I remember ever since I was a little girl how much I loved taking mental notes of all the different nationalities making their way onto the Greek islands: the Americans, almost like Greek people but with a bubblier temperament and fatter wallets; the Germans, on their way back from a 7 a.m. hike before we’d even have breakfast; the English, coupled with six-packs of cheap beer and uneven sunburns; the Italians, with their exaggerated tans and tiny swim briefs—we’d always suspect them of leaving their towels on the sand overnight to secure their perfect spot (please don’t); the Nordics, too exotic and mysterious for me to even attempt to decode; and then there were the French, arriving with their niche little guidebooks and a look of genuine surprise when discovering that the owner of the tiny fish tavern was not, in fact, a certified DALF C2 speaker.
Still, there was something about the average French vacationer that made you forgive their charming refusal to abandon their mother tongue even on the most remote island in the Mediterranean. I could never quite put my finger on what exactly made a French person moving through summer feel so alluring, but if you’ve ever watched your fair share of French summer films, you might know the feeling: Alain Delon and Romy Schneider flânering around their gorgeous villa in La Piscine; the mysterious heroines of Éric Rohmer searching for the meaning of life somewhere along the coasts of Biarritz and Normandy; Brigitte Bardot in her flowing skirt and perfectly messy hair dancing her way through Saint-Tropez.
I would devour these films from my apartment in Athens, attached to my portable fan and my lap sweating from the laptop’s heat, dreaming of long, sun-drenched afternoons by the pool, dressed in one-piece swimsuits, unbuttoned shirts, and perhaps a mysterious French beau by my side. Moving to France and later spending my vacations with actual French people felt like finally dipping my toes into that dream territory, my chance to experience for myself what I had been drawn to all along—not just the fabulous summer fashion that definitely looks better against a French Riviera backdrop, but also a particular way of moving through summer, enhanced by the French talent for treating everyday moments as if they are the ones most worth savoring.
You guessed it: I’m a très romantic soul and a firm believer that beauty can be found even in the simplest things. Maybe this isn’t something that’s uniquely French after all, but this country—its art, its music, its people, its way of looking at life—has definitely awakened something in me, making me pay closer attention to all those little moments I might have otherwise overlooked. So today, I invite you to join me in my little obsession: decoding the details that make up this very French way of experiencing summer—all those rituals and habits that have the power to transform an ordinary day into something a little more memorable, a little more stylé, even when your backdrop is a city apartment rather than a Saint-Tropez villa.
The following list is best enjoyed with this extra-summery playlist I put together while writing this newsletter—the perfect soundtrack for when you want to feel like a nonchalant heroine in a French summer film.
On y va!
In summer, la flânerie (the French art of wandering aimlessly through a city) evolves into its less chic, but more indulgent cousin: la glandouille. To glander in French means to slack off, to goof around, to temporarily abandon any sense of productivity and take pleasure in doing absolutely nothing. The wonderful thing about summertime is that it gives you access to an expanded collection of props to facilitate your doing-nothing rituals: the hot sand beneath your feet, the feeling of salt drying on your skin, your lover’s wet body wrapped around you after a swim, drying off in the sun only to jump back into the sea a few minutes later.
Don’t think you’re exempt from your glandouille duties just because you’re in the city. The secret is to disrupt your usual routines and let ordinary moments stretch a little longer: now is the time to faire la grasse matinée, an expression invented by the French to claim the right to stay in bed the whole morning; eating juicy fruit over the sink like you’re in your French villa in Provence; taking a cold shower, then staying wrapped in your silky robe de chambre for the entire day; eating a stick of raspberry sorbet, then another, with your feet up in the air and a summery playlist in the background (you know the one!); craquer at the pastry shop and indulge in a generous fraisier for one (the best French summer dessert, in my opinion).
One of summer’s greatest luxuries is freeing books from their usual nighttime responsibilities. When we were back from a long day at the beach, I would often find my boyfriend reading a few pages of his book waiting for his turn to shower instead of just scrolling through his phone—a small act of French rebellion against our dopamine-driven existence, I thought. Consider this your reminder that you can always reach for your favorite book during breakfast (these pillow book stands are so cute for your kitchen table! this one is more minimal), after lunch with your little digestive espresso, or at any random moment during the day when you’d normally open an app without even thinking. Your brain will thank you.
I absolutely devoured Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage while flânering on a beach in the Cyclades. If anyone else has read it, can we please talk about it? No wonder Gwyneth Paltrow was quick to snap up the lead role in the Netflix adaptation.
I’m currently finishing My Year of Rest and Relaxation which takes the rebellious idea of doing absolutely nothing and pushes it to its most literal extreme. Despite getting a little too deep into the medication details required to achieve complete sedation, the hilarious writing makes the whole ride completely worth it!
I’ll never forget the scene in La Piscine where the breathtaking Romy Schneider has just stepped out of the pool, walking towards a blasé but equally breathtaking Alain Delon lounging on the terrace of their dreamy Saint-Tropez villa. Most French women I know do, in fact, carry an elegant peigne or brosse in their beach bag. It feels kind of counterintuitive given their habitual commitment to the messy/undone aesthetic, but after some trial and error, I realized it’s a safer way to achieve presentable beach hair: gently combing your hair while it’s still fully wet helps it dry into beautifully shaped, natural waves instead of an unruly tangle.
If you’re spending the summer in the city with no sea salt in sight, a good wave cream is the next best thing—I love the one by Davines.
My personal favorite addition to the ritual is a few drops of Olaplex bonding hair oil—I got the tiny bottle that lasts forever. It has become my favorite low-maintenance trick for keeping my hair healthy all year long.
For extra summery vibes in the city I highly recommend getting out of the house with semi-wet hair, a technique that will keep you breezy while getting you faster to that much-needed glass of Sauvignon Blanc—you'll be surprised by how many wet-haired Parisiennes you spot on the metro around apéro hour!
I’m doubling down on my La Piscine obsession because Romy Schneider is proof that a one-piece in a luxurious white with the perfect cut can do 100% of the heavy lifting for a summer wardrobe. A chic rounded neckline in the front, a low square back, and delicate thin straps—that’s exactly how we like it. If we’re talking packing tips, it’s definitely one of the smartest pieces you can bring. It takes up almost no space and the sky is the limit in terms of styling: with a sarong for your beach mornings, with a chic A-line skirt and gold hardware for dinner, or, if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, layered under another strappy top or tucked inside a glam short.
Leandra Medine’s last newsletter is full of fun inspiration for getting even more mileage out of this vacation staple.
Being from a country overflowing with fruit, I grew up believing its rightful place was always at the end of a meal, so I was a little perplexed the first time I was served a full plate of melon and charcuterie as an entrée. The French have civilized my palate since, and I’ve actually come to see it as one of the most refreshing ways to begin a summer meal, exploring all sorts of delightful variations: melon with jambon cru, watermelon with feta and mint; figs with goat cheese; tomato peach burrata. Eating clean and fresh has never felt easier!
After spending several vacations with the French, I realized that apéro hour is not something they joke about. Even while island-hopping through the Cyclades, my Parisian companions would always reserve a small pocket of time after the afternoon shower and before dinner for an impromptu apéro on our Airbnb’s balcony. A little alcohol, a few light snacks, and a heated debate about politics is the perfect formula to extend a French person’s appetite and willingness to stretch the evening.
Often paired with apéro hour, playing games is a French person’s favorite social ritual, and vacation only seems to strengthen the habit. I’m always amazed by how reliably it’s French tourists you’ll spot completely absorbed in some kind of board/card game, whether it’s a couple, a group of friends, or an entire family. Sometimes it gets a bit extreme though—on our flight to Athens, we watched a young guy traveling solo start chatting with the couple sitting next to him and within minutes they were all playing a French card game together. Super sweet indeed, but also what a relief I didn’t have him seated next to me (a girl just wants to flâner in peace, désolée).
When I was younger, I admit I used to silently judge those couples who sat together at restaurants without really talking—I didn’t yet know how to recognize another kind of intimacy, how much comfort you can find simply existing beside someone. The French seem particularly good at this, a realization I had while watching a French woman on a beach this year in Sifnos. She was sitting a little apart from her husband, reading her book for hours with her back against a tree. They barely spoke, exchanging only the occasional glance or small gesture of affection. There was no need to constantly entertain each other, no need to prove they were having a good time. Even in bigger groups, I love how the French seem comfortable retreating into their own little worlds: picking up a book, writing in a journal, staring into the distance for a while, all while remaining close enough that it still feels like you’re sharing the same moment.
Did you know that wearing pyjamas in public became fashionable in the 1930s thanks to the trend-setting regulars of the French Riviera? Part of a broader movement of women gaining more agency over their wardrobes, loungewear slowly started making its way beyond the confines of the home and onto the boardwalks of glamorous seaside towns like Deauville, Biarritz, and Saint-Tropez. Esteemed couturiers like Elsa Schiaparelli embraced this new freedom, offering elevated loungewear pieces, from pyjama-like jumpsuits to wide-leg culottes and flowing palazzo trousers, often crafted in soft jersey and bold geometric prints. While Paris isn’t exactly a place where you’ll spot much loungewear out in the wild, vacation is when Parisians happily give themselves permission to bend the rules: matching sets, wide-leg trousers, playful prints, and anything that feels a little breezier than what they would wear back home.
The bathrobe is perhaps the ultimate symbol of seaside glamour: the outfit you wear when you’re already living the dream and have nowhere to rush to. French designer Jean Patou was among the first to offer made-to-measure bathrobes embroidered with his initials, designed for the kind of vacationers who arrived at seaside destinations where you went to see and be seen. These robes became part of the ritual of Riviera life: flanêring by the pool, having a morning coffee in the garden, enjoying an apéro after a swim. Today, a French woman knows that loungewear deserves just as much thought as any other part of her summer wardrobe—not necessarily in its literal classic hotel robe version, but in lighter interpretations: a silky robe, a vintage-inspired kimono, a lush kaftan, or a lightweight mini version to throw over a swimsuit.
A French woman knows that summertime is the perfect opportunity to think as little as possible when getting dressed, and a flowy robe d’été is the ultimate couteau suisse. It’s no wonder this quintessential French-girl staple has stood the test of time: you can go the traditional route with the classic wrap dress, like the now-iconic Robe Gabin by Jeanne Damas (which feels very much like the kind of silhouette many Parisiennes inherit from their grandmothers), or opt for updated, slightly sexier versions with playful cuts, lighter fabrics, and a little more skin—the kind of dresses you’ll see all over your feed worn by French it-girls every summer.
If you love a white summer dress like me, this newsletter by Ardas Chandra belongs in your bookmarks.
Blame it on Coco Chanel, but the art of borrowing from the masculine wardrobe has long been one of the French woman’s most successful style recipe. If you’ve spent any of your hot summer days dedicated to watching French filmography, you’ll soon notice that the shirt is a recurring protagonist, on men as much as on women: the mysterious girls and women of Éric Rohmer searching for the meaning of life in worn-out Bensimon sneakers and vintage flat caps; Alain Delon with the perfectly unbuttoned blue shirt in La Piscine; Jean Seberg in Bonjour Tristesse turning a red one-piece (love this one) with a blue shirt into the ultimate styling idea.
For a blue shirt deep dive Antonia has got you covered.
If you want to build an Éric Rohmer–inspired wardrobe the vintage way this newsletter by Tess Sullivan is a gem.
Et voilà, that’s all for today! I hope this little journey through French summer left you feeling inspired to sneak a little more flânerie, glandouille, and apéro hour into your own routine.✨
If you enjoyed this one, I’d be so grateful if you liked, shared, or left a little comment. Every interaction helps support my work!
Merci for reading, and I’ll see you on Friday!
xx, Frosso
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