Oh la la, mon Paris!

Trip Start Jun 25, 2008

Trip End Aug 27, 2008

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Flag of France Paris, Île-de-France, France
Friday, July 4, 2008

I feel so cliché I don't know what to do with myself. I saw a woman walking down the street (American, of course) who swirled around a small post and did a little dance in the middle of the street with an enormous smile on her face. She was obviously pleased to be in Paris and didn't mind acting like a fool to show it. I laughed, but inside I feel the same way. I'm completely in love with Paris. I almost cried today while sitting at the Cluny museum (also known as the National Museum of the Middle Ages), waiting for my boss to arrive to show me my work quarters.
The Cluny museum building is incredible. It has a winding staircase inside, a wooden ceiling and an incredible view of the neighborhood from where I work. It was originally the residence of the Cluny abbots and cannot be more perfect for housing Medieval artifacts. According to a museum brochure, "Built at the end of the 15th century for Abbot Jacques d'Amboise, brother of the principal adviser to King Louis XII, the Hô tel de Cluny is the oldest medieval aristocratic residence, and it is also the best preserved in Paris." The Hô tel was itself built on top of Gallo-Roman baths

A view from a window

. It feels like an honor just to be inside such a historical place.
Yesterday, I took a guided tour of the museum and found that I understood most of what the guide explained. It helped that I had read up on material concerning the museum and also that the guide was Cuban; for some reason, it is easier for me to understand French in non-French accents. Maybe because they are less nasally?
Going to the supermarket has also been an experience worth documenting. Let us begin with the most essential food product: cheese. I spent half an hour in front of the cheese section looking, touching, smelling. I bought myself a delicious brie that was already cut and weighed, and had it for breakfast this morning with a little bit of raspberry jam. It's quite possibly the creamiest and most delicious brie I have ever had the pleasure of savoring. I bought other things, too, of course, but I can already tell that I am going to love going to the supermarket (not normally true) just to buy and try new cheeses.
Mostly I am very happy that I have been to Pairs before and done the essential "touristy" things. Of course, there is a large abundance of these "touristy things": going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, the Tour Montparnasse, the Arc de Triomphe; visiting the Louvre, the d'Orsay, the Cluny, the Orangerie, the Musee Rodin; strolling through the Tuilleries, the Jardins Luxembourg and down the Champs Elysee; seeing a show at the Moulin Rouge or Lido; admiring the Sacre Coeur, St

Hotel de Ville

. Sulpice and, of course, Notre Dame; riding a Baton Rouge. The list goes on.
However, this time around, I simply want to meet and speak with French people, eat a lot of cheese and pastries, drink café noir in picture book-like cafes and stroll down the Seine. Also on my list is going to a Parisian flea market, visiting the musee Marmatton and the musee Picasso, seeing the cemetery where Oscar Wilde is buried, and enjoying a theater show and a concert (preferably outdoor).
I have also - somewhat obsessively - made a list of all the places in the Ile-de-France that I would like to see, including Chartres. If I have time, I would love to take a trip to Normandy and to the Loire Valley, too. Maybe this weekend I'll start by just going to the Clignancourt flea market and then strolling (always strolling!) through Montmarte, followed by a visit to Giverny the next day? Even if my "lists" get discarded, it doesn't matter. I'm just enjoying being here! That's the way Paris was meant to be enjoyed I think, anyway: just by being here.

Postscript: My apologies for the particular sappiness of this entry.