J'adore Paris!

I'm not ashamed to say that the inspiration for my post today came from "The Hills" episode from last night. I didn't see it last night (past my bedtime) but good ol' MTV replayed it already so I was only temporarily out of the loop.

The episode was almost entirely shot in Paris, where Lauren and Whitney went to work the Crillon Debutante Ball in the heart of the city. Once I saw the opening shot was the interior of l'Aeroport Charles de Gaulle, I knew this might be my favorite episode yet. It was a full hour of handsome men speaking French or Frenglish (speaking completely in English but with such a heavy French accent that it sounds French), Vespas, champagne under the Eiffel Tower (complete with twinkling lights, bien sur!), a French driver in a huge black Mercedes, night shots of the Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame, la Seine, and of course, a shot of Lauren drinking cafe creme in the hotel in the tiny little cups. MTV had even worked in some French pop music!

As I was taking it all in and enjoying every morsel Francaise, I realized just how awesome Paris is. It is an overwhelmingly magical place. It literally has a monopoly of the world's most sought after buildings and memories...So this entry is dedicated to Paris!

1. I fell in love with Paris in March 1994. I was 11, it was my first time out of the country. My brother and I thought it was cool that we got to miss school--even cooler that hotel rooms in Europe are so small that we had to have a room to ourselves down the hall from our parents. It's a good thing we liked our room because we spent a lot of time in it--we were sick as dogs. It's a toss up what caused it--the gloomy French weather, the recycled, circulated air of the 10 hour flight, the cigarette smoke cloud that hangs over the whole city:)...but we managed to have a wonderful time. We went to the Louvre, the D'Orsay...Brandon even faced his fear of heights and we somehow got him to pose for a family picture on top of the Arc de Triomphe overlooking the Champs-Elysees.

2. By June 1999, I was already well under the spell of Paris. After my life changing summer experience with my French homestay family in the southern French town of Mandelieu (near Cannes), I spent a week in Paris before heading back to the States. How different to experience Paris through the eyes of a 17 year old. I was with about 15 American kids that I had just met on this trip. We stayed at a hostel in the Latin Quarter and although we were under the supervision of one adult, this was the same adult who sunbathed near topless one day at the beach in Nice (she was the other American kids' French teacher!) What I remember most about that trip was the Rodin garden (it is a beautiful museum of all of his sculptures in the middle of a residential arrondisement near the Latin Quarter) and how many cassis flavored Bertillon ice cream cones I consumed sitting along the Seine behind Notre Dame with my trip friends. I bawled at Charles de Gaulle, on the plane, and once more at SFO when my parents came to pick me up because I didn't want to ever leave. I made my mom stop at Costco on the way home from the airport to get my pictures developed.

3. My next visit to the City of Lights was March 2005. My parents had recently bought the little house and I was so excited to see it. We flew in and out of Paris so I got to see Paris in small doses. Small doses of Paris are still pretty amazing!

4. While Pepperdine kids were stoked to study in London the summer after our first year (2006), I was even more excited to spend almost 3 weeks in France with Mom and Dad...not studying! We flew into Paris but basically just spent the night before going to the house and then onto Bordeaux to meet up with the San Francisco Lawyer Friends of Wine tasting trip. We flew out of Paris so we spent 3 days and 2 nights ("smash and grab"--Erin Tallent!) in Paris near the Gare de Lyon. It was the end of June which meant we were there for soldes--the countrywide sales! Dad went to the D'Orsay and Mom and I covered Haussman AND the Champs Elysees. It had been a long time but I was able to lead Mom and Dad back behind Notre Dame for Bertillon ice cream:)

I dream of Bertillon...

This was the night that France beat Spain in the World Cup. People were honking in their cars and jumping for joy under the Eiffel Tower

5. And lastly, a renewed love for Paris last summer...Paris through the eyes of a first timer:) After Belgium and some time in the South, Dad planned our trip in 2007 so that Aaron could spend a little time in Paris before flying home. After our train ride, we braved a walk in the pouring rain to our hotel...the hotel with the elevator that either fits 2 people and their bags or 4 people with no bags. We ate dinner near the Gare de Nord and decided to start a walking tour. It was freezing but we had already decided that the next full day was reserved for the Louvre. So we walked, and walked, and walked...until the Metro stopped running and we had to take a cab back to the hotel from the Arc de Triomphe. We ate Bertillon ice cream, walked along the Seine, along the Champs Elysees-saw the Louvre, the Hotel de Ville, l'obelisque and the Arc carousel and made it to the Eiffel Tower by midnight. From the Trocadero, we saw it twinkle...an experience I hope everyone will have at some point in their life. The next day, as I said, we roamed the Louvre and bid au revoir to Paris with a dinner at Montmartre.

The Eiffel Tower at midnight...what a difference a year makes;)!

Outside the Louvre

I have definitely gone through periods in my life where I felt that Paris was overrated and that real France is everywhere but Paris--tiny villages where people don't want to speak English to you and a crepe is hard to find. But there is something about Paris that is magnetic and uniquely surreal. And like I told Aaron earlier tonight, every little girl dreams of getting kissed on the Eiffel Tower and being held underneath it.

Juste pour cette nuit (just for tonight):

"Dieu est amour, et il qui demeure dans l'amour demeure dans Dieu, et Dieu dans lui. L'amour s'est perfectionné parmi nous en cela : que nous pouvons avoir la hardiesse en jour de jugement ; parce que pendant qu'il est, sommes ainsi nous en ce monde." 1 John 4:16-17