About Coffee Pot Conversations hosted by An Englishman in Paris
Bonjour and welcome to Coffee Pot Conversations, the podcast that gives you something a little bit different of Paris.
My name is Paul and I'm here to help you experience the city like a visitor, not a tourist.
So, grab yourself a coffee, settle in, and let’s discover Paris together.
Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday (January-May, July-November)
Publisher
Coffee Pot Conversations hosted by An Englishman in Paris
6.7 Is the Flâneur Dead? Psychogeography and the Art of Wandering
Is the flâneur dead—or has it simply evolved?
In Part Two of this exploration into one of Paris's most fascinating cultural figures, I follow the flâneur from the boulevards of nineteenth-century Paris into the modern world of psychogeography, street photography, digital wandering and slow travel.
Discover how Guy Debord, the Situationist International, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Vivian Maier and Lauren Elkin reshaped our understanding of wandering without purpose. Along the way, I reflect on my own experiences exploring Paris and I ask whether the city still rewards those willing to abandon the map and embrace the unexpected.
Featuring insights from Professor Federico Castigliano, author of Flâneur: The Art of Wandering the Streets of Paris.
For more on Federico Castigliano check out https://federicocastigliano.com (https://federicocastigliano.com)
For some amazing attire, Christian and French Abroad can be found at https://frenchabroadparis.com (https://frenchabroadparis.com)
📹 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@CoffeePotConversations/ (https://youtube.com/@CoffeePotConversations/)
📷 Instagram - https://instagram.com/anenglishmaninparisblog/ (https://instagram.com/anenglishmaninparisblog/)
✒️ Blog - https://anenglishmaninparis.blog/ (https://anenglishmaninparis.blog/)
🔗 Links - https://links.anenglishmaninparis.blog (https://links.anenglishmaninparis.blog)
☎️ Message - https://voicenote.anenglishmaninparis.blog/ (https://voicenote.anenglishmaninparis.blog/)
📧 Email - 67@anenglishmaninparis.blog (mailto:67@anenglishmaninparis.blog)
📣 Shout out - shoutout@anenglishmaninparis.blog (mailto:shoutout@anenglishmaninparis.blog)
🎂 Birthdays - birthday@anenglishmaninparis.blog (mailto:shoutout@anenglishmaninparis.blog)
💰 Support - https://patreon.com/coffeepotconversations (https://patreon.com/coffeepotconversations)
☕ Buy Me a Coffee - https://buymeacoffee.com/anenglishmaninparis (https://buymeacoffee.com/anenglishmaninparis )
Introduction (00:24)
News (11:12)
Coffee Pot Conversation (19:05)
Conclusion (30:47)
Coming Up (33:56)
Outro (35:36)
#paris #travel #vlog
22 Sept 2026
6.6 What is a Flâneur? Baudelaire, Dandies and Walking Through Paris
What exactly is a flâneur?
Is it simply someone who wanders around Paris without a destination? A person with too much time and too little purpose? A literary observer? A dandy? A tourist who has decided not to behave like a tourist?
Or has the flâneur become something rather more elevated - almost a status?
In this episode of Coffee Pot Conversations, I take a deeper look at the idea of the flâneur, building on my earlier episode about Charles Baudelaire.
The story actually began with my own blog. Long before I knew the word flâneur, I had written about what I called a “marché lent” - a slow walk: wandering through Paris without necessarily having anywhere particular to go.
Only later did I discover that there was already a word for what I was describing.
This episode is an attempt to go further.
Rather than simply revisiting Baudelaire, I explore how the idea of the flâneur developed, changed and evolved - from a term associated with idleness and aimless wandering into the celebrated figure of the detached urban observer.
And joining me sporadically throughout the episode is Professor Federico Castigliano, Professor of French and Italian Studies and author of Flaneur – The Art of Wandering the Streets of Paris.
Together, we explore the history, appearance, behaviour and changing meaning of the flâneur.
Perhaps the biggest question is a surprisingly simple one:
Can you still be a flâneur today?
Or has the modern city made genuine flânerie impossible?
Maybe being a flâneur isn't about where you go at all.
Maybe it is about how you move through the city.
So grab your coffee, leave your destination behind for a while, and come wandering through Paris.
Find out more about Federico here https://www.federicocastigliano.com/ (https://www.federicocastigliano.com/)
His book, Flâneur: The Art of Wandering the Streets of Paris can be bought on Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fl%C3%A2neur-Art-Wandering-Streets-Paris/dp/1546942092/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519733328&sr=8-1&keywords=flaneur+the+art+of+wandering) and at other good book retailers online and throughout the world.
📹 YouTube - https://youtube.com/@CoffeePotConversations/ (https://youtube.com/@CoffeePotConversations/)📷 Instagram - https://instagram.com/anenglishmaninparisblog/ (https://instagram.com/anenglishmaninparisblog/)✒️ Blog - https://anenglishmaninparis.blog/ (https://anenglishmaninparis.blog/)🔗 Links - https://links.anenglishmaninparis.blog (https://links.anenglishmaninparis.blog)☎️ Message - https://voicenote.anenglishmaninparis.blog/ (https://voicenote.anenglishmaninparis.blog/)📧 Email - 6.6@anenglishmaninparis.blog (mailto:6.6@anenglishmaninparis.blog)📣 Shout out - shoutout@anenglishmaninparis.blog (mailto:shoutout@anenglishmaninparis.blog)🎂 Birthdays - birthday@anenglishmaninparis.blog (mailto:shoutout@anenglishmaninparis.blog)💰 Support - https://patreon.com/coffeepotconversations (https://patreon.com/coffeepotconversations)☕ Buy Me a Coffee - https://buymeacoffee.com/anenglishmaninparis (https://buymeacoffee.com/anenglishmaninparis )
Introduction (00:24)
News (04:25)
Coffee Pot Conversation (12:39)
Conclusion (32:07)
Coming Up (42:57)
Coming Up - Part 2 (44:10)
Outro (46:04)
Pre-Ending (46:39)
8 Sept 2026
6.5 The Parisian Flâneur | Charles Baudelaire and the Art of Walking Paris
What exactly is a flâneur?
It's one of those French words that appears everywhere when people talk about Paris, yet few stop to explain where it came from or why it still matters today.
In this episode of Coffee Pot Conversations, I explore the origins of the flâneur through the extraordinary life and writings of Charles Baudelaire, the nineteenth-century poet whose observations of everyday Paris transformed the way artists, writers and travellers viewed the modern city.
Along the way, we uncover Baudelaire's complicated life, his fascination with the changing streets of Haussmann's Paris, his relationship with Edgar Allan Poe, the publication of Les Fleurs du Mal and how simply walking through Paris became an artistic act.
Whether you've heard the word flâneur a hundred times or are discovering it for the first time, this episode explores why wandering without purpose may be one of the best ways to experience Paris.
In this episode
What is a flâneur?
What does flâner actually mean?
My own discovery of slow walking in Paris
Charles Baudelaire's childhood
Baudelaire's life in the Latin Quarter
Hashish, cafés and nineteenth-century intellectual Paris
Les Fleurs du Mal
The Painter of Modern Life
The birth of modernity
Edgar Allan Poe and Baudelaire
Haussmann's Paris through a poet's eyes
Baudelaire's final years and burial in Montparnasse Cemetery
Visiting Baudelaire's grave today
Perfect for listeners interested in
Charles Baudelaire • Flâneur • Paris history • French literature • Paris walking tours • Hidden Paris • Haussmann • Edgar Allan Poe • French poetry • Literary Paris • Montparnasse Cemetery • Creative writing • Coffee Pot Conversations
☕ Coffee Pot Conversations explores the hidden history, literature and everyday life of Paris through storytelling, personal experiences and carefully researched history.
Rather than simply visiting famous landmarks, each episode invites you to understand the people, ideas and places that shaped the City of Light.
Introduction (00:24)
News (02:42)
Outside Broadcast (13:46)
Coffee Pot Conversation (16:07)
Conclusion (42:20)
Coming Up (44:30)
Outro (45:02)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
937
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
4.6 / 5
9 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 42 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
45
Social presence
0
YouTube
66
Engagement
31
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