enjoying the reminder to slow down.
When I first went to Europe a few years back, I spent a week in Paris. To be honest, I've always considered Paris to be completely overrated. Then one of my best friends, who had similar thoughts as me, ended up going and fell in love.
I think the way she spoke about the city made me want to go, so about a year after she went, I went on my own adventure to the city of romance and love.
From the moment I landed, everything felt so...foreign. The architecture was beautiful, there were dozens upon dozens of delicious bottles of wine to choose from, and there were people sitting at every corner enjoying a cup of coffee and chatting.
That's one of the first things that shocked me, no one was in a rush. When you were seated at a table, they would take your order, and leave you alone. Unless you needed a refill on your drink, you wouldn't see your server for the rest of your meal. Even if you spent hours at the restaurant/cafe, they wouldn't pressure you to leave.
It was extremely odd to me, especially coming from the east coast of America, close to New York City, where the servers are constantly interrupting you and everyone was in a rush to get through their meal to go to where they needed to next. It's extremely rare finding places you can stay for as long as you want, especially in regards to restaurants.
In Paris, it was refreshing to see people slow down and really enjoy the simplicities of life. For example, sitting at a cafe, drinking a cup of coffee or glass of wine, smoking a cigarette, and chatting with a friend til long past midnight. There was not a single person staring at a phone screen. Everyone felt so...present.
Living in a country that wears busyness like a badge of honor, I think one of the upsides to this pandemic, was the reminder to slow down. I spend a lot more time being present in the moment and realizing to appreciate the little things. While tanning, instead of listening to the latest podcast, I take a few moments to be mindful. I look up at the sky, listen to the birds, and just breathe.
As things have started to go back to a new version of normal, this is one of the things that I will take with me from the pandemic. The reminder to live in the moment and be present. Just sip on that cup of coffee as if you have all the time in the world.
It's such a different kind of lifestyle slowing down! I've felt this whole time like I had to be busy, and have jumped from one thing to the next. I pretty much always have something going on, but for the Fall I'm trying to do less and be intentional about setting time aside to not be busy. It's harder than it sounds haha.
Restaurant servers even now during the pandemic try to usher you out for the next table, especially with all establishments being at half capacity. There's so much pressure to eat quickly and leave. Paris sounds so nice..
I've gone to a few eat out places, and while they are all at reduced capacity, I've had such good experiences! The customer service is really good, and no one is rushing us. I hope everything's going well in canada with the pandemic and everything 🙂 x
I adore this post! It is definitely one of my favorite things about Paris and Europe as a whole. Being a Gemini I am all about balance and while I love to be busy, I do appreciate the quiet moments and I hope if there is any light to come from all of the darkness right now, it is that. So much love to you lady <3
Hey Melina, great post! I find I am constantly having to remind myself that there is no need to rush things! Living in the moment is really the best thing to do!
I know! It's so hard to not feel productive with slowing down so much, but as things are slowly speeding up a bit, i'm definitely easing into it all. Thanks so much for reading and commenting 🙂 x
What a great post, Melina, I love this reminder to slow down. <3 I have to admit that I myself am constantly in that mindset of keeping myself busy and on the move always, and it's good to remind ourselves that it's nice to take a breath and just, do nothing for a while, too <3 Thank you! I hope you're well <3
It's been so exhausting with the pace of life starting to speed up! I sometimes can't wrap my head around how much I used to do when everything was back to normal! I'm definitely easing myself into a new normal. Thanks so much for reading and commenting 🙂 x
Hi Melina. Just discovered your blog 🙂
I completely agree. Lockdown made me love the slow pace of life and I miss that a bit now things are busier! I live in Vietnam though and fortunately the vibe here is super chilled, especially in terms of visiting cafes and just losing hours of your day to a good book or getting work done with no one bothering you at all! That's lovely and certainly helps me to cling on to that slower pace.
Niobe x
omg, welcome! Living in Vietnam sounds like a dream, especially over here in the east coast of the US where things are already starting to speed up. I'm so sorry for the late response, things have been a little crazy for me. But, thank you so much for reading and commenting 🙂 x