10 places to see in Paris that your average tour guide book might not tell you about

1.  Flower and bird market on Sunday mornings – This walk will satisfy all your noses needs, well, when you walk through the flowers. No promises with the birds. Take the Cité Metro stop and enjoy hundreds and hundreds of flowers and birds. And maybe people.

2.Organ concerts at St. Eustache on Sunday afternoons – If you want to be blown away by Gothic beauty, try an organ concert in a cathedral. Even if you’re not into classical music, these concerts only last thirty minutes and they are truly incredible. 17h30, every Sunday.

3.  Seine River walk, but on the outskirts of the city – Sunday evening activity anyone? Might as well complete the day. Yes you can sit at the edge of the Seine by the Notre Dame, but what I suggest is going out where no one is. Take for example Chatou/Croissy stop on RER A and bask in the lush green everywhere with small families out for a walk or riding bikes. It really is quite charming.

4. Des Gateaux et Du Pain – This pastry shop is higher end than your average street vendor. Don’t let the price scare you away because the pastries are out of this world.

5. Fresh fruit and pressed juice from little shops on the streets – What else is out of this world? Fresh fruit off the streets. If you’re from the USA, your mind will be blown at the sheer perfection in each bite. I recommend the “Bonne Pomme” on Rue Rambuteau. You can’t go wrong there.

 6. LDS young single adult’s family home evening – Even if you’re not LDS, you should check out FHE at the institute Monday night at 19h00. It is fantastic. The people are so welcoming and fun, there are delicious refreshments, and you get a perfect opportunity to improve your French with the locals.

7. Vintage clothes shopping – Do you suffer from price tag shock when window shop around the city? Checking out the vintage shops is the way to go. Check the tags in the clothes; I’ve found some authentic Parisian finds! And they’re a small fraction of the prices you’d find anywhere else.

8. Marché aux Puces – Maybe your tour guide will recommend this place to you, but if you really search around you will find hidden treasures that no one else knows about.

9. Jazz music and swing dancing in the Latin Quarter – You may get asked to dance by a 56 year old man, but don’t let that keep you from coming! It’s a real jam

10. Poetry Slam on Monday nights – After you attend FHE of course, head over to Au Chat Noir (not to be confused with LE Chat Noir) for a night of original poetry and fun. This place is happenin’, and if it’s comforting to you, it’s all in English. 

That one time I was at home away from home.

There’s a little white house

on a little green hill

where the red, red roses grow.

There’s a light shining bright

in my window tonight,

and it shines for me I know.

The skies may be cloudy,

but what do I care?

Mother’s eyes may say “howdy!”

and welcome back the rowdy

to the little white house

on the little green hill

where the red, red roses grow.

I love to travel. For me, Paris has been nothing but a dream. I have hardly felt homesick the entire time. That being said, I like to have a place to go- a place to call my home. Living with a host family truly helped me see what it’s like living in Paris, from a Parisian’s point of view. It allowed me to have a place where I could escape the busy and bustling city life, and enjoy God’s beautiful earth in blessed silence (well, besides the birdsongs.). These photos, void of sentimentality, hold memories for me alone. Though there are no facial expressions to enjoy, I will still be able to look back and remember

the early morning jogs and yoga by the Seine,

 the warm (late night) dinners with the family.

the beautiful small details,

and beautiful big details of the Julienne’s house.

I will hold a sweet sentimentality in this happy place. It will give me a memory of Paris that probably no other average tourist will carry. I’m grateful for the home away from home I enjoyed here, and will always have fond memories of this little white house on a hill. 

and so it begins.

After being in Paris for nearly six weeks, I feel like I more than accomplished my goals (http://byuinparis.blogspot.fr/2014/03/i-want-to-become.html). First, I wanted time alone to soak in the culture. I was hoping to have one moment to myself at a café or park, but to my delight I was able to spend parts of nearly every day with no one but myself. Sure that sounds pretty boring and anti-social. But I absolutely love being free to think without having to make conversation with anyone. (Well, you could actually say I am physically incapable of truly conversing thanks to a language barrier.) But maybe that’s what made it more beautiful. It was a completely new experience for me, being fully on my own to figure out a big city and learn about a new culture and lifestyle. Every day I would bring with me my book or my journal or empty postcards and find a quiet place like a cathedral or park to have alone time. Sometimes I only brought myself to simply take in the sights and sounds. I am grateful for all the opportunities I had to become one with Paris- by myself.

Along with that, I have had some absolutely amazing experiences.  Some of the many things I've done include visit some of the most famous museums in the world along with other not so famous ones, try some of the most famous pastry shops in the world along with other not so famous ones, swing dance to jazz music, see millions of human and animal bones, attend a poetry slam, climb too many stairs, browse many open air markets around the city, walked along the Seine, lounged in bookstores, ran through metro stations, carry baguettes around, eat baguettes, attend opera and symphony performances, gaze at the grandeur of Gothic cathedrals and observe Mass, and truly experience Parisian culture.

As silly as it sounds, I think I can truthfully say I found myself in Paris. Sure it was only six weeks and that’s not much time to make a huge difference, but in the end I do believe I will leave a better person than I began. I don’t think I could say in words what it is about the city that everyone can’t help falling in love with, but I know that I am another who fell under the trap.  And I am going to miss it dearly. Victor Hugo may have put it best when he said, “To study in Paris is to be born in Paris!” I have loved being in Paris, but I am excited to go home and show the world who I've become.

The Caged Bird Sings.

“Beauty is both rational and analyzable but also in part indefinable.”

“Through beauty we might be able to regain a stronger sense of human values and pleasure in living.”

(Quotes from “Remembering Beauty: Reflections on Kant and Cartier-Bresson for Aspiring Photographers)

I found this article very interesting; it made me realize how difficult it is to simply define beauty.  What makes something beautiful? “It is noteworthy that we often call a person of courage, goodness, and humility, a beautiful human being... Beauty is the only visible quality that inspires love.” People have been trying to come up with a definition/stereotype for what is “beautiful” for as long as time has existed. Have they been successful? What gives anyone the right to define something as beautiful and publish it as fact? All of us live in a world where certain things are labeled as beautiful, and others are not.  In my mind, everything can be, and is beautiful.  In fact, sometimes it’s the things that society regards as "ugly" that might be the most beautiful in actuality.

Who’s to say that the rose without petals is less beautiful than a full one? And who’s to say the thorns aren’t equally beautiful?

In photography, do photos have to be in focus to beautiful? And can the focus be on the unexpected?  

Perhaps we have to look past the “beautiful art” we see around us to find moments that are just as if not more special.

“Words in the end cannot replace the experience of beauty.

Places. Chapelle de l'Assomption.

Day One:

Numbers

20 long rows of benches, 10 and 10.

16 short rows, 8 and 8.

16 crosses.

8 large windows. Simple. Natural light. 4 windows blocked by drapes.

8 flower arrangements.

6 statues of saints.

6 candlesticks. 2 tables filled with little candles burning.

5 sets of doors.

4 large paintings on the walls, 1 one the ceiling.

4 red velvet chairs.

2 chandeliers.

1 small bell on the wall.

1 dome.

1 person, me.

Sounds

Sirens of an ambulance blare outside. A horn honks. Cars race around. Noise from the outside world bleed through the walls. Inside, a woman’s heels click on the tile floor till she seats herself. A cell phone rings. Rummaging through bags. The door squeaks open and closed, quiet footprints. Soft breathing. Otherwise, silence.

Patterns and Colors:

Symmetrical. Octagons and squares uniformly placed and around the painting on the ceiling. Squares and diamonds uniformly placed on the floor. Warm color, natural golden sunlight shining in. Fairly simple furnishings, but extravagant gold details around the altar, ceiling, and chandeliers. Red and gold flickering candles on one side, empty chairs on the other. Pews aligned slightly diagonally facing the front, each a little longer than the one before.

Day Two:

People (observations on rituals with little previous knowledge of the religion)

Outside: 8 sitting on the stairs. One woman peels an orange, others visit on the steps. Three men ask for money next to their sleeping bags. 27 pigeons.

Inside: 27 people today! How unusually crowded... 28.

The woman who walked in with me:

-          Dips fingers in holy water outside the door. 29, 30.

-          Kneels on back bench. 31, 32, 33, 34.

-          Silences cell phone.

-          Kneels on bench in front. Chandeliers light up now.

-          Looks around the room.

-          Clutches wood beaded necklace with crucifix symbol. 35, 36, 37.

-          Looks at cross at the front of the room.

-          Finishes prayer, takes a seat on the bench. 38, 39, 40!

Observations of Other People in the Room

4 people reading books. A man rests his head in his hands, the places with his beaded necklace. The woman from before kneels again. A nun comes in and bows. A young girl, maybe 16, ties her scarf. Two more pull out books to read.  Ah, the mass begins. That explains the crowd. Are the people singing in Polish? It can’t be French or Latin. People are singing from their heart, my heart is touched.

Day Three:

Photo

Juxtaposed. (for you claire. enjoy that.)

Paris is an old city, and old is an understatement.  Many buildings stand here that are centuries old, filled to the brim with rich history. Today, countless people make their own pilgrimage, so to speak, to this city of grandeur to see for themselves the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Mona Lisa, and the French men with curled mustaches and berets. Though they may see the famous sites, Paris may not be quite the city they had imagined, perhaps something like this:

Here they would sit and eat a baguette with cheese while listening to someone serenade them with La Vie en Rose on the accordion.

 Paris is no longer the quaint city it once was. In fact, it is practically a modern tourist trap. Overpriced vendors line the roads, myriads of cars, buses, and people riding bikes seem to follow their own traffic laws in the streets, and even more people walking fill the sidewalks and buildings in the popular parts of the city.

It is interesting to see the metro system today. With some hints of its age, but many more hints of its modernity.

But is Paris headed in the right direction? Or have the modern technological advances taken restorations and renovations a bit too far just to make or save a dollar? I mean, are the pressed coin machines really necessary in the cathedral? Whatever happened to the idea of, you know, worshiping in the church? Are people coming to the city to cross things off their bucket list hoping to earn bragging rights? Are people losing sight of why the buildings were made and what significance they actually hold today?

Though it is definitely a change from the Paris in the past, that’s simply how life is. It changes constantly. If it were the same as it was centuries ago, we would have need for much concern. The technologies we have today really can enhance our experience in the big city and make everyone’s lives easier.  Perhaps instead of preserving the old, we should learn how to effectively use the new so our future can be totally psychedelic because we're living the present with the past in mind.

(These photos have multiple inspirations. The first, geometric shapes and lines from Cartier-Bresson; the second and last from Doisneau for being moments that happened instead without planning; the third and fourth have a grainy quality reminiscent of Eggleston.)

Happy Mothers Day!

Even though it's not being celebrated here in France, I have been thinking of you all day mom! Hope you're having a good one! 

I keep forgetting my camera when I go out... oops. But Paris is a lovely place. A very interesting place to be sure... 

The juxtaposition of modern and centuries old is fascinating.

I might submit this picture for my photography class. What do you think?