This letter is in partnership with Dove.
Hello you
‘You love Paris in August?’ he said leaning in. Eyebrows raised to such a height is one I’m used to when I share this controversial love of mine. ‘But everyone leaves!’ He pushed. ‘Exactly,’ I replied. And I feel like the entire city is mine.
I learned to love Paris in August the first summer I spent there. Moving countries was nerve testing enough without adding holiday plans too. I’d just been offered my first sublet studio apartment and would need to find a permanent situation when the autumn came. It was a slice of something. A special period of my Paris life and I feel nostalgia for it every August since.
The heat is mostly what pushes Parisians out. And I’ll sanction the exodus. It is hot. When I open my eyes on an August morning, the windows are already open, the golden light pouring in. My apartment is positioned where the sun visits us directly between the mid hours of the day so we’re spared the lark and night owl shift, but even without this intensity we need fresh air to survive the night. Nobody sits outside the bakery these mornings. The fermé sign sits in the window all month. The hum of usual cars and lorries passing below is muted. The students gone away. Life on the surface fades.
This fading provides shade and validation for my own life to soften under. I have my secret seasonal spots to visit and I prepare myself for them properly exactly as experience has taught me. Enter the sculpted summer ritual. Because there’s never an excuse to not make an effort. Making an effort to swan the summer streets of Paris does’t mean pushing through discomfort though. We must master the art of being as comfortable as possible in less than ideal city living conditions. Simplicity is our saviour. Dresses specifically. Flat or kitten healed leather sandals and a basket bag. There’s nothing else you need.
There will be no laying in the sun. I haven’t sunbathed since my early twenties when I read how ageing it is. Honestly it was a relief to be able to justify no longer laying in a pool of my own sweat. Still, my skin is bronzed so it looks like I have the rewards. A rapid self tan applied on Sundays does the trick and sees me through the week. Let’s say it’s Monday. I’m glowing. My body feels polished when it’s bronzed and I like this. It tells a story of summer. Not a real one but that doesn’t matter. I took myself to the south maybe and had a week reading on the beach, walked through fields in Provence and my shoulders caught the sun. Neither need to be true.
The ingredients go on. The last few years have been made up of rebuilding and my routines have been an important brick in the wall. Getting ready each morning sounds simple, but to someone who not too long ago struggled to get out of bed and brush her teeth, it’s a triumph. And I feel so much better in my own skin as a result. Simple make up, skin care and body routine are essential.
A light tinted moisturiser for just the right amount of coverage, drops of hair oil to prevent frizz and travel size thermal spring water spray for a quick refresh have earned their place. Dove Whole Body Deodorant in Raspberry and Rose fits in here too and goes beyond underarm protection. It delivers all day odour protection with added skincare keeping me fresh from head to toe. I refuse to ignore the parts of my body we so often skim over or feel self conscious about. I’m also partial to a sleeve in summer so deodorant is a step that requires careful consideration. The all day odour protection provided is essential for l’été parisienne and it works alongside my regular underarm deodorant rather than replacing it. Aluminium free and dermatologically tested, it gives the whole body the same consideration we usually reserve for one small part of it.
The routine happens on its own now so there’s no danger of skipping a step. Finding this flow happened over months of repetition spent figuring out what works, what must stay and what can go. I love a pamper in the morning, but there’s no time for fluff. Paris awaits. I need my morning cappuccino and my word count needs to be hit. We get ready. We go. On y va!
I don’t change the café I sit in each morning during the summer and air conditioning isn’t really a thing in Paris. Writing makes me nervous, sweaty and fidgety. All the more reason for a simple comfortable body routine that keeps me feeling put together. Once again, I cannot recommend dresses enough. Long, short, loose, flowing.. the options are endless. Second to this, a parasol. My visit to Japan converted me last year and I wouldn’t wander a city on hot sunny days without one now.
If you ever find yourself gasping for air in Paris during August, here’s my secret … go to the Jardin Du Luxembourg. The grass you’re allowed to sit on that day is rotated to keep it beautiful but you’ll notice which is which by the Rue Auguste Compte entrance because it will be the one where everyone is sat. Take a blanket or linen sheet and lay down there between the trees. The breeze is delicious. When Hope and I lived in our sublet, a south facing top floor chambre de bonne, we’d spend the mid day hours here because the apartment was too hot to be in, even with the shutters closed. Dogs aren’t technically allowed on the grass but discreetly covered with an arm usually passes ok.
The evenings are my shower time. A change into another loose cool dress or nightie usually follows as does moisturising and more underarm protection with another application of Dove Whole Body Deodorant in Raspberry and Rose. My apartment has a tile floor which helps keep it cool but this is when the windows are flung open for the night, candles are lit and I settle down with whichever book I’m reading that week. The sun sets as late as it can and we’ll usually venture out again for Hope’s toilets. I like to see those of us who got left behind sitting around on benches drinking wine, sharing a picnic or a kiss. There’s still life in the streets long after the light has gone, more so even. And because less people are around, you notice them more.
Summer used to cause fits of stress, the way I see a lot of Brits stressed when the heat arrives. Life isn’t allowed to slow down, we’re not equipped and nor is our lifestyle so we panic. I’d reach for shorts and a t-shirt that would stick to me, sweat profusely because I was trying to get a tan and determined to carry on with a busy schedule as normal. I know we can’t always eliminate our schedules but dressing and prepping our bodies for summer helps enormously. Saying no to what we can and allowing ourselves to to enjoy the space this creates comes next.
Feeling settled in our bodies is the foundation we need to move through our lives with presence. It’s this intimate relationship between self and body which is mirrored into our external world. When we feel belonging in the skin we’re in, it’s easier to feel we belong to the wider world as we move around in it. In a society obsessed with optimisation for the sake of being able to do more, I like to be a little controversial. I’m optimising to be able to do less, do it freely and sink further into the depths of what I choose.
So yes, sitting in the Jardin Du Luxembourg is something I’ll look forward to come August. I’m sure I’ll fall in love with Paris in August all over again.
You can shop Dove Whole Body Deodorant now at selected retailers here.
Lots of love
Jessica xxx
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.