The term flâneur comes from the French masculine noun flâneur—which has the basic meanings of “stroller”, “lounger”, “saunterer”, “loafer”—which itself comes from the French verb flâner, which means “to stroll”. Charles Baudelaire developed a derived meaning of flâneur—that of “a person who walks the city in order to experience it”. (Wikipedia)

Flanerie, then, means “strolling; sauntering; hence, aimlessness; idleness.” French poet Baudelaire wrote about the joys of becoming a flaneur, practicing flanerie. A flaneur walks the streets of the city, yes, it’s supposed to be the city, with no aim in mind. Flanerie is not exercise or a means to get to work or to go shopping. Flanerie is aimless strolling with no particular goal in mind. (“There was in Paris a brief vogue for flaneur to amble around town with tortoises on leashes” –to slow one down and remind one of the true vocation of a flaneur. ~Alain de Botton on Baudelaire and flanerie)

Wouldn’t Flanerie make a wonderful blog name? I did find a seemingly abandoned British blog by that name, but it seems up for grabs otherwise. A blog called “flanerie” would be a leisurely stroll through the city of one’s choice with insights both great and small recorded for simple pleasure of recording them. Perhaps a few “found poems.” A transcription of an overheard conversation. With a camera to snap a picture of something you want to remember? Or is photography disallowed because it’s too purposeful?

A good example of intellectual flanerie would be the book by American Chinese author Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living. I can certainly imagine Mr. Lin engaging in a sort of peripatetic flanerie in which he strolled the streets of New York City or Singapore, content to discover whatever serendipitous delights might come his way.

Does flanerie appeal to you? If you become a flaneur, even for an hour or a day, let me know how it works out. I might try it out myself — sans turtle.