From Paris, With Love
Sunday, March 30, 2014
The first time I visited Paris in 2003, I was a young, hostel-hopping intern living in Germany on a microscopic paycheck. It still makes me smile to think about that trip: us friends carousing on the steps of Sacre Coeur with a bottle of German sekt; making a few extra bucks from Chinese tourists desperate to use our Louis Vuitton "purchase quota"; missing our hostel curfew and sleeping over at a flat full of Danish students where cheap champagne was so abundant we could theoretically brush our teeth with it; and enjoying the free dusk til dawn art festival Nuit Blanche, which was a dream for a euro-crunching backpacker. It was a fun moment in time so characteristic of carefree youth that I will always cherish.
My second visit to Paris over 10 years later felt like a lifetime apart from that trip—different, but in a wonderful way. This time, I experienced the Paris of movies—a city seemingly built for leisurely sipping café crèmes under the spring sun, intimate wine-soaked dinners, and romantic walks through winding cobblestone streets.
Enjoying Paris at a relaxed pace and with a loose agenda was delightful. We skipped the museum lines and walked through the city as much as we could, taking in all the beautiful sights, browsing vintage books by the Seine, peeking into lovely shops in Le Marais, breaking for coffees and cocktails, and treating ourselves to the most delicious Parisian fare. We had some wonderful dinners, thanks to friends with great taste: a classic entrecôte at Café des Musées, mind-blowingly delicious poultry at Le Coq Rico, and an unforgettable six-course dégustation at Pierre Sang at Oberkampf. Throw in nights of stumbling into random neighborhood bars and a naughty show at the Crazy Horse, and there wasn't much more I could want.
We had such a wonderful time that it makes it that much harder to be back to reality in New York. But these memories of Paris make me happy and hopeful that, just as that first trip was the opening salvo of an adventure-filled part of my life, this one could just be a taste of more lovely things to come in this new stage.
We had such a wonderful time that it makes it that much harder to be back to reality in New York. But these memories of Paris make me happy and hopeful that, just as that first trip was the opening salvo of an adventure-filled part of my life, this one could just be a taste of more lovely things to come in this new stage.
5 comments
you've a talent for photografie and your Storys let me remember on so many things.
ReplyDeletebeautiful blog!
we started our one only 2 days ago and want to inspire People with simple but awesome Looks of Fashion, maybe your interested.
would make me happy if youve a minute for our young blog.
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thanks, &like your blog
Looking good so far, Jette! Best of luck on your blog!
Deleteyou have inspired me. When I turn 18 I'm packing up, hopping on a plane and am going to backpack through europe.
ReplyDeleteIt's true what they say, Rebekah ... travel is one thing you pay for that makes you richer! Go for it!
DeleteI recently visited Paris and it was behind my expectations. It is trully an amazing city and after 4 full days walking around the city, I still have some places that I did not visited. Looking for the next time to go there :)
ReplyDeleteI would be very happy to welcoming you on my new photography blog: www.behindtheobjective.com
Thanks and keep showing us good posts like this one!