Paris : The City of Love

Paris is the city of love. And by this, I don’t mean that it is always the romantic dusk caress that you might read about and swoon. It can be, but it is also a place of grit, of artistic catharsis, of normal boring everyday life. But within those paradigms, love is prevalent and exaggerated. Students explore their new freedoms; and tourists come to Paris for romantic getaways and to smooch-selfie in front of all the most famous vistas. Paris is the city of love, but for more reasons than you realise.

Why I love Paris

It’s hard to explain what it is about Paris that I love so much.  It’s far deeper than just enjoying the atmosphere or loving the architecture.  I love the feeling I get when I land, as if I’ve come home.  The diversity, the food, the nonchalant attitudes (often mistaken for rudeness), and the café culture. I love the way everything stops at 12pm and 6pm for long lunches and apero time; and the way that the frenetic energy that usually overwhelms a city just seems to relax under the weight of the Parisian idiom.

If you are a writer, come to Paris

They say that if you are a writer you should come to Paris.  I couldn’t agree more.  It inspires like no other place on earth.  Paris exposes her gritty underbelly. But instead of it being scary and overwhelming, it is welcoming and cuddles you like a loud underground jazz club – sweaty and heaving and utterly fantastic.  Writers are attracted to this quality, they thrive in these conditions, they write better when they feel. And by-god, Paris makes you feel.

The Romantics

Paris has a long history of attracting writers and creatives. Romanticism was born with the Restoration between 1815-1830; with authors such as  François-René de Chateaubriand and Victor Hugo. Flourishing with every suppressed poem, and outrageous essay that shocked the upper crust, into the famed Belle Epoque. Paris inspired the minds of turn of the century literary greats Charles Baudelaire, Émile Zola, and Marcel Proust; men who flocked to the Parisian salons to surround themselves with other intellectuals. If only I could’ve been a fly on the wall of my beloved Rue Mouffetard around that time!

After World War II, the existentialists and avant-garde blossomed in Paris – Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Colette, and Ernest Hemingway proliferated the romance of writers. In essence, many died in poverty and never saw the fame that their books later received.

The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it… I can resist everything but temptation.

– Oscar Wilde

The Romance of Reverence

Ok, so perhaps visiting cemeteries isn’t your idea of romance – I get it! But bear with me while I elaborate on the reverence aspect. Legends are buried in almost every cemetery in Paris, and these beautiful and calm places attract thousands of tourists every year in pilgrimage. Visitors, in their love for these authors, artists, and purveyors of fine romanticism, flock to pay their respects.

Montparnasse Cemetery is the last resting place for Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir (their grave is adorned with lipstick kisses), and Charles Baudelaire. Père Lachaise Cemetery is home to Oscar Wilde, Balzac, and Marcel Proust (amongst others). Émile Zola is interred in the crypt at the Panthéon. French cemeteries are also incredibly beautiful and well-looked after. A sign of respect and love from the city to the those who loved her.

Visit the lesser known corners

Paris is busy. There’s nothing less romantic than jostling with your loved one trying to get a spot for that instagram photo. And for those in the pursuit of love in Paris, I implore you, visit some of these lesser visited corners of Paris – you might find the love of your life…

• A morning walk at Parc des Buttes Chaumont (19th arrondissement)
• Visit the Museum of Romantic Life in Montmartre (18th arrondissement)
• Sunny evenings along Canal Saint-Martin (10th arrondissement)
• Stop for many coffees and people-watching at some of my favourite cafés in the Latin Quarter and Rue Mouffetard (5th arrondissement)
• A stroll around Montparnasse theatre district (14th arrondissement)
• Some quiet contemplation at the Palais de Tokyo modern art space (8th arrondissement)
• A walk above the arrondissements along the Promenade Plantée (11th arrondissement)

Read my Beginner’s Guide to Paris to get the lowdown on the Paris that I love!

Paris : The City of Love

The city of Paris can be dirty, disappointing and it can be unrelenting; but isn’t that the same of love? Love isn’t all sunshine and roses, it can be intense and invigorating, scary-beautiful and freeing. Paris is all of those things too. And if that doesn’t make it the city of love, I don’t know what does.

Paris is my ‘soul city’, it is the place I feel most at home. For more Paris advice, read my guides for 1 day in Paris and dog-friendly Paris + join me on Twitter!

All photos & content © Hannah Henderson and may not be used without permission (sharing this blog post is fine, though!). Images shot with a Canon DSLR T3i Rebel + Canon EF Lens 50mm 1:1.8 STM; and an iPhone.