Emily In Paris From A Parisian Guy’s Point Of View
A few days ago a series taking place in my hometown poppep up in my Netflix account. I don’t really know why but regarding the cover and the teaser I wasn’t really up for watching it. But for a reason, I still don’t know why I gave it a try. Last but not least, this isn’t a review, and this post doesn’t contain any spoiler.
Born in the 14th district near Alesia for the knowers, my parents then decided to move to a 10 minutes away city from Paris to have a better place to raise my older brother and me. I stayed there until my 24 years old and I was literally in love with Paris from my 19 years old (I’m 32 when I’m writing those lines). My favorite sport was to go out, walking down those fabulous streets, discovering new stuff every day, living the magnificence of the city of lights. As I like to say, Paris has 20 districts, which kind of means 20 cities, 20 different atmospheres.
During my life as an adult in Paris, I mostly enjoyed it as an Emily in Paris way, meaning, enjoying the nightlife mostly in a posh way, the beautiful places where the french art de vivre is at its top, the classical Parisian postcard. I had those possibilities because of my jobs and cause I was wise enough in the way “be at the right place at the right time”.
I think a little bit of context was important to know.
I’ve binge-watched “Emily in Paris” in only two times. Some people compare it to the french Gossip Girl, and I do agree with that, and yes I also appreciated Gossip Girl, once again I don’t really know why cause overall those two series aren’t for me, I don’t watch much this type usually.
The Places Are Real
The first thing that intrigued me is I’ve been to most of the places you can see in the show. Those places do exist, and not only tourists are visiting them. There are several ways to understand a city, my case helped cause I was in the same vibe as the series.
Parisian Mood
Frenchies and Parisian folks especially have this grumpy-haughty reputation and to be honest, there is a little bit of truth here. However, the series pushes it to an incredible level, far much than the reality. As the second most visited city in the world in 2019 Parisians are used to tourists and know that a huge part of the city’s wealth relies on them. A bit of arrogant yes, but not monsters though.
The Language
In the series most Frenchies don’t speak English, this is true. Not a legend and not a cliché, our level in English sucks, and Paris is probably the place where it is the best in France 😅. It is obviously getting better and better years after years, especially regarding the youth but the gap with countries like Scandinavian’s, Germany or Netherlands remains still huge, make no mistake!
Good Lover
I’ll probably break some hearts but this one is a cliché. As a Latin country, we do have a special relationship with sexuality, this is true. Our culture is fulfilled by sensuality, true again. But does it make us better lovers than the others, I don’t think so. Not better at flirting also.
The Beauty Of The City
I used to live in different places like London, Malta, Stockholm, and some others in France. I have also been visiting some more cities but as a tourist this time. True talk, Paris is the most stunning city I have ever evolved in, regarding an aesthetic point of view. I remember an Italian friend of mine saying: “at each corner of Paris a photo could be taken”. The coherence of Paris regarding its architecture is something that pushes the city to the next step, thanks to Haussmann.
Random stuff :
- No, the Cafe de Flore isn’t the coolest cafe in town, like NOT-AT-ALL. It is certainly a historical and high-end place though, which is far much different.
- Emily’s flat isn’t a maid’s room. Wanna know how does a Parisian maid’s room look like? Easy! You divide it into 4 flats, if you are lucky enough you have your own tiny bathroom and toilet in, otherwise they will be out in the corridor in common with your dear neighbors. A very few chances of having more than a single window and the general state of the flat will be a lot less modern and in good condition than you can admire in the series.
- According to Emily’s job french folks go to work quite late, never before 10:30 am. Let me laugh 😂.
I will conclude this post by saying that the question of knowing if the series Emily in Paris is accurate or not isn’t actually relevant. The fact is there are different ways to live in the city, and Emily’s is one of them for sure, but not the only one.
“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.” -Thomas Jefferson
If you have any question regarding some more fact-checking or anything else, feel free to ask me.
Bisous 😘
