E-gads. Is there anything more beautiful than the flower stands at  Paris market?

I wanted to buy every one of these roses and just dump them onto my coffee table, just as they are.

If there’s one thing I could and should add to make life more beautiful, it’s fresh flowers. There is a market within a 4 minute walk of my office and apartment, and I go about once per month, if that. Why? What am I thinking? Walking up and down that big central aisle filled with flowers, vegetables, cheeses, farmers shouting out their best deal for two melons, and busy French shoppers eyeing a big pile of cherries and buying fresh fish – it makes me smile, by myself, walking. I love markets. There it is, just steps down the street, and yet I never go. Talk about not taking advantage of a good thing.

And those flowers. Something that surprises me about Paris is that fresh flowers are actually pretty cheap. Compared to a bouquet in the U.S., anyway. I’ve gotten a gorgeous bouquet at the market on my lunch break for 6 euros, nearly the same cost as my lunch, except it lasts a lot longer and brings me more joy. Okay lunch does bring me joy.

I love seeing a French woman walking down the street with a giant bouquet, imagining what giant vase is sitting in their apartment ready for that beauty. Or maybe she’s going to a dinner party and the bouquet is for a hostess. The way they wrap the flowers here, with beautiful sturdy paper, really done with care – it makes fresh flowers a special treat. You know that flimsy clear plastic film around flower bouquets? Childs play, an embarrassment to the bouquet. I know it all comes off in the end, but the French wrap them up like the precious gift that they are.

Note to self: Buy more fresh flowers. And visit the market.