My favorite time of day in this city is right when it’s turning from day to dusk and the lights from storefronts and lampposts are unveiled. Paris has an essence that can’t be photographed, it needs to be felt through living. One needs to move through the city and experience the constant low buzz to understand its magic. Just like a kid gets dizzy as he or she spins around (as I’ve seen young Parisians do on their walk home from school), the city intoxicates people by forcing them to feel lost - to flâneur. Every corner looks the same (thanks Hassmann) and streets diverge from every which angle at plazas. I am already not the best at finding my way sans GoogleMaps, but the confusion gives me an excuse to just wander and come across new places and urban spaces. I feel liberated by not needing to take the same route to school every day of the week.
I’ve been freed from a routine for the past seven weeks, but I’m now craving some grasp of my actions. It’s been a good run of croissants (oh the almond choc ones!) whenever I want them, working sporadically, and traveling compulsively. I aim to seize my days with more intention and attention, to myself and current surroundings.
Like the setup of the city itself, my past few weeks have a few gems of moments but the overall amassed experience of recurring soirées, walks to the bakery, and beautiful runs through strings of parks is what colors my memory. Paris has really made a strong impression on me whenever I’ve walked over the Seine, especially when dark with the yellowish light glistening on the petite waves. Once, in the evening I ran past a group dancing in a pod next to the Seine and an old, short man asked me to waltz - it made my night!
The best lesson I’ve gotten in a few months came from a wineshop - the geography and history of France has everything to do with the production. I’m most intrigued by the standard of craftsmanship in wine products and the ambiguity in determining which wine’s are the “best.” I guess when it comes down to it, wine is not science, it’s art. This is not Houston, it’s Paris. These streets have seen life before the metric system and rationalism, in fact, Paris basically invented those things. Like 300 years ago, there are still protesters raging and climbing statues. The French people know how to live and I’m convinced might be the most alive souls on Earth.
Dancing near the Seine
Wine lesson - using all the senses
Marg with two gifts from the Parisian gods