I wish I remembered my first time in Paris. I don't remember what I did that weekend. I know I wandered around aimlessly. I know I was down by the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame because I have photos of those. I don't remember who I traveled with, if anyone. Matt H. may have been there.
I don't remember the first time I went to Paris because the subsequent trips have all but blended together. I remember my most recent trip because it was only eight years ago and I went to see U2 play at Stade de France on the 360 tour, and I remember walking down St. Denis because I have a picture on my wall of the theater there playing La Cage de Folle (The Birdcage), and I remember walking around Montmarte feeling as if I were the loneliest person in the world, and I remember wandering around Pere Lachaise cemetery where so many famous people are buried. It was October; the light waned by early afternoon and there was a definite Halloween feel to it. I left the cemetery and had Stella on a terrace at a cafe nearby, and the lack of light so early on a sunny day was depressing. I remember staying in the suburb of Clamart and taking the train there only to discover there were no cabs and using a phone to navigate my way for the first time.
But the trips before that blur together. I had conceived the idea of the 2010 trip because I had been to Charles de Gaulle airport so many times on layovers to the Middle East and I just couldn't stand seeing the Eiffel Tower from an airplane window without stopping anymore. I practically cried on the plane each time I left CDG. Ok, not practically. Eight years ago was ten years between my last visit to Paris.
That means eighteen years ago I was in Paris with Matt H. when he was teaching French or English or studying or something and I was about to embark upon an internship in Ireland and I stopped in France to visit. Much of our time was spent in Dijon with his friend Sandrine and I remember very little detail about the time in Paris itself.
I remember walking around Les Halles and St. Eustache with Brad M. on our summer program after I graduated, and I remember going to La Defense for the first time on that trip and even vaguely recall our lectures at the now defunct Aerospatiale about the direction defense integration was heading under the fledgling EU. I distinctly remember the Rodin museum, which is my favorite museum in Paris. I think I was drawn to it by The Gates of Hell. Or The Thinker. Or the Thinker sitting over The Gates of Hell.
I remember being in Paris with Matt H, more than once, more than twice, maybe even all of the four times I went to Paris during the MUDEC year. I remember the hotel we stayed in and the statue it was near. I remember one April trip specifically, going to the Jardins de Luxembourg with Matt H. and Andrea L. and the funny sign that said beware of wind in French. I don't remember the French except for vents. That could be wrong, too. It might be ventes. Nah, I think it's vents. Or vent. French spelling was never my strong suit - too many silent letters to get it right for this B average French minor.
I remember being in the Louvre and the crowds of people around the Mona Lisa, who seemed to be smirking and thinking, "Suckers!" as we all pretended we cared about seeing the most famous painting in the world. I didn't know a lot about art then. I still don't, but I know a heckuva lot more now. I probably only went in once because of the cost of admission. I missed a lot of museums during my year in MUDEC because I couldn't afford them. Some of my "memories" of the Louvre might be from what I've seen on television since then. I don't know, and I hate that I don't know.
I have been up on the Eiffel Tower once. I don't like heights and don't need to do it ever again, unless I have a specific photography goal. I have been to Sacre Coure and Notre Dame multiple times. I love strolling through the Latin Quarter, if only for all the bookstores. I remember the stained glass of St. Chapelle - it was the first time I realized the extent Europeans had to go to protect the things we take for granted in times of peace - like stained glass windows in churches, so many of which did not have the resources or the warning to remove and store them in safe places during the war, turning so much beauty into the dust of history. I remember them describing to us what they did to protect the glass at St. Chapelle, but I don't remember the details now.
My last trip to Paris was split - four days in Paris, four days in Beirut, and four days in Paris again. If you count that as the same trip, eight days is the longest I've ever spent in Paris at one time. Every other trip, aside from the five on our summer program in 1999, lasted a long weekend. This coming visit is no exception. What I wouldn't give to spend a few months in the City of Lights.
We will land in Paris early in the morning and spend the night there before departing for Luxembourg to pick up our car that we will drive through Germany to Austria. We won't return to Paris until two weeks later, after the Luxembourg festivities, when we will spend three nights there. We have no real plans. We might make a day trip down to see the cathedral in Chartres, and we will probably visit the catacombs, both of which I have never seen. Perhaps we will go up the Pantheon, or visit the Port St. Ouen flea market. I've never done any of these.
Really I just want to wander around and watch people and try to recapture memories that have slipped away. I'd like to sit in a cafe and read a book or write for hours. I'd like to waste time in Paris.
But we simply won't have time to waste.
Anyway, if you've made it this far, why not enjoy some photos of Paris and some Edith Piaf?
I don't remember the first time I went to Paris because the subsequent trips have all but blended together. I remember my most recent trip because it was only eight years ago and I went to see U2 play at Stade de France on the 360 tour, and I remember walking down St. Denis because I have a picture on my wall of the theater there playing La Cage de Folle (The Birdcage), and I remember walking around Montmarte feeling as if I were the loneliest person in the world, and I remember wandering around Pere Lachaise cemetery where so many famous people are buried. It was October; the light waned by early afternoon and there was a definite Halloween feel to it. I left the cemetery and had Stella on a terrace at a cafe nearby, and the lack of light so early on a sunny day was depressing. I remember staying in the suburb of Clamart and taking the train there only to discover there were no cabs and using a phone to navigate my way for the first time.
But the trips before that blur together. I had conceived the idea of the 2010 trip because I had been to Charles de Gaulle airport so many times on layovers to the Middle East and I just couldn't stand seeing the Eiffel Tower from an airplane window without stopping anymore. I practically cried on the plane each time I left CDG. Ok, not practically. Eight years ago was ten years between my last visit to Paris.
That means eighteen years ago I was in Paris with Matt H. when he was teaching French or English or studying or something and I was about to embark upon an internship in Ireland and I stopped in France to visit. Much of our time was spent in Dijon with his friend Sandrine and I remember very little detail about the time in Paris itself.
I remember walking around Les Halles and St. Eustache with Brad M. on our summer program after I graduated, and I remember going to La Defense for the first time on that trip and even vaguely recall our lectures at the now defunct Aerospatiale about the direction defense integration was heading under the fledgling EU. I distinctly remember the Rodin museum, which is my favorite museum in Paris. I think I was drawn to it by The Gates of Hell. Or The Thinker. Or the Thinker sitting over The Gates of Hell.
I remember being in Paris with Matt H, more than once, more than twice, maybe even all of the four times I went to Paris during the MUDEC year. I remember the hotel we stayed in and the statue it was near. I remember one April trip specifically, going to the Jardins de Luxembourg with Matt H. and Andrea L. and the funny sign that said beware of wind in French. I don't remember the French except for vents. That could be wrong, too. It might be ventes. Nah, I think it's vents. Or vent. French spelling was never my strong suit - too many silent letters to get it right for this B average French minor.
I remember being in the Louvre and the crowds of people around the Mona Lisa, who seemed to be smirking and thinking, "Suckers!" as we all pretended we cared about seeing the most famous painting in the world. I didn't know a lot about art then. I still don't, but I know a heckuva lot more now. I probably only went in once because of the cost of admission. I missed a lot of museums during my year in MUDEC because I couldn't afford them. Some of my "memories" of the Louvre might be from what I've seen on television since then. I don't know, and I hate that I don't know.
I have been up on the Eiffel Tower once. I don't like heights and don't need to do it ever again, unless I have a specific photography goal. I have been to Sacre Coure and Notre Dame multiple times. I love strolling through the Latin Quarter, if only for all the bookstores. I remember the stained glass of St. Chapelle - it was the first time I realized the extent Europeans had to go to protect the things we take for granted in times of peace - like stained glass windows in churches, so many of which did not have the resources or the warning to remove and store them in safe places during the war, turning so much beauty into the dust of history. I remember them describing to us what they did to protect the glass at St. Chapelle, but I don't remember the details now.
My last trip to Paris was split - four days in Paris, four days in Beirut, and four days in Paris again. If you count that as the same trip, eight days is the longest I've ever spent in Paris at one time. Every other trip, aside from the five on our summer program in 1999, lasted a long weekend. This coming visit is no exception. What I wouldn't give to spend a few months in the City of Lights.
We will land in Paris early in the morning and spend the night there before departing for Luxembourg to pick up our car that we will drive through Germany to Austria. We won't return to Paris until two weeks later, after the Luxembourg festivities, when we will spend three nights there. We have no real plans. We might make a day trip down to see the cathedral in Chartres, and we will probably visit the catacombs, both of which I have never seen. Perhaps we will go up the Pantheon, or visit the Port St. Ouen flea market. I've never done any of these.
Really I just want to wander around and watch people and try to recapture memories that have slipped away. I'd like to sit in a cafe and read a book or write for hours. I'd like to waste time in Paris.
But we simply won't have time to waste.
Anyway, if you've made it this far, why not enjoy some photos of Paris and some Edith Piaf?
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