Paris, Je T'aime.doc

The month of July was a whirlwind. I touched soil in eight different countries: Canada, the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, the Vatican City, and France. It's without a doubt one of the busiest months I've ever had, but I will never forget it.

The final stop in France proved to be the perfect end to the month of travel. Not only was it great to see Emily again (we’ve been able to connect almost once every month since both arriving in Europe last autumn), but I also spent the four days with Viktor and Raffi in the city. Emily and I have known Viktor since first year at Queen's. In fact, Viktor was part of the infamous Group 30 Drama Frosh Group – we go way back. He is studying in Paris at the world-renowned Jacque Le Coq Acting School. We both arrived in Europe in September but it was the first time we’ve been able to touch base.

Emily met me at the bus stop from the airport with a huge smile on her face as per usual. We had a quick bench catch up before heading back to her apartment to drop my bags and have some dinner. Emily’s boyfriend Raffi is staying there for a few nights en route to London at the end of this week. It was a full house! It’s a quaint little apartment on the top floor of a neat building – the elevator is big enough for two people standing awkwardly beside one another. It must have been the tiniest elevator I’ve ever set foot in. That evening Emily made some wonderful carbonara pasta that was proceeded by those delicious roly-pollies you might have heard about already. The three of us headed to meet with Viktor and an Italian clown whose place we had stayed at on Christmas Eve. We had a few glasses of wine and Viktor and I shared stories of Euro adventures. After the bar we were chatting in the street and people overhead through water over the balcony to “encourage us to move along.” Welcome to Paris!

The next day, while Emily spent a half hour at work before being sent home, I wandered into the Louvre for my first visit to the mammoth museum. I hit the most famous sites first: the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo. I thought that Mona would be underwhelming, since it’s such a small painting, but it really was quite striking. The style looked so odd and cartoonlike to me in person (probably in comparison to all the other portraits hanging in the museum). After visiting the historic pieces of art, and wandering among many others, Emily and I met up and walked around the area in which she works. We made our way home and skyped a few friends before preparing a piri-piri chicken dinner. The spice was procured in Portugal and adds delicious flavour to everything it touches. After dining on a delicious dinner we met up with Viktor and went back to his place for a games night. Games are fun. We laughed the night away with the celebrity guessing game, the movie game, and the finger game.

Sunday was spent walking through an antique market on the outskirt of the metro line. It was a really eye opening trip, since the surroundings didn’t look like downtown tourist Paris, but it provided a different perspective on the city. We looked at knick-knacks, antiques, and all had a small lunch in the centre of the chic-chic dealers market. Afterwards we visited Raffi and Viktor at Rose Bakery where we sipped delicious coffees and sampled gourmet salads. In fact, all week we dined on Rose Bakery extras that were brought home to avoid being thrown out – the savoury tarts were amazing. That night we went to the group’s favourite wine bar where a bottle of white was 5.50E.

Having not planned on burdening myself with an itinerary of set things to see in Paris, Emily and I took it easy on Monday. We went to Père Lachaise, the famous cemetery in the city where a lot of notable figures are buried. We saw the gravestones of Chopin, Edith Pilaf, and Oscar Wilde. We had a very lively discussion about Wilde’s grave (a tradition has developed whereby visitors adorn it with a lipsticked kiss). I think it’s a very fitting and witty tribute to one of the world’s best-known writers. For a man cast out of the church for his “deviant” ways, the tomb stands in stark contrast to all that surrounds it in the park. I think Wilde would appreciate the instance on emphasizing the symbol of resistance he has become. After the cemetery, where we were reprimanded for eating a salad on a bench (Respecter!), we met Raffi and Viktor in a beautiful park that has an incredible view of the city. We dined on a feast of sweet and savoury treats while the sun went down. When the park finally closed at 22:00h we went back to the wine bar for a final evening out – there I introduced the group to a game played back with the MAIPR group.

During my final day in Paris, while Emily was at work, I caught up on messages, photos, and emails before meeting her and Viktor for a drink at her Canadian bar. It was great to see Emily in action; she was working the restaurant all by herself! We shared in her staff meal (chili nachos) before she accompanied me to the bus station for an overnight trip to London. I had four amazing days with Emily, Viktor, and Raffi. It was great to catch up with my Queen’s friends and share old memories. Thankfully, I’ll be seeing Emily and Raffi again in the UK in the next month. I hope to see Viktor again who will be in France for another year at Jacques Le Coq.

Today I arrived in Brighton, one of the UK’s favourite summer cities to collect my research and start to prepare for writing. Paris was a wonderful visit.

Doc’s Prescription of the Day: If you have noisy loiterers outside your window, apparently it's kosher to hoist a bucket of water out the window to encourage them to move.