1. Did you know that all highways in France start from “Point Zero” in Paris? It’s located right in front of Notre Dame. This comes from an old tradition that distances between French cities and towns are always measured from church to church: since the official church of Paris is its cathedral – Notre Dame – this is the point from which all distances to Paris are measured. According to tradition, if you stand on Point Zero and spin around a few times, you’ll come back to Paris, but I never remember which way you’re supposed to spin (or how many times).
2. One of my favorite things about not working a normal job is having the métro to myself. Whenever I notice that I’m accidentally traversing the city at peak hours, it throws me for a major loop, because most of the time, my commute looks like this.
3. Don’t let our fantastic PR campaign fool you: Paris is often damp (we have the same weather as London, which is famously drizzly). But whenever it’s dry and not too cold, one of my favorite places to sit and read is overlooking the Seine or the Canal Saint-Martin. (And in summer, they’re both great places for picnicking!)
4. You used to find floor tiles like these everywhere in Paris – while they’re coming back into vogue, it’s hard to find ones that are original. Whenever I do, I get pretty happy about it.
5. This plaque is located on République Square and is dedicated to those who were killed in the terrorist shootings at Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 and the 11th arrondissement, Montrouge, and Saint-Denis (including the Bataclan) in November 2015. It reads: To the memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks of January and November 2015 in Paris, Montrouge, and Saint-Denis. In this place, the people of France pays tribute to them.