I’ve spent hours being a flaneuse long before I had ever heard the word. I thought of the practice in much less graceful terminology, though; I simply called it aimless wandering. In the spirit of Baudelaire, and inspired by Peter Arkle’s “39 Things on Broadway,” allow me to present 39 things that I observed while walking home on Avenue Berthelot.

1. Three grown men precariously riding a small motorcycle down the street.
2. A lit cigarette balancing delicately on a sandwich board, likely waiting for its smoker to return.
3. A puddle of unrecognizable brown sauce, surrounded by glass shards that were once a jar that contained it. Sidewalk sauce.
4. A woman in a burka riding an electric scooter, the dark fabric flowing freely in the wind behind her.
5. A half-eaten baguette perched on a window ledge.
6. One woman weeping softly at a brasserie table, speaking in whispers as a companion comforts her.
7. Many very tasty looking kebab signs. They always seem to look better on the sign.
8. Two men sprinting from the Franprix, in what appeared to be some sort of chase.
9. A group of young women all in sequined ensembles.
10. ASAB scribbled in red spray paint on a cream-colored wall.
11. A fancy-dressed couple walking hand in hand.
12. A tiny read sneaker wedged behind a trash can.
13. An open pit a few blocks away from our apartment building, which they’ve been steadily digging out since we arrived.
14. Blue-violet lights on the side of the Jean Mace train station.
15. Expressionless men puffing away at their hookahs in the lounge. We’re observing each other through the floor to ceiling windows as I stroll past.
16. An elderly woman with far too many bags. I think about offering a hand but she shuffles through the door of an apartment building before I’m close enough.
17. A flyer for a dance night called “ACID.”
18. A flyer for Lyon’s street food festival this week.
19. The florescent lights of a tabac fluttering chaotically.
20. Two men carrying a table through a narrow apartment doorway.
21. A tiny black car parked on the sidewalk.
22. A woman texting on her phone, nearly getting hit by a bicyclist.
23. A bicyclist in the street, nearly getting hit by the tram.
24. A volunteer plant with vibrant pink flowers, sprouting courageously through a crack in the sidewalk.
25. A floral velvet couch inside a brasserie.
26. An extremely cute, mop-headed dog napping under the table of a cafe.
27. A young girl riding on the handle bars of her friends’ bike, both giggling with joy (or maybe fear?)
28. A bright orange towel hanging out of the window of a third story apartment.
29. A man wearing a long white robe. It looks very comfortable.
30. A young mom comforting her tiny, crying baby.
31. A smiley face scribbled on top of a sidewalk marker pole.
32. A man driving with sunglasses at night.
33. A glimpse of the train speeding by on the elevated tracks that run along the street.
34. Fake silk flower arrangements in the windows of the funeral services shop.
35. A tree that has clearly outgrown the protective grating that surrounds it.
36. A red light beaming down from the sign of an empty restaurant.
37. A group of teenage boys listening to reggae music in the square at Jean Mace.
38. The colorful glass mosaic of Saint Michel church, glowing softly.
39. The full moon hanging brightly above the city.