“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.”
Thomas Jefferson
I thought I knew who I was creatively before visiting Paris, but when I arrived there the first time, a little over ten years ago, I soon realized I didn’t have a clue.
The City of Light “La Ville-Lumière” is unparalleled for the creatively inclined, and once you’ve visited, you will leave forever changed. It refined my sense of purpose, ignited my true passion for creating, and changed how I interpret art.
Artist – Seine river, Paris. Photo by Bryan Hutchinson
I’ve visited Paris 3 times and, although I just returned yesterday, I want to, no, I-need-to, visit again, and soon.
If you were to ask me if you should visit Paris, I’d tell you the same thing.
You need to visit Paris, especially if you are creative and want to bring an entirely new and enriching element to your work, such as new insights and ideas, or a more profound understanding of what art is and what it takes to create it.
If you’re looking for artistic inspiration, Paris has it in abundance.
Don’t wait. Start making plans to board a plane or train, and go!
I know, it isn’t always as easy as just setting a date and going, but I hope to convince you it is worth it.
I’m a traveler and I love visiting places that are historic in nature and bring value to my creative life, but of all the cities I have visited – Amsterdam, Munich, Rome, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and so many others – Paris is the one city that brings out the very best of the creative within me.
What an immense impression Paris made upon me. It is the most extraordinary place in the world!
-Charles Dickens
It’s no wonder that the who’s who of artists visited Paris, and many chose to stay and live there – Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, and Monet to name only a few, and even writers – Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway.
Paris is the most extraordinary place in the world.
I can tell you about it and share pictures with you of all the wonderful landmarks in Paris, such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe and so many others, but those are not the reasons to visit Paris.
Live your passion. Photo by Joan Hutchinson
“Whenever you are in Paris at twilight in the early summer, return to the Seine and watch the evening sky close slowly on a last strand of daylight fading quietly, like a sigh.”
-Kate Simon
What is so important about Paris to artists is the energy of the city.
The energy of the city is why so many of the greatest artists have visited time and time again.
Some believe it’s the light in and around the city that drives one to create.
It is as if there is a gentle rush of electrical current flowing throughout the city, its residents, and visitors, invigorating all from within. Even at night everything and everyone seem to be awash with illumination.
You need never worry about writer’s block in Paris, because your creative flow will be moving effortlessly and ceaselessly like the current in the air throughout Paris..
You can’t find such creative stimulation anywhere else in the world, because it simply doesn’t exist anywhere else. Not in London, not in New York, and not in Amsterdam.
“No other city is quite like it. I wake early, often at 5 o’clock, and start writing at once.”
-James Joyce
It’s PARIS!
Walk about, Paris. Photo by Bryan Hutchinson
When I walk the streets of Paris I feel as if the place is otherworldly, that God made this one place where artistic inspiration and creative energy meet to produce the divine.
The vitality of Paris emanates from every fissure in the expansive avenues and streets, envelopes each leaf floating on the wind, and waves us on with every ripple of the Seine. It enlivens our creative spirit and fills us with hope.
The good news is that you can take that spirit with you, but the bad news is, not for very long, because like the fiercest addiction, it will call you back again and again and again. It’s the one addiction that no one would ever tell you to quit – that is, no one who has ever sat quietly on any bench in Paris for only a few minutes.
Paris makes you want to do the seemingly impossible.
Arc De Triomphe. Photo by Bryan Hutchinson
Anyone who knows me well enough knows I have an extreme fear of heights.
So it’s with absolute astonishment that I felt not a twinge of fear when Joan said she wanted to go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and asked if I would go with her. I automatically agreed without the slightest bit of apprehension. She gave me a surprised look for only a second and off we went, to the TOP OF THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE!
I was so relaxed at the top of the Arc I even posted a Facebook message that I was at the top.
I took the picture below while standing at the very edge. It was thrilling. It was life-changing. I felt as though we were on top of the world, hundreds of feet in the air, but it unexpectedly was as natural as breathing.
Paris from above. Photo by Bryan Hutchinson
I’ll never completely understand how my fear of heights was overcome for that day, but I am so happy it was. That’s the power of Paris. It takes you in. It changes you.
The Paris effect on creativity.
Creative flow is when your creativity comes naturally, without being beckoned, and you can paint, write or sculpt, whatever your art might be, to your heart’s content.
Walking the streets of Paris we spotted artists in places you wouldn’t imagine, on streets and garden paths, even along the river, where few people walked. They weren’t peddling their craft or seeking an audience, they were just there doing what they do simply for the sake of creating.
An artist has no home in Europe except in Paris.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Artist in Paris. Photo by Joan Hutchinson
Off the beaten path, left mostly alone, practically ignored by the locals, the true artists of Paris create their masterpieces. It’s an amazing thing to see an artist totally lost in their work, basking in the joie de vivre of creative flow.
Paris takes my breath away.
I’ll visit Paris again. Maybe one day Joan and I will live there.
I believe Paris will have a grand effect on you too if you visit her, but if Paris isn’t possible for you to visit right now, save up and plan your trip. But don’t make it someday – you and I both know someday never comes. Make real plans to go there. If you’re creative in any way, you owe it to yourself to visit.
Inspiring – Paris. Photo by Bryan Hutchinson
If you ever suffer from low confidence or struggle with doubt (don’t we all?), Paris will release you from them while you are in her reassuring arms.
Sound too good to be true? Visit. Stay a while.
Visit the side streets where few tourists go. Climb to the top of The Arc de Triomphe. Walk the most famous street in the world, The Champs-Élysées. Walk along the Seine river from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower. Put your lock on the Pont des Arts.
Our lock. Photo by Joan Hutchinson
Visit Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa at the Louvre. And above all, find a bench in a quiet garden of Paris and just sit there, because when you do, you’ll soon realize what Paris is all about.
Travel for the sake of your creative expression.
Traveling is so important for the creative within all of us. We all need new experiences in fresh places, so if you can’t go to Paris now or if Paris just isn’t for you, go somewhere unique to you, somewhere you haven’t been before as far away as you can afford to go.
And do it often, before it’s too late.
There are few things as beneficial for one’s creative flow than adventuring to new places and immersing yourself in the splendor of the local scene.
Bon voyage!
Have you visited Paris? Would you like to visit? Share in the comments.
