{a train into paris // a window view}
{l'ile de la cite // on my way to work}
{pont des arts}
{post-work exploring in la marais, st. germain, the latin quarter...}
{a french onion soup in which i ate ALL of the cheese // some exploring of le musee de louvre}
a week of 9-to-5 after two semesters of schoolwork came at us quickly after we landed in paris - but just as quickly i forgave the city as i realized how each part of it was so well connected. we can walk from the pont des artes all the way to the jardin du luxembourg all while checking out the arc de triomphe and the eiffel tower in the distance. i'm lucky enough to not be alone on my adventures here in paris, yet i can still relate to a quote via the new york times that was published at the perfect moment:
"it was easy in paris to surrender to the moment. but why? what alchemy transmuted ordinary activities, be it a walk across a bridge or the unwrapping of butter, into a pleasure? my default speed in new york is “hurtle,” yet in paris i dragged the edge of a fork across an oyster with a care better suited to sliding a bow across a violin.
this was not simply because i was in paris, though it has long held a kind of magic for many americans. it was because i was there on my own. in a city that has been perfecting beauty since the reign of napoleon III, there are innumerable sensual details — patterns, textures, colors, sounds — that can be diluted, even missed, when chattering with someone or collaborating on an itinerary. alone one becomes acutely aware of the hollow clack of pétanque balls in a park; the patina of maillol’s bronze “baigneuse se coiffant” that makes her look wet even on a cloudless day in the tuileries; how each of the empty wine bottles beside sidewalk recycling bins is the embodiment of someone’s good time. there is a paris that deeply rewards the solo traveler."
this was not simply because i was in paris, though it has long held a kind of magic for many americans. it was because i was there on my own. in a city that has been perfecting beauty since the reign of napoleon III, there are innumerable sensual details — patterns, textures, colors, sounds — that can be diluted, even missed, when chattering with someone or collaborating on an itinerary. alone one becomes acutely aware of the hollow clack of pétanque balls in a park; the patina of maillol’s bronze “baigneuse se coiffant” that makes her look wet even on a cloudless day in the tuileries; how each of the empty wine bottles beside sidewalk recycling bins is the embodiment of someone’s good time. there is a paris that deeply rewards the solo traveler."
- stephanie rosenblum
some recent favorites:
gelato at bertillon
the french onion soup at au pied de cochon
a maison-kayser croissant (or two)
a well-dressed sandwich at cosi (not the american one :)
