A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 1 – Pay Attention To Your Inner Chic Vision, Cherie!
April 20, 2020
Day 1 in Fiona Ferris’s book, 30 More Chic Days, is titled “Embrace Your Inner French Girl and Her Dream Life.” Fiona encourages us to have a vision of our best self and our best, dreamiest life. Her point is that when we have a clear and authentic vision of our best selves, we naturally evolve into that beautiful and genuine self. And we can have fun while doing it! She makes the very perceptive point that we are evolving every day anyway – let’s grow in a direction that inspires our imagination and passion.
My vision of my inner Paris girl is only slightly different from Fiona’s dream Paris girl. And my current dream apartment is in the 16th arrondissement as opposed to Fiona’s dream “bijou” (small, jewel-like) apartment in the Montmartre area. At the moment, my imaginary role model is showing me how to handle pandemic-related logistical challenges with a blithe nonchalance and a gallic shrug. (This is no time for Type-A obsessing, mon ange (sweetheart)! “Tant pis” (never mind) is her insouciant response to the many recent changes in everyday life. She is able to look at the upcoming summer – no way to make plans at the moment? “Tant pis, cherie! Let’s break open the new 1000 piece puzzle that our good friends at Amazon.fr just delivered!” Frustrated at being stuck inside during this beautiful Paris Spring? “Tant pis, ma petite! Grab your phone camera and let’s go looking for something interesting to photograph!” The thought of cleaning up after dinner yet one more time drains the will to live? “Tant pis, ma petite chou-chou! Let’s dine à pic-nic in the living room with baguette, cheese, ham and some divine Le Bordier butter!” (My Paris dream girl is a lot more fun and creative than I usually am.) Fiona’s inventive idea of a chic, idealized role model (however we envision her) can inspire us to live a happier and more vibrant day.
I really put on Fiona’s perspective today. With Paris still in lockdown because of the CoVid-19 pandemic, we are only allowed to leave our apartments throughout the day to go to food stores, pharmacies and for solitary exercise (the exercise is allowed only before 10 am and after 7 pm.) After lunch, I brushed my hair, put on a coat of lipstick, tied my silk scarf around my neck (very Paris!) and ventured out into this gorgeous Spring day (with my forms and a pretty striped grocery bag.) I stayed in the moment, enjoyed the sunshine as I walked to pick up a fresh baguette … and found a few pretty door numbers to photograph. Dinner tonight is marinated chicken but maybe it would be fun to eat it “à pic-nic” by the front windows….
Below, enjoy some pretty examples of how to show your house number above the main door (my inner Paris girl approves – “No need to be drab, cherie!”)
