Isabelle Alexandre and Jonah Grignon are the voices behind the CharlatanLive podcast and together, they have dropped the mic to pen a love letter to the cities they call home.
Isabelle, who grew up in Paris, offers personal conversations and challenges the romanticized stereotypes often associated with the city of love. From the serene landscapes of Kawartha Lakes to the bustling streets of Ottawa, Jonah offers a fresh perspective on love and community in Canada’s capital.
Isabelle:
From how it is portrayed through film and literature, Paris is often referred to as the city of love. For me, it’s home. People often ask me how I could have moved from Paris to Ottawa? The obvious answer is for my education and the opportunities that Canada offers. That being said, I often get homesick and reminisce about the place where I grew up.
Roman Gilbert, born and raised in Paris, is a part of the city’s queer community. He told me that the “city of love” is a “foreign stereotype” and I agree with this statement. Paris is so much more than just clichés.
Paris is getting a homemade ice tea at “le Fétiche” and a crêpe on Rue Mouffetard. It’s going on a walk with my best friend and her dog at Esplanade Jacques-Chaban-Delmas. It’s sauntering through the Serres d’Auteuil with my Dad whilst he takes photos with his film camera. It’s taking pictures in the ‘photomaton’ in the metro stations with my sister. It’s an ice-cold Apérol Spritz during happy hour in a café at La Motte Picquet on a warm summer day. It’s going shopping with my mom on Rue de Passy and riding an electric scooter through the notorious Place de l’Étoile with my sister without dying! Paris is a sum of the simple things that I do with my friends and family and not the glamour that people associate with the city.
I went to school in the Marais, which is known as “le Gay Paris,” the queer neighbourhood of Paris. The Marais is a vibrant, open-minded neighbourhood that does not judge its habitants, but the queer community does not often spring to mind when people think about the city of love.
“The stereotype that is conveyed first is heterosexual romanticism,” Gilbert remarked in French.
Paris is a beautiful city that has a lot to offer all communities. However, the over-romanticization of the city reinforces dated stereotypes about love and an over-glamorized foreign perspective of the city. The reality of love in Paris is, in fact, much more than that.
Jonah:
Talk to anyone from outside of Ottawa long enough, and you’re bound to hear the classic gripe at some point. Sure, it’s deathly cold for half the year. Sure, the public transit system is a bit of a sick joke compared to other global capital cities. But the real issue: It’s just so boring here.
I grew up in the country just outside a town of 20,000-ish people before moving to Ottawa in 2023, my first time living in a real city. To someone like me, everything here is a novelty. I adore my hometown, but when comparing skating, museums and music, it’s just not a fair fight. Oh, and shawarma.
Ottawa may not be the image of a “city of love.” Boxy government buildings are no match for the row houses of London or the monolithic concrete corridors of Manhattan. But Ottawa isn’t a place that’s always obvious about its strengths. Look past those bureaucratic bunkers and you’ll see historic neighborhoods steeped in community. Look past it’s so boring complaint and you’ll see Ottawa for what it is: an irregular city of love.
Love isn’t always a diamond ring sparkling by the Seine or a sunset on the Santa Monica Pier. Love can be simpler than that. Love is losing feeling in your legs while skating into the wind with your best friend on the Rideau Canal. Love is a free Thursday visit to the National Gallery. Love is sharing shawarma on a park bench.
