Paris was Perfect

I have to admit that I was not all that excited for Paris. I had nothing against going, but it was not the first on my list. I had this impression that French people were too snooty about food and too formal with their landscape designs. Still I went, thinking I would at least have a god time.

When we arrived we made our way to our couchsurfers place, and found it without any trouble at all. On the way we passed through a lively market where dozens of vendors lined the streets selling fresh produce, cheeses, pastries, fish and meats, as well as fresh pastas. I realized how much I was craving really fresh healthy food, so I went back out and bought vegetables of every color in the rainbow, plus some lemon and cheese, so that I could make a salad. Only 30 minutes in Paris, and it had already won me over.

Our host had given us his entire flat for the weekend while he stayed with his girlfriend. His flat was super stylish and functional, and a perfect size for 1 person. (Also not bad for the three of us for a short period). He wasn’t there when we arrived, but he planned to meet us there around 6. We had a few hours so we all went out walking around in different directions.

I walked for only a couple minutes before discovering a graveyard. It was walled in on all four sides but there were large entrance gates in the middle of each block. It seemed to be organized like a four-square garden. There was a large central sculpture and two intersecting roads that pass through it. Trees line each side of the road making strong lines leading in toward the sculpture. The grave stones ranged from humble to a bit ostentatious, but they were all beautiful. I spent two hours walking around and admiring them. Just before 5 pm aman came around in a small vehicle, like a golf cart, ringing a bell and yelling out something that I assumed meant the graveyard was closing soon.

I made my way over to a gate realizing I had gotten sucked in a bit and slightly disoriented. I looked toward the central sculpture to reorient myself. I walked out and toward our flat, and ran into Irene on the way. Quentin was not there yet and we thought it would be nice to have dinner waiting for him so Irene and Christine set out to buy more food. While I waited for Quentin I drew in my visual journal. The girls returned with fresh pasta, roasted red peppers, and pesto. They also bought wine, a baguette, and brie for a snack. Quentin came home while we were eating in his house. It was a bit funny inviting him in to sit at his own table, but not awkward, especially since we could offer him food and wine.

We all sat and talked for a while about our trip so far, and our plans in Paris. First on our list was to check out the club scene, it was after all a Saturday night. We set off to find a club on a boat that typically has a good dJ. We thought we had found it, but noticed a group of parisian girls skipping over that boat to another, so we decided to follow them. They got on a boat that appeared to be a private party, but no one said anything to us on our way in, so we hung up our coats and tried to blend in. We were welcomed by groups of girls pulling us in to their dance circle, which made us feel better about party crashing. After some european techno and a few Michael Jackson songs, the champagne and a cake full ofcandles were brought out. We all sang “Bon Anniversaire” and clapped as a girl blew out the candles. We spent some time out on the dock enjoying the breeze, and then headed back to the flat to sleep.

In the morning we went to a cafe on the corner for brunch. We all ordered the special: a smoked salmon quiche over a bed of greens. When the waiter arrived with our food held our plates up and he sneered at our table. Christine looked at him, confused, and started to grab the plate from his hand, thinking perhaps he didn’t realize how high he was holding it. The man sneered again, this time at her, and said something in French. Irene and Christine knew a similar word in Spanish and immediately understood. Apparently he just wanted us to move out napkins out of the way. It was a bit of an awkward moment, but we got a good laugh thinking back on Christine trying to grab the food out of his hands.

The quiche was absolutely delicious. The French know how to cook, and deserve to be a bit snooty about their food, as long as they let me sit there and enjoy it. After brunch we headed out the “Jardin de Luxemburg,” a typical large-scale formal Parisian garden. It was the perfect day to go to the park, the temperature had finally broke 60 (remember this is still in January), it was a Sunday afternoon and all of the locals were out enjoying the park.

I was 100% wrong about formal park design. The formal lines were entirely appropriate and made for a unique and enjoyable experience. Sure there were large spaces that were not occupied by people, but they were still used to form dramatic views. We spent hours there just sitting, watching small children play red rover, red rover, older ones played soccer, couples walked down the winding paths holding hands, and men play a game I had never seen before with a beer in hand. We walked to the other end and discovered the circular pool of water where little boys and their dads tried to get their remote control boat all the way across, while teenagers gathered chairs in a circle and through bread crumbs for the birds.

We slowly meandered away from the park, picked up crepes with bananas and nutella from a street vendor, and headed toward Notre Dam. Notre Dam is a beautiful and intricate gothic cathedral with ceilings high enough to make anyone consider the existence of a higher power. The interior is dark, cool, and peaceful, but the exterior is a bit more lively with a plaza in front and a gathering of pigeons along the side near the river.

After enjoying the cathedral we headed out toward the modern art museum where we planned to meet up with out couchsurfing host and his friends. He took us up to the top of the museum which was also an enclosed viewing deck where you could see all of Paris, including the eiffel tower. The sun was setting and the clouds in the sky provided a beautiful backdrop for a photo.

They took us on a walk around that part of town, mostly in search of a good place to grab a drink. Later we split off from his friends and just went to his girlfriends house to make dinner. We started with a delicious toasted baguette loaded with cheese and drizzled with honey and french herbs. Next we made a pile of crepes which we first stuffed with cheese, vegetables, and spices, and later––for dessert we drizzled honey and lemon on them. We chatted and drank wine until it was time to head home for bed.

The next morning we decided to make the famous commute down the Champs-Elysées from the Arc de Triumph to the Louvre. The scale of this street is phenomenal. We stopped about halfway to eat at a cafe with good outdoor seating so we could enjoy the day and watch the world go by. It seems like a counterintuitive activity for a typical sight-seeing tourist, but I highly recommend it. After a couple pizzas, a couple coffees, and a couple hours we moved on toward the Louvre. The scale of the walkways is phenomenal. Carefully trimmed trees plantedin a strip topped with gravel towered over separated the pedestrians from the cars speeding by. The sidewalk was smooth and flat, allowing for your attention to be up and forward.

After a few blocks we stumbled upon the corner of the large formal park that connected to the Louvre. Another large circular pond was placed in the middle as a casual gathering space. Moveable lounge chairs were provided so people could sit in a cluster, bath in the sun, and watch the birds flock. The rest of the walk was well curated with predetermined paths, bold hedges and a wide staircase. Once up the stairs you could get a better view of the Louvre, and there were small access points to various lawns: smalll sloped lawns for sun bathing, and larger flat lawns for playing soccer.

The actual building wrapped around three sides creating a central gathering space with of course, the famous pyramidal structure and staircase down into the museum. The museum was closing shortly so we decided just to enjoy the space while the sun set. I don’t particularly love the pyramid sculpture, but at the very least provides an anchor point and a unique way of entering a building.

We headed back toward home, strolling by the Notre Dam to catch another glance, and grabbed some groceries to made dinner at home. After dinner Irene and I scurried out to the Sacre Coeur to catch one more glimpse of Paris that we had not yet seen. Its setting on a hill made it another good vantage point to view the entire city. It was a perfect ending to an overall perfect experience in Paris.