Dear friend of Monocle,
I felt I had the measure of Paris – after all, I had lived in the city’s 6th arrondissement for four years before I attended Monocle’s Quality of Life Conference in the French capital in 2022. I quietly considered myself a seasoned emigré who had worked out how to navigate its contraflow bike lanes, swimming-pool etiquette and sartorial codes. It’s funny how a few days can change that.
As we began the conference at Chanel’s Le19M complex in Paris’s Place Skanderbeg, I realised that I was meeting a city in flux – a place with myths to debunk and challenges to overcome. Like every Monocle Quality of Life jamboree, the programme introduced me to countless people, perspectives and ideas that I had never encountered as a resident. Despite my many assignments throughout France as a roving journalist, these three days transformed my relationship with Paris. |
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Dear friend of Monocle,
I felt I had the measure of Paris – after all, I had lived in the city’s 6th arrondissement for four years before I attended Monocle’s Quality of Life Conference in the French capital in 2022. I quietly considered myself a seasoned emigré who had worked out how to navigate its contraflow bike lanes, swimming-pool etiquette and sartorial codes. It’s funny how a few days can change that.
As we began the conference at Chanel’s Le19M complex in Paris’s Place Skanderbeg, I realised that I was meeting a city in flux – a place with myths to debunk and challenges to overcome. Like every Monocle Quality of Life jamboree, the programme introduced me to countless people, perspectives and ideas that I had never encountered as a resident. Despite my many assignments throughout France as a roving journalist, these three days transformed my relationship with Paris.
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There was a French view of media and politics from peerless anchor Christine Ockrent and CEO of Le Monde Group, Louis Dreyfus. There were insights from architect Lina Ghotmeh on how to make the city greener, more efficient and pleasant to live in, despite its density. There was also a rallying call from Ben Smith, CEO of Air France, about what constitutes Gallic luxury. I left with deep knowledge, nuanced views and a new understanding and regard for the place that I’d called home. I’d spent four years crafting a network but now I had a wadge of business cards in my purse and emails pinging in my inbox. I found myself dancing the night away in La Coupole and touring the backstreets of Bastille with an antiquarian-cum-historian.
It has been 10 years since our first-ever QoL event in Lisbon’s Ritz Four Seasons. I can still remember the first sound check; the sense of anticipation that we were doing something new. That conference was forged in a firm belief in the power of cities and their capacity to innovate, evolve and be a force for good. |
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There was a French view of media and politics from peerless anchor Christine Ockrent and CEO of Le Monde Group, Louis Dreyfus. There were insights from architect Lina Ghotmeh on how to make the city greener, more efficient and pleasant to live in, despite its density. There was also a rallying call from Ben Smith, CEO of Air France, about what constitutes Gallic luxury. I left with deep knowledge, nuanced views and a new understanding and regard for the place that I’d called home. I’d spent four years crafting a network but now I had a wadge of business cards in my purse and emails pinging in my inbox. I found myself dancing the night away in La Coupole and touring the backstreets of Bastille with an antiquarian-cum-historian.
It has been 10 years since our first-ever QoL event in Lisbon’s Ritz Four Seasons. I can still remember the first sound check; the sense of anticipation that we were doing something new. That conference was forged in a firm belief in the power of cities and their capacity to innovate, evolve and be a force for good. |
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This year’s venue of Barcelona will be no different: the conference will be a vital, joyful and rigorous debate on what urbanism means today. Our line-up will be fused with optimism, new ideas and sparky dialogue. Barcelona is a place that I have travelled to many times, from meandering sojourns around the Sagrada Família as a young art historian to a spa weekend on the 43rd floor of the Hotel Arts down by the beach in the early ‘naughts. I can’t wait to truly immerse myself in the Catalan capital, deepen my connection and meet the people shaping the city’s bright future.
We’d love to have you with us – and we are entering the last few days to save 10%. Book by 30 June to get the early-bird rate with code EARLYBIRD. Book now with 10% off.
I hope that you’ll join me for conversation and reflections on beauty, brand and design, and, almost certainly, a turn on the dance floor with the Monocle team (we like to decompress by throwing some shapes.) See you there.
Kind regards,
Sophie Grove
Executive Editor
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This year’s venue of Barcelona will be no different: the conference will be a vital, joyful and rigorous debate on what urbanism means today. Our line-up will be fused with optimism, new ideas and sparky dialogue. Barcelona is a place that I have travelled to many times, from meandering sojourns around the Sagrada Família as a young art historian to a spa weekend on the 43rd floor of the Hotel Arts down by the beach in the early ‘naughts. I can’t wait to truly immerse myself in the Catalan capital, deepen my connection and meet the people shaping the city’s bright future. We’d love to have you with us – and we are entering the last few days to save 10%. Book by 30 June to get the early-bird rate with code EARLYBIRD. Book now with 10% off. I hope that you’ll join me for conversation and reflections on beauty, brand and design, and, almost certainly, a turn on the dance floor with the Monocle team (we like to decompress by throwing some shapes.) See you there. Kind regards, Sophie Grove Executive Editor |
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