Well, its a good thing I love Paris since I am living here for about 2 and a half more months (WHERE IS THE TIME GOING?? IT NEEDS TO STOP!)
I have been wondering how do I compare Paris to Philadelphia? What is it about Paris that I really, truly love?
In Philly I love the people, the sports teams, how the city is on a grid system that makes it easy to say "meet me on the corner of 33rd and Market" and it is easy to find (In Paris, there are no numbered streets). So how could I possible fall in love with another city, when I already fell in love with the one I was born and raised in?
It was pretty easy. Comparing Paris and Philadelphia is like comparing apples to oranges. They are just not the same, and so I love both of them differently. But I couldn't really put my finger on the reason why I liked Paris so much. This past weekend and week, however, I figured it out.
Over the weekend, a few friends and I took a three hour bus trip to Lille. It is a small city about 3 hours northwest of Paris, close to the border between France and Belgium. It is a beautiful city, with great bars and a large park that we were able to wander around during the day Saturday.
Center of Lille
Park, on a beautiful fall day!
"Le Flammekuche": a flatbread with yogurt and other toppings that is native to Lille
Lille was good for the weekend, but at the end of the trip all I wanted to do was get back to Paris. I missed the Paris metro, how big Paris is, and how I never feel like I could see all of it one trip (definitely not just a weekend, like Lille was).
The on Tuesday, I wandered over to "Le Marais", which is an area with lots of small streets lined with high end and vintage fashion stores, mixed with cafes and restaurants. Le Marais and the Quartier Latin, similar to Le Marais with smaller streets and more restaurants, I have determined are my two favorite places in Paris, and I am planning on returning multiple times during my stay.
Not the best picture of Le Marais, it was much prettier than this!
On Wednesday it was cold and rainy, so we decided it was the perfect day to go sightseeing of course. It really is true: Paris is beautiful in the rain. Parisians break out their umbrellas, and everything keeps moving, and the apartments and old buildings still look gorgeous even in the rain! We broke out my good old Tour Book, and went on a "literary walk" around Paris, around and next to the Latin Quarter where great authors like Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, Jack Keroauc, etc. lived and visited.
Shakespeare and Company, one of the oldest and most famous English bookstores in the world. Downstairs, you can buy all kinds of genres, but upstairs is a library where you can read the older books the store keeps!
Marking Ernest Hemingway's apartment!
Paris in the rain, its just so beautiful!
I love Paris because every arrondissement (sections in Paris) is completely different from the other, but in the end they all come together to make Paris both a bustling and homely city at the same time. I love the stores and cafes that line the streets. I love the little alleyways that you are never really sure if cars are able to drive down them (they usually can). I love how when it rains, at the restaurants all the patrons sit facing the street so they can still socialize with each other and watch Paris still bustling in the rain (its a phenomenon- this happened at every restaurant!).
Study abroad is going WAY to fast- its scary! Everyone keeps asking me about other travel plans, and yes they are in the works, but I love Paris so much that on the weekends its often nice just to travel and explore my own city.
And again, I am lating this post late at night, so Bonne Nuit for now!
Feldy
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