TRAVEL MEMOIRS
Three Olympics, Forty-Eight Years, One Love Affair
I’ve had a lifelong affair with Paris
I was a young model seeking adventure when I first arrived in the summer of 1982. Francois Mitterrand had just been elected and his brand of “champagne socialism” led to a rise in liberalism in education and the media.
It was the era of big hair, big shoulders and Azzedine Alaïa sculpted silhouettes. I walked at least 20,000 steps a day to my various “go-sees” and auditions, that was before I had an Apple watch to count my steps for me. I knew the city inside and out. I was “Maria in Paris” before Emily was even born.
Paris is an easy city to love and to fall in love in. It has an energy of romance at its core, and after a wander, and a glass of wine, you succumb easily to its charms.
We hung out in clubs like Les Bains Douches or simply called Les Bains by the regulars. It started out as a 19th-century bathhouse but morphed into a Studio 54-type club in the 80’s. Models were encouraged to hang out there and never had to wait in line. Les Bains is where deejay David Guetta got his start.
The agency set us up with fabulous dinners at famous restaurants like La Tour D’argent, Aux Deux Magots and Brasserie Lipp. It was a magical time.
We went to Shakespeare & Company before it became Instagram famous. We read English books and chatted about philosophy. When I took my sons there this summer, there was a lineup to get in and… take pictures.
My boys were unimpressed with my stories.
One of the things I remember most about Paris in those years was how grimy many of the buildings were. Years of soot and smoke turned the historic buildings a dark shade of grey. That was despite the fact that Napoleon III passed a law in 1852 that all buildings should be cleaned every ten years. However, it took until the late 1960s for the law to be enforced. Over the next twenty to thirty years Paris scrubbed all of its buildings, like Julia Child would scrub her potatoes. Today the entire city is gleaming.
Throughout the years I have been back many times; as a flight attendant on layovers in the 90’s, as a tourist throughout the oughts and recently, with my family for the Olympics.
Paris — like an old lover you run into who’s looking really good — charmed me again. It had been spruced up for my visit (okay, it was for the Olympics) and it looked better than I had ever seen it. Kudos to France for doing a wonderful job hosting the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.
I’ve been to other Olympics before — Montreal in 1976,
and Beijing in 2008.
And while they were awesome, Paris had a way of incorporating the games into the city that was uniquely charming, in the way that only Paris can be.
The Olympic flame was located in Tuileries Garden and rose over the city each evening in a hot air balloon. It was the first time in Olympic history that the flame became airborne. It was a risk that designer, Mathieu Lehanneur, felt was worth taking. And the risk paid off, as many Parisians were so impressed by it that they want it to become a permanent monument.
Many people have asked if Paris was very busy and chaotic during the games, but it wasn’t, because their timing was perfect. Parisians traditionally leave the city for the month of August for summer vacation, which meant it was less crowded, with only tourists and athletes roaming around the city.
There were loads of “Lime” bikes and scooters to ride around to the venues, and new designated bike lanes everywhere. The (newly-cleaned) Seine was the center of everything, from the unique Opening Ceremonies to the triathlon. Watching beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower was incredible.
Fencing was held at the beautiful Grand Palais and the equestrian events were in Versailles. I love how they incorporated the Olympic venues into historic buildings.
At L’Assemblée nationale, they replaced the traditional statues with new ones, Venus de Milo with arms, holding various sporting equipment. This is how they blended history with sport.
We watched Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz for the gold medal in Men’s tennis at Roland Garros Stadium.
We saw the Gold Medal Soccer match between Spain and France, and sang “Allez les Bleus” (Come on Blues), along with the hometown crowd.
Our last event was the Track & Field finals, held in the Stade de France, which holds 80,000 people and was built in the late 90's.
But the main thing I noticed on this trip was the focus on beauty, in everything, from food, to fashion, to architecture.
I took my boys to the recently restored Samaritaine Department store. This was the “simple” lunch we enjoyed.
Many of the restaurants are adorned with vines & flowers, and there was a gentle pace to life.
The waiters at the many sidewalk cafés never pressure you to leave. You can sit and sip and watch life go by as long as you like. You can just imagine Ernest Hemingway enjoying a whiskey & soda with friends, after a long day of writing.
Paris, you deserve the reputation you have as the world’s most romantic city. You were my first love and I will always think about you fondly, with a slight sense of melancholy in my heart.
