt that I bought specifically to wear to this match! But it’s okay, because I already own shorts and a tee shirt in this color. And just to make it French, and eccentric like me, I tied on a vintage Hermes scarf. Because why not?

I think I mentioned these to you in the last couple of weeks, but Wellow compression socks are amazing! They’re really compression socks, but they don’t cut off circulation to your toes, nor do you require a block and tackle to get them on. I now own six pairs, and I’m probably going to make them my usual “non-gym” socks. They’re that good!

I made a last-minute strategic packing choice, and packed my Vivaia loafers, rather than my Minnetonka moccasins. It was a good move; these shoes seem to handle the vagaries of my foot pain better than anything else.

By the time I got home yesterday, my feet were annoyed with me, but I’d had my boots on for about 20 hours at that point, so nothing short of bedroom slippers would have been comfy! But today, I have no pain. I call that success…

The other good packing choice that I always make is to put my medications into a pair of Port and Polish cases. I use them at home, and I have a second pair of them that I keep filled at all times for those times when I used to have to dash off for family emergencies. Now, they live in my “bug-out bag.” One fewer thing to have on my mind:

I very carefully observed what everybody was wearing and what was in the store windows, so on Monday, I will catch you up with all that fun stuff…

Overall, Paris was quiet and very “under-decorated” for the holidays. Maybe it was the neighborhood where I spent most of my time, and maybe it was because Parisians are burned out with decorating after the Olympics. There was still Olympic stuff everywhere.

But the festive spirit was there, and there were shoppers BY THE TON everywhere. Saturday night, on the Rue de Francs Bourgeois (neighbourhood shopping street), it was elbow to elbow, with everybody carrying bags and packages. And everybody in a good, helpful, friendly mood…

There was holiday decor to be seen, including more than a few things that were “deer-themed.” Not reindeer, just regular deer. Hmm…

And there was hot chocolate – that brown sludge in the bottom of the mug is melted chocolate, into which you mix your own hot milk and maybe add sugar:

And the Marais – the neighborhood in which I was staying – had a small festive area on the main street:

More Monday – I’m in need of a nap!

love,

Janice

p.s. Ten years ago, another variation on my favorite “camel core” travel capsule wardrobe, this time pairing camel with emerald green!