Singles
Whether you spend your Friday night at a bar in the 12th arrondissement's Bastille area or at an upscale restaurant in the 4th arrondissement, it's your moment to enjoy a happy social life.
If you wake up early, Saturday morning you might go for a run along the Seine or in a park near your home, kayak on the Canal Saint-Martin, and before heading back, stop by the corner bakery to pick up a fresh baguette and a chocolate croissant, exchanging greetings with neighbors having coffee outside the little café downstairs.
Did your boyfriend or girlfriend stay over at your apartment on Friday? Then a possible option is to stroll hand in hand through the Saturday market—fresh vegetables, flowers, sea fish, a freshly roasted chicken with small potatoes from the butcher, or perhaps two slices of pale pink veal, all great ingredients for cooking together.
Afterward, buy a fast-line RER ticket and head to the suburbs of Paris to visit family at their house. Take in the latest exhibition at the Musée de l'Orangerie or the Musée d'Orsay, enjoy a glass of freshly poured milk at the Paris International Agricultural Show, or return the books you've just finished at the neighborhood library and borrow a few more.
Saturday evening, after getting dressed, you'll choose one activity: a movie at MK2 cinemas, a performance at the Paris Opera, a play at Théatre du Rond-Point, or a lively dinner party with close friends.
Sunday is for sleeping in. If the weather is nice, you can go for a picnic; if it's not, head to Rue Saint-Maur to see Cézanne. Since you're not saving money, if your budget allows, have lunch at Niko Romito's three-star Italian restaurant Il Ristorante inside the H?tel Bulgari, or stand with a few friends at a budget oyster spot in the 11th arrondissement with no seating, enjoying freshly shucked oysters paired with white wine by the glass.
Sunday afternoons are for chatting with friends at a café, visiting someone, practicing yoga, reading, or perhaps you're on a train back to Paris from the Normandy coast, reading a novel as you wait for your stop.
With Kids
Given that 50% of children in Paris are born to unmarried parents, those with kids aren't necessarily married couples.
On weekends, you're usually not even awake before the little rascals have already gotten up, clutching their comfort toys and demanding a story. After dragging things out until 9:30 or 10, your partner has bought butter croissants, and you finally get to have your first cup of coffee. By the time breakfast is finished, it's nearly 11, and after the whole family gets cleaned up, you bike together to the park. The carousel must be ridden at least three times, you need to pack enough diapers, and beware of the mischievous one who might throw stones into the park's pond and then try to throw themselves in after.
Lunch is at a small restaurant near the park.
After lunch, you have the option to visit grandparents on either side to get a break from childcare. Alternatively, you can continue with museum, library, or gallery plans.
By around 4 PM, you or both of you are utterly exhausted. So, the 4 PM (snack time) becomes both a moment for you to catch your breath and a rest time for the kids. If you're lucky enough that their classmates invite them for a sleepover, congratulations—you've finally earned an evening to yourself.
Singles
If there's no overtime on Friday night, you'll be at the gym, a movie theater, or an immersive role-playing game (script murder), or you'll just stay home playing video games and binge-watching shows.
On Saturday, you sleep in, scoop the cat's litter box, have some bread and milk. If you're the artsy type, you might go to 798 to check out an exhibition. If you're ambitious, you keep working overtime or attend training classes from the weekend, all while keeping an eye on your phone to see if your boss has sent any unread messages.
On Sunday, you continue staying home playing video games, binge-watching shows, shopping online, or working overtime.
With Kids
On both Saturday and Sunday, you—playing the dual roles of driver and nanny—shuttle between taking your child to early education classes, tennis lessons, ballet, English, math, drama, Go (weiqi), and piano lessons.
Most of your social time on weekends is spent attending business dinners or networking events, and engaging in small talk with other parents you barely know while waiting for the kids during class breaks.
When you occasionally visit an exhibition, it's not for your own relaxation—it's mainly to expose your child to culture.
Your child's friends' parents become your friends.
Every moment before the kids wake up and after they fall asleep is spent scrolling through your phone. If you actually have time to open a book, it's mostly just to take a photo for your WeChat Moments.
Your gym membership is about to expire, and it's only when the salesperson urges you to renew that you realize you've barely used it.
Looking disheveled with a scruffy beard is nothing out of the ordinary. You rely on annual medical aesthetic treatments and the barbershop around the corner to handle all your appearance needs.
For those with kids in Beijing, spending a weekend is a job even more exhausting than going to work...
