Paris has more than 146,883 cats in the capital, living in Paris. They are the favourite pets of Parisians, far exceeding the 77,000 dogs (2023 figures). One in 10 Parisians live with a cat or a dog.
According to the Parisian Urban Planning Workshop (Apur), mentioned in the magazine of the mayor’s office, there are 16% more cats in Paris than ten years ago, with a strong presence in Montmartre, the 18th arrondissement (district), followed by the 15th and 20th arrondissements. Apur identifies the animals using the National Identification File for Domestic Carnivores in France, a reference database for domestic animals created from information from tattoos or microchips under the animal’s skin. This identification method was mandatory since 1999.
Among the names most often given to the Parisians’ beloved companions, are Simba, Nala, Maya and Lucky. Clearly, The Lion King movie has been influential.
An Animal House will also open soon in the 12th arrondissement to bring together cat, dog, hedgehog, and bird lovers.
NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2025: THE TRUE STAR OF THE NOVEL; PARIS OR THE CHARACTERS IN PARISIAN NOVELS? – Blog # 32.
Paris has long served as the muse for writers and creatives, inspiring countless novels that capture the city’s essence. When considering these stories, a question I ask myself as I write my book, set in Paris, is: who – or what – is the true star of the novel? Is it the characters who drive the narrative, or is it the city of Paris itself that takes centre stage?
Victor Hugo: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Victor Hugo’s 1831 masterpiece The Hunchback of Notre Dame brings this question of who is the true star of the novel into sharp focus. The hunchback Quasimodo is undoubtedly a memorable character, with his tragic existence and undying devotion to Esmeralda. Yet it is the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris that looms largest in the novel, which has continued its prominence in the Parisian and international press since the fire of 15 April 2019, its subsequent renovation and re-opening in December 2024. Hugo uses the cathedral as a living, breathing entity – a symbol of Gothic grandeur and the passage of time. The title of the novel has the hunchback in the premier role, although the cathedral is not merely a backdrop but a cornerstone of the plot, representing Paris’s heart and soul.
What a year 2024 turned out to be! As an Australian living in Paris, I can say this has been a dynamic year with highs, lows, and “I don’t understand” moments. Oh, and I volunteered at the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, so let’s start there.
The Paris 2024 Olympics & Paralympics: Where Inspiration Meets Grit
Volunteering at the Games was like stepping into a French movie with sporting stars galore in the Grand Palais – the Grand Palace. France secured 64 medals with 16 golds finishing fifth in the overall medal count per country.
The highlight of the Olympics for me were the “firsts” on the track in athletics – the countries Dominica, Pakistan, and Saint Lucia featured their first ever gold medallists: Thea Lafond for Dominica in the women’s triple jump, Arshad Nadeem for Pakistan in the men’s javelin, and Julien Alfred for Saint Lucia in the amazing women’s 100 metres athletic sprint.
If the Olympics were thrilling, the Paralympics were awe-inspiring. The resilience of the athletes put my grumbles about my sciatica into perspective. The highlight for me, volunteering in the Tribune Press Box for taekwondo and wheelchair fencing, was witnessing Afghan Zakia Khudadadi win the Refugee Team’s first ever medal on day one. She won a bronze medal in Para taekwondo in the women’s K44-47 kg category. Then I saw Thailand’s Saysunee Jana, in her sixth Paralympics, become the first female wheelchair fencer to win gold in all three of her competitions: sabre, foil, and epee. Triple gold – incredible! No wonder she is known as the “queen of fencing.”
Parisian Life in 2024: Don’t Bash the Baguette!
Life in Paris was as deliciously chaotic as ever. The baguette wars continued to rage – there is either a government “baguette tax” to curb over-production or – this year – a baguette shortage due to low wheat production. A baguette is the long, crusty bread, which is now UNESCO heritage listed, since 2022, as a “cultural treasure.” But, with the baguette shortage, there was a (joke) rumour that France would have to cancel the Olympics because “You can’t have a French Olympics without baguettes.” Of course, this did not happen and baguettes were on the breakfast menu in the Olympic and Paralympic Village. So, the French proverb – “Tis a long day, a day without bread” – is true!
Fire, Sun, and Heat
In 2024, bushfires raged across the globe. Close to my home, Australia celebrated the launch of the world’s largest solar farm, a proud reminder that we’re not just about barbies and beer. But closer to my French home, Paris sweltered through a record-breaking heatwave in July.
Trending Fashion
Fashion took a wild turn with “croissant couture” in Paris. Someone decided wearing hats shaped like croissant pastries was a good idea. It wasn’t. The holiday market stalls are still open into the evenings, selling all sorts of winter goods, including hand-knitted French berets and woolly vests, but I’lll be buying artisanal chocolates instead.
Looking Ahead to 2025
As I sit here at the end of 2024, with a glass of wine and a slice of cheese (when in France, after all), I can’t help but feel excited about what’s to come in 2025. But not as excited as some of my ambitious acquaintances at the breakfast café. One wants to conquer the Eiffel Tower’s stairs – a lofty ambition. Another wants to cycle through the Loire Valley while another wants to visit the Mont Saint-Michel – I’ve already visited both locations but there’s always time for another visit. I’ll be researching rural French cities to visit in 2025. Just a train trip away.
Here’s to 2025 – may it be unforgettable for everyone, filled with laughter, challenges, and achievements.
Before I sign off, here’s my Paris poem for the year:
Christmas trees light up Place de la Concorde, Paris.
As December comes to an end in Paris, Place de la Concorde transforms into a magical festive garden, drawing visitors from around the globe. Here, Christmas trees adorned with sparkling lights cast their glow across one of the city’s most iconic squares.
The lights complement the grandeur of the Luxor Obelisk, a 3,300-year-old Egyptian monument erected in 1998 standing in the middle of Place de la Concorde. Its golden tip glistens against the purple glow and shimmering holiday decorations, blending ancient history with modern celebration.
Surrounding Place de la Concorde, the majestic fountains – Fontaine des Mers and Fontaine des Fleuves – combine water and light, enhancing the festive ambiance.
At night, the scene becomes even more breathtaking. The Eiffel Tower, visible in the distance, sparkles during its hourly light show, creating a picture-perfect Parisian backdrop. This harmonious blend of French history, architectural grandeur, and light show turns Place de la Concorde into one of the must-see tourist attractions of the winter holidays.
Whether meandering through the maze of trees or capturing memories under the twinkling lights, Place de la Concorde is a celebration of joy, beauty, and the timeless allure of Paris.
NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: AGE-PROOFING FICTIONAL WRITING – Blog # 31.
As I was musing in a Parisian café, a quartet were discussing the composition of their next song and one person suggested age-proofing it. What? They were proactively, intentionally, deliberately considering writing a song to stand the test of time. It got me thinking.
Age-proofing fictional writing is a difficult task for a writer because readers are the force that determine the likeability and longevity of a book. While literature has an enduring quality, only some books will remain forever relevant. My Paris book is placed in a specific time and place, which could quickly date itself – or give readers a snapshot in history. How can I craft a story that stays fresh and resonant for generations to come? How indeed! What a dilemma!
Age-proofing a novel involves more than avoiding contemporary references or trends. It’s about creating a world that feels eternal, characters who are relatable across time, and themes that transcend eras. I’m not sure I can achieve that. But here’s a guide I’ll be considering when age-proofing my fictional writing:
NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: ALLOWING YOUR WORK TO BECOME YOUR ART – Blog # 30.
In my article on “embracing the slump to improve productivity” I wrote that during the week I wanted to finish my work (evaluation reports) before I started my art (creative writing) – i.e., continuing the Paris book. This prompted a friend’s response, “Why not allow your work to become your art.”
In society where success is often measured by efficiency, output, and productivity, the idea to”allow your work to become your art” can seem elusive, even countercultural. Yet, this phrase resonates deeply with me as I continue to strive for a more meaningful and authentic connection to my art, regardless of its nature. But what does the phrase really mean?
Intersection of Work and Art
At first glance, work and art may seem like distinct realms. Work is typically associated with practical tasks, responsibilities, and the pursuit of income, while art evokes images of creativity, expression, and beauty. However, the phrase “allow your work to become your art” challenges people to view work through a different lens – one that sees artistry not as an isolated activity but as an inherent part of how we approach all of life, including our professional work.
To allow your work to become your art is to elevate the quality, passion, and intentionality of what we do. It encourages us to infuse tasks with a sense of creativity, mindfulness, and dedication. It invites us to invest fully in the process, to see every moment as an opportunity for expression, and to approach challenges not merely as obstacles to overcome, but as material for personal growth and creative exploration.
NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: EMBRACING THE SLUMP TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY – Blog # 29.
In the pursuit of productivity while I write my Paris book during the end of year rush to complete work tasks – humanitarian reports – I’m planning to strive for a steady upward trajectory of creativity during the vacation period.
The reality is productivity and progress in creativity is not always linear. It’s not realistic to expect each day to be more productive than the previous day. Sometimes, I hit a decline in motivation or a distraction caused by other tasks, but they might just be the very element needed for a breakthrough to new levels of creativity.
This concept is rooted in real patterns of growth and achievement. We see it in athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, and even in our own lives. Often, the biggest breakthroughs follow the most significant slumps. The slump is an opportunity to pause, reflect, and recalibrate.
The Slump: A Necessary Part of the Creative Process
A writer facing a blank page or an athlete struggling with a performance plateau, these may be precursors to new growth. In fact, one of the most consistent patterns we see in high-performing individuals is that they often experience their greatest leaps after their biggest lulls. Why is this? A slump forces a stop, a pause, a re-evaluation. When everything is moving smoothly, it’s easy to get caught up in the momentum and keep doing the same thing without much effort. But, in a slump, the discomfort leads to questions about the approach, the goals, the new methods, the reasons for the slump.
There are 1,064 community gardens in the Paris region covering 879 hectares. These are 2018 figures and may have increased in recent years, especially post-2022 after social distancing.
Community gardens are categorized by their use, such as family gardens, shared gardens, social integration gardens, therapeutic gardens, and gardens for activists.
Family gardens are the most common community garden. They comprise 60% of all community gardens and 80% of the surface coverage. They range from 0.8 hectares to 1.2 hectares each. Almost all of them are just outside the Paris periphery in the surrounding urbanized municipalities.
Shared gardens comprise 24% of all community gardens but only 3% of the hectare coverage. Generally, they are ten times smaller than family gardens at about 1,000 square metres on average. Almost all of them are in the centre of Paris or in the adjoining northern and eastern municipalities.
The smallest community garden is the Simplon-aux-Champs in the 18th arrondissement (district) of Paris which is only 25 square metres. The largest community garden is the Crosne family garden in the Essonne county which is more than 25 hectares.
Community gardens in France date back to the 19th century and were common in the United Kingdom and Germany too, where they were called “fields for the poor” or “gardens for the poor.” In France, they were called “jardins ouvriers” – “gardens for the workers” or “workers’ gardens.” Religious institutions created many of them to help residents during difficult times.
The numbers increased rapidly during the war peiods, particularly from 1916-1918 and from the 1930s, reaching up to 250,000 allotments in France. After the war, the numbers sharply decreased due to the favourable economy and land being claimed for housing. The “workers’ gardens” of France were renamed “family gardens.”
Informal shared gardens were introduced by the late 1980s, particularly in the cities of Lille, Lyon, and Nantes, followed by Paris in the early 2000s. “Social integration gardens” (gardens created to reintegrate socially excluded or professionally disadvantaged people) began to appear and received legal recognition in 1998. A regional collective was formed in the Paris Region and remained active until 2012. At the same time, in Paris, “gardens for activists” arose, which are gardens that offer group gardening activities.
Generally, across France, community gardens are known as “multi-function gardens” because Eric Duchemin’s 2015 research said that gardens are associated with ‘no less than eight fields of intervention: urban planning, environment, economy, food security, health, leisure, education, and social interaction.’
NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: CAPPING CREATIVITY, RINGFENCING WRITING, AND THE RIGHT TO RAMBLE – Blog # 28.
Creativity is often portrayed as boundless, an unrestricted river that flows freely, uninhibited by rules or conventions. Yet, in the world of writing and creative expression, many writers find themselves paradoxically seeking boundaries—capping their creativity, ringfencing their writing, and, at times, even curbing their own right to ramble. Exploring the tension between freedom and structure, the challenge is self-imposed limits and the vital necessity of allowing our thoughts to wander.
Capping Creativity or Exploring Creative Freedom
At the heart of creativity lies a paradox: the more we try to control creativity, the more it seems to slip through our fingers. On one hand, creativity thrives in a state of freedom – a wild, uncharted territory where ideas are allowed to come and go as they please. On the other, the pressures of deadlines, productivity, and societal expectations often push creators into tight corners, where they feel compelled to ‘cap’ their creativity to meet specific goals or to satisfy an audience.
In the world of writing, this manifests as a constant balancing act. Writers often struggle with the desire to remain ‘true’ to their creative impulse, while simultaneously trying to meet external expectations – commercial, academic, or professional. The term ‘capping creativity’ refers to the practice of setting limits on one’s own imagination, often in response to external pressures or internal doubts. Writers may begin to filter ideas too early, worrying that their writing won’t ‘fit’ into a particular genre or form, or that it might not be well-received.
In a way, capping creativity is a survival mechanism. It allows writers to control their output, streamline their process, and produce work that fits into a given framework. But it can also stifle innovation and spontaneity, leading to a sense of creative exhaustion or self-imposed mediocrity.
Notre-Dame Cathedral re-opens to the public on 8 December 2024
The Notre-Dame Cathedral fire on 15 April 2019 was devastating. Fire, smoke, and water extensively damaged the cathedral, the spire fell, and the roof collapsed.
On 8 November 2024 the bells of Notre-Dame rang for the first time since the fire, celebrating the intention to re-open its doors and to test the sound of three new bells, including the bell used during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. All eight bells chimed for five minutes starting at 10:30 am. The heaviest bell, given the name “Gabriel” weighs over four tonnes and the lightest weighs 800 kilograms.
Public donations added to the government’s budget to restore the cathedral – raising 846 million euros. A law passed in July 2019 stipulated that the money collected through the national Notre-Dame renovation campaign could only be used to finance conservation and restoration work on Notre-Dame. Phase 1 involved work to prevent the shell of the building from collapsing completely to make it safe for renovators, and Phase 2 involved the renovations. Approximately 700 million euros was spent on these two phases. There is a surplus of 146 million euros which will be used for Phase 3 of renovations commencing in 2025, which was already planned before the fire. This will include restoration of the facades, the roof of the sacristy, the flying buttresses, and the choir. Therefore, the cathedral’s façade will be covered in scaffolding for 2-3 years during the renovations, until about 2027.
After five years of restoration, Notre-Dame Cathedral re-opens to the public on 8 December 2024. Before the fire, the cathedral welcomed about 12 million visitors annually. This figure is expected to rise to 14-15 million.
The French culture minister Rachida Dati suggested charging a small (maybe 5 euro) entrance fee to raise further funds to preserve the cathedral’s heritage and add to the restoration coffers of other heritage religious institutions across France. France has about 42,000 Catholic churches (60 of them are communual cathedrals), of which 8,000 have been restored since 2019. The Notre-Dame visitor fee would be for cultural visits only (people attending mass or other services will not be charged a fee – it will remain free). Before the fire, visitors paid 8.50 euros to climb the 387 steps to access the panoramic view of Paris and to have a close-up view of the cathedral’s famous gargoyles.
The Notre-Dame Cathedral in the 4th arrondissement of Paris is centrally located on the Island of the City and looms large next to the river Seine. Because of its long history of construction from 1163 to 1345, followed by ongoing renovations, with many supervising architects, the architectural style varies from primitive Gothic to radiant Gothic. Gothic nonetheless. The current renovations (2019-2024) replicated the cathedral before the fire, deploying hundreds of artisans across France.
French author Victor Hugo (1802-1885), noted for his novels The Hunchback of Notre Dame(1831) and Les Miserables (1862), lived in Paris from 1832 at the age of thirty to 1851 before his exile to the island of Guernsey. The fictional hunchback of Victor Hugo’s novel, Quasimodo, found sanctuary in the Notre-Dame Cathedral and loved the gargoyles and the panoramic view of Paris. The public thought that the deformed Quasimodo was a monster and a mob rampaged the cathedral. Soldiers repelled the mob and Quasimodo was saved, but the love of his life, Esmeralda, had a tragic fate. Quasimodo left Notre-Dame, never to return.
