Travel wish – Spring in Paris

I fell in love with the city on my first visit a few years ago, which happened to fall in December. The weather was surprisingly mild, the grass in the Luxembourg Gardens was as green as I would have expected to see in late spring, and you could still sip coffee in outdoor cafés. I couldn’t have asked for better sightseeing weather, given the time of year.

I returned to Paris in mid-August a year and a half later, when the city was hot, humid and crowded with visitors and cars. I was so glad to be back that these less-than-ideal conditions didn’t bother me at all. In fact, I was able to experience things that I hadn’t on the first visit, such as attend a Paris Saint-Germain match and relax alongside Parisians on the Paris-Plages, temporary artificial beaches along the river Seine.

I would go back to Paris in the hottest of summers and coldest of winters without hesitation. Yet, it is in spring that I find myself thinking about the city the most and wishing I was there again. Perhaps it’s because I imagine the weather would be most desirable, more outdoor cafes would be open, and there would be a new, exciting vibe, the kind you only feel when the first warm days arrive after a long winter. Perhaps it’s because in the same song, Ella also sang, “I love Paris in the spring time,” and I believe it.

Maybe next year?… For now, however, songs will have to do. Here are a few that transport me right to La Ville-Lumière:

Kraked Unit – Munivers de Paris (from the movie Paris)
Video by inparis2009|YouTube

Count Basie – April in Paris
Video by TheJazzplaylist|YouTube

Eartha Kitt – Under The Bridges of Paris
Video by cdbpdx|YouTube

Ella Fitzgerald – I Love Paris
Video by TaCleoh|YouTube

Tags: France, music, Paris, video

Category: BLOG, Travel Musings