This poor girl is really need a good rest. I have had only a couple of hours of sleep in the past two days, and would love nothing more than just to collapse and catch some shut eyes. But the adrenaline is keeping me going, and I found myself still charged up and not in the least settled. My brain is racing and that’s when I told myself, I need to go somewhere.
Cue – Gare de l’Est. I’ve decided I’m going to visit my friends (pictorial clue to where I’ll be travelling to) and in a couple of weeks, I’ll be at this very same station, catching the train out of town. It is pretty exciting and this marks my first French excursion this year. But of course, Efi has also asked me if I would do a 10K run with her. Hmmm… Can I pull off a 2-weeks training for the run?
In the spirit of Easter and spreading the love of chocolate eggs, look what I’ve found in my mailbox?! I have no idea when these were deposited in my mailbox, probably, over the weekend, by the Resident Committee of my building. (I didn’t check it on days when I didn’t think the postman was working.) Of course, these chocolates are very welcomed. Needed even. Merci!
The past couple of days have been intensed, workwise. Apart from short breaks, I’ve been literally chained to my desk, typety typety type away. A particular and important work deadline is looming over my colleagues and I, and although somewhat stressful, we’re working at a good pace to completing our submission. These chocolates (plus some mini stroopwafels, courtesy of LK) are keeping me going whenever I feel the urge to snack. They make gooooood comfort food. ;)
The Mairie of Paris organises a number of exhibitions every year, housed within the Hôtel de Ville. They are often interesting, and it shows, given the long queues to visit the exhibits. An hour or so of waiting is not unusual. I have, in the past, explored a number of exhibitions, including one of Petit Nicolas. (Don’t know who Petit Nicolas is? Check the Wiki.) Needless to say, I enjoyed them very much.
Two exhibitions are running at the moment, one of which I saw last week – Paris: at the time of the Impressionists. The collection came from Musée d’Orsay (possibly my favourite museum in the city – yes, more than Louvre) and have not often been on display, so it’s a gem to behold even if the number of exhibits are limited. So much so that I bought postcards to some of these masterpieces.
The exhibition runs from 12 April to 30 July 2011, and opens daily from 10am to 7pm (last admission 6.15pm) except Sunday and public holidays. Entry is free.
Blue is my colour. It draws me like moth to the lamp; anything blue, you’ll get my attention rather quickly. On rue du Petit Pont, the mosaic fronting the bar Polly Maggoo seems like sparkling baubles to me. And the iconic picture of Polly Maggoo from the 60s’ movie Qui êtes vous, Polly Maggoo? has been assembled quite so elegantly, don’t you agree?
Culture is rich in Paris, there is no doubt about it. However, since I started street exploration of the city, I’m learning so much more about random little things with references to movie, literature, history etc that I have been zero knowledge prior to this. For example, I googled Polly Maggoo because it’s the name of the bar and turns out, it’s a reference to a movie of fashion excesses. A few days ago, I have just got acquainted with Arnaud Rimbaud. I enjoy knowing all these little snippets to our civilisation. It makes me wonder – what will I discover next? :D
Ps: I velib’ed in Paris today! First time ever cycling in a capital city (hey, I was a small town girl) and it’s not as bad as I’d imagined it to be. Then again, it is a Sunday on a long weekend so there are less traffic and people around. Still, must try to get a long subscription to Velib so I can try it again.
When Lih King asked if I would like to go to a concert, I jumped at the chance to get out after holing up most of the day in my apartment, typing away on work documents. An escape? Yes please!
Since I didn’t even have a clue who I’d be seeing at this impromptu night out, Lih King ran a quick band catch-up for my benefits. Best Coast is an Indie Rock band from California which first caught his attention last summer, and their music is characterised as “lo-fi” (the opposite of “hi-fi”?) and fuzzy. Whatever that’s supposed to mean. Ah yes, my ignorance in music is showing, but hey, remember, I also gave it a go and checked it out. ;)
The concert was fun and we managed to get pretty good balcony standing place, affording us great view during the gig. I recognised some of the tunes, and I’m assuming I may have heard them from snippets in tv shows? There were also similarities to the sound of The Blue Pills, a fictional punk band featured in Season 2 of Castle.
I should try out more new bands (well, new to me anyway) like this – randomly, at small venues. You’ll never know what you’ll discover!
I did something bold today. Sort of. I was out on a photowalk to celebrate Friday and around sunset, on passing the quay, I thought this couple would make perfect subject for photo of the day. I approached them to ask if it’ll be ok for me to grab a shot. Much to my delight, they ok’ed it, wheeeee. (OK, I know this is probably no big deal to a lot of people but it’s major for me – I hate intruding on others.)
While the couple were friendly and cheerfully agreed, I noticed the girl being a tad camera-shy and my doubts started creeping in. The guy, well, he was happy to show-off the romance that they’ve got. So in my hurry (feeding off my anxiety) this is the best I manage to photograph them. I wish I’ve taken a bit more time and composed the photo better. Well, it’s a learning experience anyway. Hopefully next time I’ll fare better than this? ;)
When the day is long and warm, a lovely little treat is to get a cone of ice cream/ sorbet and enjoy it while taking a stroll along the quay of River Seine. One of the most famous gelateries in the city is Berthillon on rue St-Louis-en-l’Ile, which I drop by every so often. I loooove their parfum caramel au beurre salé.
Precisely because they’re famous, a large number of “agents” selling Berthillon’s ice cream have mushroomed on Ile-St-Louis, offering more than one location to scout for Berthillon’s goodies. It is particularly handy on an evening like today, when the real deal has closed for the day when we arrived. A few doors away, there you go, an agent of Berthillon’s best. :)
Ps: a delicious alternative to Berthillon is Pozzetto near St Paul – if I am on ice-cream trip with Anne, you’ll always catch us queueing there instead.
Only in Paris – legalised art squat.
Just over a decade ago, artists began to squat at 59 rue de Rivoli, a dilapidated former building of Credit Lyonnais. What flourished next was a series of colourful installations at the façade of the street, attracting attentions aplenty and drawing admirers of free expressions of arts. It really is impossible to miss this building if you’re going down rue de Rivoli.
When the building was declared dangerous in mid-2000s, it was thanks to the support of fans as well as the media that the building, instead of simply being shut down, underwent a restoration process that would take approximately three years (between 2006 and 2009) to complete. Its reopening saw legalisation of the premises as free home to resident artists and the birth of 59Rivoli.org, its doors open to visitors without admission charges. It’s a dynamic art house with works at various stages, from inception to finalised pieces.
Some collects shot glasses (my youngest brother), some collects thimbles (one of my best friends), some collects postcards (guilty as charged), and it would appear the owner of this handyman shop on rue Gay-Lussac is a fan of snowglobes. One of the few snowglobes sitting by the window is that of Hong Kong.
At the moment, my pretty collection of postcards from all over the world is sitting in a box back in Dublin, in a haphazard manner. It has been a while since I organised the latest postcards that I’ve acquired, either from friends who were travelling or those that I bought myself. Since arriving in Paris, I’ve received a handful few postcards, so perhaps I should get a new scrapbook and start another collection.
Now, what do you collect?
I first noticed this unusual and whimsical sculpture at place du Père-Teilhard-de-Chardin during a leisurely walk with the girls a couple of weekends ago, and when my random bus exploration took me past it again, I deboarded the bus quickly at the next stop.
A commission carried out by late Jean-Robert Ipoustéguy, this sculpture from mid-1980 parodically depicted the poet Arthur Rimbaud. A restless soul who travelled constantly, Rimbaud had earned himself the nickname l’Homme aux semelles de vent (“man with soles of wind”). Cleverly playing with the homophonic title l’Homme aux semelles devant (“man with soles in front [of him]”), Ipoustéguy had Rimbaud resting upon someone’s soles, perhaps his own, as the body was split in two and time-wrapped in a peculiar machine.
This is a prime example of the relationship between French(wo)men and their love of language. From whatever little I managed to glean from the French culture, everyone seems to thrive on smart plays of words, compositions that are linguistically beautiful, the subtleties in nuances of literature. How else do you explain George Perec’s lipogrammic writing of La disparition? Or the creation of verlanised verlan? Or the delight of my French teacher in showing us “the 8 flavours of passé composé” and the anticipation of other rich variations of all the other tenses? ;)
