A Flaneur's Companion | On the Joy of Taking Walks
At Home with the Hastys - A Flaneur's Companion
The Backstory
New to Hasty Book List? Read about the fire that prompted this home renovation, here.
The Inspiration
On my Instagram bio, the first description I have is: Flâneur. I almost never talk about it on Instagram and only one person has ever asked me about it (thanks Camille di Maio! Listen to our interview here, where I tell her about what it means to me.) I’m pretty sure the first time I heard about the concept of a flâneur was in The Most Beautiful Walk in the World by John Baxter (click here to read more about this book on Bookshop.org or Amazon.) And then a few years ago Capsule Books, when it was a subscription book box, had a box that was flanêr themed. They wrote,
Flâner literally means “to stroll idly,” without any goal or destination in mind. While the word itself is a verb and not so much a feeling, there’s a certain beauty in strolling along the streets leisurely. It is this feeling we feel when we decide one day to just walk around, and look at the people and the buildings and find the beauty in details we so often miss. It is this feeling Francophiles spend their whole lives chasing. - Capsule Books
Technically, flâneur refers to a male. The female term would be passante or flâneuse…but I don’t think either of those terms are as pretty as flâneur. And since I’m not a French teacher, I’m just going to use whatever term I feel like. ha! (Side note: if any of my former French teachers are reading this…I’m sorry.)
If there is any one thing you should know about me, it is that I love to go for walks. I have an unquenchable thirst for long, leisurely walks. I could keep walking for hours, long after my back and legs begin their revolt. I love, quite honestly, everything about it….and it doesn’t matter if I’m walking on a bustling city sidewalk or hiking alone. The feeling is the same.
Lately, I’ve come across a number of listening companions that any fellow flâneur would appreciate:
Take a Walk, a podcast that aired on 99 Percent Invisible on October 27, 2020. Pop Up Magazine conducted a series of interviews about going on walks. Some played “I Spy” games on their walk, others just talked about what they love most about walking. It was a really lovely podcast to listen to while on my own walk.
Walking Meditations from Calm. Calm is an app for guided meditations of all kinds, but one I’ve found unique to them are their walking meditations which encourage you to be more mindful while going for walks. They guide you through a body scan to be more mindful about your body as it supports you during walks, and then it shifts into talking you through things to see, hear, and feel while on your walks. I especially liked these as I was walking from destination to destination to make me slow down and take in my surroundings.
Outdoor Walking with Peloton. I prefer the “fun walks” because they are a bit more relaxed and…well…fun! I rarely use my walks for rigorous exercise, they are definitely more of a mental break for me. But when I’m in the mood to add a little umph to my walk, or if I haven’t had a chance to do a proper workout, then I cue up a Peloton Fun Walk which encourages me to pick up my pace and get the heart beating a little faster.
There is a related concept called a griffe. Griffe literally translates to “a claw.” But more precisely, it is a signature route; a choice of favorite cafes, shops, parks, and the routes that link them. Flâneurs develop their griffes over time as they stroll their favorite streets, stop at their favorite cafes, wander through their favorite parks, and back again. I have a few favorite routes, thought it has been difficult to develop a sense of the cafes and shops along the way (given that I moved right before the city shut down due to the pandemic.) A few of my favorite walking trails in Chicago include:
The Lakefront Trail - when I lived in River North, I used the Chicago Street access. Right now I usually use the access between Waveland and W. Addison and when I return home I’ll use the Montrose access. What I love about the Lakefront Trail is that each section has its own personality…some areas are definitely party areas where friends gather to drink, other areas are very family friendly and you see lots of strollers and dogs. I like to walk along as far as I can go and watch as many people as I can.
Kelly Playlot Park - there is this adorable trail behind Alta Vista Terrace (which is one of my favorite streets in Chicago. When I day dream about my future, I definitely imagine living on that street.) Kelly Playlot Park is a short trail, only about four blocks long, but it is full of dogs playing, people picnicking, and families gathering for an outdoor BBQ in the tiny backyards of those who live on Alta Vista Terrace. When I first stumbled up on Kelly Park, I was pretty smitten.
Graceland Cemetery - when the Lakefront Trail was shut down during the first wave of the pandemic, I searched for a new griffe. Just beyond Kelly Playlot Park is Graceland Cemetery and even when other parks were closed, the cemetery remained open. Eric and I started making weekly walks to explore different gravesites of notable Chicagoans. I brought my phone and would read the wikipedia pages of the names we recognized. We stopped going once the Lakefront Trail reopened and we both miss our visits.
