i keep a diary

December 16, 2012

Paris

Sunday, December 16th

gina, maddy, meredith
On my way to the airport on Sunday night, I stopped off at Meredith's new apartment to drop the dog off with her.
couch ˆ gina ˆ maddy ˆ meredith
gina, maddy, meredith
Meredith and her new roomie, Gina.
dogs ˆ gina ˆ maddy ˆ meredith
Best thing about the international terminal at JFK...
airport ˆ sign
...is the bi bim bab. Yes!
airport ˆ bi bim bab ˆ food

Sunday, December 16th

Eight hours later, I woke up in France.
airplane ˆ airport ˆ window
Enjoyed feeling like a city n00b trying to figure out the trains en francais.
train station
me
Success!
train ˆ me
On my way towards Paris.
train
After arriving in Paris, I had to figure out how to get from the train to the Couronnes stop
map ˆ paris ˆ subway
Sylvie's lovely neighborhood.
paris
Sylvie was out grocery shopping when I arrived. So I hung out in the courtyard with her building's super trying to chat in hand gestures until she returned through the courtyard!
courtyard ˆ paris
me, sylvie
I hadn't seen her since we went to Coney Island in January 2008, right before she moved back to Paris.
me ˆ sylvie
Cool, wooden stairs in Sylvie's apartment building.
stairs
Tiles in the foyer.
flower
Sylvie's lovely apartment. While I was unpacking my things, it started raining outside...
...but by the time we headed back out, the rain had stopped and a rainbow head appeared!
best ˆ paris ˆ rainbow
DOUBLE RAINBOW!
paris ˆ rainbow

Tuesday, December 18th

Sylvie had to get up early for work, and left me to snooze off my jetlag. I showered and made it outside for some exploring by 1pm.
paris ˆ walking
Busted out my guidebook and decided to walk from Sylvie's neighborhood...
paris ˆ walking
...over to see Notre Dame.
church ˆ paris
Above the entrance of Notre Dame, an incredible bas relief called The Portal of the Last Judgement.
art ˆ church ˆ paris
"It represents the Last Judgement as described in the Gospel of Saint Matthew. On the lower lintel, the dead are being resuscitated from their tombs. Just above that, on the upper lintel, the archangel Michael is weighing their souls according to the lives they led on earth and the love they showed to God and to men. The chosen people are led to the left towards Heaven (to Christ’s right) and the condemned are lead to the right, to hell, by a devil."
art ˆ church ˆ paris
Close up of the condemned, in chains, being led to hell. I like how there's a devil at both the front, and end of the line. The guy in the back is so excited to shepherd everyone to hell. He's like the worst camp counselor of all time.
art ˆ best ˆ church ˆ close up ˆ demon ˆ devil ˆ paris
The height of the ceilings and incredible windows are stunning.
art ˆ church ˆ paris ˆ stained glass ˆ window
North transept's Rose Window. Installed from 1250 - 1260!
church ˆ stained glass ˆ window
After admiring the inside, I walked around the outside perimeter. Here's one of Notre Dame's famous gargoyles! Gargoyles are used to throw rainwater away from the mortar-seams of a building, preventing erosion. From gargouille, the Old French word for ‘throat,’ because water is channeled through the "throat" of the animal. This is the same word that we get our modern word "gargle!"
gargoyle ˆ paris ˆ pigeon
After I'd finished gawking at Notre Dame, I crossed La Seine and walked 20 minutes west...
paris ˆ walking
...over to Louvre Palace.
paris ˆ walking
The museum was closing soon, so I just admired the I.M. Pei designed pyramid outside. I according to Wikipedia, "the structure...reaches a height of 21.6 metres; its square base has sides of 35 metres (115 ft)."

If you take 35 and divide it by 21.6, you get:
35 / 16 = 1.62037037037

1 : 1.618 = The golden ratio, the divine proportion, also known as phi! ϕ.



This is probably not an accident. ;)
paris ˆ pyramid
After hours of walking around, I spent some time resting my feet, eating this delicious pizza and reading The Picture of Dorian Gray
food ˆ paris ˆ phone ˆ pizza
I still had another two hours to kill before Sylvie was finished with work, so I spent some time exploring the Montparnasse Cemetery looking for Baudelaire's grave. I didn't manage to find it, but I did find...
cemetary ˆ paris
...Wormser's!
cemetary
Cool, Dracaenaen door-knocker. (A dracaena is the mermaid's lesser-known, half-lady, half-dragon counterpart!)
door ˆ dragon ˆ paris
Awesome flower of life stencil I saw on my walk over to the...
art ˆ flower of life ˆ sacred geometry
...Musee du Luxembourg. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that some museums in Paris are open until 7 or 8pm.
art ˆ painting ˆ tape
sylvie
At 8:30 I met up with Sylvie at a pub to watch her lead her language-class in an English-language-based trivia quiz.
bar ˆ sylvie
After dinner, Sylie introduced me to Derren Brown via Youtube. (If you haven't heard of him, check him out. Apocalypse, in particular, where they trick a man into thinking a zombie apocalypse has actually happened, is B-A-N-A-N-A-S. I can't believe they do this shit on British TV. (And I don't understand why he's not super-famous in the USA yet?)
laptop ˆ tv

Wednesday, December 19th

Sylvie had to get up early for work on Wednesday and I got to have another lazy, snoozy morning to myself in her lovely apartment.
Sylvie's cat, Chicken, is really funny. I got out of bed and was about to put my pants on, when suddenly a paw shot out from under the bed and swiped at my feet.
cat ˆ feet
I got down low to look under the bed, but there was no one there!
bed
I stood back up to get dressed again and suddenly the paw was back! Hahah. Chicken, you're a lil fucker for sure.
cat ˆ feet
Grabbed a coffee and walked to the Metro...
paris ˆ subway
...got off at Pigalle...
map ˆ subway
...and then started walking over to Montemarte.
paris ˆ walking
Stopped in an empty church to enjoy the stillness and silence of the huge room for a few minutes.
church ˆ paris
It's not too hard to find explore Montemarte...
paris ˆ walking
...every time you have a choice in roads...
paris
..just keeping walking uphill and eventually you come to the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur.
paris ˆ walking
Got myself a hot chocolate and a croissant. Mmmmm.
croissant ˆ shoes ˆ treats
And enjoyed the view from steps.
paris ˆ scenic overlook
rue saint eleuthere
Spotted this space invader on the way down.
art ˆ paris ˆ sign ˆ rue saint eleuthere
Loved the piece next to it: A bird holding a rat from a record cut-out. So neat. Next I headed over to...
art ˆ bird ˆ paris ˆ record
I'd never really gotten to see all that much of Dali's work.
art ˆ museum
I liked a lot of the stuff they had at this museum.
art ˆ museum
The sculpture installations are pretty great.
art ˆ museum
Knee-key, bottle-leg, lobster-claw detail.
art ˆ lobster ˆ museum
I also really liked this painting At first glance it looks like some kind of mosquito-like insect, but then you notice the metal cylinder...
art ˆ mirror ˆ museum ˆ painting
...and you see a caricature of the artist! This form of graphical projection is called Anamorphosis.
art ˆ mirror ˆ museum ˆ painting
Portrait of Dali by Philippe Halsman entitled...
art ˆ museum ˆ photo
...Like two erect sentries, my mustache defends the entrance to my real self.
museum
sylvie
I met up with Sylvie after work and we had dinner at her apt.
food ˆ sylvie

Thursday, December 20th

Woke up to drizzling rain on Thursday.
buildings
Chicken came out from under the bed to stare out the window with me. (And so I could photograph his majesty.)
cat
Snoozed until 1pm and then too the metro...
courtyard
...Place de la Concorde.
fountain ˆ paris ˆ pinecone ˆ statue
L'aiguille de Cléopâtre. Cleopatra's Needle. Egypt's gift to France in 1826. (Originally stood on one side of the entry to Ramesses II at Luxor, which I visited back in 2008
obelisk ˆ paris
The pedestal features lovely gold-inlaid diagrams that explain how they moved the 250-ton granite object.
obelisk ˆ paris
Next I walked over to Musee de l'Orangerie to see...
park ˆ walking
...Chaim Soutine's Order out of Chaos. (This was excellent! I wish I could've taken some photos in the gallery).

I also saw Monet's huge installation of waterlillies, Les Nymphaes.
art ˆ flyer ˆ museum
In 2003 they were renovating the basement of the museum when they discovered an old limestone wall. It was eventually determined to be built by Louis XIII in the 1630s. Thought it was cool to see a flower of life carved into a portion of the wall they have on display.
flower of life ˆ museum
I got out of the museum to discover the weather had cleared up!
eiffel tower ˆ paris ˆ walking
Yeah, the views are ok.
boat ˆ clouds ˆ eiffel tower ˆ paris ˆ river ˆ sunset
Saw the Eiffel tower in the distance and decided to walk over.
eiffel tower ˆ paris ˆ river ˆ sunset
Twenty minutes later...
eiffel tower ˆ paris ˆ walking
...thirty minutes later. Didn't bother going up, but I did manage to...
eiffel tower
me
...take the obligatory Eiffel-selfie.
paris ˆ me
Pretty trees...
paris ˆ twilight
...in the park at sunset.
trees ˆ twilight
On the walk back to Sylvie's I passed this building...
buildings ˆ plant
...that was totally covered in plants. I love this.
buildings ˆ plant
There was also another really neat building complex...
paris
...with artsy bamboo-fenced duck ponds...
duck
...and a whole field of grass with light rods that projected light-rings onto the floor of the elevated building above!
art ˆ buildings ˆ grass ˆ paris
As your footsteps vibrated the soil, the lights on the ceiling would dance. Very dreamlike and beautiful!
art ˆ best ˆ grass ˆ paris
With my non-existent grasp of French it took me a while to find a restaurant with a meat-free salad, but mission accomplished!
food ˆ salad
sylvie
Another rainy night! Sylvie didn't get home from work until 10.
sylvie
sylvie
We stayed up late telling crazy stories about our formative years. (Sylvie's are crazier than mine!)
sylvie
sylvie
I like when people let me photograph them...
sylvie
sylvie
...in their native habitat.
sylvie
sylvie
Chicken!
best ˆ cat ˆ sylvie

Friday, December 21st

sylvie
On Friday morning, Sylvie and biked over (on the same bike) to meet Sylvie's lovely friends, Pippa and Daniel for lunch at Rose Bakery. Mmmmm.
food ˆ sylvie
me, sylvie
Later that afternoon, I bid Sylvie farewell and headed...
best ˆ paris ˆ me ˆ sylvie
...back to the airport.
airport
My trip home was uneventful, despite some people's eschatological interpretation of the Mayan calendar. Maybe they were off by a 5,126-year cycle?
passport ˆ stamp
Made it home safe and sound. In a taxi on my way home to pick up Maddy. Thanks again for having me, Sylvie!
driving ˆ taxi

2 comments

  • lespaultelestratmarch 20, 2015

    Brian,
    I have enjoyed your site for many years. You have a wonderful zeal for life. Thank you for keeping this up.

    • muffinseptember 24, 2019

      I agree! I have been reading this since, I think, 2003?