On the Sophisticated Art of Wandering 🚶

Since living in Paris again, I've rediscovered the wonder of doing a passeggiata.

It's just the Italian and fancier way of saying 'a walk' (that is often taken after dinner). In plural form they are called passeggiate.

I know this may be an unpopular opinion (especially amongst my Finnish countrymen), but for me, the ideal place to take a walk isn't in the fresh air of the countryside, but rather on the beautiful streets of a big city.

I'd choose the smell of pollution any day over the smell of cow manure in the countryside.

Also, I much prefer occasionally seeing a mouse or rat than being constantly surrounded by insects.

For some reason, I feel like I'm thriving every time I'm walking on a beautiful street.

I love the hustle and bustle of bigger boulevards as well as the quiet charm of smaller alleys.

Whether I'm commuting somewhere or just wandering around window shopping, the point is to walk relatively slowly while enjoying the journey.

What's more, the point is to wear a relatively nice outfit and relatively comfortable shoes.

The activity that makes me feel the most free is actually riding a scooter (I've never ridden a Vespa, but that's my dream).

The second best option is to walk calmly through city spaces.

It makes me feel free as well, and I have a theory about why I like it so much.

Reminiscence

It's connected to my memory of the summer of 2012 (or 2013...I can't remember). That summer, I was staying with my grandparents for a week or two in Helsinki. My grandmother was working some of those days, and for some reason, I couldn't hang out with my grandfather all day either.

So I had to entertain myself, and consequently, I experienced a new sense of freedom: I was allowed to explore the center of Helsinki on my own!

I put on a nice dress, packed my essentials in a nice handbag, and I was off. I don't think I had access to Google Maps at the time, so my grandparents and I went over which streets I could take to get to the center and back.

I remember it felt like stepping into the big world on my own. I got to test for the first time whether I could manage for a day alone in a much bigger city than where we lived at the time.

And I managed just fine!

I did some proper window shopping. Even though I felt a bit nervous, I went inside some high-end stores (like Louis Vuitton and Mulberry) just to enjoy their atmosphere, and I tried to blend in.

I felt more like an adult than I'd ever felt before, though the store personnel must have been intrigued by what this little girl was doing in their shop!

I wasn't alone for the whole day though. My mom's colleague, who I'd known since childhood, took me out for ice cream. I can never thank her enough for showing attention to me in that way. I can't remember what we discussed, but I remember we had fun!

It was probably the first time I discovered what true independence might feel like. A first taste of the freedom that comes with adulthood – without the responsibilities that come with it later, of course.

I like to think of it as a turning point in my life.

It’s one of the reasons why I still love to absorb the atmosphere of a big city; to see beautiful things and feel beautiful materials in beautifully arranged stores.

And yes, I'm aware how bourgeois all of this sounds. 😆

The activities I've just described are basically an invention of the 19th century, with its first Parisian department stores like Le Bon Marché. They created semi-public city spaces for the rising middle class. Their elevated social status allowed them to spend time in these spaces and spend money on beautiful things to consolidate their middle-class lifestyle.

That's the historical context that shaped my experience of freedom a dozen years ago – an experience I'll always enjoy reminiscing about.

Do you have a similar experience of freedom from your pre-teen years?

Bisous,

Elle

P.S. Here's what I looked like on that day. 🙊