What else can I say? Paris has been one of those lifelong dreams that has now become a reality of the past. I went to Paris. I was in Paris. In fact right now I'm still flying over French soil. Still, for some reason this whole trip seems so surreal, like a dream when you're half awake. It might have something to do with the fact that these have been among the most exhausting days of my life considering that we walked from the Pompidou to the tour Eiffel and then back on the first day, about the same distance walking around the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay and the Opera House the second day and then today from le Grand Arch de la Defense to the Arch de Triomphe. We saw so many amazing things, buildings and streets and bridges like fairy tales come to life. Time and time again I enacted in my head the grand entrances of French royalty into the Tuileries and their strolls among the labyrinth gardens, the half time break at the opera with the characteristic gossip and the luxurious clothing and jewels to show off, the romantic scenes along the Seine that Monet painted, much like the paintings I saw at Orsay and the awesomely terrifying and beautiful Notre Dame. And I could see it all: the royalty, the slums, the bourgeoisie, the new and the old, what was and what wants to be.
I did notice a few things in the city that i did not expect. There is a huge contrast between the old Paris and the new one. It is a new city: Paris II. instead of evolving out of the old one, this one has grown right next to the old one. It is everything globalized and commercialized separately from the old. I'm glad of this because there are not many places in the world where one can picture what life would have been like 300 years ago so vividly. Still I can't help but feel a bit like this old city doesn't want me in it. It is so grande and royal that I am not good enough for it. Maybe I am wrong to feel this way or maybe I just needed to spend more time in order to fully acquaint myself with it.
I am not complaining! I am so happy and grateful to Moe and my parents for making this happen. I really feel like the luckiest person on Earth to have the chance to see the world of books and stories and paintings in real life.
The only thing that was missing from this trip was actual time travel. Is it too much to ask for? Well if Steve Jobs can open an Apple store inside the Louvre, I think I can ask for time travel so that I can live a piece of my life in 19th century Paris as a rich society woman (with Internet?)
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