Paris Defined.

I have never been to Paris.

What I know about Paris is what everyone else knows about Paris – the Eiffel Tower, too many
beautiful people per square inch, the Mona Lisa, cheese, mimes in striped shirts. So it wasn't the
least bit surprising that when it came time to describe the city, I simply couldn't find the words.

I thought of using romantic. Paris is, after all, a city synonymous to love – true, fleeting, carnal,
unrequited, destined, forbidden – all kinds of love(rs). The Seine River has probably seen them all,
as it silently flowed through the heart of the city.

But it seemed trite to describe Paris as romantic. The word simply lacked the complexities
required to explain the nuances of love. Or for that matter, the nuances of love as defined by the
French. No, romantic is too simple a word to describe Paris. Even I knew that.

I briefly considered ennui. If only it weren't too ambiguous, too lonely a word. I kept thinking
about the Parisian landscape at night and how serenely beautiful it is with all its famed lights, and
instantly, I felt a quiet discontentment. I wanted to be someone else, somewhere else.

It didn't matter if I was a too blonde Marilyn Monroe impersonator, sitting al fresco in a quaint
Parisian café, a time traveling writer who loves Paris in the 20s, in the rain, or a carefree French
gamine, recklessly racing across the Louvre for 9 minutes and 45 seconds. It didn't matter, so long
as I was in Paris.

Perhaps flânerie. There is no direct translation to English and the closest to its meaning is to
wander aimlessly. Every place in Paris, it seems, can easily turn anyone into a flâneur - the gardens
of Tuileries, the Louvre, the Metro, Montemarte, Cimetiere du Montparnasse. A permission to get
lost (in thought, for words).

While I was looking up the word bougeotte, I started to wonder if this was also how it started for
Michealle Torres-Descolognes and Marbee Go when they finally decided to cross out Paris from
their own bucket lists.

I wondered if during their travels to Paris, they ever found the words for it.

Destiné / Michealle Torres-Descolognes

It was Michealle's first time in Paris when she met her husband. She was on assignment, shooting
a fashion spread for Metro Magazine where she was Executive Editor, after coming from Elle
Singapore.

“It was a life-changing, unforgettable event,” she writes in her email “It was a mix of fate and
circumstance, and I fell in love with Paris even more because of him.” She says even more,
because like anyone who's in the fashion industry, Michealle was already in love with Paris.

The rédactrice en chef (chief editor) of Prestige International magazine, shyly confessed to having
her photograph taken in front of the Eiffel tower as the first thing she did during her first time in
Paris. “Cliché, I know, but there’s really no substitute for seeing it in front of you for the very first
time.”

It's now been a year since she's moved to Paris. She's met fashion's biggest names (Stefano Pilati,
Grace Coddington, Carine Roitfeld, Marc Jacobs, Nicolas Ghesquiere, and Tommy Hilfiger), been
inside the Christian Dior atelier, and attended fashion shows and events in historical buildings and
palaces. She's done a lot of things that would make anyone rewrite their own Paris bucket list.
“I’ve had so many great fashion moments in Paris and I really count myself very lucky to have
experienced all of it.”

She's now seeing the city with a different eye - that of a Parisian. “Part of the city’s charm is to get
lost in the everyday Parisian life,” says Michealle. A traveling philosophy that clearly shows in her
Paris itinerary for when she gets visitors from the Philippines.

“I take them for lunch or apero at this charming pedestrian area called rue Montorgueil. It's a
street lined with cafés, boulangeries, butcheries, fromageries, florists—very typically French,”
shares Michealle.

“My husband also suggests restaurants where they serve authentic (and very good!) French food,
such as Chez Julien at Rue du Pont Louis Philippe and La Fontaine de Mars at Rue Saint-Dominique.
After dinner, we take them to Silencio at Rue de Montmartre, the David Lynch helmed club. It's
very interesting and not your usual “super club” ambience.”

But if there's one thing she recommends everyone should do in Paris, it's to pick a spot, sit down,
and take it all in. “Don’t rush through your visit. Paris should be experienced and savored like fine
wine—slowly and frequently. Your love affair with this city is just beginning anyway.”

And perhaps it was only by chance that Michealle worked for a fashion magazine which had a
photoshoot in Paris. Perhaps it was also sheer coincidence that she met her husband the first time
she came to Paris. Perhaps her moving to Paris was a consequence of these fortuities.

But as Franco-Czech novelist Milan Kundera wrote in Unbearable Lightness of Being: If a love is to
be unforgettable, fortuities must immediately start fluttering down to it like birds to Francis of
Assisi's shoulders.

Perhaps it is the magic of Paris. Perhaps it is destiny at work.

Voyageuse / Marbee Go
In her piece, The Allure of Travel Writing, Jan Morrison writes that the best travel writers are not
really writing about travel at all. That instead of events, they are recording an experience. Writing
from a place where fiction slipstreams into reality. Marbee Go writes from this place.

She tells me a story about an illustration of a boy playing an accordion that she saw while walking
around Montmarte. It wasn't even finished yet but she's already decided where it would go in her
home. The artist told her that it was the picture of his son. And that regrettably, it wasn't for sale.

Montmarte being the art district of Paris, she could've just moved on to the next artist, the next
gallery. But she was already obsessed with this unfinished illustration. As with anything in art (or in
life), you have no idea why you like something, but that you simply do.

Through charm and persuasion, she eventually agreed to sell it once it's finished. But when
Marbee returned the following week, the artist wasn't there anymore. She was able to buy five
artworks from her, except for the unfinished illustration of a boy playing an accordion.

I still can't stop thinking about this story. Maybe there really is beauty in transience. Maybe Paris is
an attempt to capture this beauty. And to fully appreciate it, one must keep still. “The first time I
went and saw Van Gogh's Starry Night in Musée D'Orsay, I sat at the bench right in front of it and
stared at it for I think about an entire hour.”

She recommends going to the Musée Rodin to see The Thinker, The Kiss, and The Gates of Hell.
And the Seine to watch people, the sunset, and the time go by like the gentle flowing of the river.
“We were all just sitting there looking at nothing and everything. Because that's what you do in
Paris.”

She tells me her places of solace in Paris are The Garden of Luxemburg behind Notre Dame and
train stations like Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon. Here, she tells me, is where she usually just sits
down to collect her thoughts.

“I love Paris because it's old, yet so new. And anywhere you look, it seems like it was meant to be
there, but then it's also unscripted,” says Marbee “You think you’re done with it when you see it
but you’re not, then you are led to a new side street, a new attraction, a new exhibit, a new
cooking class. That’s the magic of Paris.”

I have never been to Paris. But through stories of people like Michealle and Marbee, I think I have
now found the words to describe it.

Je ne sais quoi (/ˌʒə nə sɛ ˈkwɑː/) An intangible quality or attractiveness that cannot be adequately
described or expressed.
SIDEBARS:

Michealle's Paris Sartorial

Parisians are uniform dressers, depending on the season, there’s always a look that they have. In
Autumn/Winter it’s always a palette of grays and blacks, with leather jackets, boots, and a scarf. In
Spring/Summer you have to wear color.

Don’t forget to bring the basics: a well-tailored suit jacket (a casual outfit can be dressed up
instantly with a nice jacket), ballerina flats, a pair of killer heels, a scarf (even during Spring, bring
a light scarf), your favorite little black dress, skinny jeans, and a coat.

Marbee's Quirky Paris

Deyrolle's. A taxidermy shop in Rue de Bac famously described by David Sedaris in his piece
Understanding Owls. Think Pygmie heads and a sailor's arm.

Café Philosophique. Founded by philosopher Marc Sautet, there are about 100 cafés-philo in
Paris. Usual discussions over coffee or wine range from finding answers to questions like: Is time
travel possible? What is fact? What is sheep consciousness? Is Santa Claus a myth?

Cent Quatre. Located at 104 rue d'Aubervilliers, it was previously the site of a former funeral
parlor. But in 2008, it was transformed into a vibrant art centre where it houses cafés, lecture
halls, gardens, and spaces where artists can showcase their works.

Mugler Follies. If you've ever wondered what the world would like after a few glasses of Absinthe,
then you must see this show. A cabaret created by designer Manfred Thiery Mugler, the show
combines dance, acrobats, singers, and Mugler's out of this world costumes to tell the story of a
girl who dreamt of being a tightrope walker and how she found herself on the high-wire of life.

Les Musée des Vampires. There's something really creepy and inviting about a museum about
vampires that's by appointment only. Located at Rue Jules David, the Vampire Museum houses an
extensive collection of everything vampiric, including all the signatures of every actor who played
Dracula.
Paris Eats as Recommended by Jin of Jin Loves to Eat

L' Comptoir du Relais. Don't be put off by the line, it is worth the wait. Order the "cochon de lait
braise et roti, lentilles en ragout (Braised and roasted suckling pig with lentil ragout). Truly the best
pork dish ever. Cap it off with their heavenly cremeux au chocolat.

Ledoyen. For the ultimate traditional French fine dining experience, splurge on the tasting menu.
If ordering a la carte, the roasted veal sweetbread skewered with lemongrass stalks must not be
missed.

L'Avant Comptoir. Little bites but big on flavors (and happiness!) Foie gras with roasted peppers,
veal carpaccio, and blood sausage terrine macaron. Even the complimentary cheese breads are
awesome.

Patrick Roger. After you've had a taste, you will never look at chocolates the same way again. I am
addicted to the Instincts (dark chocolate praline cubes) and Corsica (dark chocolate covered
orange peel).

La Patisserie des Reves. Paris is all about pastries. My favorite is Paris-Brest, and Patisserie des
Reves does it best. Six baby puffs baked together to form a ring of choux love filled with praline
cream and chocolate-praline ooze.

Free Things to Do in Paris

Walk around star-studded cemeteries like Pere Lachaise, Cimetiere de Montmarte and Cimetiere
du Montparnasse.

Put a lock on with your and your special someone's name on the love lock bridge at Pont des Arts
and Pont de l’Archevêché. Remember to throw away the key in the Seine.

Watch the weekly free haute-couture show on the 7th floor of the Galeries Lafayette.

Attend Jim Hayne's Sunday Dinners. Just RSVP and get ready to meet more than 50-60 participants
over free dinner and wine.

Hear live music, watch street performers or just marvel at the panoramic view of Paris at the
Sacré-Cœur Basilica.