search for something...

search for something you might like...

About Paris Meave Haughey passes you a parting note from Paris

About Paris

Meave Haughey passes you a parting note from Paris

by Meave Haughey, Contributing Editor
first published: January, 2020

approximate reading time: minutes

The wafting scent of bread from the boulangeries, the poets strolling round contemplatively in their turtlenecks, the sound of accordions drifting through the air as we held hands like all the other lovers. Not to be.

Oscar Wilde wrote in 1894, "When good Americans die, they go to Paris", Canadians... I don't know. Anyway, on Britain's last day within the EU family of nations, Irish-Canadian UK resident and our favorite writer, Meave Haughey, posits that Paris dumped us all long ago...

I had Paris once. It was in the days of cheap flights. I mean really cheap flights, where we thought nothing of dropping everything and flitting off to the continent for the weekend. My boyfriend at the time phoned me one morning at work to say that his friend, a lecturer on his PhD, had offered his flat in Paris if we could get there that night, so my boyfriend had booked a couple of plane tickets for £0.00 plus tax. Those days we would occasionally leave work and get the train to the local airport and fly off for a weekend in Venice or Barcelona. (Of course, our room in Venice had had curtains over a bricked up window and seemed to be one of the few hotels totally landlocked with no canal views. The Midlands of Venetian hotels. And in Barcelona, we’d walked on the beach in silence -- not having spoken for most of the day). But now, we were headed for Paris. What did one need to do but buy a cheap razor at lunch and shave one's legs in the work shower? Roll on weekend of romance with all its curative power. I had it all planned in my head...the wafting scent of bread from the boulangeries, the poets strolling round contemplatively in their turtlenecks, the sound of accordions drifting through the air as we held hands like all the other lovers. Not to be. 

At Gare du Nord we emerged into rush hour. Pickpockets and hawkers. Piss and sweat. Tired, hassled Parisiens and hordes of tourists here for Les Soldes -- the summer sales. Not a beret for miles. How we crossed Paris, I don’t recall, but I suspect it was on foot as my abiding memory is of seemingly interminable walking and with the disappointing sensation of menstrual cramps. Perfectly timed. 

At last we arrived at a street in the neighborhood we recognised from the film Amelie. Perhaps things were going to be okay. The courtyard of the flat was indeed charming. Less so the seven flights of winding stairs and the tiny landing where we sat in the breathless heat once the key had broken off in the lock. Oh Paris. 

The next day my boyfriend went out alone. He wanted to look at the graves of philosophers in Pere Lachaise. I wanted coffee. I wanted writers and cafes and bohemians -- but faced with cafe after cafe of sullen men sitting smoking on chairs outside, or leant up against tiny bars, I lost my nerve. Instead, I climbed the steps of Montmartre. Looking out into the white haze of June over Paris, I knew --  so many things were just about to end.


'About Paris' - inspired by bad boyfriends everywhere, but also, We'll Never Have Paris (Andrew Galloux) fiction and essays inspired by Paris from more than 70 Anglophone writers

Meave Haughey
Contributing Editor

Meave Haughey is a short story writer based in Birmingham. Recent stories have been published in Comma Press’s The New Abject, and Forecast: New Writing from Birmingham, Doestoevsky Wannabe’s Love Bites: Fiction Inspired by Pete Shelley and Buzzcocks and in Birmingham, from the Doestoevsky Wannabe Cities series. Meave's story The Reservoir featured in The Best of British Short Stories 2021 compiled by Salt Press.


about Meave Haughey »»

Pete Williams web banner

RECENT STORIES

RANDOM READS

All About and Contributors

HELP OUTSIDELEFT

Outsideleft exists on a precarious no budget budget. We are interested in hearing from deep and deeper pocket types willing to underwrite our cultural vulture activity. We're not so interested in plastering your product all over our stories, but something more subtle and dignified for all parties concerned. Contact us and let's talk. [HELP OUTSIDELEFT]

WRITE FOR OUTSIDELEFT

If Outsideleft had arms they would always be wide open and welcoming to new writers and new ideas. If you've got something to say, something a small dank corner of the world needs to know about, a poem to publish, a book review, a short story, if you love music or the arts or anything else, write something about it and send it along. Of course we don't have anything as conformist as a budget here. But we'd love to see what you can do. Write for Outsideleft, do. [SUBMISSIONS FORM HERE]

WRITERS thru' the Years

Agata Makiela, Alan Devey, Alan Rider, Alex V. Cook, Ancient Champion, Andy Allison, Annemiek, Becca Kelly, Belle Plankton, Bruce Bailey, Caiomhin Millar, Cassie Thomas, Chantal, Cheiron Coelho, Chris Connolly, Christian Present, Damon Hayhurst, Dan Breen, Danny Rose, David Hackney, David O'Byrne, Denni Boyd, Dirty Lillie, DJ Fuzzyfelt, Dr. Rich, Dr. Richard Bennett, Duncan Jones, Erin, Erin Pipes, Erin Scott, Gracey Babs, Graham Baker, Guilaine Arts, H.xx, Hamilton High, Henderson Downing, Holly Martins, J. Charreaux, J.Lee, Jay Lewis, Jaycentee, Jennifer Lynn, Jenny McCann, Jeremy Gluck, Jez Collins, Joe Ambrose, John Robinson, Jonathan Thornton, Julie O, Karl Morgan, Katherine Pargeter, Kelsey Osgood, Kevin McHugh, Kiah Cranston, Kleo Kay, Lake, Lee Paul, Luke Skinner, Malcolm, Marek Pytel, Mark Piggott, Martin Devenney, Meave Haughey, Michelle Williams, Mike Fox, mindy strouse, Neil Campbell, Neil Scott, Ogglypoogly, OL House Writer, Pam, Paul Burns, Paul Hawkins, Paul Mortimer, Paul Quigley, Peter Williams, Pixie McMowat, Pixievic, Rene Williams, Richard John Walker, Rick Casson, Rikki Stein, Ronan Crinion, Rowena Murphy, Ruby Lake, Ryan 'RJO' Stewart, Samantha Charles, Seth Sherwood, Shane O'Reilly, Sheridan Coyle, Sofia Ribeiro Willcox, Sophia Satchell-Baeza, Spanish Pantalones, Speedie John, Spencer Kansa, Steve McCarthy, The Conversation, Tim London, Tim Sparks, Tony Fletcher, Toon Traveller, Trevi, Urs Lerch, Wayne Dean-Richards, and founders, Alarcon & Lamontpaul

OUTSIDELEFT UNIVERSE

Last NIght of the LTB Showrooms
OUTSIDELEFT Night Out
weekend

outsideleft content is not for everyone