The Parisian lifestyle

The lifestyle in Paris is quite different from the lifestyle in Los Angeles.

Many businesses are closed on Sundays and Mondays, shops close for summer holiday. There seems to be a lack of busyness that you would find in many other cities. Cafés are filled with people sitting outside smoking, enjoying their espresso, in no rush to leave-- to-go cups are a foreign concept.

I have come to deeply appreciate the Parisian value of rest. "Rest" is a foreign word in the common Angeleno's vocabulary. We simply don't take time to relax and breathe. But in Paris, people truly believe in the importance of taking life slowly to enjoy what is in front of them.

Some of my favorite moments in Paris have been just laying in the park or local garden, munching on a baguette, enjoying some good cheese and meat, and resting. It's so easy to get wrapped up as a tourist, constantly going somewhere else and seeing something new, but that certainly doesn't give me a good understanding of the local culture here. When I have just sat down on a park bench to read or journal, I see all these children with their families walking around the park. Runners will pass by, doing their daily routine of exercise. I'll see business men taking their lunch break in the park, just relaxing. Picnics are a regular thing here, on the weekends, any patch of grass in the city is occupied with people just enjoying their food outdoors. In the evening along the Seine, you'll see crowds of people, young and old, enjoying wine and cheese, often accompanied by a live band.

It's so peaceful when you take time to soak it all in.

These are the moments.

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