Packing for Paris: The Anticipation Builds

Gerard Laurent, Pariscool.com

I have that electric feeling that can only mean one of two things: either I’ve put my finger in a socket, or I am headed back to Paris. Luckily for me, it’s the latter. After seven months in North America, I am returning to my other home—a painfully beautiful, limestone-y, cigarette-loving, scarf-wearing, butter-flavored home. Needless to say, I’m giddy with anticipation.

For me (and I don’t think I’m the only one), Paris is a city where my imagination takes flight and I can spend entire days simply wandering, observing, tasting, inhaling, perusing, writing and dreaming. To those who see me as I go about my activities, I probably look like some kind of blissed-out idiot… but so be it. Paris is my happy place, and no matter how many times my shoe falls onto the metro tracks or I am surrounded by a pack of traveling minstrels, nothing can taint my love affair with this city.

Easyfashion.blogspot.com, Fashionisingpictures.net

This time around, however, I’m slightly savvier, and I think my packing list reflects some of the valuable lessons I learned while living in Paris previously. What I’m bringing:

1. Black, black and more black. My Paris wardrobe consists of black boots, black jeans, black coat, black scarf, and black dresses, with a few dashes of navy, grey and olive in the mix. This is easy enough, as my New York wardrobe works pretty much the same way. It wasn’t always like this, but when I lived in Paris before, the color slowly drained from my wardrobe. Life has been much sleeker (and simpler) ever since.
2. Paris Classique. I like to think I know Paris quite well, but I’m still incredibly good at getting lost. Countless nights spent jetting from the Marais to Pigalle to the Canal St. Martin (not necessarily in that order) do not counteract the fact that Paris has infinite twists, turns, and tiny side streets that all look strangely alike. I love the labyrinth-like quality of certain quartiers, but it never hurts to have a Paris Classique close at hand. Even real Parisians know that.
3. Sketchbook. For the record, I can’t draw. But I love nothing more than wiling away a rainy afternoon in a café, sipping café crème or (let’s get real here) some vin chaud, and letting my pen spill nonsense onto an unlined page. I haven’t managed to write the next great expat novel quite yet, but I’m working on it. Patience!
4. Friends’ Mailing Addresses. Paris is full of adorable papeteries where I like to buy artful postcards by the dozen. There’s something about being in Paris that makes you want to write to everyone you know reminding them that you are in Paris. And I plan to do just that.
5. Cold hard cash. I’m arriving just in time for les soldes. (Not a coincidence).
6. Appetite. People in New York eat way too much brown rice and soy milk. I’m ready to get serious with some crazy cheese and lots (and lots) of wine. Perhaps I’ll start at Le Verre Volé…
7. Favorite mementos from home. As of now, I do have a return ticket, but you never know. Many an Americaine has come to Paris for a “visit,” never to return from whence she came…

Photos.blog.liberation.fr, Chicline.com

Written by Tory Hoen for the HiP Paris Blog. Looking for a fabulous vacation rental in Paris, Provence, or Tuscany? Check out Haven in Paris.

WRITTEN BY

Tory Hoen

Tory Henwood Hoen has been published by New York Magazine, Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appétit, Fortune, and others. She was Creative Director of Brand at M.M.LaFleur, where she founded the brand’s digital magazine, The M Dash. Her debut novel, The Arc, is available in bookshops near you and online.