With just thoughts to accompany me, i spent the day writing in a notebook. Here are some excerpts of what i wrote:
café bonaparte
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| where i ate lunch |
"So begins mon jour seul. i am sitting at le bonaparte in the 6e arrondissement, l'église de St. Germain to my left, and a jazz piano/sax duo across the street to serenade me. This is the area in which Fitzgerald and Hemingway wrote and i feel a bit as if i've stepped back in time.
They say all roads lead to paris. i certainly hope so."
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| gaspacho+coke+dorian gray+notepad |
trocadero
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| bug in the corner? |
"Eating lauderée pistahio ice cream+macaroon that I i got after buying nail polish at Chanel. i have a feeling i will never feel so chic as i do in this moment.
Two boys and their little brother are rollerblading next to me. They are talking about all of the tourists, unaware that i can speak French. i love this paris, the one where the cliché mixes with the every day life."
{homework assignment below}
i bought my nail polish at Galarie Lafayette near les Grands Boulevards. This area of town is very posh and is impressive. There is a reason that the streets in this area are called the grand boulevards, with the wide roads and trees lining the sides. When i went into Chanel, i felt like i was in a very good movie with lots of posh people doing posh things. On this walk, we were also required to go to Opera Garnier. For those of you who know me, you'll know that one of my greatest fears is the Phantom of the Opera. Irrational, yes. It terrifies me all the same. So it took some coaxing to get me near l'Opera. The building was beautiful, which i begrudgingly admitted. And there really is a lake underneath the building. i hope i don't have nightmares.
tuilerie
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| not doing my homework |
"i'm sitting in tuilerie, along with about a million other tourists. i'm trying to do homework, but failing miserably. A young french couple sits across from me. He has a pony tail, she has a bob. He went to throw something away and she watched the whole time, a huge smile on her face. A mom is teaching her little girl how to walk, prompting her with 'marche, marche.' The little girl is laughing and kicking at the sand. An elderly couple is playing chess across the way, a woman is cuddling (yes, cuddling) with her dog, and a boy just asked for a girl's number next to me.
Love is so relative. It's types are numberless. How amazing that in this city of millions of stories, each person means something to someone.
Paris really is the city of love."
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| little girl who was learning to walk |
the seine
"Here i am, on the sidewalk on the left bank, across the street from le palais de justice. Today the Seine is a pea-green color, and while some might think it looks dirty, to me it is one of the most beautiful sights in the world.
i've wanted more than anything for Paris to change me. Standing here, i realize that i won't go home a completely different person because i am who i am. But, i hope that i'll return a bit wiser, a bit more centered, a bit more refined.
Oh how i'll miss this. i wish that i could stand her in definitely and live for ever. Or, in the words of John Keats, "swoon to death." i've found bits of myself here that i never knew existed. How impossible it would be to not leave some of my heart here in return.
This feeling is not over dramatic or overwhelming. It simply resides within me. And i will never be the same for it in the most subtle of ways."
le quartier latin
"i simply love it here. i love the way the bells play at Notre Dame. i love the way someone always seems to play the accordion or ragtime music. i can make more sense of the world, can see more beauty."
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| flower shop |
la tour eiffel
"End of the day, back in my apartment. Everything about today was perfect. At seven, i made my way over to école militaire where i met up with Darian, Amanda, Heather, Julia, Macord and Melissa for dinner.
After dinner, Heather, Melissa, Macord, and i went to the top of le tour eiffel. it was one of the best experiences of my life. When the twinkle lights came on, the crowds of people beneath at trocadero and champs de mars all sighed in unison and then cheered. i felt so much humanity in that shared moment with people from every corner of the world.
When we got to the top, after a terrifying elevator ride in which i almost fainted, i finally got over my fear of heights and went straight to the edge. My paris was sprawled out beneath me, like a treasure trove or a maze for mice. i stuck in my headphones and listened to hymn à l'amour. When she sings "dieu reunit ceux qui s'aiment" my vision blurred and i realized that that moment meant so much to me because of the love i have experienced in my life. No matter where i am, it is the love in my life that lends meaning and beauty. It is the people who make a place. And since i have loved my friends here in Paris, Paris will always mean that much more to me."
* from this song
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