Photo Diary: Paris

I've had the providence to travel to Paris three years in a row, thanks to The Dutch.  It's been a long-standing dream of mine to go to Paris and to have been able to go every year has been surreal.  It goes without saying that J'adore Paris.  It is a strikingly beautiful city.  Truly. 

I only had a weekend in Paris this time around, but no matter.  I was able to get to know the city a bit more intimately.  That means I did't even get the chance to step foot in any tourist attraction (not counting Montmartre).  We've stayed in the Le Marias in the 3rd arrondissement (whereas we've always stayed in the 18th) and I must say it's my new favorite neighborhood in Paris because of its central location and the multitude of markets and cafes all around.  I've also had the chance to explore the 5th via Paris Walks, and thanks to my Brazilian-turned-Parisian friend who I see once a year, the 10th where we ate pastries on the banks of Canal Saint Martin one afternoon, just like true Parisians!

We also met some incredibly wonderful Parisians while hanging out at Gregory Marchand's Frenchie (we tend to follow Jamie Oliver and his alumni around, when we get the chance) on Rue de Nil which led to a long evening of French wine and laughter.  The Americans and French supposedly have a sincere dislike for each other (or so I keep hearing), but everything I have heard about how hostile and prudish French people are so far, I have not seen for myself.  I think I just might be lucky, but I refuse to believe that the French are insufferable.  I refuse! 

Here's some eye candy to start off the weekend - mon Paris!  And as always, I cannot wait to return.     

Postcards from Paris: Montmartre

I have learned that one of the most precious gifts in life is to maintain a certain naiveté, a sense of wonder, regardless of how old you are, how many places you've traveled to, how much money you make.  This is one of those life secrets that have been leaked out over and over again, yet still remains a difficult one to practice.  "Fresh eyes,.. fresh eyes," I would remind myself when traveling somewhere I've been to already.  Especially in Paris, no two experiences are ever the same anyway!

Montmartre was our neighborhood for the past two years that we've been coming to Paris, thus my soft spot for it.  We've found little restaurants that we favored here and little corner boulangeries and cafes that we frequent as though we were locals.  It was here where I had a fiasco at the lavarie where, because I only speak toddler's French, I dyed a white shirt pink.  It was here where I also discovered an alien side of Paris, when we walked along the North African market on Barbes because a metro stop closed.  It was a side of Paris I never knew existed.

Montmartre can be a neighborhood packed with tourists during the day drawn to Sacre Ceour and the Moulin Rouge.  It is in the north of Paris and is away from most tourist destinations.  Montmartre draws the artists as far back as 1800's.  Renoir would paint scenes from parties held in Montmartre and Van Gogh used to live in this arrondissement with his brother, Theo.  Check out my walks in Montmartre from a visit one year ago here.

We stayed in the Marais this time, but I found myself in Montmartre for a stroll again.  It was a warm day and the skies were a perfect blue.  And to my surprise, everything felt new to me again.  Paris will do that to you.

A Walk in Paris

It is ironic to think that in a place where the architecture, the cobblestone streets, the churches, the palaces have stayed the same throughout centuries, I find myself coming back to a different Paris each time.  Every time I return, it seems like I’m returning to a changed Paris. The minute I step into its streets, I feel the distinct almost imperceptible undercurrent of a place different than I remember.  Like coming home after a prolonged absence and noticing that your favorite wall hanging has been moved a millimeter to the left.   

Good, bad, indifferent, one thing never changes.  Paris always, always, always makes me swoon.  It is as if I enter a trance and I convulse into involuntary back flips while promenading along the Seine.  Baguette under one arm, of course.

Whenever I catch Anthony Bourdain on TV, I feel a pang of envy.  I want to have that same experience of seeing a place in the eyes of a local. I want to hear the stories of a place as told by someone who calls that place home. Especially if that place is Paris. When I made an appointment with a volunteer Parisian guide via Paris Greeters, I did not expect that that would exactly be the kind of experience I would be in for.  

I met my Parisian guide outside the Maubert metro.  A resident of the 5th arrondissement, he would show me the quirks and nuances of his neighborhood not often covered by guide books. There were so many snippets of interesting information walking the streets of Paris.  The walk would take me to the small neighborhood park next to where ex-first lady Danielle Mitterrand lived while her husband, then President Francois Mitterrand carried on an affair, past the bouquinistes (those charming green stalls selling old books, menus, posters, that sort) along the Seine, to an amphitheater back when Paris was still known as Lutetia in the Roman Empire, to the street where Ernest Hemingway lived.  Of course there was one quirky moment when heading towards the marche on Rue Mouffertard, a lady I would mistake for a bum would bellow in something in French and my guide would respond something back.  She is a wealthy lady, owning a lot of real estate in the area and was known to randomly scream things at random people just to interact with someone.  

I was really soaking this up so in my rapt attentiveness, I failed to take more pictures.  And of course, there's wanting to seem cool and unaffected being the world traveler that I am (no, not really).   

We sat outside Dose - Dealer de Cafe on Rue Mouffetard while I enjoyed my coffee and he his OJ.  We have spent the last half hour or so walking and he was opening up to me a Paris I've never known before.  By conversations surrounding politics and the Parisian society in general, I was gaining understanding of how complex the French people are, and also perhaps, how activism never left them two centuries after the French Revolution.  Case in point: I was scheduled to fly Air France both directions to and from Paris, but on the week of my trip, the pilots decided to go on strike.  Seriously?  This is so foreign and unintelligible to my capitalist-trained brain.  No flights for two weeks?  But this is the way of the French.  It is their way or the highway - millions of dollars in business be damned.  

We resumed our walk on Rue Mouffetard where a lively market was in full swing and at this point, I gave up my pretense of coolness.  The SLR had to come out.

 The building shown above used to be a chocolatier.  The mural depicts a black servant serving chocolate to a Caucasian woman.  Every year, there's a protest in front of this building where stones are thrown at the mural and every year, the government replaces the glass.  Apparently in Paris, once considered historic, it belongs to the patrimony and could not be destroyed or taken down, regardless of how offensive it may seem in today's times.  

And here is a building which might have been a boucherie back in the day as suggested by the animals painted on the building facade.  

 This is supposedly the church where Cosette and Jean Valjean hid in Les Miserables.  And speaking of Les Miserables, the Parisians abhor both the movie and the musical.  They associate the Victor Hugo novel, regardless of adaptation, too much with homework.

This is exactly the kind of conversation with a Parisian I've been daydreaming about since my first trip here.  Straight from the Parisian's mouth, I was able to confirm my suspicion that Paris is changing.  McDonald's and Burger King are gaining popularity after it had flopped a couple of decades ago.  The young Parisian does not cook on a regular basis anymore.  They would much rather take the shortcut.  For someone like me who admires the French for their heritage of gastronomy, news like that is a sad, sad affair.  It is rather depressing, actually.    

Paris is often idealized.  But a couple of hours with an insider allowed me to understand that Paris is just like any other human society.  It is not without pitfalls, regardless of how the rest of the world project their utopian dreams on it.  I learned about the individualistic nature of the Parisian society, and how to some Parisians, that can just be downright exhausting.  They are stubborn to uphold their personal rights, but could care less about the whole, but that makes Parisians Parisians.  If you want to be spoken to kindly as a tourist, go somewhere else like Japan.  Paris isn't the place for that.     

Our walk ended at Jardin des Plantes where little Parisians can be found playing and their adult counterparts could be seen jogging around.  Overall, everyone was taking advantage of the indian summer that has surprised Paris.  I bid adieu to my guide who is off to the cinema with friends.

And I?  I had the rest of Paris to explore.  

If you go
I would most highly recommend Paris Greeters to anyone going to Paris.  They are a non-profit, volunteer-run organization who love sharing with visitors the Paris they themselves love.  Your walk will be tailored to your interest, in your language of preference, and could very well end up to be a private tour like mine was, depending on season.  The service is offered by donation.  Paris Greeters' website can be found here.  

Postcards from Chateau de Versailles

I've been looooonging to post about my whirlwind weekend in Paris, but unfortunately, this pest of a cold won.  I was indisposed for all but one and a half days, but still, it's a harsh blow for my superwoman tendencies.  So I have made arrangements to see my nutritionist to see how I could avoid catching an inconvenient cold upon a return from three days in Paris, not to mention the crazy flight back via Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, and straight on to the office bright and early on Monday morning upon landing. I think I know what he will say, but it's not easy juggling my 9-5 and jetset dreams.  Anyway, enough of that ramble.

It was a week ago already that I was in Versailles!  After a flight across the pond via Boston, I landed in an empty Charles de Gaulle at 7:30 am (Air France was on strike, after all) and hopped on my RER train to Paris.  Paris!  Je suis rentree!

A quick coffee at our neighborhood in the 3eme, a quiche avec lardons (the best ever), and we were off to Versailles.  

Versailles was the palatial home of King Louis XIV (also called the "sun king" - there would be emblems of Apollo on the door knobs and furniture inside the palace) built in the 1670's.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and if only for that, one should see it.  It is massive, superlative, and filled with opulence and luxury within.  

It was a warm day, rare in late September, so we sat outside on the steps facing the gardens, eating our baguettes.  I contemplated the wealth of the French monarchy then to be able to afford such a grand and luxurious living space.  The palace grounds extended as far as the eye can see.  It is said to have seven hundred rooms.  It was gargantuan with a retained elegance and quietness, yes.  But ultimately, the French would not stand for it so they toppled the monarchy in 1799 during the French Revolution.  

Galerie des Glaces or Hall of Mirrors is perhaps one of the most photographed rooms in Versailles.  There are three hundred fifty seven mirrors lined up on a seventeen arches on a wall opposite an equal number of windows.  The dazzling effect is startling.  Hung on the ceilings of this long hallway are chandeliers. The paintings on the ceiling demonstrate the history of Louis XIV.  

And here it is.. a room fit for a King.  It was here that King Louis XIV died.  All that gold and gilt look very impressive, but it looks really stuffy and uncomfortable to sleep on.  But that's just me.  

The other sensational resident in this palace is Marie Antoinette, of course.  However, because of our limited time in Versailles, we were unable to visit her estate, which is about a mile away from the Chateau.

This is my third time in Paris but I've never been to Versailles prior to this visit.  This short field trip to Versailles allowed me to witness the ostentatious wealth of the French monarchy that drove France to the brink that eventually dissolved the monarchy and birthed the French republic.  Paris has too way too many things going on for me for me to really delve into its rich history, but this field trip to Versailles, albeit short, has allowed me to piece together a little bit of what made Paris the way it is today.