In Paris I'm Metro Mouse

Because I was in Paris this past week, I’ll begin my blog post with a pun I heard a girl in my 11^th grade French class say:

What do you call a terrible Thursday?

(Pause)

A tra-jeudi!

(Ha ha ha.)

I’ve always thought that pun was pretty good, like I’ve always wanted to learn French. France has always been this glamourous, alluring, elusive place that was so, so far away, and this past week I was actually there. Similar to London, it was interesting to actually be at these places that I’ve thought about my whole life and see how they are in reality versus how I thought about them for years.

I remember when I was in middle school and this lady who went to my church said she went to Paris and was like, “It’s eh, it’s really dirty,” and I was a like, “Umm, how dare you say that, it’s Paris.” I’ve always taken offense when the first thing people say about Paris is that it’s dirty.

I re-read the first line that I wrote and it doesn’t feel real to say that I was in Paris this week. Like, super casually, Oh yeah I was in Paris this week lol no biggie. 15 year old me would be screaming. 19 year old me was screaming, just internally.

I used to have this insane jealousy of people who traveled. Like, I wouldn’t even want to hear about it because I was so jealous. They seemed to be so much cooler, have something so wonderful and it made me ache with envy. However, coming to Europe has made me realize that those people aren’t inherently cooler because they’ve traveled, and that similar to me, they’ve just gone on a plane and got off the plane and walked around in a new place, and anyone can do that, and it in no way makes you a better person. Realizing that was like having a burden lifted off of me in a way.

Arriving in Paris was a little bit different than I had imagined. When I thought of Paris before I had a hazy view of outdoor cafes with flowers nearby, everything tinted a creamy pink. It’s hard to describe but my imagination was different than how Paris is: less people, calmer, less cramped, more sunshine, cleaner streets, etc. It’s weird because Paris was not like how I pictured it- there were outdoor cafes, but they were busy and overpriced. There were rows and rows of gorgeous architecture, but below them were streets scattered with rubbish and people walking everywhere and the sky was grey and I was worried about getting food and if people were going to be nice and never, ever, did I even consider the metro when I was dreaming about Paris growing up. It’s a very romanticized city, and when I actually visited it for myself, I realized the Paris I imagined didn’t exist.

I also always associated Paris with stores like Chanel and Prada. When I was 13 I downloaded these apps on the family’s iPad that basically just had aesthetic pictures of different places, and I would marvel at the Paris pictures, with the big glass pyramid and designer storefronts. Again, when I pictured Paris, I would always picture a lot of sunshine, and more open space. On this trip, I went into a few department stores that sold those types of clothing, makeup, and accessories- Chanel, Cartier, Saint Laurent, Fendi, etc, and it wasn’t nearly as glamourous as the pictures made it look. It kind of just made me sad I couldn’t even hope to buy anything there, even though it was still a little bit of fun to just look.

There was also the Louvre. When you see pictures of the Louvre, you see the gorgeous glass pyramid. You don’t see the hoards of people surrounding it and you certainly don’t see the museum halls filled, filled with people at 10 am Monday morning, pushing their way to take a picture of the Mona Lisa which you can’t really even enjoy because there a billion people around you trying to take a selfie with it and you are so so so tired and by that point it kind of just seems like another painting. That’s not to say it wasn’t beautiful. It is. But the atmosphere is tiring.

Inside the Louvre.

Although the Louvre was a little bit disappointing, the Musée D’Orsay and the Musée de L’Orangerie were everything I could’ve hoped for. I didn’t realize how much I loved Van Gogh until I saw those paintings. I always knew I loved Monet but I didn’t realize how much I loved impressionism of itself until I saw the 5^th floor of the D’Orsay. The Musée de L’Orangerie had huge, vast, Monet paintings that covered the wall and surrounded you (it was a circular room). It was amazing. I didn’t even know he painted paintings that large. I’ve noticed that I can usually pick out the Monet paintings out of a group of impressionist paintings even if I hadn’t seen that particular painting before and I think it’s because I’m so drawn to the colours Monet uses. I l love his pinks and lavenders and corals and periwinkles and nearly every time I see one of his paintings I immediately love it. I love seeing art and being surrounded by art and noticing little things that I think are interesting. Another thing I’ve learned from my art classes is how to notice art in a new way- to think about what makes the piece of art interesting and why and if something appeals to me what is it and why does it appeal to me.

Honestly, I couldn’t have imagined the Eiffel Tower with any more grandeur than it had. The Eiffel Tower was stunning. However, I did not anticipate the constant harassment while I was near the Eiffel Tower to buy alcohol, cigarettes, cheap mini Eiffel Tower trinkets, etc. The worst was probably the men who would try to thrust a flower into your hands and then demand money. It feels sad I had to experience this while by this iconic, beautiful structure, because it cheapened the experience.