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Home Alone in Paris

Home Alone in Paris

Vanessa Grall
July 23, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

I’ve been feeling a little bit like Kevin McCallister this week – left behind while everyone’s skipped town to go on vacation. Parisians have abandoned their posts and those of us still here are the enfants oubliés.

But of course, being “home alone” in Paris, means it’s time to get up to no good.

So let’s go and claim the French crown jewels for ourselves. Take a swim in the catacombs. Track down the sexiest grave in Paris and sneak behind the gates of the city’s most secret street. Run across the rooftops, wander through the oldest (and emptiest) hospital in Paris and generally be a very, very bad tourists in Paris.

Come and keep me company at Messy Nessy’s Cabinet! Wanna see something I’ve been working on behind the scenes? My debut collection with storied Parisian fashion house, Figaret, has secretly arrived early at the boutique. If you’re in town, you can come by and check out the collection in person before anyone else sees it. Otherwise, stay tuned for the drop next week…

Oh, and something else the vacationers will be missing: saddle up with cheese and wine as cyclists make their way to the finish line of a 120 year-old competition this weekend, here’s my take on the beautiful mess that is the Tour de France. Take a ride alongside them in the fantastic French publicity vans of yesteryear or veer off course with me slightly and venture into “weird France”: ghost towns, industrial zones and forgotten villages this way.

And as always, your weekly await with 13 Things I Found on the Internet Today…

Stay curious,

Nessy

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 747)

1. This is Japan’s Answer to Playboy magazine: weekly animal themed erotica!

www.messynessychic.com/2025/07/22/13-things-i-found-on-the-internet-today-vol-747

The Secret Swimming Pools of the Paris Catacombs

It felt like the pavements of Paris could have melted these past few days. The city's swimming pools were overflowing with splashing bodies and escape from the heat seemed futile. But there is one place, beneath the baking pavements, where only few will venture and plunge into the cool waters of the catacombs…

www.messynessychic.com/2015/07/10/the-secret-swimming-pools-of-the-paris-catacombs

Wandering Through the Oldest (and Emptiest) Hospital in Paris

Notre Dame has a very unusual neighbour that no one ever visits. If you're facing the cathedral's famous facade, surrounded by a sea of tourists and selfie-sticks, turn to your left and spot the blue door behind the chestnut trees, marked "Entrée". And enter you must!

www.messynessychic.com/2018/04/11/wandering-through-the-oldest-and-emptiest-hospital-in-paris

Don't Be a Tourist in Paris - NEW - Updated Third Edition

LATEST PRINT UPDATE: JUNE 2025

shop.messynessychic.com/products/copy-of-dont-be-a-tourist-in-paris-new-updated-third-edition

The Tour de France is a Beautiful Mess and Maybe that's How it Should Be

For a long time, I didn't really "get" the appeal of the Tour de France. A bunch of men in spandex torturing themselves on two wheels, each producing enough sweat to flush a toilet 39 times?

www.messynessychic.com/2019/07/26/the-tour-de-france-is-a-beautiful-mess-and-maybe-thats-how-it-should-be

Forget Roadside America, Let's Location Scout in "Weird France"

I've been yearning to get back across the pond for a good ol' dose of "weird America", but I tend to forget that my own country has some pretty odd, quirky and wonderfully nostalgic sights to see when you venture off the beaten path…

www.messynessychic.com/2021/12/23/forget-roadside-america-lets-location-scout-in-weird-france

The Art & Origins of Running Across Paris Rooftops

For those with a fear of heights, consider this your one and only warning to avert your eyes.

www.messynessychic.com/2020/09/29/the-art-origins-of-running-across-paris-rooftops