Nothing Says Summer in Paris Like a Sweaty Day of "Soldes" Shopping

When trios of long-legged ados, free at last from the tortures of the bac, start strutting down rue de Passy in short shorts and slinky tanks, ready to raid the Gap--or at least the soft serve machine at McDonalds--you know another summer has arrived in Paris.
And it's not just the sudden plethora of teenyboppers that gives the color of the season away. Tiny grandmothers shopping for even tinier baby clothes and soberly dressed career women combing through racy swimsuits are pretty good signs.
The important thing to remember is that being an innocent bystander is not an option. Be prepared to have complete strangers ask you for shopping advice. "Should I get the skirt or the dress? In black and white or brown and cream?" All notions of French reserve go out the window when soldes are in the air.

Hayley Mills as Pollyanna. [Online image] 1960.

Finding the Keys to Lutèce

It's easy to forget that not everyone who comes to Paris is living a dream come true. Take a walk to the Eiffel Tower on a summer evening, and sure, you'll pass a group of well-fed, wide-eyed tourists, cameras flashing away. But just around the corner, a different group will be waiting, metal rings of Eiffel Towers dangling from their fingers like misshapen keys. Their wide eyes won't waste a second on the Iron Lady: all they see are three pairs of blue-cuffed hands grabbing the bare arms of one of theirs and his keys to the Parisian dream being torn away.

Ayush Mahesh Khedekr as Jamal Malik. [Online image] 2008.

Working Girl in Paris

Having a job in Paris intra-muros has always seemed like a luxury to me. No dreaded steps down seedy RER corridors for an hour commute away from coveted gardens, museums, and boulangeries. No resentful stares at tourists setting off to enjoy a day of culture and cuisine, while you're banished to the banlieues for seven hours. You are one of them now. I mean, sitting behind a desk all day can be simply delicious when you can taste Paris through an open window.

Audrey Tautou as Amélie Poulain. [Online image] 2001.