- D.H. Lawrence on Paris from Women in Love
I was amazed as I watched the transformation of my ability with French over the two weeks of language study in Montpellier. As a Colombian woman I met here in Paris says, to learn a language, you really have to be forced to use it for communication. I can only imagine how much months of the program would improve one's language. Nonetheless, I was happy to leave Montpellier and head back to Paris. I do miss the delicious pastries from my favorite boulangerie, and speaking French so much...
Paris is wonderful; it's streets and metro ways full of history and interesting people. Montmarte, famous for being the artists' hang back in the day, is my favorite area, e
ven with the tourism. There are cute cafes, funky boutiques, sweet little stone streets and steps that wind up and down and around the hill of Montmarte. (Nearby are streets and streets of fabric, button, ribbon, and costume stores!) Some of the window displays here are fantastical pieces of hand-crafted voila-ing behind glass, colorful bragging about the goods within. I have been very aware of the fashion here, much of which is pretty conservative and normal, if fancy. But there are also great boots and myriad hats, and lots of real and faux fur. There is a Parisian-ess of funky, spunky witchiness and putting-on-the-ritzness. I think it is reflected in the black wrought iron, the yawning gothic gorgoyle window sculptures of Notre Dame, and the sketches from Moulin Rouge by Toulouse Latrec.
I have now visited four out of the 157 museums here. I spent five hours at the Musee d'Orsay. Among the thousands of pieces and objects, the museum houses an exquisite collection of Art Nouveau furniture and Impressionist painting. Wow, let me tell you, Monet and Van Gogh just blow every other Impressionist out of the water. One of the temporary exhibitions was of the museum's collection of pastels. Degas- oh la la. Wow. The art I viewed affected me more than I can express in the remaining six minutes of my internet time...
I have also walked for miles and miles and miles. Yesterday on a street I happened to be walking along in the Ma
rais, I stumbled upon one of the oldest houses in Paris, from the 15th century! On Monday I went to one of the flea markets here, Le Marche aux Puces, wandering in the maze of antique stores until I was numb with the cold. Oh the things Paris has thought!- textiles, taxidermy, vintage clothing, hats, jewelry, buttons, keys, skulls, lens contraptions, feathers, shells, leather books, doll eyeballs, teacups, perfume bottles, ivory knick knacks, bloomers, metal green man scultures...
Needless to say, I am enjoying Paris.
Paris is wonderful; it's streets and metro ways full of history and interesting people. Montmarte, famous for being the artists' hang back in the day, is my favorite area, e
ven with the tourism. There are cute cafes, funky boutiques, sweet little stone streets and steps that wind up and down and around the hill of Montmarte. (Nearby are streets and streets of fabric, button, ribbon, and costume stores!) Some of the window displays here are fantastical pieces of hand-crafted voila-ing behind glass, colorful bragging about the goods within. I have been very aware of the fashion here, much of which is pretty conservative and normal, if fancy. But there are also great boots and myriad hats, and lots of real and faux fur. There is a Parisian-ess of funky, spunky witchiness and putting-on-the-ritzness. I think it is reflected in the black wrought iron, the yawning gothic gorgoyle window sculptures of Notre Dame, and the sketches from Moulin Rouge by Toulouse Latrec.I have now visited four out of the 157 museums here. I spent five hours at the Musee d'Orsay. Among the thousands of pieces and objects, the museum houses an exquisite collection of Art Nouveau furniture and Impressionist painting. Wow, let me tell you, Monet and Van Gogh just blow every other Impressionist out of the water. One of the temporary exhibitions was of the museum's collection of pastels. Degas- oh la la. Wow. The art I viewed affected me more than I can express in the remaining six minutes of my internet time...
I have also walked for miles and miles and miles. Yesterday on a street I happened to be walking along in the Ma
rais, I stumbled upon one of the oldest houses in Paris, from the 15th century! On Monday I went to one of the flea markets here, Le Marche aux Puces, wandering in the maze of antique stores until I was numb with the cold. Oh the things Paris has thought!- textiles, taxidermy, vintage clothing, hats, jewelry, buttons, keys, skulls, lens contraptions, feathers, shells, leather books, doll eyeballs, teacups, perfume bottles, ivory knick knacks, bloomers, metal green man scultures...Needless to say, I am enjoying Paris.
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