I was feeling depressed and a little sorry for myself last week, so I called someone I had met on the plane over here. As I wrote about in my post on rewarding friendships with the opposite sex, I had a really great talk with someone I barely knew. Tina and I have a lot in common(despite our height difference: she's 4'11" and I'm 6'7") and our families are a lot alike.
I randomly asked her if she wanted to go to Paris, on a whim, and she agreed despite knowing me for 4 hours. We had a blast.
I had heard pretty terrible things about the Parisians: anti-American, rude, snooty and mean. All wrong from what I experienced. Parisians don't seem to be any worse than New Yorkers or White Sox fans(vicious, I know), and were really helpful. Our first day there, we did the whole Louvre in 5 hours, every floor, every wing.
I was exhausted, disappointed in the Mona Lisa(Hammurabi's Code is waaaayy better) and happy I milked the museum for all it was worth. While frowning in front of Leo D's greatest work, the Australians from Brisbane remarked "looks nice, mate. Where's the pub?" See the Egyptian exhibit if you get the chance, very worth it.
That night, we found a Lebanese restaurant next to our hotel and had no idea what to order. A woman from Belgium who had been living in Paris leaned over and showed us what to order. I was recovering from an ear/throat infection during all this, but never felt testy around Paris, everyone was very accommodating.
The next day, we visited La Defense, a testament to Paris' design consciousness and architectural genius. Cold, but much like walking through a sand castle contest, trying to figure out which sculpture is the coolest.
Afterwards we hopped the RER(subway) to the Arch de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees(Shahn-zay-lee-zay). Really breathtaking. You have a lot more respect for France's military(but not too much. Did you hear the French army is having a sale on weapons? Pretty cheap, and only dropped twice ;) The walk from the Arch to the De Gaulle statue is well worth it and gives you a good feeling for the city.
Tina and I managed to make it all the way to the Louvre, where we had crepes(apricot) and admired the Obelisk of Luxor. Still a little bewildered at traveling with one another, Tina payed me one of the nicest comments I've ever received: "you know why I like you so much? Because you're not fake, you're just you. Everybody's quirky and weird underneath, but afraid to show it. You're not, and you're just yourself." (but she thought of it in the bathroom. Wonder what inspired her) Very nice of her to say, I was flattered.
Somewhere around this time, we made it to Beaubourg(which I still can't say, it's like "beau-boh" or something) where I interviewed a photographer I met on the internet. You can see his work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/all_the_names_are_already_taken_pfff/
A little scary at first, I know. But explore his portraits, he's excellent and well published for only starting 2 years ago.
He was one of the nicest people I've met and incredibly inspiring. I'm going to blog about him soon.
That night, we bought a bottle of wine and some ice cream and sat down with the 3 algerians running our hotel. They were awesome. One is an opera singer and a biologist, all three were going to school for their masters or doctorate, and they had great advice on cheese and what to do in Paris. I made a lot of friends.
I didn't fully wake up on Sunday until I reached Notre Dame Cathedral. If you know anything about the state of Catholic Europe, then you might be familiar with the dire state of France. France is perhaps the worst off of the classically Catholic European countries, and, unfortunately, it's showing. I really got a taste for how far off the deep end France has gone, and how much of its previous Catholic identity has been lost. People don't really go to Mass for Mass, they go to take pictures and leave halfway through. Out of everywhere I've been, this was the worst. Especially when compared to Poland (but more on that later).
However, if there is one place that makes me hopeful, it's probably Notre Dame. This great cathedral is such a magnificent monument to medieval architecture that it breathes Catholicity. Its name, Notre Dame de Paris, means "Our Lady of Paris" and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Few places on earth have taken my breath away: The Sunday evening Mass at the Dominican Church in Krakow, The Vatican, Grand Teton, the Great Barrier Reef. Notre Dame is one of them. God put something extra special in this great cathedral, and it has convinced me that no matter how dire the situation is in the Church, there is always hope. That is what I found in Notre Dame: Hope.
Since taking photography seriously, I have a reputation for stopping in the middle of the street and proclaiming "ooooo, fabulous light." Notre Dame has fabulous lighting. No artificial light is needed, because the sunlight brightens it from the Nave to the sea of intention candles at the back.
I lit one, and plan to start a photo series of lit candles for people I know. Thought it might be cool.
After Notre Dame, I had the eating a baguette, camembert and goat cheese under the Eiffel Tower. We also found some Orangina, a French soft drink that has orange pulp in it. Weird, but just my style. Afterwards, we climbed( as in stairs) to the second floor of the Eiffel tower as the sun was setting. I only had black and white film, but I think the photographs will be quite nice.
That last night in Paris, I interviewed another photographer who is also quite good. You can see his photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hughes_leglise/
Make sure to explore some of his black and whites. They're quite brilliant. He's a really nice guy, I was late to the interview and he came back!
I payed 35 euro to watch the Superbowl at The Hard Rock Cafe with some Bears fans, and despite the loss it was worth it. Made a lot of friends and then wandered through paris at 4 am after the game. One of the guys was Bulgarian, but had been living in Chicago most of his life. Thick Chicago accent, great guy, been practically everywhere. Another girl is teaching english an hour from Paris and doing quite well.
I stayed up all night for the Superbowl, but made it back to Rome by noon. Paris is wonderful, and I got a great friend out of it. Thanks Tina!
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