"I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself"
a Q&A with author Glynnis MacNicol
hello, lovers!
if you’re based in the US, I hope your sunday is off to an incredible start. if you’re somewhere else in the world (Substack provides me stats to see we have readers across Europe, South Africa, and as far afield as Australia!), I hope you’re finishing off your weekend on a high note, or, if you’re reading on Monday morning, starting the final day of September off with a smile.
as I’ll delve into in today’s edition of the sunday series, this past week was a gray one here in Paris. but, I still managed to make the best of it with plenty of steps, endless little treats, and people-watching aplenty. perhaps the below video is a better representation of what recent weeks here have looked like!
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Tuesday, October 1st marks ONE YEAR since launching the sunday series on Substack, and the creative process of adapting to this platform has been incredibly rewarding. as many of you know, I launched the paid version of my Substack earlier this month, and I’m beyond grateful to each of you who have upgraded your subscription. it’s been tough to decide where to insert the paywall, but the below message I received from a reader this week truly made it feel so rewarding to be able to find the right balance.
and on that note, here’s what you can expect in today’s send:
perusals in pleasure: what I got up to this week
review on the #1 voted baguette in Paris by the Grand Prix de la Baguette de Tradition Française de la Ville de Paris
Q&A with Glynnis MacNicol, author of I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris and No One Tells You This: A Memoir
a quick way to check that you’re registered to vote (36 days till the election!!)
paid-subscriber exclusive: things to talk about at the dinner table…entertainment and news I’m consuming
paid-subscriber exclusive: a new (to me) platform I’m obsessing over
Paris is a city that is steeped in notions of pleasure.
it’s the place that books, TV, and movies have convinced us is best spent wrapped up in the arms of a lover. but it’s also a place to fall in love with your own company.
my monthlong stint here is very much an investigation into the art of pleasure. what does this investigation look like? slow mornings, daily croissants, not having an agenda, procuring an ungodly amount of rich foods at local grocers, walking in the “wrong” direction and seeing where it leads, and lots of solo outdoor dining, book in hand. and as much as I love eating out, I’m also romanticizing cooking at the apartment I’m renting, relishing the ease at which I can obtain super fresh produce (the lettuce in NYC grocery stores is PUT TO SHAME by the selection here) that’s far more affordable than I’m used to. for context, just check out my haul below from Friday, which was collectively less than 50€! New York, I love you, but you could simply never…
unfortunately, my break from the NY hustle also happens to be coming at a moment in my life where I’m about a month out from the New York City Marathon. so I’m balancing trying to be loose and free with the reality of a quite regimented training schedule that requires me to run upwards of thirty-five miles per week. NGL, the timing *couldn’t be worse* in that regard, but the opportunity to work remotely for just a bit based on our company moving to a new, not-yet-ready office wasn’t going to come again. I had to pounce when I could! and I’m making the best of it.
I’m trying to see the ‘obligation’ to run between eighteen to twenty miles each Saturday as a chance to see parts of the city I wouldn’t otherwise! this was certainly the case yesterday when I got beyond the “périphérique” (the ring that encloses the city) far past its southwest border. I ran along parts of the Seine I’d never seen and it was a really beautiful chance to see how people are living outside of city center, as well as another chance to run through Bois de Boulogne.
but, I’m getting ahead of myself. can we talk about how it rained ALL week??
in truth, it was a bit of a glum string of days! fashion week festivities meant that hotels were too busy (in my line of work, I schedule site inspections at hotels like a normal person would go to museums) to do anything but stay above water, and the constant rain made the prospect of lining up dates less than appetizing. I spent most of the work week doing that: working.
but then, on Friday morning, I woke up to the first blue sky we’d seen since Sunday evening when it started raining. to make it ever sweeter, I DIDN’T HAVE TO RUN. immediately, my endorphins were on overdrive!!!! the sweet taste of sunshine and freedom!
when I headed out for a coffee and croissant—my simple morning routine here that feels like a small pleasure I’d never grant myself in New York—and it was as if everything was falling in my favor from the start. the woman at the boulangerie remembered my coffee order, and as opposed to grabbing one of the (delish) pastries they had on offer, I let her know that would be all today.
I wanted to walk a bit further (herein, extending my pleasure) with the sun on my face and coffee in hand to forage for a carbohydrate slightly beyond my neighborhood stroll. I have a note in my phone with not only a dozen bakeries but specific things from them I want to try. one of the spots on my hitlist was Boulangerie Utopie (20 Rue Jean-Pierre-Timbaud 75011) who won the prestigious Grand Prix de la Baguette de Tradition Française de la Ville de Paris, an annual competition in Paris that celebrates the traditional French baguette.
and oh my word, was it worth the extra fifteen-minute walk! the baguette was hot, crusty on the outside, and oh so pillowy on the inside. hands down the best I’ve ever had. and the croissants were equally delightful!!! don’t skip Utopie if you find yourself on the east side of Paris on your next visit. and in case you’re curious what is entailed in winning ‘best baguette’ more on what that entails below!
did you know that in 1993 a law was passed in France that regulates how a baguette de tradition must be made? baguettes de tradition have to be made on the premises of the boulangerie, from start to finish. they can contain only four ingredients—wheat flour, yeast, salt and water. only then can they be called tradition. the baguette law is supported by an annual competition for the best Paris baguettes—the Grand Prix de la Baguette de Tradition Française de la Ville de Paris. in its 31st iteration this April, Utopie took home the honor.
meet Glynnis MacNicol
on the note of pleasure, I’m going to turn it over to a Q&A with a guest who knows a thing or two about the topic. author of I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris and No One Tells You This: A Memoir, Glynnis is a masterful storyteller. I was lucky enough to hear her speak about her work at an event in conversation with previous sunday series guest
on my first full day in Paris during this monthlong stay and it felt like the most fortuitous kickoff to my time here. read on for our Q&A!Kayla Douglas: Glynnis, what did your road to becoming an author and podcaster look like?
Glynnis MacNicol: It was long and winding and very much benefited in the beginning from the upheaval the blogosphere inflicted on traditional media. I was able to slip in when newspapers were transitioning online and blogs were getting a lot of attention. Combined with all the excitement around the 2008 election that came with a lot of opportunities to interact with people I might otherwise have found challenging to access. Since then it’s been a matter of being nimble and staying open to opportunities as best I can, while trying to remain as close as I can to doing work I feel strongly about.
Kayla: Your book, I'M MOSTLY HERE TO ENJOY MYSELF, found you in Paris in August 2021. As a New Yorker, what has your relationship with Paris looked like over the years and why did you feel compelled to spend time here as the pandemic was winding down?
Glynnis: Paris makes sense to me as a New Yorker, even though my fluency in the language is abysmal. I think this is true for a lot of New Yorkers; it’s a diverse walking city packed with so much culture. I’d been fortunate to spend chunks of time here over the years – I wrote a lot of No One Tells You This here in 2016 and 2017 – and have a circle of friends here I missed. I also missed the city. When the opportunity arose to come, I jumped on it.
Kayla: The description of your book says, "The pursuit of enjoyment is a political act, both a right and a responsibility. Enjoying yourself—as you are—is not something the world tells you is possible, but it is." How do you aim to approach the seemingly simple (yet incredibly difficult) act of enjoying yourself?
Glynnis: Unapologetically and without explanation or justification.
Kayla: For those who may not be in a position to spend time somewhere like Paris but want to lean into building their life around seeking pleasure, how would you recommend they start in small ways?
Glynnis: I have a horror of prescriptive writing, is the truth. Or even giving advice. This book is not a guidebook or in any way meant as one. What I will say is, there is a lot of shame attached to women seeking pleasure for themselves. I think, if you find yourself experiencing shame around certain choices, it’s always useful to ask who is actually benefiting from that shame, and how, and why.
Kayla: In addition to writing your own books and podcasting, you contribute personal essays to global publications such as The New York Times, Town & Country, Glamour, The Cut, ELLE, The Guardian, and many others. How do you tackle writing about culturally fraught topics like choosing to be single and child-free?
Glynnis: I’m a memoirist and this is just how I live. Most of my writing is driven by a desire to articulate my own experiences and observations, and then contribute as best I can to expanding the narratives we have around the ways women are actually living their lives.
Kayla: Shifting to what you're reading! Tell us about something you read recently that left you with a book hangover.
Glynnis: I read a lot this summer, which was wonderful. A month ago I would have said Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, which consumed me the way a book has not done in many years. But I also just finished Lonesome Dove (858 pages) and that also consumed me in a very different way! Long live the long epic.
Kayla: What book is on your TBR pile that you're most excited to pick up?
Glynnis: I have a few. Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting, which Luisa Weiss raved about in a recent newsletter. I’m also excited for the new Deborah Levy coming out next month. Rachel Khong’s Real Americans is waiting for me back in New York.
Kayla: The Sunday Series was conceptualized as a love letter to my favorite day of the week. If we were with you in Paris on Sunday, where would you take us to spend the afternoon?
Glynnis: The truth is I like to spend Sundays by myself :) I love alone time in a Paris parc. I get asked frequently for my Paris recommendations, and I always say go sit in the parcs here. They encourage rest and enjoyment in a way I haven’t encountered in other cities.
things to talk about at the dinner table: entertainment and news I’m consuming
I’m cognizant that it could be quite irritating if this entire newsletter becomes entirely about Paris. I swear, I’m still consuming content and engaged in cultural conversations around what’s going on elsewhere. for instance, it’s only 36 DAYS TILL THE ELECTION!!! are you registered to vote? you can check here! and now that we have that covered, let’s dive into much more frivilous topics that I think are worthy of conversation at the dinner table…
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