I watched a few French films on the flights home yesterday. One of them was L’histoire de Souleymane, which I really enjoyed and was apparently very well received at the Cannes Film Festival last year. The story follows Souleymane, who is a food delivery cyclist and asylum seeker in Paris. And it takes place over a two-day period leading up to an interview that will determine whether he is granted permanent residency in France or whether he will be forced to return to Guinea. I won’t give away the movie, but he goes through a lot while he’s illegally working in Paris and preparing for this interview. And, there’s a plot twist. I also found it interesting to watch Paris through this lens. Paris is a city with many facets, and not all of them look like Emily in Paris. Maybe none of them really do.

We are staying in our 6th hotel of this trip right now. And only 50% of these hotels have had air conditioning. This had led to a few restless sleeps where it was simply too hot. In one of our hotels, we had to ask them to bring a fan up to our room. But hey, this is Europe. I'm sure everyone thought we were spoiled North Americans. Interestingly enough, not having AC forces you to be more aware of the environment around you. Very quickly you learn that if you don't shut the blinds or shutters when the afternoon sun is shining in, you are going to end up with a room that is too hot to sleep in. I try to be mindful of this back home in Toronto, where we do have AC, but there really isn't the same imperative to both design and then operate around climate and local conditions. Active mechanical systems do much of this for us.

I have remarked this before, but I’ll say it again anyways: sneakers are very popular in Paris. Everybody seems to be wearing cool and colorful sneakers, regardless of what the rest of their outfit happens to look like.

Full business suit? Why yes, you should be wearing cool sneakers.

But why is that?

Paris is a famously walkable city. At any given time, you’re on average just about 500m from the closest subway station. So my entirely unproven sneaker theory is this: shoes follow built form.

If you build a city around people walking everywhere, one will ultimately choose the most appropriate kind of footwear.

Photo: Rosa Bonheur sur Seine