Paris Continued (Day 2)

Some bakeries release a fake scent of freshly-baked croissants to lure in customers. This isn't one of those places.

Taïs and I awoke early on Saturday to breakfast on a fresh croissant before heading to her godmother's film screening. Somehow we were 20 minutes late; having missed our stop on the metro we literally ran to the theater. Just as we breathlessly skidded to a stop outside the doors, Taïs' godmother walked out. "Quickly!" (I think) she said and shoved us through the doors. We took our seats as the opening credits were rolling.


I loved the film. It was called "L'Invention des jours heureux" ("The Invention of Happy Days"); Taïs' godmother Sandrine Dumas directed it. I understood basically everything except some anecdotal dialogue based mostly on visual cues but also my increasing grasp of French. It was beautifully shot and the plot was moving without being trite at all. It was a short and treated as such, provided a detailed snapshot of the lives of two women. Dumas seemed to recognize the impossibility of telling a whole story in a short time but it was a well-written chapter which did not want for contextualization. Though we walked in on their lives, it neither felt shallow nor did it seem that there was a world beyond our understanding.


Apres le film we walked to le Grand Palais to see the Monet exhibit. The line was three hours long and I didn't have a book, so after taking advantage of the photo op I accompanied Taïs to Bastille so she could have her guitar string fixed.

L'Arc de Triumph!

Grand Palais

This was the last time my scarf was seen...

And le Petit Palais:

We got into the lobby which was free to enter. Wow, it was beautiful.


I was so amazed by the beauty of the interior that I tried to capture it but of course nothing could convey that feeling. video here.

"We shall never surrender"; Winston Churchill

Charles de Gaulle

On the metro it struck me that the sound of the doors closing seems to be a recording of a single note on an accordion. Perhaps the first few times I assumed that it was the noise of a busker's accordion, as they are everywhere. 


Then another point struck me: my scarf was gone! O, beloved Salvation Army relic from freshman year. Ninety-nine-cent paisley possibly-silk-blend shawl (last seen in the picture of me jumping above)! I actually went back to the station we had just left but of course did not find it. I was confident in navigating the metro by myself and met Taïs  at the music shop in Bastille. There was a large protest also about social reform, one of the precursors to what's going on right now in Paris. 

Bastille Opera

July Column at Bastille

Bastille + Communism 

We walked around the neighborhood, stopping in a luxurious pastry shop to grab some chocolate... creations:

We walked around a bit, popping into Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis for a look around:

Taïs showed me the neighborhood which was quite adorable, slightly less touristy than those we'd been around thus far:

Then found a great lunch spot. I'm salivating just thinking about it... toasted American-style bread with some kind of chèvre mixture, then a big slice of goat cheese right on top with a lovely little salad and some Stella. 

and of course chocolate cake for desert.

We spent a long time at lunch so by the time we finished, we had to go back to the flat so that Taïs could pack for her move the next day.

We sight-saw a bit more on the way home, seeing the preparations in the streets for the Nuit Blanche (White Night), an annual art festival in Paris during which galleries and museums stay open late into the night and entrance is free. All over the streets people were setting up installations and preparing for the evening to come.

We stopped by the Pompidou as well, just to check it out. It's a really awesome building. If you don't know about it, check out the wikipedia page here. 

(More photos to come later.)

I had to shower as well. Taïs directed me upstairs to her mother's room, where I was confonted with a bath tub which had a tap and a head on a hose. With no curtain and a carpet on the floor, I knew I couldn't stand up. Taïs and her mother were just down the stairs and I'm sure they heard me bumping and sliding around, trying to wash my hair in the claw-footed container. By the time I finished it was about time to go to Taïs' show; she was playing a few songs at the restaurant which had employed her for the past month or two.

I met her friends, all very nice Parisians. They were very friendly to me, asking me about myself and speaking English with each other so that I could follow their conversation. Taïs' mother's boyfriend works for a publishing company and brought this young Australian woman who had recently sailed around the world, apparently the youngest person to do so without stopping. 

Parisians!

After the show Taïs and I went to a squat up the street with her friends. There was some kind of house party there. Having heard about squats in Paris I was intrigued and quite surprised by how nice it was! I could tell it had been clean before the party started, with tall ceilings and freshly painted walls. There was a band which was not very good, but I always enjoy live music. 

When we left the party we wandered the streets in a large group. there were people everywhere. We had planned on going to see the Monet exhibit, but were foiled again by long lines and so we contented ourselves with galleries and installations that we happened upon. Taïs, her friend Lèa and I split from the group and went to Belle ville, Lèa's neighborhood. It was very nice, more culturally diverse than those I'd seen thus far, with even more people on the street and in cafès  and galleries everywhere.