I have spent the last four days in Paris and it has given me the hope in humanity that at times I find losing with the rise of populism. The Kardashians and reality tv has made me question what we value as a society and if there is hope for us.
Though it isn’t the high season yet, Paris is packed with tourists, wandering around with their smart phones which have replaced thé Galeries Lafayette maps as the means to find the next landmark. You see people from everywhere, speaking every language and a lot of them are Americans.
Why are they here? It’s not always fun. It’s been raining so they are trying to shelter themselves with cheap plastic raincoats sold by sidewalk vendors and take shelter under awnings as they try to figure out which way the GPS is pointing. The French are not great at English so communicating can be difficult and it’s expensive. If you are not a great walker, forget it, the kilometers and cobblestones will kill you.
My only answer is beauty.
The French, and in particular, the Parisiens are masters of beauty and being here, for just a short time, allows one to live in beauty as well. Beauty of good food and taking the time to enjoy it. Beauty of architecture and the value of preserving it, not destroying it. Beauty of design and not buying more but better. Beauty of conversation and knowing the value of spending time at a cafe talking and not looking at a phone. Beauty of knowledge and history found in bookstores.
When one is here, one gets a chance to be apart of all of the beauty. One has no choice but to linger over a meal because it will not come any faster. One walks, not drives. One wanders in small shops, not large wearhouses. And one takes photo, after photo of the beauty everywhere. For a small moment in time, one is beautiful as well.
On Friday, many of my fellow tourists will be cursing the French as Air France and the SNCF go on strike, but that too is part of the beauty. The beauty of saying, life is not about working, life is about living and one should not work 60 hours a week until they are 70. One should have at least 5 weeks of vacation and be able to retire while they are young enough to enjoy it.
But for now, we wander the streets, eat the croissants, take selfies in front of Notre Dame and embrace the joie de vivre. It is clear what the visitors to Paris value.
Our Swiss Life 