Blog Post 19.
I love Paris. The past weekend, I went to Paris with my abroad program. It was awesome: partly because I got to go with the exceptional people in my program, partly because I got to see more of Nathan there and entirely because, well, it’s Paris.
I was a little concerned that it would be overrated, but was pleasantly surprised by just how much I loved being there. I mean really loved being there.
There’s nothing quite like a city with solid urban planning and a tried-and-true public transit system, if you ask me. But it was more than the infrastructure that melted my heart even though I could see my breath every time I stepped outside.
Quite frankly, I don’t think I could put my finger on exactly what it is I love so much. Most likely it’s a mix of the following and several more things:
The city is the world’s greatest collection of art collections: I saw dozens of Renoirs, Cézannes, Sisleys, Derains and more across several museums, spent two hours in a Picasso exhibit at Musee d’Orsay, and cried (just a little) in Monet’s Les Nymphéas in L’Orangerie. And those are just the impressionists.
I serendipitously ended up in a 13-room exhibit following the entire career of Joan Miró who, at this limited point in my artistic education, is my favorite cubist/surrealist (tbh his work spanned so many styles) artist. I left it feeling full, walked up the Champs Élysées and plopped down in a sunny spot in the Jardin de Tuileries. It took only a moment to realize I was staring at a giant Alexander Calder (also one of my faves) sculpture, probably the most fitting thing that could have happened after hours in a Miró exhibit.
It wasn’t only work from the past 200 years, of course, that blew me away. I feel like I saw it all. To be honest, the Louvre was rather overwhelming, as was d’Orsay (less so), but I was lucky to have Nathan around. After getting out of his classes, he would show me the pieces he’d analysed during the day and we would spend some time discussing a few things in depth, which balanced the aimless wandering very well.
On that note, Nathan is a great museum partner. I think that confirms how much I appreciate him because I’m typically more fond of doing museums alone. However, when I was solo in the Napoleon III apartments and French sculpture rooms at the Louvre, I found myself feeling his absence and wondering what he would add to the experience.
I drank life-changing hot chocolate. “Chocolat chaud” from Angelina’s. I try not to think of the fact that it was basically the equivalent of consuming 2-3 whole melted chocolate bars because it was worth every calorie and every gram of sugar. Besides, I walked 10ish miles 3 days in a row and couldn’t afford real meals so it all evens out, right?
Art, chocolat and friends aside, I loved the energy of Paris. I think I may figure out a way to live there for some small chunk of my life. It spurred my ambition to improve my (now approaching on basic) French skills and provided the right balance of bustling metropolis and appreciation for an aesthetic, quiet spot to sit and think. I want to know more of the still streets, the insides of bijou galleries and local cafés. I tasted the rich history of the city and I felt the force of its movement into the future.
I will be returning.
Kulani Sol 