Joie de vivre is a French phrase.
Therefore, it stands to reason that this means the Parisians are filled with joie de vivre. Right?
Last night as I was turning out the light, I had a huge flash--
Parisians are NOT filled with joie de vivre. If there is one thing one can say with absolute certainty, Parisians have nothing joie de vivre about them at all.
Want to know why?
Because being Parisian is serious business. It's a lot of work. It demands a standard of precise living, a certain awareness of one's place in the preserving of all that is right and good with being BORN a Parisian in the first place, that cannot be lightly undertaken.
Yes, they display a certain smugness, a certain aloofness, a certain starchiness. Starch is a good thing they feel. Too many tourists would like to bring the formality down.
The Parisians would not. Therefore, they are on guard. They are serious. And no, they do not wish to smile at you for no damn good reason.
As a result, Parisians themselves are the one thing about Paris that tarnishes Paris's good name.
Of course the Parisians themselves could care less.
(This does not mean they aren't perfectly lovely people once they you get to know them).
What I am sharing here is that one should not take for granted that old saws, pithy phrases, and so on, have any base in reality.
So, just because 'joie de vivre' is composed of French words, this does not mean it pertains to the psyches of Parisians.
Except for the children of Paris. They are the most delightful little beings in the world.
I just can't imagine what happens to them as they grow up.
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