Paris, mes amis!

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.

Ernest Hemingway

Paris today was a combination of all things I love; lights, pretty buildings, art, changing leaves, coffee, shopping, literature, and feeling like I’m smart.

We arrived in our apartment yesterday afternoon and it is like something from a movie. It has a stone feature wall, wooden beams on the ceiling, antique furniture, chandeliers, pretty paintings, and windows that open to flower boxes and a cute street of white, detailed apartment buildings! So cute and so perfect!

After getting settled we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. We wandered around in the park near it, and took pictures, but we found the best view of the tower from the Musee d’Hommes across the street. From the tower, we were able to see the sunset, which was breathtaking. It wasn’t until I saw the city from the tower that I realized how huge and gorgeous this city is. Once we made our way back down to the base of the tower, dusk had fallen and the lights were turned on which was gorgeous. I was super excited to see the tower, but the little 6-year-old in me was also excited to be standing where Mary-Kate and Ashley filmed ‘Passport to Paris’. (I’m such a dork) It was seriously so pretty though, everything here is a work of art. We don’t put the same effort into beauty back home that the French put into this city. There is a way of creating, seeing, and being that is the most graceful and beautiful way of doing so and the Europeans have that figured out for sure.

Today we explored the city and the area near our apartment and saw so many amazing bridges, city hall, Notre Dame, the Seine and so many fun shops and restaurants. The two highlights of my day though were Le Pont de l'Archevêché and Shakespeare and Company.

During our wanderings, we came across a bridge called Le Pont de l'Archevêché with a chain-link fence covered in padlocks. Upon closer examination, we saw that they were locks of love. Each of the locks was different, some were painted, so had ribbons and some were engraved, but they all expressed peoples love for each other or the city. From simple things like ‘D+A’, to messages about people honeymooning in France, to my favourite lock which reads ‘je t’aime maintenant’ they were beautiful and creative and a lot of fun to read.

Unlike Le Pont de l'Archevêché, Shakespeare and Company had been a visit I’d been planning for a long time. In the 1920’s it was an active bookstore that was also a place where so many notable authors would gather for a place of refuge, to write, to think and to discuss. People such as Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald and William S. Burroughs lived there for a time, to write, read, and come together. This tradition still carries on today, writers can still ask to spend time in this almost holy place of literature. The only conditions for their stay are that they have to help at the store, work on their own piece of writing, and read a minimum of one book a day. What an amazing experience it would be to work on a book in the same place that so many revered writers spent their free time, gah! Definitely something to dream of. I thought it only fitting to purchase my own copy of ‘A Moveable Feast’ from the store. (I was also able to snag a copy of Oliver Twist in French and a book called ‘Un Jeune Homme En Colère for 20p a pop on the side of the road, so my little reading heart is content!)

I am loving being able to use my second language, and the locals are quite impressed with the fact that the tourist kids can parlez-vous. I also feel super intelligent when I am able to point out important places from the French Revolution and explain it to my family. Serment du Jeu du Paume? Yeah, I can tell you all about it and where it’s located and show you a picture of me next to it! My Social-20 teacher M. Moquin would be impressed with me.

All in all, J’ADORE PARIS! I can’t wait to spend the next week here!

Bonne nuit! <3

 The Tower Lights

LoveLocks

i love you now.

 I LOVE!