A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 7 – Be Like the Queen of England
Day 7, in Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 Chic Days, is “Honor your body with chic movement.” Fiona repackages the idea of exercise into the far more attractive (at least to me!) discussion of “chic movement” – doesn’t that sound much more elegant? It brings to my mind photographs of the Queen of England walking with her corgis in her quilted barn coat with a scarf tied over her hair (a la Grace Kelly.) If the Queen can be out walking in her 90’s, looking casual-chic, then certainly, I can be!
In addition to her Majesty, the Queen of England, I have the real-life, everyday examples of Parisian women (of all ages) walking, quite quickly, at all times during the day – usually wearing a dark, classic cut coat and some gorgeous scarf wrapped stylishly around their neck.
Fiona likes walking as do I. She recommends choosing something that we like and can see ourselves doing easily for the rest of our lives. Chris Crowly, author of Younger Next Year, has a terrific discussion of movement, health and youthfulness (reviewed here). Take a look at the book (either from Amazon or available at many American libraries for borrowing.) Chris will get you laughing out loud and out the door to your favorite movement!
I also like Mireille Guiliano’s suggestion in her book, Frenchwomen Don’t Get Fat. She writes that we should love stairs. No elevators for just a one or two floors, dear reader,. We should choose walking up or down a flight of stairs instead of taking an elevator. (Note: she does NOT say walk up 26 floors!) What she means is that if we get in the habit of walking up a flight or two each time we would have taken an elevator, the benefits in terms of our health and shapeliness will become quickly apparent. By the way, I can state from my own edxperience that Mireille is right.
If there is a physical reason that walking may not be the best form of movement, all three writers warmly encourage us to look around for some other type of movement that suits our temperament, surroundings and abilities.
Here in Paris, walking is the easiest choice. In fact, it’s not even a choice but a necessity! The Parisians walk. And walk quickly. All ages, and all manner of socio-economic status, from what I can see. Little children all the way up to very senior citizens (maybe using a cane or walking a bit slower than they had in the past). We walk to bus stations, metro stations, the post office, the park, the grocery store and market street (while pulling our small grocery cart called a chariot.) We walk to the boulangerie to pick up our daily baguette. My family and I do not have a car here so all movement is by foot, metro or bus. And all this lovely walking leads to the the fun of Paris – enjoying the beautiful scenery. I find I can also enjoy the not-so-occasional wonderful pastry without worrying about “outgrowing” my clothing (double win!)
What are some of the things that I have learned from watching Parisian’s out walking?
1. Parisians dress for the weather. It’s hard to enjoy life when one is wet and/or freezing.
Today, as I walked out for my early morning gratitude walk and to pick up croissants for breakfast, the temperature was 36 F (2 C) and 30 F (-1 C) with wind chill (and there is always a breeze here.) I wore silk long underwear, skinny stretch wool trousers tucked into riding-style tall boots (waterproof), a wool turtleneck sweater, what looks to be a thin wool coat (with a thin layer of down on the interior), bright, sky-blue wool scarf, gloves and sky-blue wool beret. I had a lovely, comfortable 40-minute walk in these temperatures and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery at the park near my apartment. My fellow walkers (most with dogs on leads) were dressed in much the same way I was. Well, I can’t attest to the silk long underwear! But I saw wool coats buttoned or zipped up, beautiful scarves, gloves and about half of the women had some type of pretty hat. Note: Many women wear belted coats which lend a flattering, feminine look. I have not seen any Paris woman wearing a giant, puffy parka or some type of blocky, oversized coat. (Keep in mind, Paris can be quite chilly and wet in the winter but it doesn’t have the bitter cold of the North American cities like Boston, Chicago, Montreal or Quebec.)
2. Parisians dress for walking. Most men and women I see outside walking are wearing flat or low-heeled shoes or boots. (I do see a small number of those glamorous creatures who speed-walk by in high heels.) Parisians are outside walking someplace and they may be outside 30-40 minutes a time, multiple times a day. Good shoes are a must.
Let’s pause a moment and think about weather and walking. High-quality outerwear and footwear are not cheap. The frugal chic walker must give some thought to her outerwear needs before purchasing an item. I see the vast majority of men and women here in classic, tailored coat styles. If we are going to purchase just one (or two) winter coat(s), a classic style in a high-quality fabric can be our friend for years. We can be like Parisians and switch up the look to suit our mood or the season with different colored scarves and gloves. One of my favorite things to do here is to go for a walk (or have a cup of tea in a cafe window) and watch apeople walking by with all the different scarf colors and wrapping styles.
Of course, all this walking has been curtailed by the CoVid-19 lockdown. The streets are much emptier so people & style watching is not an option right now. Chic movement at my apartment is walking up and down the stairs of the building several times a day (it’s 6 stories), the occasional outdoor walk and some in-door workouts. Several friends are using various youtube videos of the “7-minute workout” and yoga routines.
Here is a photo from recent early morning walks. I hope you find this “cat” as charming as I do!
