Already, But Not Yet

May 18th-22nd: Montmartre, Marais, Monet, & Good-byes

There wasn’t much on the itinerary for the last few days of the program. My professor knows all. I was grateful for some extended free time. I can’t speak for the rest of the group, but I was exhausted. It had been 40 wonderful days of travel, with most of our time planned out up to this point. That’s great in it’s own way, but it’s something else entirely to explore a beautiful city guided only by my whim (ok, and Rick Steves).

^ On May 18th I joined a little group headed to Montmartre, the 18th arrondissement. After the hike up to the Basilique du Sacre Coeur we were rewarded with a wonderful view of Paris. The basilica itself was unlike the other French churches we visited in that it was not Gothic but Romanesque and Byzantine, lit from the top, and very beautiful.

^ We lunched at one of the cafes near the art market and saw a street performer cranking a large music box and singing with a very French vibrato. Regardless of the apparent tourist trap, it didn’t feel tacky at all.

^ Kate and I swapped halves of our classic croque-monsieur and croque-madame orders. Since I hate it when people throw around cultural terms as though I should know what they mean, and although I do pride myself in sounding like I know what I’m talking about, I only just discovered what these dishes are. So qualifying that I do respect your intelligence and the usefulness of Google, the croque-monsieur is a grilled ham and (either French or Swiss) cheese sandwich. The croque-madame is the same except that there is a fried egg on the top.

^ My group disbanded a little while after lunch as many of them had more to check off on their Paris List. Sophie and I, however, stayed to wander around a bit more. Many artists of the Expressionist period had lived and worked in this area. I had just fallen in love with Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec at d'Orsay and was eager to soak in the nostalgic bohemian streets.

^ Les Deux Moulins is a cafe that was featured in an American-loved French film, Amélie. Sophie and I geeked out about it. One of the most freeing things was walking and talking with Sophie in Montmartre. Paris. Wandering. She gets it.

^ May 19th: One of the only assignments we really had was keeping up on a site journal, referred to by its French translation, cahier. As you can imagine, it was difficult to do anything else but enjoy the sites, so all of us (save a few insanely dedicated ones) procrastinated, of course. They were due on the morning of the 21st. Sophie, Lisa, Tori, and I headed into the Marais in search of a cafe to work at. Some time later Lisa and I broke off to explore the area and get some food. We came back to the same street we had shawarma on the other day. It was Sunday at noon. Packed. We ended up getting falafel at a place down the street from the first place.

^ Across from falafels was a pastry shop that had bewitched us both. If you know me at all, you will not be surprised to hear that it took me several minutes to decide on what to order. Of course, I was proud of my eventual settlement on the roulé au pavot, a poppy seed roll. And what’s travel without food pictures? But I had to laugh at myself when I caught the eye of this lady, perhaps a local, benevolently laughing at my youthful excitement over a novelty that was most likely as common as toast to her. I smiled back and we had a moment of humanity.

^ A scene from Midnight in Paris at the historic-yet-touristy-yet-cool Polidor. The whole group of about 12 ordered the French classic boeuf bourguignon. The meat was very tender and soaked in a pool of very tasty sauce that was too good to be called gravy. And the mashed potatoes were so creamy.

May 20th: Finals were held at the corner cafe, Arts et Metiers. So chill. Then we went to a class lunch at a couscous place. I was blind but now I see. A plate of couscous, a bottomless pot of vegetable stew, and perfectly cooked lamb.

^ The professor had been taking students in groups to her favorite tea place, Mariages Frères, and it was my turn. Along the walls of the entryway were stacked hundreds of tea canisters. And when we were shown to our classy table by our classy waiter, I was expected to choose a tea from their thousand choices. After reading through a million options, I just asked the waiter what he would suggest. Unfortunately I don’t know enough about tea to know what I like. He did his best, but 5 options were still enough to overwhelm me at that point. “That rose one sounds good.” Darjeeling Rose it is. I enjoyed it, the crème brulée, and the table conversation.

^ May 21st: With cahiers turned in and the rest of the day subject to our druthers, Meighan (my Paris roommate) and I wandered around finding gems like this.

^ We ended up at Caféotheque for slowness of pace and coffee. Our Goodbye Dinner was that evening at a place the professor’s friend owns. It was three-course meal, the main course of which was Duck That No Other Duck Will Ever Measure Up To. Ever. Because friends were close, the food was superb, and it was Paris.

^ May 22nd: It was great weather for a lovely class picnic in the Tuileries Gardens after picking up all of the food at a cool little market. From there we walked to l'Orangerie, the museum where Monet’s murals of the water lilies (Nymphéas) are displayed. The oval-shaped rooms where the murals are displayed have skylights that diffuse light so that there is never a harsh glare. The sky was mostly clear that day, but there were a few clouds that passed over the museum every now and again which made for the most mesmerizing transformation of the paintings’ color. It was like watching the sunrise and sunset on repeat, and each panel was a different day.

The next morning we all got up early to see off our earliest-departing group members. We had a group hug, took a group photo, and one by one said our good-byes.

>>———-> END OF PART ONE <———-<<

May 14th-17th: Opera, Chartres, & Museums

On May 14th a few of us went to the opera house, Palais Garnier, built in the 1800’s.

^ Construction began in 1861 after Napoleon III held an architecture contest but due to the Franco-Prussian war construction stopped in 1870, and the building was used by the military. The project was finally finished in 1875.

^ An author by the name of Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was so intrigued by the architecture that he asked for and was granted a grand tour of the place including a cellar previously used as a torture chamber and the underground lake and stream passages upon which the foundation was built. It was this and the tragic Chandelier Incident of 1896 that inspired Leroux to write a fiction novel The Phantom of the Opera published in 1910, adapted for film in 1925, and adapted for musical theatre in 1986.

^ Ceiling by Marc Chagall; 1963

^ View from the opera house

^ Macarons at Laduree

^ During the first part of the day on May 15th we hopped on a train and went to Chartres Cathedral where we were enlightened on the subject of medieval Christianity as told by Malcolm Miller, an expert who has dedicated his adult life to the study of Chartres. He knows the stained-glass windows back & forth, up & down, and through & through (which is how you read them, apparently).

They are in the middle of refurbishing right now, so part of it is bright and shiny as it was when it was first built (Middle Ages) and the other part is still dark and dirty from age. Both are beautiful in my opinion.

^ Later in Paris a few of us trekked off to journal at a coffee shop called Cafeotheque. Super cool. I loved the chill atmosphere and the fact that you can choose where your beans come from. I chose Antigua that time which was really tasty especially after drinking mostly just hotel coffee for the past 3 or 4 weeks.

May 16th: The Louvre

I have this whole rant about obsessively taking photos at an art gallery/museum but this is neither the place nor time. So I have zero photos from the Louvre.

The professor had suggested making a list of ‘must-see’s so as not to miss out. I had fair warning. I spent a solid 8 hours in there. And that was just skimming. It was amazing.

My Louvre buddy and I barely made it back in time to go to the jazz club with the rest of the class. It was low key and a perfect way to unwind after the day’s exertions.

^ After class on May 17th we had lunch in the Marais district where I was advised to order the lamb shawarma (which I would have ordered anyway because Iron Man saved the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P05deS1h6oM). It’s delicious.

Then we went to Musee d'Orsay, a train station-turned-museum that took you through the progression of art style from the Romantic period to Impressionism (my favorite wing of the museum) to Expressionism. I fell in love with the whole place and nearly everything in it.

I stayed till closing again.

Later that evening a friend and I chatted in a corner cafe about the different ways people approach art and the effects it has on them. I’d like to carry the vibe of that moment with me always.