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20 Feb-24 Feb
"When you meet a man, you judge him by his clothes; when you leave, you judge him by his heart" Russian Proverb
Christophe and I started our day in the district of Pigalle. In this area, there is one sex shop or strip club or peep show back to back to back. I think this street had more than Montreal. This is also the area of Paris' famous Moulin Rouge. Another interesting place I found with an interesting name was "p**** s"…short, sweet, and straight to the point…We also went to the Museum of Romantic Life where Christophe gave me an interesting explanation of the story of Faust, a doctor who made a pact with the devil for a new life in which he then falls in love with a girl who is killed by the devil...
Later, Christophe took me to Montmartre. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur, the many artists that had worked around the community such as Salvador Dalí, Modigliani, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh, and the setting for many French films. This neighbourhood is the epitome of what cliché Paris life is like with the artists, the music, and the snobbishness. Montmartre also contains the only Parisian vineyard, although most judge this wine to be mediocre compared to the real Southern French wines. We took a nice walk along a beautiful river and ended at the Science Museum. I did not go inside but it boasted a nice looking sphere.
Christophe and I headed back at around 7pm where his roommates were having a crepe party. Because they are from Breton, the capital of crepes, it was only normal that they had their regular crepe parties. They owned a real crepe machine and I got to learn how to make crepes…the real French style! I met this really adorable French girl at the party named Florience. We had an amazing conversation about our trips, me to Peru, and her to Kenya. She was doing some research on water purification there and stayed for three months. We both talked about our experiences in underprivileged areas and how it affected us. When I told her that I felt changed by my experience, she had told me that she though she did, but in fact when she got back, felt like her old self. At that moment, I thought to myself: "Was I really as changed as I though I was? Did Peru really change me at all?" This really made me think about the fact that once we go back to our everyday lives we cannot help but reassimilate into the mentality of our current surrounding society. It is very easy to forget and turn your cheek. I stood there listening to Florience speak with her adorable accent wondering why she had such a stupid boyfriend (sitting across the table). I learned the next morning from Christophe (after talking to her almost all night) that she barely understood a thing I said because of my accent…
When the French organize an evening with friends, they usually start with an "apero" which lasts from 7-8pm until 10-11pm. Then, they start eating around 11pm. At one point of the night, because I was getting impatient with the food, I went upstairs to go on the computer. I felt a bit out of place, and I wanted to update my blog. Minutes later, Francois came upstairs and asked me why I was upstairs. I told him that I was updating my blog, and he asked me why I needed to do that tonight when a bunch of people was downstairs. At that moment, I did not know why I felt so bad, but I had agreed with him. I realized that maybe I was being a little snobby. I also realized that the French value more the exchange between friends as the purpose for the night. The food comes secondary. I had a greater respect for Francois at that moment; he valued his friendships. During the night, I also saw the chemistry between Florience and her boyfriend Jean-Remi, and that although he acted stupid to my standards, his relationship with Florience worked and they had a special bond. This reminded me of a really special quote I heard from Randy Pausch known for his "Last Lecture": "Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you." The night ended late with dessert crepes to finish.
Sunday, Christophe took me to Pere Lachaise which contains the largest and most famous cemetery that houses the tombstones of Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, and Moliere, just to name a few. There we bumped into some couchsurfers from Paris. I could not help but think how couchsurfers are so open and welcoming people. They had mentioned of a quiz night tomorrow night, which made me really want to go and meet more couchsurfers. On the train back home, Christophe and I discussed about the different places to go out in Paris. West Paris was for the rich kids, East Paris was a little more Bohemian and center North was more of a student area. He mentioned that he hated and avoided places that had a doorman, because that meant that he had to change the way he acted or dressed just to conform to what the bouncer wanted. At that moment I thought that maybe I was doing that, maybe I was not being myself and just conforming to a particular ideology. What if I would be completely myself? Would I need to fear judgements such as the one I got in Amsterdam? This feeling is a constant ying and yang in my life. It reminded me of this excellent poem by e.e. cummings:
"To be nobody-but-yourself in a world
which is doing its best to, night and day,
to make you everybody else --
means to fight the hardest battle
which any human being can fight;
and never stop fighting."
--e.e. cummings, "A Miscellany"
The next day, I toured the city alone as Christophe was working. I went to other notable Da Vinci Code locations as well as the tunnel where Princess Diana died with a special memorial for her. I also finally did another one of the most touristic things to do in Paris…Arc de Triomphe and Champ-Elyzees! I met up with Christophe at 7:30pm at the CS meeting and pub quiz. There, I met another guy named Nicolas (his coworker), and the guys I met at Pere Lachaise. I also met these two girls from Bulgaria that were living in Paris. We had a lot of fun all night (even though we sucked at the quiz).
The next morning, I visited Paris alone again, this time going back to Pigalle and do the Erotic Museum. At 7pm, I met up with an old friend (Remi) that I haven't met since my last year of my Bachelor's. I really enjoyed our evening together, because I think our talk really put things into perspective for me and reminded me of the reason I was on this trip. Since the beginning of my trip I was derailed from my objective. My mind was set on the wrong intentions and I don't know why. My talk with Remi about our life's ambitions and dreams made me get back on track and I thank him for that. He is one of those friends that even though our time together is always short, the quality of our time is always deep and worth so much more.
Wednesday was the day I was leaving to go to London. My bus was leaving at 2pm. I took Christophe out for breakfast and thanked him for being such a wonderful guest. Without Christophe I wouldn't have learned so much about Paris. I learned that even though Paris is the city of romance, Parisians can be cold and dry (especially when they have cafes with the two chairs facing the street instead of each other). I also learned that standing at the bar for a coffee or food is cheaper then sitting down in a restaurant. And I learned that Quebec speaks a better and more "authentic" French than the people in France. It is now time to learn about the English…
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