there’s a multiplier, like a bonus multiplier, for how much better paris is in nice weather compared to the cold, grey cloud in which it was enveloped for the december-march doldrums. it’s somewhere between 3x and 10x and still tbd and not exaggerated.
everybody is outside playing. old people are hanging on benches, packing squares, spitting philosophy and politics and nonsense to anyone who will listen. crowds that usually packed barber shops and cafés are spilling out onto sidewalks and stoops. kids are actually playing. man. it’s great.
there’s a canal in the northeastern part of the city called le canal st. martin. in january, it became my staple running route, and as the weather got nicer and nicer, punctuated by my return into three days of 70 degree sunshine, its banks have been flooded with the parisian youth, hands full of wine and cigarettes from afternoon to early morning. It's lively and fun.