Arrival

Arriving early in the morning is a wonderful way to discover a city’s layers and rhythms as it moves from night into day. These are the hours when bakeries are just opening, and the brasseries (the pubs or bars) are still open from the night before.

This morning we arrived in Paris and found ourselves an hour early to meet up with the man from whom we had rented an apartment. We decided to go to a nearby café and have coffee and croissant while we waited.

People-watching in Paris is alway good, and the 19^th arrondissement (each area of Paris goes by a number) is an even more special treat. Why? So MANY dazzling characters. It is a neighbourhood in the early stages of gentrification, producing an eclectic mix of international cultures and young artists.

As we arrived and unloaded the cab, a lady wished us “bon voyage” (‘a good trip”, something you say as people are leaving, not arriving) in a warm-yet-maybe-not-quite-right-or-possibly-drunk-or-both manner that served as a perfect welcome to our new neighbourhood. 

Once we had wheeled our little caravan of suitcases, bags and stroller over to the café, we set up our chairs by the heater, sipped our coffee and watched the show unfold while our son snoozed in his stroller.

The people came in several, distinct waves. 

First we noticed the people still working on their beer from last night (or perhaps they were just starting their day off right). A few ladies of the night were walking home in colourful attire, one in a vivid bubble gum pink getup and her wig worn askew. I was starting to wonder if this apartment from a friend of a friend was maybe not such a sweet last minute score.

Next the male shop keepers surfaced and began setting up their market stalls, and we enjoyed watching as they opened boxes and laid out their goods one pile at at time. Jeans, dresses, tomatoes, trinkets, dashikis, all interspersed with busy, multilingual calls.

Soon after, we saw the joggers (only three, but remarkable for Paris) sweating so elegantly (how do they do it?), followed by the business people taking the metro with rolling suitcases, and mothers and fathers ushering children to school. In fact there were lots of children, even a few families with four kids. Where do you store four kids in these Paris apartments? No, I really want to know. I’m sure it’s impressive.

After an entr'acte of croissants, a series of cyclists streamed by - one wearing headphones, which I will call brave.

Last were the late-for-work business people making a sprint to the metro.  This was the grand finale, with ties in the wind, bouncing hair, rolling suitcases and fantastic leaps and turns over the cobblestones and around the plethora of pedestrians. Just lovely.

Overall I give the intersection of rue de Belleville and Boulevard de Belleville a 4 star rating for people-watching. There was a wonderful variety or cultures, some stylish looks, some freak flags being flown proud and high, and so the overall ambience was lively, and ultimately probably just fine for a week’s stay.