Should You See Paris in the Spring?

There is nothing like strolling arm in arm with your daughter down the Jardin des Tuileries in the spring. At least that is where I believed we were. My daughter is extraordinary at planning events and trips. If she weren’t already on another path, I’d almost insist that she do extensive trip planning for others as a living. I simply followed her wherever she led. And this is where we were.

We had been trying to take this trip for several years. Always, there was a conflict. Then I decided “to heck with this,” and signed up for The Blue Hour workshop in Paris. It was the nudge we needed to get our act together and head for France. I’ll have an entire post on the workshop and will be happy to answer questions, but that’s on Wednesdays for the writers.

This is travel day, and we are in PARIS!!! Here’s your intro to get you started. I’ll go more in-depth in the next few posts.

The first thing I forgot in all the excitement about France was that it was spring. I am allergic to the world, and because of how we’ve set up our lives, I never experience spring, since Miami doesn’t really have one, and it's already passed each year by the time we shift to Türkiye.

Trust me, Paris has SPRING. It is lush, beautiful, full of birdsong, and bicycles. And pollen. I’m still recovering.

But it was worth it. Should you go?

Yes. Plan it well, but just go. Don’t wait for the hot summer. Plan it in the spring.

We walked everywhere, but in truth, we only covered most of three arrondissements. When I was thoroughly exhausted at the end of the day, my daughter would stick me on a bus, and we’d ride through more of the city so I wouldn’t miss anything. (I promise you, she’s terrific at this.)

Paris is cool for its architecture, but also for the little things, like the old cars that seemed to pop up randomly. But the largest change? The bicycles and pedestrian areas. The city is so much quieter than it was twenty-five years ago when I last visited. The former mayor (I was told) made a massive change to the traffic patterns, and I could immediately tell the difference. The city is much quieter and is now hugely pedestrian-friendly. 

When crossing the street, you still have to watch for normal auto traffic, but in many places, there are separate bike lanes that are very busy — so stop and look TWICE at every major crossing. I always wait for the bicyclist to see me before crossing, even though I have the right of way. They always stopped, nodded to me, and waited for me to cross.

I’d learned my lesson in Amsterdam a few years back, having been almost plowed over by three dozen cyclists who slowed for no one and screamed at me in multiple languages to get out of the way.

I think I took 200 photos (@Michael, I promise you, this time I took more photos than you!), yet not one of the Eiffel Tower came out acceptable. So here are a few from our trip to the flower market and along the way.

I was excited to see Shakespeare and Company’s sign until I saw the massive line around the block and the crowds out front. I’ve included the link so you can understand my fascination with this place.

Large cities with public green spaces are far superior to those that simply cram buildings together. Paris has parks to an art form. My favorite thing? I did not visit any museum. Hey—don’t fuss at me. I really don’t like them, and I’m not a history fan. Unless there is a modern art section in any museum, I will not go.

With so many parks, who needs to be inside?

But the laughs every day came from the cars. One day, four old guys were just riding around together smoking cigarettes, looking at the sights. The next day, we saw a tour group of four cars like the one below, just puttering around the city.

Every day included an eclair break. Having an afternoon break has always been part of my travel schedule, and I make the most of whatever is famous in each city. Here, of course, it was croissants for breakfast and eclairs for the afternoon break. But trust me, I ate a LOT of everything else.

But I will tell you — Milan still has the best coffee ever. Sorry, Paris. Yes, your coffee is good, but exceptional? Nah.

Everywhere we went, there were fences with locks. And every public place seems to have hidden little locks fastened in odd places as well. I wonder how many of those lovers are still together now?

I could go on here all day, but you get the picture. We had beautiful weather, I had a great time at the workshop, and I loved having my daughter to myself for an entire week as we wandered around Paris. So if you go to Paris, take your daughter with you. I promise, it will be the best trip ever.