I left Paris today. Spent another fortune on cabs for the airport. And I’m now sat in 49 Echo. The middle seat. Meaning you have to be very polite to your neighbouring passengers. No farts, no elbow fights, no eating like a pig, get out of the seat when your neighbour goes for a pee and never come back. That is what I did, I never came back to my seat. I was happy sitting on the jumpseat (something I didn’t do for the last 3 weeks) listening to the never ending playlist that fills my iPhone. I thought I wouldn’t even make it to the plane as the check-in iniatially thought I was on a ID90 (meaning on stand-by). She gave me a right scare. I knew I had bought ID50s and was sure to have firm tickets. I finally got on with the last row to deal with.
Mother & Father treated me to a really nice restaurant yesterday on the side of the Canal St Martin where I had the juiciest beef I ever had. Saignant it was ! Loved it. Then Mother and I shared a fondant au chocolat to round things off, while Father on his side got himself caramelized apples with some toffee and vanilla ice-cream. I’ll be frank here, I was dribbling over his pudding put decided to hold myself and dig in the chocolate cake instead. This was a tiny restaurant. Nice, chill with great service. Something I miss about Paris.
So before I go to bed. I’ll to describe a panel of ordinary french people you’d likely see in the tube. I did so it can’t be that difficult. And as you will see they all fall into categories. You can comment below and give your point of view. Good or Bad, I’ll take it.
“Anne-Marie, Louise et Jennifer”. So this panel above is a typical 16 year old girl that comes from a very posh part of Paris (7th district). Parents a loaded but they dress themselves at H&M, because poor girl she hasn’t got enough pocket money [yet] to go to designer stores. She’s usually very loud on the metro when surrounded by her best friends who are – of course – dressed the same exact same way. She spends half her metro ride looking for something in her gigantic bag, her phone for example.
These guys will most likely be hanging out in big stations or busy squares scattered around Paris. They all have insanely big t-shirts and usually live on the outskirts of Paris. They tend to shop around Chatelet where the store selling their clothes are located. It’s like a cheap version of a Bronx lad. Those are the ones playing 50 cent through the speaker of their cellphone.
“Kevin, Mickael et Jonathan”. Now those freaks are quite recent in the Parisian countryside. They follow a movement called Tektonik (a useless genre of music that really shouldn’t deserve a capital “T”). They go to weird dance reunions every wednesday afternoon in central Paris to wave their arms around like coked up tweens. Very frightening if you see them for the first time in the street. They come from all kinds of horizons but usually will have in common the fact that their parents haven’t looked after them quite well. They all have an iPod full of crap music and will never take it off, unless you run over them with a Hummer.
These ladies are notorious. They most probably own a hairsalon in the 10th district. Providing beauty care and thousands of extensions to the younger generation. They rule the afro-french beauty business and usually ride in a Mercedes with tinted windows. You will notice them on Saturdays near Gare de L’Est.
An equivalent to the New York Yupsterboy. A professional working hipster. Yupsters are generally in their middle 30’s to very early 40’s. At the leading edge of Generation X, yupsters came of age during the first wave of indie rock and hip hop. Informed by their teenage-twentysomething, DIY, cheap and chic style, yupsters have incorported their edgier pasts into a new form of an extended youth culture of hip clothes, avante rock, indie hop and creative class professions. Yupsters have successfully opened sleek boutique hotels, cool bodegas, retro diner style restaurants, vintage clothing stores, kitschy bric-a-brac retail spaces, tongue-in-cheek bars and lounges, haute hair salons, trendy record stores and labels, hip coffee bars and bakeries, plush pet shops and ironic graphic and design firms.
“Francois de St-Quentin en Yvelines”. This species will most likely be found on line #1 and line #14 of the Paris metro network. Because it is most likely these guys work either at la Defense (a business district of Paris) or Bercy where the French Financial Headquarters are located. They do everything possible to look busy. They will walk twice as fast. In a crowded wagon they will not hesitate to bang their laptop cases around, just so you notice… When work finishes at 5.30pm sharp they will invade the above mentioned metro lines and zoom back home because wifey has already got dinner on the table and 4 year old Kevin is hungry.
The “loubard gentil et con a la fois” or “Gautier, Lou et Pierre”. These guys are stuck in the early 90s. They think they’re cool but are completely wrong. Found in the dark corners of the 20th district of Paris they listen to new Rock. Their hang outs include La Fleche d’Or, a popular (amongst these types) venue. Also found at La Boule Noir. Will always have a smelly leather jacket to wear. They think of themselves as unemployed but actually work for a well-known boutique near St-Germain or a subculture magazine that Dad runs.
Geek Chic. Lives in the St-Germain area of Paris. Probably runs an modern art gallery and will happily listen to mozart in the afternoon and dance to 2 Many DJs once the apero is over. Very particular about his food and who he sees himself with. Will not go further than 600 meter radius of St-Sulpice. Sad lot.
“Monique, Jeanne et Claude”. The average suburban secretaries. Has always worked for the state. Earns ok cash. Is very particular on sitting in the same seat on her way back home. Goes grocery shopping at Carrefour on Saturday mornings with the kids, cooks for dinner all afternoon. Eats at flunch with her female colleagues at least once every week. Does a Sudoku in the metro.
She used to be a hippie back in the days. She went to the Isle Of White at least once. Has an extensive collection of Hendrix material. She goes shopping at two places : The organic supermarket or at the market every wednesday. She gets her clothes in second hand shops and dresses her daughter the same way. You can find them at any strike/demonstration in Paris. Very politically orientated. Very boring. Always involved in community stuff.
The pictures you see were taken in various places around France by a Dutch artist, can’t remember his name..sorry. The aim was to choose random people from the crowd and take a photograph of them in their natural clothes, clothes they wear on a daily basis. He did that repeatedly until he found different people with the same style. The result is impressive. As pictured above. If you identify yourself as being part of one of these people, I’m sorry in advance for the offense !
I also smuggled some old school pictures from my very old photo albums, so I’ll probably do something with them as soon as I get them scanned with my flatmates beautiful new toy : the scanner-printer-fax-microwave-coffeemachine he just brought home ! Fun times ahead ! Ohhh and still waiting for a duty… 
Peace out foolz !
I’ve seen that Tektonik lot, they really do look as if they’re possessed by the devil. Too much acid methinks…and any reasons why they all have mullets? That hair hasn’t been cool since the 80’s…
It is so funny that even though we are from different parts of the globe, we both live amongst the same exact people. Maybe with a couple of exceptions, like the afro-french beauty queens. But living all my life about 40 minutes outside los angeles, and working in orange county, California I have seen it all. I also laugh to myself when joe cool walks by, or Mrs. Orange County comes into my work and can’t be bothered with the simplest of task. People are annoying!!!
Anyway loved today’s post, I couldn’t agree more,
Bradley (from California)
I love what you did with this post…and the pictures just put them all together!
So its back to work in the desert for you now?
I really loved this is so true…jajaja super post! love it all.
Spot on. I can vouch you’d find similar types here in Berlin as well.