dimanche+les autres jours

have a lovely sunday!

 {and don't you wish you could have half as much confidence as these girls?}

I love sundays in Paris. Sunday. What a great word. Life always seems a bit brighter on Sunday, n'est-ce pas? On another note, I'm starting to realize the impossibility of documenting my time here in Paris. How can i possibly describe the way the metro sways side to side as it zips through the tunnels? Or the cool light of the afternoon, the way the rays of the sun seek every nook and cranny? Or, the distinctly parisian smell of cigarette smoke combined with pastries and fresh flowers and couscous? But i keep trying. If not for memory's sake (because memory is as fickle as it is fleeting) then to understand this time of change and growth in my life.

Today after church I was able to attend a baptism of a new member of the Saint-Marais ward. The service was beautiful. There weren't very many members there, but love was in abundance. As I played with these little girls after, my whole outlook on Paris shifted. Lately, i'll admit, i've grown a bit tired of speaking French. In our prep course they warned us this would happen but of course i didn't believe them. But yet, here I am and my brain hurts from all of the frenchness around me. However, when I played with these darling girls, speaking french didn't seem like such a task. I felt so so lucky to be able to talk and joke around with these little girls. That's why I want to learn french. Not for the cute sidewalk cafes, not for the street lamps, not for the chiming bells of Notre Dame. It's for those little moments of connection. 

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 With these journals for homework, i haven't had much time to keep up to date on all of the other going-ons in Paris. So, quick re-cap:

"Viens papa! Viens! Je voudrais nager." "Non." "Pourquoi?" "Parce que." "Parce que l'eau est vert?" "Oui. C'est ca." "Alors, il y a un monstre terrible! Laisse-moi nager, s'il te plait?"

 

Went to a rugby game here in Paris. One of the most electric environments I've ever experienced. I rooted for the baby blue team, but this little boy who was routing for the pink was trop adorable. 

I also took the obligatory visit to the Louvre. Surprisingly, i wasn't as disappointed with the Mona Lisa as everyone had prepared me for. I could spend an eternity there. Favorite painting so far was Liberty Leading the People (i.e. the album cover for Viva la Vida)

who will it be?

find out tonight!

"Life's funny. To a kid, time always drags. Suddenly you're fifty. All that's left of your childhood... fits in a rusty little box" --Bretodeau, the Box Man

--I have to get seventeen of these walks in before I leave Paris. So far, I'm not even half way done...so desolé in advance--

.:LE MARAIS:. parts 1 and 2

 'Le Marais' means 'marsh' in French. So, it's no surprise that the Marais is an area that once was a large swamp. Despite it's name, it is one of the most romantic quartiers I have visited in Paris. Highlights include the garden that used to host royal marriages,  the Picasso museum, and the Jewish quarter. There are public fountains around, and the walls have a yellow tint so that when the sun shines they glow. My favorite area was definitely the Jewish quarter, with the signs in Hebrew, smell of felafel diffusing through the air, and little boys with yashmaks on running home from school.

.:COVERED PASSAGES:.

Postage stamps, tin soldiers, vintage postcards, flying toys, glass vials, picture frames, music boxes...you name it, le passage des Panoramas has got it. In the middle of the business sector of Paris, near to chic jewelry stores, the Bourse (the wall street of Paris), and the Louvre, there is an alley, covered with glass ceilings perfect for sunny and rainy days alike. I headed in that direction after a morning of lounging on the Seine with my book by myself. I landed myself in some gardens near the passageways and read some more while watching the children play. French children never cease to wow me. I'd take them any day over monuments and quaint cafes. In the passageways, I loved looking at shelf after shelf of treasures. It all seemed precious, objects meant for a time capsule or the space underneath a loose floorboard. I loved running my fingers through the stacks of postcards or tapping my nails on the tinted glass of an old perfume bottle, imagining the story of this little object in front of me. There's something magical in the way objects go through so many pairs of hands.They are objects of wisdom, objects of humanity.

le quartier latin

{again, homework assignment! sorry!}

I could live in Shakespeare and Company. There are books piled in every corner, quirky chandeliers, photographs of Hemingway and Fitzgerald scattered about, squashy armchairs, a piano with sheet music to play, and all of this with an amazing attic-view of the Seine. 

My other favorite go-to place in the Latin Quarter is a vegetarian falafel stand. The Sorbonne is nearby, and you can always count on seeing other university students waiting in line. 

I like to roam the cobblestone streets, imagining all of the bright minds who have meandered similar paths. The reason it's called the Latin Quarter is because back in the day, (1253 A.D. ahh!) the students at the Sorbonne only spoke in Latin. The area might be a bit of a tourist trap, but I always love hearing the accordionists playing Edith Piaf on the streets, especially at night. I sit on the banks of the Seine and watch the lit up ships pass by. Somehow, Paris never feels quite so much like Paris than with the Seine glistening beneath. 

"little town"

Rachel, Darian, and I couldn't stop singing the song at the beginning of Beauty in the Beast yesterday. You know, the one where everyone says "bonjour" to each other? We took the train to Chartres to see the cathedral and I'm not sure that there actually is more than the provincial life. It was beautiful!

There has hardly been a sunny moment in France and I'm happy to say the sun came out for us. I have grown to love the train rides here, the rushing scenery out the window, the variety of people that are crammed into the same car. I especially loved the ride to Chartres as we swooped past town after quintessential town. Upon arriving, Darian and I found mexican fajitas! Real mexican! And, if that wasn't good enough, they were vegetarian! They weren't very spicy, but it was one of the best meals I've had in France.

The cathedral itself is A-MAZ-ING. Practically perfectly preserved since the 9th century, you can almost feel antiquity seeping out of the stones. However, the best part of the tour was our tour guide, Malcom, a stodgy old British man known as the King of Chartres. He has been studying the cathedral for fifty years! He never used notes once as he took time to explain the hundreds of stained glass windows.  He had the classically dry British humor and we were stifling giggles through out the whole hour. After popping in a cough drop, he explained how previous tourists had complained that he slurped his way through tours, to which he replied "I can't be bothered" and unwrapped another. Later on in the tour, the light from his laser pointer accidentally wandered over to a woman's body. His reaction was "oh dear dear me. I certainly hope she didn't notice what was happening there. A molesting laser. Tut tut." Such a chap.

After the tour, Rachel, Darian, and I walked around the charming village (this is where the singing came in). We found a little gelato stand and started testing flavors. Amongst the array of colors, I spotted a bright pink one called "barbe à papa" which we all tried. After our little spoonful, we were all raving about this exotic, french ice cream. We decided we must have tasted it in a dream or something, it was just that good. I was half way done with my ice cream from heaven when Darian stopped short in her tracks and said she figured out the flavor. Et voilà. Cotton candy.

:::photos courtesy of Darian + Heather:::

 

Flowers, castles, and picnics--adventures à giverny

On May 1st, France has a national holiday called la Fête du Travail. Everything closes down, and many Parisians get out of the city for the day. Well, do as the Romans do (or I guess in this case, Parisians). So, Melissa, Maccord, Heather and I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and took the train to Giverny. I thought I loved Paris. But that was until I went to the French countryside. I think I left my heart there, along with the windy river, fields of flowers, and quaint houses. I love the cosmopolitan feel of Paris. But Giverny simply felt so European that at the end of the day I considered running away and staying forever.

Pictures of: Monet's gardens, flower fields, castle

hier

{sorry, wrote this yesterday and forgot to post it...whoops!}

Yesterday was one of my favorite days in Paris so far. For one of my classes, we have to take walks in certain areas of Paris. (i have to record each walk here on my blog...sorry to bore some of you!) So, after class, Darian, Olivia, Melissa, and I made our way over to Notre Dame. I feel so lucky to walk past this cathedral everyday. It never grows less impressive. Every time I struggle to look away, and when the bells chime, I get the chills. My other favorite part of this walk was visiting the Conciergerie which housed Marie Antoinette just before her execution. While we stood in the room, Darian, a history major, told us how Marie Antoinette fainted there when she heard the trumpets sounding the death of her husband. That story really touched me and I'm glad to say that they've turned the jail cell into a beautiful chapel in her honor.

After, Darian and I wandered in hopes of stumbling upon Saint Sulpice, the cathedral from the DaVinci Code (Darian and I are both film fans. We even met in a film class!). I love spending time with Darian in Paris. Her way of exploring the city is oh-so Parisian. We don't look at any maps, instead letting serendipity lead us off the beaten path. We found ourselves in a part of the city with various specialized shops including matroyshka dolls, embroidered fabrics, perfume, miniature toy soldiers, and shoes in every color of the rainbow. We also happened upon Hemingway and Fitzgerald's favorite cafe where they spent much time writing. At last we found Saint Sulpice where we spent  time watching French art students sketching.

We made our way back to the institute building for family home evening. Darian and I slipped out early to take the metro to the Eifel tower. It was Darian's first time, and we finished climbing up the stairs on the hill across right when it began to twinkle. It was raining, and the twinkle lights sparkled off of the wet streets below. We couldn't help but hum "La Vie en Rose" underneath our breaths and we felt like we had finally arrived in the City of Light. 

We found a cafe in a chic neighborhood overlooking the Eifel Tower and ordered hot chocolate. It was my first Paris cafe experience, and it did not disappoint. It was one of those moments of simple splendor, one of those moments when it is the nothing that seems perfectly significant. 

boy lighting prayer candle at Saint Sulpice