'It's been one year since I moved to Paris and I still haven't visited half the places I want to go'

This March marked one year since my wife and I moved to Paris.

Moving to any new city – even one I knew relatively well and where I already spoke the language – brings with it a little trepidation. Not least with a baby on the way as well.

Even my wife – who’s from Paris – admitted to being a little unsure quite what it would be like after so long living away.

We needn’t have worried though. I think we’ve both been a little stunned by the sheer density of independent businesses in areas like ours; cavistes, fromageries, boulangeries, épiceries, traiteurs, bistros, bars à vins etc etc.

We’ve been adding spots – places we’ve been or want to try – to a shared Google Maps list and it just keeps growing and growing and growing.

Even a year in I still look around at places a mere two minutes walk from my flat and realise I haven’t been there yet.

Having a baby naturally puts the brakes on being out as often as we were. Early bedtime routines mean we’re mostly housebound from 6.30pm onwards; staring wistfully from the windows at all the beautiful, bright young things necking pints and smoking rollups with abandon in the bouncing bars below us.

The local cavistes are definitely getting more of our business than the zincs at the moment. But, the days are getting longer, the weather is improving and the ephemeral terraces (literal translation) will soon be out again.

Drinks on the deck beckon once more. And it’s good for baby to get some fresh air…

It never rains but it pours

Hmm, yes. Now that the weather is improving… or did I speak too soon?

I had planned to fill this piece with a paean to the lovely spring weather we’d been having, and how Paris is at its peak in the spring sunshine.

But, as I started to write, the sky darkened and there is currently a pretty ferocious lashing of hail beating at my windows and anyone unlucky enough to be out in the street.

And in-between the hail it pours.

Still, I shouldn't complain as it has been rather lovely generally. And, if a year here has driven home a point I already knew, Paris needs a good hosing down on a pretty regular basis.

So much so that the city’s street sweepers open the bouches de lavage to flush all the trash and ordure that builds up in the gutters down to the sewers.

It’s a unique system – with some 1,700 kilometres of pipes involved – that was planned and built in the 19th century during Paris’s redesign by Baron Haussmann and is still in use to this day.

If you’ve ever been to Paris and wondered why there are mini rivers occasionally running through the streets when it’s not raining – that’s why.

New mayor, less poo?

Unfortunately, all that water doesn’t get to where most people let their dogs foul which is just right in the middle of the pavement.

Of all the things I love about Paris, the proliferation of dogshit in residential streets like mine is far and away not one of them.

If you’ve been keeping up with the French news then you may have caught that there were recently municipal elections across the country.

A shift towards more radical Left or Right (La France Insoumise or Rassemblement National respectively) mayors in major cities did not really materialise, with most cities electing more traditional Socialist or Republican (Labour/Conservative adjacent) representatives.

Paris elected its third-straight mayor from the Parti Socialiste, Emmanuel Grégoire replacing the outgoing Anne Hidalgo. With 50% of the vote too.

Hidalgo’s environmental policies and ‘war on motorists’ (introducing more pedestrianised zones, cycle lanes, reducing parking spaces in central Paris etc) inevitably caused harrumphing in certain circles but probably overplayed how unpopular she really was.

Faced with a candidate who promised to continue Hidalgo’s policies and one who said they would undo them (Rachida Dati), Parisians seem to have opted for the former.

A few more trees and green spaces certainly wouldn’t go amiss here in the arid urban zone of the 18th. And maybe Grégoire can institute a new War on Turds too.

Return of the motocrotte anyone?

Has a year in Paris changed me at all then? Well, here I am dreaming about drinks on the terraces, giving my tuppence ha-penny’s worth on politics and complaining about dog mess in the neighbourhood.

You tell me.

What I’ve been drinking recently

Domaine de Mena, Wabi Sabi, IGP Côtes Catalanes

A 100% Cinsault (not a Grenache, surprisingly) from Roussillon. A gorgeous light ruby colour, filled with the scent of rose petal, violets, cranberry and redcurrant; a touch of wild strawberries, black pepper and a little stalky herbal note, as well as thyme and lavender. Lithe and supple on the palate. This is silky but with bite and depth. Gouleyant.

Domaine Les Grandes Vignes, 100% Pineau d’Aunis, Vin de France

Made from the Loire Valley’s coolest red grape of the moment, Pineau d’Aunis. This is all fresh succulent red fruit; strawberry, cherry and cranberry with a note of spice. It has real oomph and substance at only 10.5% abv. Bracing and fun.

Olivier Pithon, Mon P’tit Pithon Blanc, IGP Côtes Catalanes

Another wine from Roussillon, this time a more classic Grenache Blanc, Gris and Macabeu blend. On the nose a steadily building pulse of green apple, peach and apricot, alongside a lightly herbal note of fennel and fresh grass. There’s a lovely creaminess to the palate, with a salty, biscuity note that lasts long on the finish. Not high acidity but fresh and all about that granular texture. Very satisfying.

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