This was a lesson in spontaneity. One bitter cold winter afternoon, not long after I’d arrived, I discovered a (new to me) bookshop across from Jardin du Luxembourg called The Red Wheelbarrow that had such a jolly red awning I had to stop in. I ended up picking up a copy of The New Paris, which I had been eying for a while, and a small museum guide, which was sitting at the register, promising new adventures. I swiped it and perused, and discovered a small guide to street art in a small town called Vitry.

My favorite art movement is Impressionism, which is a far cry, you could say, from street art. I’ll admit I’m girly and like pastels, but I’m on a mission to also discover unconventional/hidden/new-to-me parts of Paris, so I decided to give this a go.

We arrived onto one of the main streets and the only thing that greeted us was a lonely Franprix grocery store. One mural sat next to it. After ducking in for some snacks, we walked the length of the street, searching, empty. A few more streets, one mural, and we ended up in Place de l’Église and on the fringe of a lively market. Clothing, produce, piping hot food; and general odds and ends spilling into the aisles. Lively, frenetic, you could barely turn around without elbowing someone’s shopping bag.

We threw the towel on the street art, picked up some pan-fried bread stuffed with onions and cheese, and perused the racks and rows of summer dresses. When we finally detangled ourselves from the crowd, we opted for the bus back to Paris, finding two seats near the window for a nice afternoon ride. We ended up at a little gallery in Le Marais…featuring street art! I guess you never have to travel too far to have an adventure.

Anything is art if you believe it is.