Nostalgic For The Future

View from the Arc de Triomphe

After spending three days and two nights in Paris, I’ve come away with mixed emotions, but a beautiful memory none-the-less. Paris is at once, dirty, smelly, crowded, and crazy, but it is also beautiful, full of life, and can be quiet, personable, and deeply intimate. During our stay we lodged in Montmartre at the edge of the red light district. Our hotel was clean and comfortable, and the night time noise was quickly squashed with a pair of earplugs.

Our first morning we ventured up a steep side road to the base of the Sacre Coeur. I sat at the bottom of the stairs in awe at how large everything seemed. The cathedral itself was beautiful, and the singing of the nuns just helped bolster the sense of wonder I felt as we walked through. So many references and symbols carved into the building, it was hard to comprehend that someone had carved every single detail. The view from atop the hill that Sacre Coeur sits on is a nice display of the layout on that side of the city. After our trek down the front stairs of Cathedral, we grabbed lunch at a café close to our restaurant. My advice concerning Sacre Coeur, for anyone who had never been before, is avoid going up or down the front stairs. Not only are there hundreds of them, but there are also hundreds of extremely pushy gypsies and immigrant men who are not afraid to ask for your money and corner you to get it. Guy and I got corner and split by a group of these men, and after one of them poked him in the chest and tried to stop him from walking, I freaked out, grabbed his arm, pulled him towards me and yelled Arrêt! The man cornering him found this amusing, and called me “Big Mamma”. Damn right.

We went to the Arc de Triomphe later, which was such a powerful monument, and we climbed the narrow spiral staircase all the way to the top. I thought my lungs might explode out of my chest and my legs might fall off, but it was worth it, because the view of all sides of Paris was just breathtaking. After coming down all those stairs, we took a walk on the Champs-Élysées and popped into a Monoprix and the giant Sephora, which was an experience unto itself.

That evening we met up with Katia & Kyliemac and some of their friends out to celebrate Kylie’s birthday. I’ve been an ardent listener of their podcasts for a few years now, and had always wanted to meet them. We started at a Scottish pub and moved on to a Dutch bar where we finished out the evening. Those ladies are two of the nicest women I have met, and were so welcoming and kind. It was a fantastic evening out getting to spend time with the both of them, and I know the next time I come visit Paris seeing them again will be top on my list. Everyone go check out their awesome podcasts and website at the above link.

Our second day in Paris was spent at the Palace of Versailles. Instead of going into the Palace, we chose to wander through some of the main gardens, and then explore the structures Marie-Antoinette had built for herself off the right side of the gardens, the Petit Trianon and the surrounding follies. I’m really pleased that we chose to avoid the main palace and look at some of the smaller more intimate structures. There was a small English style village, and a little farm with animals, the giant geese and a huge St. Bernard puppy being my favorites. We enjoyed lunch by one of the larger lakes at the back of the gardens, and fed the ducks and giant carp scraps of bread.

The last day we wandered through Montmarte and saw some of the windmills still up on the sides of buildings. There was also a really fascinating exhibition of Dali sculpture, and a small market full of artists. On our way down from the Dali exhibit we popped in a small natural skincare botique that carries a niche line of perfumes I’d been dying to try, and Next on the list was the Centre Pompidou, which had a really interesting exhibition on feminist art and women in art. They have a really lovely collection, and I got to see some Magritte and Tamara de Lempicka up close. The building itself offers a fantastic view of the city from the top floors. After soaking up all that art, we went to Notre Dame, and took a walking through the inside, but didn’t go up. On our way into the square we got granitas from a street vendor and passed a very ironic café called Quasimodo. Later, we visited the outside of the Louvre and sat down at one of the larger fountains, taking the opportunity to dip our sore, tired feet in the fountain along with the other Parisians and tourists. That was probably the best part of the day, to be honest, just the change to lay out in the sun and relax and not feel like we had anything pressing to do. After a nice long sit next to the fountain, we wandered down through the park across the street from the Louvre, and down to the start of the shops near the Champs-Élyées. By the point it was time to head off to the train station and catch the Eurostar home.