Sunbathing in Paris in April

The Wall Street Journal website regularly posts "Pictures of the Week", and it is there that I found this great shot of a woman sunbathing on a quay of the Seine last week. She certainly is not following the adage I heard as a child growing up in Paris:

Avril
Ne te découvre pas d'un fil
Mai
Fais ce qu'il te plait

(In April, do not take off a thread; in May, do as you wish)

The picture hardly seems natural ... it is rather studied and could have been shot for a commercial. But if this were the case, why would the WSJ present it as an interesting picture of the week? It must be a candid shot. Yet there are details that make you wonder. The large sheet spread under the woman and the pillow under her head could not possibly hold in the bag at her left arm ... but she may simply have carried them in her arms if she lives not too far from that spot. The flip-flops are a sign that this may be a candid shot; high heels would be more in keeping with a modeling photo-shoot.

On the whole, I prefer to think that, on a warm April day, this woman simply could not resist the temptation of celebrating the arrival of spring after an unusually long and harsh winter and decided to walk to the river to bask in the warmth of the sun.

She let her skirt fall down on her ankles, but she did not step out of it, and let it sit there, as if she wanted to be ready to quickly lift it back up if she had to leave in an emergency. This is probably also why she has kept her bag hanging at her arm. However, she certainly does not seem to be worried or vigilent. Her attitude is relaxed and there is a faint smile on her lips. Is she simply content or is she smiling at the photographer?

One thing is certain. This picture is quintessential Paris. Only in Paris would a woman dress with such sophisticated elegance (all in black: black skirt, black tight underwear shorts, black top, and black accessories: the handbag, the flip-flops, the bracelet on her right arm) to go sunbathe near the river.

Her pose reveals a tattoo on the inside of her right arm.