I think I need to rename my blog. "Vite" ("quick") was possibly a mistake. All week, I've done nothing but tell myself to slow down. I forgot how tiring traveling can be... and I was sick before so I'm not very fit. Instead of racing around town, I've been listening to my somewhat startled body and taking it easy.
And it has been divine. This is a holiday, after all. The idea is simply to live in the moment, and to cherish it. Most psychologists will tell you this is an excellent plan for happiness. They will also tell you that it is rather hard to do.
In Paris, it's an absolute pleasure. First you have to turn off your Sydney brain that tells you to hurry no matter how little you have on that day. Then you take a deep breath... and then you just meander down whatever avenue you're on... and see what's at the end of it. Sometimes it's a man selling raspberries. Sometimes it's la tour Eiffel.
It's funny how you actually have to tell yourself NOT to rush. And resting is a conscious decision too. Resting is GOOD. It means stopping to eat at gorgeous places. It means long stints in beautiful parks.
And once you slow down a bit, it runs deeper than just going through the motions. You savour each and every flake of pastry on your pain au chocolat. You notice the little girl in the park who stops her parents, picks up a stone, dusts it off, and puts it in her pocket.
In doing less, I am actually doing more. Rather than thinking about what I should have done earlier, or what I'm going to do next, I'm trying to think about what I'm doing now.
The French are pretty good at this. They turn their chairs and sit and look at their city. They eat ridiculous breakfasts that are far less about fast-breaking than the sheer pleasure of the morning. When the sun comes out, they flock to sit in it. Just sit. Not necessarily read, not check their BlackBerries or update Facebook, just sit. I tried this today myself. Being Australian, I was somewhat nervous... but the sun here is different. It's not as strong and it's tempered by the breeze. (Yes, Mum, I had sunscreen on.) It was insanely relaxing.
So overall I'm having a great time just soaking it all in. In terms of more active things, I've also revisited the Louvre, done d'Orsay, been to H&M three times, been to a flea market, seen the Eiffel tower (by night and day), the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame. Today I stumbled on a lovely square in the 6th with an amazing old church in it (St Sulpice).
I'm staying in the 15th now rather than Montmartre. This is a bit sad cos Montmartre was just so beautiful, and much more lively. It's a bit dead here and nowhere near as pretty. It has a bit of Berlin-type feel to it.
But the Metro is not far away and being here has led me to some fabulous local sites such as the antique book market I found yesterday. Also, there are less annoying tourists and the Parisians are much friendlier.
I do miss my little studio flat (apart from the whole toxic mould situation). It was definitely fun to live like a real French girl. My new room is tiny, very clean, newly renovated, largely without character (except for a pretty view into the neighbouring courtyard)... and has the world's smallest shower. Bear in mind people, that I just stayed in JAPAN and then a 30m square Parisian studio.
It's so small that doing anything other than standing upright under the water requires intense yogic movements and balance. Sometimes I have to leave the curtain open to avoid feelings of claustrophobia and general angst. When I stand with my back to the water, my nose is approximately two centimetres from the shower caddy. BUT, as I said, it's brand spanking new and entirely without fungal infestation.
My French is coming along well. I think being on my own helps with that... you end up chatting to people and taking linguistic risks you wouldn't bother with if you had a mate. I also totally get the whole "immersion" theory with languages. If you "must" speak a different language (and I'm not speaking a whole lotta English lately) it's like your brain gives it a higher priority or something.
Twelve years after I last learnt French, and ten years after my first trip here, I'm suddenly better at it than I was at school or uni. I have been revising with an iPhone app but still... it's pretty amazing what your mind can do in a new context.
I'm only talking about really basic stuff, but it's more than I've ever managed before. I went on a date with a French dude a few months ago and barely muttered two words to him in French. Now I can order my breakfast, haggle with flea market vendors and tell my cabbie where I live here and where I'm from.
My cabbie that brought me here (to the 15th) was pretty cool. I had a great moment driving through the middle of town. I asked him "what's that?" and he answered and told me that Napoleon was buried there. (It was the Hôtel des Invalides.) All in French, and I understood, and the sun was shining, and I was crazily, dizzily happy to be here : )
And that's it from me for now. Bonne nuit! x
P.S. My favourite TV show here is "Paris C'est Fou". I'm not too sure what it's about, other than Paris being fun and all, but the host is so pretty and I love her eye make-up.
No comments:
Post a Comment