Tuesday, May 30, 2006

AH... PARIS!



I stayed in town over the long weekend - which is my want to do because traffic is usually light and everything seems more reasonably paced somehow. In between brunches and dinners and procrastinating from my freelance obligations, I was determined to see one movie a-day, but opted to rent one on the final day. I saw "The Da Vinci Code" in spite of all the poor reviews because: I liked the book, I Ron Howard, I like Tom Hanks, I like Ian McKellen, and I adore Audrey "Amelie" Tautou (Jean Reno and Alfred Molina were also a plus). So, I thought the movie was OK (probably because of my already low expectations of book adaptations and the poor reviews)... but what really struck me is how much I miss Paris. It's one of my favorite places that I've ever traveled to. Not sure why - but I suspect I lived there in a "past life" and was possibly even beheaded at the Bastille... or maybe I was just a peasant who witnessed that whole thing. Hmmm....

Anyway, my good friend Eric actually lived there for a bit and introduced me to another very good friend who lives there named (what else?) Pierre. It's a beautiful city, it's not only aesthetically pleasing to the eye in every direction, but to me it also magically resonates because it houses some of the world's most precious artworks. It's a place that has drawn artists to it over the centuries. I feel similarly about Rome, but still... it's not Paris.

"I Love Paris" by Cole Porter (but it MUST be sung by Frank Sinatra)

I love Paris in the spring time
I love Paris in the fall
I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles
I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles
I love Paris every moment
Every moment of the year
I love Paris, why oh why do I love Paris
Because my love is here


P.S. The other movie I saw was "An Inconvenient Truth" it was fine, but I'm already in that choir; and I watched "No Direction Home" on DVD, Scorsese's documentary on Bob Dylan - excellent!

5 comments:

Will said...

Personally I'm a fan of the Screamin Jay Hawkins, I Love Paris.

Anonymous said...

I don't miss Paris, I live in Paris !
From my window I see all the grey roofs of the city, and if I dismantle my neck I still don't see the Eiffel tower (need to walk 100 m for that, but 300 m to touch the Arc of Triomphe, tralalère ).
Yes I'm the Pierre who had the chance to welcome my dearly and lovely Barbara (I can sew you for a lot for revealing this information Barbara, the French law about life privacy is very restrictive ;-).
If you want to have an overlook of where I leave, check "Google Earth", type "31 rue Bayen, Paris" on the form at the up and left (yes no need to write France, Google assume that you are not talking of Paris, Texas or Wyoming) (See the landmarks on the left column, the Eiffel Tower is the first non american one you can visit). So Google will give you an idea about the city. It's so clear, you even can see people sunbathing on the island of the lake of the Bois de Boulogne nearby. The French Institut Géographique National will soon do better, you will be able to see a cat and to fly in 3D, ah, ah, ah !
So my friend if you miss Paris, you better come back before the price of kerosen will ruin the economy of the airlines companies (everybody sell its Airbus shares) because after that the time of the giant nuclear cruise boats will take time and few days anyway.
Love.
Pierre

PS : Barbara, come back, I know where is a Mariage Frères.

Sun Follower said...

I thought it was the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d'Orsay, the Seine in the evenings, the Place de Vosges, Paris Par Cher, the Champs Elysee... but no, it's Pierre I miss!! :)

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