Is Paris Still Romantic?

[@amusingaida]

Learn languages the fun way with Lingopie! Start your free trial today: learn.lingopie.com/aida (Thanks to Lingopie, my sponsor for this video. If you like their app -- and you should check it out -- you can get 55% off its yearly sign-up using my link.)

[@renatolabadan4038]

It is refreshing to watch your videos, not only because you have a camera person/cinematographer that captures you better, but also because you make viewers reflect and smile. Or maybe I am just overthinking that 😎

[@amusingaida]

Haha! As long as the mise en scène works! And don't apologize for overthinking things -- I'm all in favor of that.

[@Dashingdiva73]

Here I am sitting in my apartment in Pasadena, California, and 95° weather. My husband and I spent nine days in Paris in September. I had been wanting to go to Paris France since I saw a travel video about Paris in the 80s. I knew that I was going to go before I turned 50. But I went at 51. my biggest fear was that I was going to suffer from par syndrome because of my expectations. However, my expectations have changed over the years because of the reality of adults life and putting things in perspective. When we landed in Paris after spending an hour in customs, our taxi driver drove us to our hotel in the Batingnolle neighborhood. Immediately, I felt a weird sense of being at home and a place. I’ve never been. Staying in the 17th was a good idea because of how village like it appeared to us. It was manageable. Everyone was super friendly and nice. Luckily I speak a little French. This was enough to open up, the world to me and my husband and made our visit all the more better. Each day we spent walking and walking and getting lost but discovering such beauty and romance in a city that is eternal. Every time we would get off of metro stop or a bus we would discover some thing that was just wonders to our eyes. I love that you mentioned the Jardin des plantes. While we were trying to find the pantheon and getting horribly turned around on the bus, we decided to get off at the Jardon, the plants and walk-through, which was an excellent idea because my husband loves plants eventually ourselves to pantheon and in all of its splendor, not to mention the fact that it was just down the street to Jardin des Luxenberg. everything about Paris that I felt that I would feel when I got there was on point. Is it romantic in a way it is and in the way it isn’t what I found. Romantic was my husband and I being able to get lost be patient with each other and be soothed by the beauty of the city. We were both charmed and excited about all of the things that we had set out to see. We didn’t get a chance to see everything, but it gave us an excuse to work hard and save our money so we can go back. What blessing is that you get to live in a city that is constantly exposing itself and showing you what it has the possibilities to be every day.

[@amusingaida]

How wonderful that Paris met (exceeded?) your expectations, and that you felt at home in the first place you stayed. And yes, I always tell people to walk in Paris, without a timetable, to find their own treasures. Discovery is its own reward. And, like us Parisians, you'll soon learn that it's impossible to 'see everything'.

[@Hippy2021]

​@@amusingaida Nahhh. A myth!!! I have been in Paris a couple times every year attending my daughter fashion show runway. Before the pandemic France, specially Paris was a wonderland. Not now anymore. People dress plain and no taste. everywhere is loving to dig USD from Americans. We were scammed by the Metro security staff for 100 euros fine with our metro tickets holding in our hands. Cannot argue with them as we rushed to the moulin rouge for a show we already reserved, and these guys know it by the way we dressed up. My bank takes care of it. But what a shame for France, to allow personnel and employees in the Metro station of Paris (16th arrondissement) to steal American visitors tourists for 100 euros!!!!!! Never happened before. I guess the economy in recession after COVID made French people hungry for USD. That thing never happens in the US or anywhere in a civilized country. Just returned from Europe on one month trip in September. However enjoyed so much Portugal cascais and the UK (feeling comfortable as at home) . UK is civilized and safe with high quality services, France Paris nowadays is a ghetto. BTW we visited Bordeaux, it's really low service and poor, very depressing. Pandemic changed everything . No more Paris France for me. People trying to get every penny they can. 5 * hotels and dinning are jokes.

[@amusingaida]

Sorry to hear you found yourself in a situation with a fine. There is a procedure to get unjust fines overturned. As for the alleged moneygrabbing French -- I don't recognise the country you are talking about. There are scams galore around the tourist landmarks, so yes that's the case there. But if you spend time in France you'll eventually learn that quality of life (including time off and happiness) ranks higher than a well-stuffed bank account.

[@terrysires1778]

I absolutely adore your Pars perspective. The video is a work of art.

[@amusingaida]

Thank you - your comment means a lot to me

[@LifeontwowheelsRocks]

Once more, Aida, you are a refuge from the pain and sorrow of the times. If I had to pick one place on the planet as the epicentre of all that is good, it would be Paris. Please keep your videos coming. I need them.

[@amusingaida]

Hi David - I'm sorry to hear that this video finds you in such a tough moment (unless you are talking in a more general, geopolitical way?). But Paris is a salve, it is true - one better experienced directly rather than vicariously! While you're here: thank you for that glowing review of my channel you did on your blog. I only recently discovered it, and it was heartwarming and gave me a needed impetus to forge on with this video.

[@LifeontwowheelsRocks]

Ahhh, yes, geopolitical sorrow. I am still recovering from a leg issue caused by my… STUPIDITY… but I’m close to full recovery. Thank you for your kind words.

[@LifeontwowheelsRocks]

Just to let you know today I posted on my blog a playlist I call French by English of songs that evoke my love of Paris. They also fit your definition of romance.

[@amusingaida]

@@LifeontwowheelsRocks That's great -- I'll have to check them out.

[@John-nx3dy]

Photogenic location surrounding a photogenic presenter. Kudos. Great video!

[@amusingaida]

Merci ! It's so easy to be photogenic in Paris - anyone can do it!

[@John-nx3dy]

Not just anybody.

[@amusingaida]

@@John-nx3dy Yes, really.... the setting and the lighting make anyone look good

[@PeterPenguin77]

This is an epic post of yours… even with the language advertisement (which I loved). You have defined what is the essence of Paris - most importantly being whatever our hearts desire most. You are an amazing film maker and I’m sure your gifts are making sparks of joy in the film world. And mostly, it’s just you that makes such an impression on the viewer. So well done and Merci Beaucoup! ❤

[@amusingaida]

That's a glowing comment, thank you so much. I just hope I can live up to it.

[@jeffsherman91]

Paris has, and will always have, a special place in my heart. I've been five times, if I remembered and counted correctly. Most recently was right before Christmas in 2022, when the trip was interrupted by us (primarily me) getting sick with COVID. And just about everything else going wrong, from my watch battery dying, to my laptop charger being left at home (and me having to try to get a new one at FNAC), to our hotel having the wrong dates and us having to get a new hotel, to the jackhammer at 8 AM every morning against our bathroom wall. But… I loved that trip, perhaps even more than some earlier ones. And every day in the nearly two years since, I've felt HOMESICK. For Paris, a place I've never lived more than a week. LA - where I'm from and where I live - can be outstandingly beautiful. Go for a short hike in the hills, and look over the Santa Monica Bay and the gorgeous mansions in the hills, and on a clear day, see from the ocean on one side past Downtown's skyscrapers on the other, even to the snow-covered mountains in the distance in winter. The beach, and the pier(s). The Getty Museum, and the architecture of the complex, and the views, and the gardens. Union Station. The views from Mulholland Drive. The parks; we're NOT just a concrete jungle. Famous spots where HUNDREDS of movies and TV shows were filmed, like the “Beverly Hills Cop” and the “Pretty Woman” hotel on Wilshire Blvd. But Paris… there's just art for art's sake, everywhere, around every little corner, on just about every building. And yes, I got engaged ON the Eiffel Tower, not under it. 24 years ago, back before 9/11 (it was actually 9/9/2000). Before metal detectors to get anywhere near it. Before the bag checks. Before all the construction. Before all of the “keep off the grass” signs. When it was a wide, open, PUBLIC space, for the PUBLIC. Our actual wedding - 12 years later (and the engagement itself was 7 years in) - was in the US. Las Vegas, to be exact, with a reception in a French Restaurant under their fake Eiffel Tower, and with Parisian-themed everything from the invitations to the model Eiffel Towers on the tables to the Eiffel Tower keychain giveaways. For me, yeah… Paris is ALWAYS romantic, even through the dog poop and the pee smells, and the crowded Metro, and the snow and ice in winter, and the broken, dirty streets. I don’t like the tourists there anymore than I like them here in LA, either.

[@amusingaida]

Wow that is a long and loving ode to both Paris AND LA. You obviously appreciate and feel a close connection to both, with your romantic vision of each untrammelled by some of the noxious realities. Making regular transatlantic jaunts sounds like your destiny!

[@jeffsherman91]

@@amusingaida - LA to Paris is $$$ (or €€€). So tough going more than every few years. Actually, we're planning on retiring in a couple of years and moving closer to my wife's German family (she's German). She'd sort of prefer Germany, of course, but I'd prefer France (for one thing my French is way better than my German, but she speaks German fluently and zero French). She's possibly open to the idea, as long as it is close enough to her sister near Munich. Never been, but potentially Strasbourg. Paris is probably out just due to the real estate prices, and my wife, sadly, isn’t a fan of Paris, and would prefer a smaller city. But she WOULD like to rent someplace for a month or two in Paris just because.

[@amusingaida]

@@jeffsherman91yes: Strasbourg maybe, or Mulhouse potentially. Cold winters but lovely.

[@Ken-pi7qk]

Anywhere is romantic when you’re with the right person

[@amusingaida]

I argue that it's possible to have a romantic time solo too...

[@Bernard-Shakey]

Aida still makes Paris look romantic even while dispelling a few myths. Great video! Hooray for Paris' parks. One of my favourite memories is sitting in Jardin du Luxembourg first time I arrived in the city. It was early and I had the whole place almost to myself while I waited to check-in to my hotel. The grandeur of it all🙂

[@amusingaida]

How lucky you were to have the Jardin de Luxembourg all to yourself. It is possible, in winter, in foul weather, but rare. I think early mornings in Paris are magical, but I usually prefer sleeping in because I'm wired that way.

[@Bernard-Shakey]

@@amusingaida yes it was a wet Tuesday in August. Perfect conditions for a quiet city walk! Future video maybe? Paris sous la pluie.

[@billbollins]

I agree, I like to overthink my overthinking! Nice vid Aida

[@amusingaida]

Let me think on that

[@billbollins]

@@amusingaida Hmmmmmm...🤔

[@lenbracken6270]

Very charming, thoughtful, skillful...your talks almost seem unscripted, but one can tell there's excellent writing behind them...

[@amusingaida]

Why thank you sir. You have a keen eye (or ear).

[@foziehkamani39]

I loved this video the most and Adia not only you are beautiful but also funny and friendly at the I enjoy the subject too very much

[@amusingaida]

Merci ! That touches me greatly, and makes me glow like a summer's day

[@saulo_silva]

Hey, congrats for the video. And very well for being so dedicated and learning English that well without ever lived in an English speaking country. Personally I always thought you were from US or similar due to the perfectly spoken language. Beautiful and poetic, but also funny video, as usual. Thanks for sharing and congratulations

[@amusingaida]

A lot of people say I sound like an American when I switch to English. Thank you, Gilmore Girls!

[@PatrickModena-ct5zv]

Au début des années 70 Serge Fouchet (si je me souviens bien, mais pas sûr à 100%) chantait "Les romantiques ont disparus". Gros succès à l'époque. Je constate avec plaisir, ma chère Aida, qu'il en reste encore au moins une. Encore bravo pour votre travail.

[@amusingaida]

I'm an incurable romantic and I assume that. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@williamkazak469]

Very nice video and your commentary.

[@amusingaida]

Excellent to hear that. Thanks!

[@frankie1407-uo5nb]

Thank you so much for this summary of what it is really about when encountering this wonderful city. Intimacy is key.

[@amusingaida]

You are right, yes: intimacy is key!

[@michaelhajek1059]

That is a wonderful love letter to Paris

[@amusingaida]

Thanks. That's a good résumé.

[@ThrivingGracefully]

I love your videos. Very deep, well crafted, and fun to watch.

[@amusingaida]

That's very gratifying to hear - thank you!

[@sr9253]

Another beautiful video by a beautiful lady. What is your day job? Are you a fashion model or actress? I was hoping I could visit Paris last summer but I’ve been having health issues. Hopefully I can make it there this fall. It’s been about 45 years since I’ve been there so it’s about time! In the meantime I’ll have to try to find the romance in Los Angeles, California. There are some beautiful places here connected by the spider web of freeways - my favorite being the beaches. So I’ll just have to find romance on a sunny California beach😊

[@amusingaida]

My day job... is learning to be an actress. Yes. But I keep my KZbin stuff separate. Good luck with your hunt for romance in LA. I don't know the city, but it has been very well represented in film.

[@ivettecorrea1496]

What a magnificent Love essay to Paris!👌🗼💜💚🩵👏

[@amusingaida]

Thanks! It really is a place that is a magnet for human appreciation....

[@taiko7225]

So enjoy the artfullness of your videos, the personal touches are a "chef's kiss" ~

[@amusingaida]

That's great to hear! Makes me want to keep producing them!

[@onkii836]

Great video and thank you for the app! I am learning French using other app, but it is boring. I am on a binge of French movies so it is perfect for me😊

[@amusingaida]

Sooo happy the app is useful for you. It's something that would help me nail down French vocab and accent if I were learning the language. What was the other app you were using? Duolingo?

[@onkii836]

@@amusingaidaI used Babbel. Yes and it is fun to emulate a character.

[@annawinkel6509]

I lived in Paris for a year and yes it is romantic! Every memory I have exceeds any Hollywood version and any movie I’ve seen. Paris me manque!

[@amusingaida]

Even John Wick 4? I'm kidding! You must have had a great time here. What's stopping you from coming back for your personal sequel?

[@ben11551]

That's a good question, with the answer within it 👍 Many times , romantic is in reality superficial or scam_antic..

[@amusingaida]

Happy you appreciated it. I wanted to take a good long look at the subject - not just a superficial take with empty pictures.

[@hcjkruse]

Writing this from my hotel in the 15th. Thank you for this video and your other videos, already useful. Something you may like for a short evening visit Jurassique en voie d'illumination in Jardin des plants.

[@amusingaida]

Thanks for the recommendation. (Like many in Paris though I'm keeping warm.). Maybe I'll check it out -- if I get my current video I'm editing finished in time.

[@asterixky]

After a nice diner, just take a walk with your partner , down small streets. The next thing you know, you have covered miles of streets, and spent hours talking and getting closer to your partner. That is pure romance.

[@amusingaida]

That is a lovely résumé of Paris' strongest charm: the permission to wander while drawing closer to a loved one...

[@charlesblack1086]

Lovely vlog!

[@amusingaida]

Thanks so much! So happy you like it

[@dragosflorescu6769]

I don't know how it is for others, but for me Paris becomes romantic when I interact with French culture. Of course, anywhere else in France I can do that, but French culture in concentrated form is found in Paris. I feel romantic Paris on a very personal level when I go to a concert by a French musician, when I read a French author, when I watch a film by Godard or Melville, when I drink coffee on a Parisian terrace or when I eat charcuterie. somewhere in Le Marais. I feel romantic Paris in all these little pleasures. Nice mustache by the way! :))

[@amusingaida]

I think that's a good example of why the concept 'romance' is hard to pin down. It has an intimate meaning for us. For you, you point to French culture, the little pleasures of life. Thanks for moustache comment!

[@DeanRamser]

❤Bonjour. Beautifully fun and exciting videos! We are selling our home in Portland and planning to move there soon. Merci. Dean & Cindy

[@amusingaida]

Good luck with the move. It'll be an adventure. More than that, it'll be a reckoning, where you might need to leave some preconceived notions behind and adopt a new value system.

[@DeanRamser]

@@amusingaida Bonjour. Yes, an exciting adventure awaits. We learned much about ourselves and our expectations when we moved to Ukraine last August-December to help a new school open. Then onto historic Krakow and Gdansk for 6 weeks. Our last month was in Tallinn, where the "neighbor" was always present. We knew after returning to Portland in March that we would return to Europe. We researched Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, and even Latvia and Montenegro. We knew France had the best combination of our needs/wants. Great culture, language, food, transportation, services, access to Europe, and tax treaty with the US. As retired educators, we can afford to live there. Our Visa appointment in Seattle is December 2. Our Perpignan Airbnb is Jan-April 2. We plan to rent or buy an apt there. Merci!! Dean & Cindy

[@stufromoz8164]

To quote my first French love, Amelie Poulain " Without you, todays emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's." Romance brings hope to the heart and change to the mind.

[@amusingaida]

Life's funny. To a kid, time always drags. Suddenly you're fifty. All that's left of your childhood... fits in a rusty little box.

[@koenvandaele8673]

I relate to that. Paris is the ideal setting for romance, but romance requires more than ‘just’ a romantic setting. You can, though, also have a platonic romance with lady ‘Paname’ herself, and become fulfilled by everything vibrant ‘Sous le ciel de Paris’. If not ‘Les Amants du Pont-Neuf’ will teach you how romance and drama are often intertwined. Yann Tiersen will give you wings, however.

[@thistlenstar]

I think you succeeded in defining something very elusive. At the risk of sounding facile and clinical, the background of beauty on a larger scale, and the symbolism amplify the intimate experience. In art of the romantic school, nature and other ambient elements reflected the inner space of the characters. In a sense, they were fused. Real life seems to work that way too, if only for the receptive and fortunate. My spoken French is poor, but, I can read it well. I've become very focused on French literature. This video brought two works by Flaubert to mind. His first attempt, "Novembre," which was only published posthumously, and "Salammbô," which, I think is his most neglected work. "Novembre" presents the elements of Romanticism directly, before Flaubert learned to make them less prominent. "Salammbô" is not about romantic love, but, the imagery is astounding. If I were a film maker, that is the novel, I would bring to the cinema. Anyway, I've probably gone on too long. Thank you for another insightful video.

[@amusingaida]

That's a very perceptive and well analysed comment - thank you for diving in with such insight. And thank you for saying I succeeded at it. I wasn't so sure, having come to the conclusion that there is inescapably a personal component of romance. On beauty we can all objectively agree. But on inner resonance it's subjective. But if I read your observation right about nature representing inner space there must still be a shared, common inner appreciation. I guess certainly when we respond to certain literature we are delighted when we find that a character's inner life parallels our own in some significant way. I'm glad you raised Flaubert. I - to my shame - have not read any of his works (I did start Madame Bovary ages ago but got sidetracked). But that is something I'll have to rectify.

[@thistlenstar]

@@amusingaida I guess that shared common appreciation is one of the reasons people fall in love. Although, I personally think it is best to have shared sensibilities and concerns, but, enough difference that each offers growth and shifting horizons to the other. The spark of romance starts the process. Anyway, in learning French decades past the age of language acquisition, reading the "classics" is not the best route. I have acquired a lot of 19th century vocabulary that is of little value in modern times. But, I like to think that writers like Flaubert, Hugo and Apollinaire have contributed to the modern French mentality even though they are long gone, so, reading their works acquaints the reader with French culture. If any other people aspiring to learn French chance on this comment, I would suggest reading L'élégance du hérisson instead. It's wonderful, and current.

[@olelain]

being a french far from Paris, I don't go that much, but everytime, it's always a "bonheur" to wander near to the bank of the Seine.

[@amusingaida]

Un endroit préféré pour moi aussi, même en hiver.

[@poohoff]

At 4 a.m. it is :)

[@amusingaida]

Extremely chilly these days at 4am in Paris. But there are lovely sights to see, it is true...

[@williamkazak469]

I would walk around. I would sit in an outdoor cafe. I would watch the women and notice their style and hope that it is different than American women's.

[@amusingaida]

Sitting in the café terrasse and watching all sorts of people walking by is the most popular Paris pastime.

[@drnicolebeaumont7884]

Agree 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@philip5899]

Paris est chic comme vous ❤

[@amusingaida]

Merci ! Paris peut être bien chic, c'est vrai

[@geoffscott5066]

Paris is undoubtedly evocative, atmospheric, beautiful and yes romantic. The exceptions are of course where there are hordes of tourists and the type of instagrammers that bring flowers, change of clothes etc to create cringe worthy cliches.

[@amusingaida]

Luckily Paris is a big city with so many corners to find your own special place. Dodging the crowds is not so hard -- away from the four or five landmarks that ever first-timer wants to see.

[@craigavery8213]

I am almost afraid to watch this. The emotions I felt upon visiting Paris in 2022 after my wife's death were intense, private, perfect, and built upon connections to France of seventy years of family and language and culture. The bodily ache I felt to get back in 2023 to be there, to get there again, was almost unendurable, but I went with a supreme romantic confidence. The sensations I felt in Paris, in Bordeaux, in Montpellier, in spring 2024 were those of warmth, love for the people, and respect for the history of Paris and the language and cuisine and culture of France. I plan to be in Paris twice in 2025. It is, next to Rome, for me, the most important place to be in the world as an old man as it was as a child.

[@amusingaida]

A searingly intense visit for you in 2022, and one that obviously packed a cocktail of emotions. Paris, I find (and I think you do too), is a consummate reflecting board for inner thoughts and emotions. Solitude in this city can ring with poetry.

[@jplully]

Great food @ Wework, did not know.

[@amusingaida]

Yummy desserts and delightful tea.... You obviously know the rooftop well!

[@jplully]

@@amusingaida I never been there, I Can't find anything online either ( menu) that's why I didn't know there was such a delicious treat on that rooftop. Can anyone just go on the roof?

[@amusingaida]

@@jplully That was a special event, that I had an invitation to. I don't know what the regular set-up is. It wasn't a WeWork thing, just a one-off event.

[@Moneyandfood]

When I saw a couple making out at the steps in front of the Louvre, that image stuck to me! Yes Paris is romantic!

[@amusingaida]

That must be a memory you'll carry forever - and a great way to think of Paris. That larger-than-life moment.

[@kencurran8853]

Romance = compatibility.

[@kencurran8853]

You can find romance in any city. Just as you will likely smell pee in any city.❤❤❤

[@amusingaida]

I somehow suspect that you would have to search hard to find errant pee in Tokyo...

[@kencurran8853]

Ireland is the best place to learn how to speak and write English.

[@amusingaida]

If I'd had that option it would have been craic. TV worked well enough though, I think

[@freddiethompson58]

Is Paris Still Romantic? Yes, if you like rats, dog poops, dirt and unpicked garbage, lots of graffiti, homeless people, everything overpriced, and rude people.

[@amusingaida]

Mr Glum

[@freddiethompson58]

@amusingaida I appreciate your comment, and thank you for giving me the new last name, even if it feels like a pair of new shoes-fitting, but not quite comfortable yet. Sometimes, Mr. Glum can be more romantic than Mr. Naive. Once-famous cities are like flowers; they reach full bloom, then fade away and lose their fragrance. Nowadays, cities like Paris, Hollywood, and San Francisco are still romantic, but with an expired date sticker on them.

[@doloressanchez346]

Romantic for me is a simple expression of love . Can be a sweet hug ,a passionate kiss 💋 or whatever you want to do for express your love . 🩵🌟💋

[@amusingaida]

There, that is a generous and clear view of romance, and one you must take wherever you go

[@doloressanchez346]

@@amusingaida Thank you so much for your beatiful video . I am a romantic women .🩵💋🌷

[@carolmartin4413]

It's a sense you feel when you're there...Paris has it. The dunes of Cape Cod have it. It provides the surrounding emotionalism that completes your feelings of love for the person you're in love with. So yes..Paris fits...it is romantic..so are other locations. It's personal. 🫠

[@amusingaida]

I know nothing of Cape Cod but if it has the same majesty that stirs poets, great. Yes, it is personal.