How I Became a Morning Person

June 16, 2017

Fashion blogger Cee Fardoe of Coco & Vera walks in front of Hotel de Ville in Paris wearing a Zara pink moto jacketOutfit details on style blogger Coco & Vera, featuring a black Chanel extra mini handbagFashion blogger Cee Fardoe of Coco & Vera sits at the Esmerelda Cafe in Paris wearing Rag & Bone jeans and Christian Louboutin heelsCoffee cup and Chanel handbag belonging to style blogger Coco & Vera on the table at the Esmerelda CafePortrait of fashion blogger Cee Fardoe of Coco & Vera, wearing RayBan sunglasses and a Lucy crystal collarStyle blogger Cee Fardoe of Coco & Vera sits on the quad in Paris wearing Christian Louboutin Pigalle pumps and pink Zara jacketZara jacket (similar)
Aritzia tee (similar)
Rag & Bone jeans (c/o Shopbop)
Christian Louboutin heels
Chanel handbag
Rayban sunglasses
Olive + Piper necklace (c/o)

Paris made me a morning person. Until a few years ago, I would never have said I was a morning person or a night owl. My best time, I thought, was between noon and six. I liked to take my time in the morning, and relax in the evening.

I remember the morning that everything changed. It was March of 2014. I was in Paris with Ian, my brother and his girlfriend, staying in the ninth arrondissement. We had moved back to Canada six months earlier and I wanted to do every single thing I loved in Paris during our ten-day trip, which meant agreeing to things like a photoshoot at 8 am on a Tuesday – it was the only way to fit everything in. That morning, I took the metro from Anvers to Pont-Marie before walking to Le Saint-Regis to meet the photographer. I had never walked the streets of Paris so early before, and it changed my perspective completely. The sun shone, the birds chirped, and there was no one around to disrupt my appreciation of the beautiful scenery. When I look back, it’s no surprise to me that I became a morning person that day.

This year, we woke up at six am almost every day while we were in Paris. Some mornings, it was easy. Some mornings, I questioned my sanity quite seriously. But every morning we got up anyway because it was worth it to experience the city before the streets filled with people rushing to unknown destinations. There is something incredibly special about having a city like Paris, which is shared by so many people, to yourself, even for the shortest amount of time.

I love mornings everywhere now. There is something about being out before anyone else, even in a small place, that makes you feel at once like you own the world and like you are totally insignificant in the incredible scope of it. But Parisian mornings are best, like so many things Parisian things. On this particular morning, we settled in at Cafe Esmerelda on Ile de la Cite. Named for the beautiful heroine in Victor Hugo’s novel Notre-Dame de Paris, Esmerelda is normally a haven for tourists because it is on the same street as Notre Dame Cathedral. But all the tourists were still in bed since it was only 8 am, so we got to enjoy our coffee in blissful quiet as the sun rose over the Seine. It’s precious moments like that one that have convinced me that I will never go back to sleeping late.

8 comments so far.

8 responses to “How I Became a Morning Person”

  1. I too became a morning person a few years ago for similar reasons (in my case it was while working as a researcher at the Huntington Library in Pasadena and finding the early morning hours there as I walked to the library daily to be just magical and peaceful….getting to the library right when it opened so I always got the seat of my choice in the reading room and got my request slips for documents in before anyone else didn’t help)!

    Courtney ~ Sartorial Sidelines

  2. Melanie says:

    Oh, I´m a morning person, too. I like to start my day with a good breakfast.

    Your outfit looks great! I love the jacket .-*

    Melanie / http://www.goldzeitblog.de

  3. Lyddiegal says:

    I think it’s nice to be a morning person. There is something kind of wonderful about being out and about before everyone else. And how else could you get our outfit photos in such beautiful places without the bustle of tourists?

  4. Sherin says:

    I love being a morning person. I find that I’m a lot more productive during those early hours and so I get a lot more done.

  5. I have definitely become more of a morning person (and not just because I have little ones now; my daughter sleeps in like a teenager), but I have yet to rise at 6 AM on the regular. I do find that on vacation I tend to make up earlier, which is probably unlike most people. But those are the times I don’t want to miss anything!

  6. Cee, that holds true everywhere! It’s much calmer during the morning hours than later in the day. It also feels fresh & anew! It’s so worth it. Love the jacket you’re wearing.
    http://www.averysweetblog.com/

  7. Funnily enough, I’ve always been a morning person. Even when I went through my “party years” I was still up bright & early, and walking to get a coffee in the city. Like you, I love the empty streets… there’s an indescribable excitement in the air and I feel as though I’m getting a sneak peek before everyone else! I love it and miss it!! These days, my suburban streets are always quiet. Haha!! Plus, love you in blush, such a pretty hue with your dark hair! xo

    http://www.girlandcloset.com

Cee Fardoe is a thirty-something Canadian blogger who splits her time between Winnipeg and Paris. She is a voracious reader, avid tea-drinker, insatiable wanderer and fashion lover who prefers to dress in black, white and gray.

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