How to be a lover in Paris

Go to Paris. Even if it's one of the most expensive cities in the world and you can't afford it. Just go. Share everything--because it's sweet, and this is how you will stretch your budget. Seriously though, share everything, especially your blanket. The weather gives you an excuse to cuddle, and no one will give you dirty looks if you walk like Siamese twins.

 

Walk along the River Seine. Wave at the people on the boats, pretend it isn't your first time there and you're used to being surrounded by so much beauty. Take pictures of the leaves on the ground and the dogs that look like their owners.

 

Pretend it doesn't bother you that the sidewalks are littered with cigarette butts. Think about how good it would be to smoke a cigarette, even if you quit long ago. Stop looking at the ground. Look at the sidewalk vendors with their crates of vegetables and buckets of flowers. Look at the buildings with wall sculptures that curl like petals.

 

Sit at a cafe. Al fresco, of course. Sit next to each other, facing the street. Watch the other couples, smile back when they smile at you. Sip your coffee and let the sugar stay on your lips, let the biscuit melt in your mouth. Walk some more.

 

If it rains, keep walking like everyone else. Forget how your grandmother always told you to cover your head. Here the rain will not make you sick. It's Paris, and everything is romantic.

 

Carve your initials on a padlock and fasten it to the railings at Pont des Arts. Throw the key in the river and promise you'll stay locked in love forever. If an ex-lover is there trying to remove a padlock, look the other way and tell each other you won't end up like that. Laugh at the combination locks and wonder if the lovers who left them there still remember the key.

 

Watch the boats on the river and tell your lover that home is wherever they are.

 

Look at postcards. Buy the ones with pictures you don't recognize. Write to the people back home in flowery script, even if you haven't used snail mail in ages.

 

Slow down when you see the bouquinistes and their green book stalls by the river. Look at the old maps of places that no longer exist. Find the book you've been looking for for years. Almost buy it, but stop yourself when you remember you can't read French. Laugh about it.

 

Laugh about everything. Don't look at your map. Ride bikes, or take the train and get down at a random station. The city is as beautiful in motion as it is in a still photograph. Explore the narrow streets with the tiny shops, get lost and then find an old bookshop such as Shakespeare & Co. Climb up to the top floor and read aloud from dusty books.

 

Sit under the Eiffel Tower. Shake your head at all the couples kissing for the camera, and then kiss for the camera anyway.

 

Share a crepe, then share a second crepe. Wander around a museum such as the Louvre, or get lost in a garden. Visit the Pere-Lachaise cemetery and imagine Isadora Duncan dancing with her eyes closed. Climb up Montmartre hill and sit on the steps with a bottle of wine. Watch the sun set over the city, then kiss under the stars. —KG, GMA News