Paris is changing its colour
The first signs of Autumn time in Paris
The sun-kissed streets of Paris do not necessarily make for the brightest of atmospheres. Light levels rise and yet the true ambience to Parisian culture seems to die in the lack of austerity. Such is the case for all those who are convinced that Paris is fully blossoming, flaunting its tortured beauty, in the autumn and winter months.
It is therefore with the greatest relief that Paris is welcoming in the musky oranges, rosy reds and swarthy browns inherent to the transition period between summer and autumn. There is not a tree-lined boulevard whose leaves aren't taking a turn towards les couleurs de printemps. To shut one's eyes and think of Paris, it is the season of autumn which tickles the underside of romantic pallets – creating a dramatic sense of completeness in an urban centre.
Gone are the bustling crowds of tourists who circulate aimlessly around central Paris armed with their pocket guidebooks. Gone are the summer stenches of hot metro air and obscene bodily odours. Gone are the hazy yellow skies which seemingly amplifying the inner city air pollution.
Autumn is the season where scuffed leather shoes crunch their way through the heaps of fallen leaves which spill over the pavement. Autumn sees the convulsiveness of the summer months drift away to welcome in an ambience of nostalgia, hot stews and severity. As the telling signs of autumn sweep across Paris, I feel the true spirit of the city emerges from it shell, as the city can at last take in some fresh air.
The progressive shortening to day-time hours as well as the deterioration of vegetation seems to bring out another type of living organism which exists in the minds and souls of every Parisian.
The arousing of romantic emotion is said to emerge in the month of autumn. Edith Piaf’s line “I miss you the most, my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall” is the lyrical proof of autumn’s influence on the artist’s state of mind.
The gloominess and lonesome months of the autumn and winter lie ahead; periods of the year I tend to cherish while in Paris. It’s a perfect time to write, sing and paint – the three most famous Parisian pastimes. Now is the time to fully embrace Paris.
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