Paris, je t'aime

This is a terribly overdue post - three months overdue, in fact. I had written a post about my first night in Paris some time back but never got around to writing about the other two days that was spent there. But better late than never, especially on stiflingly hot Malaysians afternoons like these, when flipping through pictures of Pah-ree in printemps (spring) almost brings me back to those mild, balmy days in the beautiful city.

But first, before I jabber on about what a lovely time I had there, here are two videos that capture the essence of my time there, for those of you who don't like reading lengthy posts (sorry about the inconsistent sizes - didn't realize I was editing in normal for the first one and widescreen for the second).





So yeah, as you can see from the videos, we visited all the famous landmarks - or at least tried to. Queues at the Louvre were too long, and likewise with the Notre Dame Cathedral. The only landmark we actually explored was the Eiffel Tower. (That one cannot miss! Been a lifelong dream - I have a thing for capital cities and tall buildings. :P)

But... you wouldn't have known that from the videos would you? That's the thing I don't get about people who travel just to take pictures / videos of all the 'famous' places they've traveled to just to show that they've been there, and they're so cultured and sophisticated and worldly now.

Don't get me wrong - I don't think there's anything wrong with taking pictures with famous landmarks (heck, I do the same) or following trends... but if people's motivation is to show how cultured and educated and well-exposed and well-traveled they are by visiting popular places or wearing trendy clothes... I think it's pretty pointless if you're not also exposing yourself to new experiences and new ways of seeing the world at the same time.

Because photographic evidence that you've been somewhere does not mean you've experienced the place. And the only way to really experience a new place - or anything new in life for that matter - is to put aside your expectations, put down the camera for awhile, and get wonderfully caught up in whatever it is you're experiencing for the first time.

My highlights of Paris were hardly all the famous landmarks, although they did make for good Facebook pictures. ;) Rather, the things that stuck with me and that I left with vivid memories of are things like:

• spending the first night in Paris in some random bar located down a quiet little street and observing the stark differences between the British drinking scene and the more discreet, yet lively Parisian scene. 
• waking up at 6AM to a deliciously cool morning and the glorious smell of coffee (I swear, if there is a heaven, that's what mornings there will be like, or at least in my version of it) and croissants and pain au chocolat. (If you ever meet a French person, you have to ask them to say chocolat (sha-cou-lah). I swear hearing it in French will make you fall in love with chocolate if you haven't already, the way it rolls off their tongue.)
• walking down the street with Mabel on a Sunday morning and having a whole bunch of buff, well-built Frenchmen jog past and smile at us. 
• being called "mademoiselle"! 
• authentic. French. Food. (That makes you hear angelic choirs with every bite. I'm not kidding.)

Ah, so typical and clichéd, I know, to become some obsessed Francophile after a few days in Paris. But, in my defense, it was my entire experience there that I fell in love with - not to mention experiences with   lovely people from the nation as well - not just because "the Eiffel Tower is pretty" (although it is), or because "French sounds cool" (although it does - but I personally think 'beautiful' is a better way to describe the language). Also, I know people who have been to Paris and said everyone there was snobby and stuck-up, and that the Eiffel Tower was nothing but a heap of rusting metal. It all boils down to perspective and the individual experience, which will vary from person to person.

But that's beside the point. People ask if Paris lived up to my expectations. It did, but then again, no amount of expectation could have prepared me for actually being there, breathing in Parisian air and soaking in the sights. Paris was as beautiful and elegant as I imagined, but not only that. It was double-decker trains passing by artistically graffiti-ed walls, street dancers / b-boys on every corner, and con artists trying to make a quick buck shuffling cups around atop cardboard boxes.

The reason I love traveling so much is because it teaches me so much about life. It teaches me to live freely, without expectations, that change is a constant, and that the more adventurous and courageous I am about the unknown, the more life opens up to me and for me. It teaches me that s**t happens, like getting pick-pocketed on my first day in Paris, but that I can still have a good time anyway. It teaches me that the people I choose to travel with, not just to specific destinations but on this journey of life, are all-important. The people I meet and let into my life shape me just as much as the experiences I have, if not more. (As lovely as Paris was, it would have been nothing without the company I had.)

As wise travelers put it:

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill

“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain