Parisians are sun-deprived most of the year. When the sun comes out, it implicates a drastic shift in the Parisians’ habits and interactions.
On a sunny day, it is imperative for Parisians to stress to their Parisian friends and colleagues that indeed the sun is out. As most Parisian conversations will start with a weather comment, a sunny day will set the tone for a joyful interaction. Thus, along with the sun, Parisians discover light-heartedness.

Parisian women are the first ones acting out when the sun comes out. Warmer temperatures is what Parisian women had been longing for to display the pieces of clothing they’ve been shopping for over the previous months. The sun is also an excellent excuse for Parisian women to throw their usual ˜J’ai rien à me mettre, il faut absolument que j’aille faire du shopping” (I have nothing to wear, I NEED to go shopping).

Consequently, Parisian men do go out more – mostly to stare at Parisian women wearing shorter pieces of clothing. But under the sun, Parisian men also get more in touch with their sex appeal and turn into mean seduction machines. During the summer months, Parisian males will have a tendency to unbutton three or four buttons of their shirts. Sometimes five. A beginner’s mistake would be to display a golden chain on your naked chest, which would immediately identify you as a provincial. Seeing hairy Parisian male’s chests on the street will have most Americans tourists giggle and say something between ‘wouuhhh… hairy!’ and “oh la la, risqué!”’. The Parisian man will sense that and will feel good about himself, comforted in his ultimate superiority over other human beings.

Under the sun, Parisians become more sexually attracted to one another, more joyful and more conversant. All this messes up Parisian social interactions based on distance and coldness. Fortunately, it only lasts for a few months.  All the more so as the sun is also a strong hamper to economic activity in Paris as it is commonly accepted when the sun comes out to unilaterally shorten your day at work to go sit at a café. Parisian bosses hardly argue, for they secretly abide by the same rules. Short skirts and hairy chests should indeed prevail over work. Such is the summertime Parisian wisdom.

Useful tip: Do not wear sporty sunglasses. This is Paris.
Sound like a Parisian: « T’as vu le soleil ?! Il faut absolument en profiter ».

Tags: Paris, paris fashion, sun

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 and is filed under Stuff Parisians Like. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.