18:22
Paris, France
I'm in Paris!
I'm only here for about three hours while I wait for my next train (most of which is sadly going to be spent at the train station), but I did get to walk about for an hour. I don't know what it is about this city--it's old, it's dirty, the people here are generally rude and dislike Americans... but there's just something about Paris. I've only been here once before, and that was for only 12 hours at night (7pm - 7am), but every time I arrive I get a chill of excitement. I just went for a quick walk to the Bastille
and then cut over to the Seine river for a view of the Notre Dame.
(that's the Notre Dame in the background)
Sadly I didn't have enough time to walk all the way to the Notre Dame--I had promised Jessica I'd be back in an hour because I didn't want to leave her watching all the bags alone for too long (I actually might've been able to make it the whole way in my time frame had I not accidentally gone down Boulevard Bourdon instead of Boulevard Henry IV like I meant to).
The interesting thing about the Notre Dame is that ever since I was little I've wanted to see it. Not just see it, but touch it. I was raised Catholic and for as far back as I can remeber have had an affection for this particular church. When I was here years ago, I was able to walk to the church, but because it was night it was closed. I knew that that was going to be the case but thought it would be okay--even though I wasn't able to go inside, I thought I'd at least be able to touch the outside. When I got there I wash shocked to find a particularly nasty wrought iron fence surrounding the whole thing. It had spikes on top and the whole bit. When I reached through with my arm as far as I could I was still a good four feet from the facade. I considered shimmiing around the side where the fence met the 50 foot fall to the Seine, but even that was spiked ensuring anyone who tried would meet a grisly fate (kinda mean for a church, I thought--but then again this church does date back to the middle ages when things in the church were much more gruesome then a little tumble into a river).
Anyway, when I returned from my trip not having touched the stonework of the Notre Dame was really the only thing I was unhappy about. My friend Ryan Sirrine told me at the time that I was going to actually go inside it before I die. At the time he said this with more certainty than a simple "cheer up, mate" sort of talk--almost like it was a fortelling. Anyway, at the time it made me feel better because I had confidence he was right. Still do, in fact. But today fate has shown up that fortelling once again. It's only a half-hour walk away and I still don't get to fulfill my destiny...yet.
Anyway, back to Paris. Paris is grand. With all the history, 1000 year old buildings, priceless works of art, monuments and museums, it's truly spectacular. Similar to the way New York (only older) or London (only french-er) is spectacular. But even if I spoke the language (which I truly wish I did), I still wouldn't live here--the same way I wouldn't choose to live in New York or London. It's simply not my type of place. I love to visit, hope to get to see all the sights some day, but I just couldn't live here. Maybe if I were in college and was offered a 'semester abroad' opportunity I would take it--but it'd still be far down on my list of places I'd like to spend a semester abroad (behind Italy, Greece, many other European cities. and various places in Asia).
But right now, I'm in PARIS!!!
On a side note, I keep hoping to run into Emma Watson here (I understand she sometimes holidays in France), but so far no luck. Maybe next time I'm in town...
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