October 22, 2004
street life is really a form of cinema
Today is Friday. I'm going to Paris next Thursday, the 28th. Six days. Good. That means I'm not pissed off any more.
Why am I going? Well, I found a room, I found some work, I need a change.
I'm working on a book and I need to get away from it all to allow me room to think.
I have some new business ideas and I want to play around with them for a bit, before I nail their colors to the mast. A Parisian cybercafé is as good a place as any.
I probably read too much Hemingway in college.
I like French women. You never get tired of looking at them. You just don't.
I like how you can walk into a bar at midnight and people are still sober, still happily chatting away.
The food and drink is both fabulous and cheap, if you know where to look.
The old people still have life in them. Lots of it. Always a good sign.
The French have a wonderful way of being very engaged with what they're doing, while still remaining incredibly laid back about it. It's a combo that suits my temperament.
But perhaps here's the big reason:
In New York the seats in a sidewalk café point at 90 degrees from the café. They point towards the other side of the table, presumabaly where your friend or companion is sitting. The café on your right, or left. The street on your left, or right.
But in Paris all the chairs point in the same direction, with their fronts pointing towards the street, their backs towards the café. All facing the same direction in neat little rows, much like how the seats are arranged in a cinema.
In Paris, street life is really a form of cinema.
Take this thought, look at the drawings, and maybe now you can spot the connection?
Posted by hugh macleod at October 22, 2004 11:54 AM | TrackBackHugh, does that mean that you're actually moving to Paris?
Paris rocks. Moving rocks. I would say that I envy you but then I've just moved cities myself and am still in my own honeymoon period.
Best of luck. May all your dreams come true.
Posted by: Andreas at October 22, 2004 12:44 PMI enjoy your blog and enjoy Paris, alot. Good point about the spirit of the people and the women. In my early 20's I found them ALL interesting and attracive. Of course, I was short on sleep and pretty horny. Come to think of it, I'd probably still find them ALL attractive.
Have a good trip.
I've always enjoyed people watching in France but overlooked the obvious fact of the chair positioning.
I look forward to hearing more about Hugh's view of Paris...
Posted by: petite anglaise at October 22, 2004 3:50 PMHugh living in Paris. This is going to be fun.
In New Orleans, the bars are still lively and lucid at midnight as well. Last call is a study in desperation.
My first observation about bars in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They are stubby little things. In New Orleans, the bar starts at the door and goes all the way to the back of the establishment. If you want a drink you go to the bar. In Ann Arbor the bar is where you wait for your table.
Posted by: Alan Gutierrez at October 22, 2004 4:19 PMClarification, there is no last call in New Orleans. Drinking stops at two in Michigan, so bars are hopping for one hour three nights a week.
My last point was about culture shock. The reverse of what you are about to experience. I just moved from a French city to a German village. I am struck by how private the public spaces are.
Good luck. Cheers.
Posted by: Alan Gutierrez at October 22, 2004 4:23 PMi'm greeeen with envy...
Posted by: m at October 22, 2004 6:00 PMAny chance to buy you a drink when in Paris ?
Just give a call.
Jean-Christophe
Posted by: JC Latournerie at October 22, 2004 6:33 PMParis is cinema. Manhattan is one long establishment shot with crowds muttering "rhubarb rhubarb." And San Francisco, where I live, is the kinky, bipolar and very attractive upstairs neighbor.
Books can be written by the miserable and pissed off. But the process is much more satisfying if the writer is content about the basic human needs: beauty, good food and coffee, and gonadal sparks. So eat, drink, leer, and write write write.