Paris at Midnight

When I found out a few months ago that I would spending the summer in Paris, I'll admit I had mixed feelings. I was ready to move out of the Wise's house and settle into my own home...in Marseille. Learning that I would be leaving the Wise's earlier than planned was good news, as was getting to spend a whole two months around the Superheroes in Paris. But...two more months in yet another place, still living out of a suitcase, away from Marseille, and...uggish sigh...Paris? At the time, not so good news.

When I left her in November 2008, I left her feeling burnt out on her. She rains alot. She's always crowded with too many people. (The city population is somewhere between 11-14 million, and add the 42 million tourists who come through each year, and well, that's alot of people.) She's bustling, pushy, stressed (or as the French say, "tiring" or "fatigant"). I had a headache for the entire two years I lived here because there was never, ever, at any time, quiet.

I would say that I have a love-hate relationship with Paris. I mean, it's Paris. Beautiful streets, buildings, bridges, parks, and the Seine. Everything is beautiful in Paris, everything. The museums are amazing, the food is amazing, the music is amazing, and there is always, always, always something fun to go do. She really can be enchanting, if you're in the right mood.

And so I decided this summer that I would focus on the love side of my love-hate relationship with Paris. I would allow her to get back in my good graces, and would not, under any circumstances, (including terrible weather that stole my summer away), leave for Marseille more frustrated with Paris than I was back in November 2008. That is why I systematically set out to have such a good time this summer, even if meant not getting much sleep. When I had a free moment from work, I'd go do something fun that I hadn't done before.

While out at the cinema at the park, Tusc told me of a movie I ought to go see, and exactly which theatre I ought to see it in. He said, "If you like Paris, you'll love this movie, and if you love Paris, this'll become one of your favorite movies ever." So I went to see Midnight in Paris at the Epée de Bois cinema on Rue Mouffetard. He was completely right.

One of the things I've always said about Paris is that I wonder what it was like during La Belle Epoque or during the Roaring 20's, or even during the Occupation. I wonder what it was like at its peak. I wonder what it was like without the extra 11 million people and the 42 million tourists. I suppose that Woody Allen wondered the same thing, because he made a movie about a guy who, just like me, would love to have seen it back then. The movie was more about who was in Paris at those times than what Paris looked like at those times, but I still enjoyed it.

Even more, I enjoyed what the main character discovered at the end. We tend to always want something we can't have. He wanted to know Paris in the 20's. The girl he met in Paris in the 20's wanted to know Paris in La Belle Epoque. He wanted that girl. His financée wanted another guy. He realized that we should want what we have. And so he stayed in Paris during his own time and enjoyed it...in the rain.

There are people who lament about wanting to enjoy my life in France because it seems prettier than their own, wherever they may be. I often lament about wanting to enjoy theirs...married with children. Who knew that Woody Allen could speak some truth into my life (and maybe someone else's who reads my blog, longing to be where I am instead of where they are) by reminding me to love where I am, even if it's in the rain?

And so I leave Paris for Marseille...content. Paris has returned to my good graces, and I love her once again. I don't look out at the rain and sigh that uggish sigh. I look forward to when I'll get to return to her again and be charmed by beauty that has wooed so many through the centuries. But for now, it's time to return to my beloved sunshine city of the south, Marseille.

And to finally, after 27 months, unpack my suitcases.

Cinema in the Park

Someone asked me recently if I've always liked old movies. I thought about it for a moment... I mean, I remember in college just loving Audrey Hepburn and it was Roman Holiday that started the dream of living overseas and learning languages. (In fact, when I placed my hand in the Mouth of Truth in Rome, just like Audrey had done in the film, I began to cry because I was only 25 and "all my dreams had come true already." My friends laughed at me and told me to dream bigger dreams.) I finally answered my friend that yes, I supposed I have always liked old movies...I just forgot for awhile that I did, and in the last two years or so, that old interest has resurfaced.

Something that goes along with the liking old movies is a small dream I've always had and somehow never did when I lived in San Francisco...to go to the cinema in the park. Well, one day, I was scrolling on the internet looking for stuff to do in Paris that I hadn't done before, and stumbled upon...cinema in the park, for free...every night for a month every summer! How had I not discovered this before?! As I've talked with other friends who live here, none of them had known about it either.

I looked through what was showing each night, and to my joy and delight, found that they were showing a 1949 classic called On the Town.

I sent out a text to a bunch of people to invite them to join me, but...Hugs tends to fall asleep during movies, the Superheroes were busy catching up from returning from vacation, the Trainers had guests in town, and so it ended up being Tusc and me. The website had said that the movie would start just after sundown, and I wasn't sure exactly what time that would be, or how crowded the lawn would be, so we got there around 9 and spread our blanket out in a prime spot. At 9:30, they blew up the giant inflatable screen.
Turns out, cinema in the park is a very Parisian thing to do! There were almost no tourists there at all. The Parisians had their picnic dinners with them (baguettes, cheese, deli meat, wine, and fruit), and just lounged around talking, laughing, and enjoying the evening. I was thrilled to be somewhere the tourists didn't seem to know about, to see Parisians being Parisian, and to have a nice evening with no clouds in the sky. As it got darker, I even saw some shooting stars! When does that ever happen in Paris?!

We thought it was dark enough for the movie to start at 10, but apparently the girl running the reel did not agree, so it didn't start until 10:30. Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Vera Ellen, Ann Miller, all filmed on location in New York...it was so good! I clapped my hands in giggly delight several times. Like in the pretty ridiculous song, Prehistoric Man, when Ann Miller wears the prettiest dress ever, and shows why she was one of the best dancers of the 20th century. Another fun moment was laughing with all the metro-riding Parisians about Miss Turnstiles (translated in the subtitles as Mademoiselle Metro).

I had to leave a little early, because, when the clock struck midnight, I was worried about not being able to catch the metro home in time. As I rode home on the metro, still thinking about Miss Turnstiles, I was amazed to see a different Paris than I normally do. I'm not usually out after midnight...but the Parisians were! They were smiling and laughing (not normal during the day on the metro), waving goodbye (instead of giving the little cheek kisses), dressed uber-casual (instead of uber-chic), and talking up a storm. It added a little more bliss to my evening.

Should I return to Paris next summer, I will be hitting up the cinema in the park again.

Summer Weather

So I've commented several times on Facebook about the lousy weather we've had in Paris this "summer." I say "summer" because I will forever rememeber 2011 as the year that I missed summer altogether. Very little sunshine, temps rarely above 70 degrees, and entirely too much rain. And while in the states, I know yall have been suffering from 100+ temps for over a month...the fact is that I like heat. I like sunshine. I like summer. And I get grumpy when I don't get it at all.

Below is a video that a Parisian took of the downpour that came 3 days ago. I'm telling you...this weather is for the birds. It's August 8th, and the temp outside is 64 and there are howling winds.

One more week until Marseille!

The most random museum ever

Culture shock is a funny thing. It can just creep up on you out of nowhere. Especially when (or because?) you are are not expecting it whatsoever. Sometimes we don't expect it because it's an English speaking or Western country, and so we think, "They're like me here, I won't culture shock." Sometimes we don't expect it because we haven't had much culture shock in the past, and thus, must be immune. Sometimes we don't expect it because we've been in that place for so long, we ought to be way past something cultural shocking us. The latter happened to me today at the museum.

First of all, it is free Sunday. On the first Sunday of every month, many of the museums in Paris are free. Since there are still, after all these years in France, several museums that I have not been to, I decided to join the crowds and hit up a museum. I looked up online last night about the few I hadn't been to yet, and decided on the Museum of Decorative Arts (to see "the beautiful in the useful". I understood it to be free on free Sunday.

Turns out I was wrong.

So once I arrived, discovered that it wasn't free, I had to go about decided what kind of ticket I wanted to buy. The brochure explained that there was the museum, the nave, and the Camondo section. You could buy a ticket for just the regular part of the museum, or just the nave (temporary exhibits), the two together, or all three. I decided, since I was already paying money, might as well buy for all three.

When I approached the ticket counter, I explained that I wanted the 3 way pass. The man corrected me and said that I wanted the Rivoli pass (which allows for the museum and the nave). No, I said, I'd like for the 3 way pass. And then I pointed to it, where it was listed on the wall, just to clarify.

"But it's not open on Monday or Tuesday," the man says to me.

"That's fine. I'd still like to buy it."

"I can sell you the Rivoli pass," he continues. I begin to feel confused.

"Can you not sell me the 3 way pass? Because that's what I'd like. To go to all three parts of the museum."

"The Camondo section of the museum is not included in this museum. It's another part of town. And it's closed on Monday and Tuesday."

"But today is Sunday...is it open today? And why do you have it listed to buy a ticket for it, if I cannot go to it?" I ask.

"You can go to...on Wednesday."

"I can't go today?"

"Yes. But it closes at 5:30. And it's not here. It's in another part of town. You should just buy the Rivoli ticket."

Frustrated nearly to tears--culture shock--that (a) this random ticket is listed as part of this museum but isn't included in this museum, and (b) that this man refuses to sell me a ticket for it, for some odd reason, I finally say, "Fine, I'll take the Rivoli ticket."

Once I had my (drama) ticket, I shook off the bad mood that man had tried to put me in, and wandered over to the temporary exhibit...which, oddly, was Ralph Lauren's antique car collection. I snagged one photo before a guard was quick to let me know that photos are absolutely not allowed. However, if you click on the link above (which I highly recommend), you can see the awesome cars that I got to see. They really were some of the coolest cars ever.

The reason I call this the most random museum ever, is that it had all sorts of exhibits...that had nothing to do with one another. And NONE of them had to do with the theme of the museum, which was how homes have been decorated throughout the centuries. So after seeing all kinds of rooms with various pieces of furniture, and an exhibit about stuff made to look like or from animals, I stumbled upon the "Playful Plastics" exhibit...which was all about the plastic inflatable toys designed by some Czech woman. The wall paper and the plastics made me a little silly.
There was an exhibit about publicities that recycle history...I think that was more interesting for the French than it was for me. Commercials and ads have way more cultural nuances that I am able to pick up on, so I just don't get the humor. There was a fashion exhibit that was so weird it scared me a little bit and I left it as quickly as possible. Then I stumbled into a jewelry exhibit, and oh my. So beautiful.

Jewelry through the ages. I was already fascinated before I even got to the Art Nouveau section. I'd never really seen any Art Nouveau jewelry...just furniture and buildings. This stuff was so pretty it about made me cry. I wanted so badly to touch it and look at it as closely as possible.
As a side note, when I went into the museum bookshop to buy a few postcards (something I do at every museum I go to), I found a book on Art Nouveau in English (!), and it had a section on the jewelry. I was so excited, until I flipped it over and saw that it cost 70 euros!!! What?! Ridiculous. I wrote down the name and decided I would look it up on amazon.com. And guess what? I found it on the French amazon (although it's coming from the US) for 6 euros. Take that, you overpriced museum bookshop!

Finally, just before I left the museum, as I was trying to find the exit (that crazy place was so easy to get turned around in!), I stumbled upon a room I hadn't seen. The Wood Room, it was called. It was so beautiful. And the best part about it...there were NO tourists in there! I found a spot to be alone for a sweet, quiet moment on a day when the tourists are out in droves.
All in all, I decided that the Museum of Decorative Arts was seriously the most random museum I've ever been to. There were moments when I was confused (the toy exhibit), scared (the fashion exhibited), thrilled (the car exhibit), blissfully happy (the art nouveau stuff), and just quietly content (the wood room). It started off rough, with my culture shock moment over the ticket, but ended with some happy sighs...and two books about art nouveau.

Summer blogging...

Once upon a time, I started a blog because I wanted to write pretty little prose about the places I wander. Somehow, over the years, the pretty little prose has gone out the window, and it's just become a "I went here and I went there" blog. Maybe one day my muse will return and bring the prose back with it.

Until then...

I went to the Chateau de Fontainebleau. Which I'd always pronounced, "fon-tan-blue," because that's how I'd heard all the other Americans pronounce it. Hugs and I stared at the sign for awhile while we were there and decided that all the Americans (us included) had been pronouncing it wrong. It's "fon-tan-blo." Leau is pronounced "lo." Beau is pronounced "bo." Thus, it must be "blo." Anyway, it cost us an arm and a leg to get there (20 euros between the train and the bus!), and well...it just wasn't worth 20 euros. We had a good time, though, as it was a beautiful day and it was good to get out of Paris for a bit. You can see the photos on my photoblog HERE and HERE.

About a week later, we went on a day trip with some friends and once again got to get out of the city. When we got in the car that morning, we had no idea where we were going. The options were...

1. The Chateau at Chantilly (been there)

2. The Chateau at Pierrefonds (and there)

3. The Chateau at Vaux-le-Vicomte (and done that)

4. The wine country in Bourgogne

As as Hugs and I have gone to several chateaux together over the summer, we decided to vote for option number four...plus it was the furthest away from Paris, which is always a good thing when the city is wearing you down. You can see my photos of Chablis, Vezelay, and Auxerre on my photoblog (just click each name and it'll take you there).

A few more blogging notes... I added a video to the Bastille Day post, and back blogged another post about the Week of Fun, and I've added a bunch of photos to the photoblog. So scroll down. Click away. And if I can ever get the videos to upload, expect another post about some fun Metro Moments from the summer.

Metro Moments

The Superhero called me and Hugs "metro rats." I suppose it's true. We spent approximately four hours a day on the metro this summer...and some days even more than that. We know it like the back of our hand. With 14 lines (plus 5 underground train lines called the RER), a Parisian will inevitably spend a good portion of their life underground. It's the best way to get around in this city.

When I lived here before, I wasn't sure which line was my favorite. The 14 doesn't have a driver, is the fastest and least crowded, so it was a contender. The 1 goes to alot of awesome places that I love, but it's also always filled with tourists. This summer, however, the 2 finally won out. The old, run down smelly cars have been replaced with the new metro cars, which are open for their full length (instead of having individually cars like the old ones do), so you can see all the way down the whole line, and see it twisting and turning through all the curves, which is cool. It's air-conditioned...which didn't seem to matter this summer in Paris, since we couldn't get temps above 72 degrees. It goes above-ground for several stops, and it's nice to be able to look out above the city. But most of all...it has awesome entertainment.

This guy rode the 2 several nights in a row at the same time each night, so we got to see him more than once. I love his joy and his awesome guitar...and that he serenaded me.

One of my favorite metro moments was also on the 2. The performer kept telling everyone "thank you," in English, so I asked him where he was from. After telling me he's from London, he asked where I was from, and I responded, "Alabama." He asked, "Like Sweet Home Alabama?" I said, "Yes, do you know it?" He started strumming the beginning, and then told me to sing it.

Now...yall know I love to sing but have a terrible singing voice. But something about him was so engaging, and so, I sang, out loud, all by myself, right there on the metro, for all creation to hear! When I got to the chorus, he joined in, and changed it up to say, "Sweet home Paris-town, where we all ride on the metro..." He eventually was able to get a small group of the metro-riders to sing along with him on several songs...something I have never seen before. It was pretty phenomenal.

Oh, the 2. I've seen one of its stations on fire. I've seen 9 Spanish girls dressed like Minnie Mouse on it. I've had some awesome conversations with friends while crossing the city on it. I've seen every nationality possible riding along on the 2. It's a great line.

It's a great Metro.

Le Tour de France

Every summer that I've lived in France, I was away from Paris when the Tour de France finished on the Champs-Elysées. In 2009, I finally got to experience the Tour, when it passed through Marseille. It was such a super fun day...all the excitement, the crowds, the advertisements, and then, finally, the cyclists. It was the beginning of one of their stages, though, so I didn't get to see them whizzing by, but just starting off. Which was fine by me, because I got to be close enough to reach out and touch the cyclists (which I didn't do, by the way...)

This year, though, I was finally in Paris for the finale. Hugs and I had some things to do that day, so we didn't wait the whole day for a primo spot. We showed up just in time for the caravan of sponsors. I chose to post Smurfette for my mom. The advertisers are really fun. They hand out stuff, have ads everywhere, and really use the event to make their mark. I suppose it's a bit like Super Bowl Commericals...

Another fun part of the Tour de France is the crowds...even for an introvert like me. The fun, excited atmosphere and people from all nations cheering on their home athletes makes for some awesome people watching.
Of course the cyclists and the race is the best part! There were so many people on the streets that we couldn't really see the Champs very well, but the big screen helped us to watch as they approached near the end. I love this shot...that's the guy who won in the yellow and the highest point guy behind him in green.
A big difference of seeing the Tour in Paris versus in Marseille is that in Marseille, it was 24+ hours of craziness for about 57 seconds of excitement as the cyclists went by. In Paris, because they loop the Champs several times (7, I think), we got to see them go by a whole bunch...and they were going FAST! It was so neat seeing them whiz by in a big colorful blur.
We didn't stay to see the very end and the ceremony, because well...we didn't want to fight the crowds to get on the metro. We'd had our fun, saw the cyclists, and were ready to call it a day. I really do enjoy the Tour de France and will look forward to when I get to see it again.

July in Paris Week of Fun

One of the things I love about my job is that I get to have alot of fun while doing it. This week was one of those weeks. Spending time with the interns was the priority of the summer, and this was their week of down time... So we had a bunch of days of going and doing fun stuff that was "down time" for them and "work" for me. I loved every minute!

On Monday, we went and did tourism, just wandering around.

On Tuesday, I actually took the day off and to myself.

On Wednesday, we went and saw the final installment of Harry Potter...two days before it came out in the US. There were 20 of us at the theatre. How much fun is it to go to the movies with 19 other people?!

On Thursday, we went to the Bastille Day celebrations at the Eiffel Tower.

On Friday, Hugs and I did some other work in the morning while the interns went to Versailles. Then, we skipped out on meeting them at Versailles, met up with one of my previous interns, and went to the Parc de Sceaux. Where was this awesome, empty park with a pretty little chateau the whole time I lived in Paris and needed a getaway?!

On Saturday, we had all 20 of the interns over to our apartment for a crepe party. Loads of fun!!! But I fell sick with a summer cold that night, and had to miss out on Sunday's Girls' Night Out.

It was a great week.

Bastille Day

My favorite day of the year in France is always Bastille Day. Any time there is an American who is sad about missing the 4th of July celebrations back in the US, I tell them, "Just wait 10 days. You'll get your red, white, and blue, and fireworks." France has yet to disappoint me on the 14th, when they celebrate their independence.

This year, I went with 25 friends and camped out on the Champs de Mars (the big field in front of the Eiffel Tower)...along with about 1 million other people. At one point, there was an announcement that the crowd had reached 1 million, and I wondered...How do they count that?

Anyway, we got there around 2pm, and set up our blankets that staked our claim to a small patch of ground. We picnic'd, played cards, wandered around, took a million photos. At 6pm, a concert began. It was so fun to see French (and others) just letting loose and dancing up a storm. I loved when the whole entire crowd would sing along with whatever song was being performed...whether it was French, English, or something else. Probably one of my favorite moments was when a Jackson 5 medley came on and our whole group of Americans got up and starting singing and dancing. Just so much fun!

At about 11pm the fireworks show started. SO AMAZING!!! The theme was songs from musicals, and about 75% of the music was American musicals. I loved hearing the crowd of 1 million people singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." It was truly one of those moments I'll always remember. As many times as I've been to the Eiffel Tower, this night stood out as one of my very favorite.
Then we joined the THRONG of people trying to get home. I've never experienced anything like it. Millions of people walking through the streets and just sort of moving with the flow. There was no way to turn and go onto another street...It was amazing that we were able to get to the metro station we'd agreed to meet up at...and get into a very full metro car.
Thanks, France, for yet another wonderful Bastille Day. You always deliver a good time.