"How to be Parisian" by Caroline de Maigret

"How to be Parisian" by Caroline de Maigret was a spontaneous buy. I first saw the author on YouTube channel by "ALEXACHUNG" and I found "ALEXACHUNG" while watching a video about body shapes by "Justine Leconte officiel". 

I bought "How to be Parisian" via Google Books and, I must say, it was such a fun read! I don't particularly want to be Parisian or "chic" (I know I could never pull it off) but I really have noticed that French people do dress differently, their hair is different, there's something about them and I was really intrigued to know why would they "dress down" (I mean the natural look), what is the philosophy behind it.

So the book surprised me by how beautiful it was, it had nice photographs and artistic illustrations, it really made me feel like I'm in Paris, in some other world, sitting on a windowsill in some old historical building with high ceilings that has seen wars and revolutions and I could feel a very old and very advanced culture. I remembered the times when French and not English was the lingua franca of Europe and the world (at least it was in Russia at the time that Alexander Pushkin was alive). I thought that Paris must have the similar atmosphere to the Eastern European old towns (old historical parts of the capitals and bigger cities), and I felt like I could imagine what it's like and I could understand the culture behind it. It was the classical culture, the one that was followed and copied by those wanting to be "classy", to do things "elegantly", the mothers from Lithuania and Russia must be copying the French because "lacy, see through, silk underwear and high heels plus not the very "smoothed out look" is what the women who are into fashion are trying to achieve. Pretending that it's "accidental" and pretending that they're not on diet (they're natural like that). I've never been like my mom (who was classy), like my best friend (who was bohemian) and my other friend (who worked as a model in Paris, but you couldn't tell - she was so modest and simple and natural). So, I guess, I needed this book.

I really loved every bit of this book, except for the one bit - it was too short. I could've read and read. I think I read it because I liked "the feel". As someone who has been living in Asia for the last 10 years, I'm very "Europe-sick" and where I live there's no culture at all (the European theater, art and museums type of culture in which I was brought up). Where I live, it's malls and take-away culture, I would say most likely British-American-Australian-Canadian type of culture. 

The author Caroline de Maigret was very blunt and honest while writing this book, you would think she wrote what she thought. There was loads of humor and the sort of humor that made me physically laugh. It was a bit sarcastic or dark or hidden (I'm sure there is a better word) but it was my type of humor, so I was really happy about that. 

When it comes to covering tips on how to be "Parisian", is very similar to the tips of "how to be a city girl/woman" in a bohemian and snobbish kind of way. It's for those girls/women who want to love "stylishly", have stylish friends and fit in into the bohemian circle.It's not that complicated as long as you know which buttons to press, it's easy to imitate. But it's not easy to imitate for long, although it might become a habit and a character in the end. It might be a bit hard though if one doesn't have the money, but you can always pretend that not having the money "is kind of cool". 

I nevertheless really loved the book because it made my day when I read it, it had a sort of healing power over me, I needed something fun and rebellious (from my perspective) to read and something coming from a woman, not from a man. It also reminded me of the works of Dostoyevsky and my favorite Lithuanian writer Jurga Ivanauskaite, because of how "self critical and self demeaning" (which is funny) it was. I realized that this is the stuff that really makes me laugh.

The author also pleasantly surprised me (I really didn't expect that) by including some of the recipes (there are maybe about 10 recipes of how to cook chicken and a desert and salad) and I will actually try those recipes (when I have to) . 

At the end of the book there's also a list of places to visit and shops to go to if you're actually visiting Paris. I think it could be a great city guide. I would recommend this book for those wanting to learn to be Parisian and "chic", for those moving or travelling to Paris, for those wanting to learn more about French culture, for those interested in world countries and cultures, for those interested in "how women think", for those interested in fashion, for those who want to have a laugh and for those who want to read something refreshing.