#4: Love Notes to Paris

Photo by Zdenko Zivkovic (Flickr: Night in Paris) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

My favorite memories of Paris entail walking at night with only the slightest sense of where I am, with the intention of getting a little lost.

Paris at night is full of life; people seem to spend endless hours sitting at those little round cafe tables, enjoying la promenade.

It seems to me that Paris is a theatre for a perpetual performance piece, with lovers passionately kissing, elderly women properly dressed to the nines to purchase a baguette, Senegalese immigrants hawking their wares, and tourists trying to make sense of it all. — Jordana Pomeroy

image by Traaf. (Own work.) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Prior to one of our Paris visits, my partner John and I met a Parisian gentleman in New York. He gave us great tips about things to see and do when we arrived at the City of Lights.

Finally, we arrived in Paris, our sights set on visiting the Eiffel Tower. Alas, it was closed when we arrived.  Our spirits remained high, despite our disappointment.

That evening, we were visiting the Parisian gentleman at his home. To surprise us, he'd pulled together a party of friends and a impressive spread of cheese and charcuterie. We sampled everything, except this one cheese that was, well, beyond stinky.

We didn't want to offend our host, yet, every time we tried to bring a mouthful of cheese in for a bite, the smell of rotten feet left us short.

Then, all of a sudden, dusk ushered in nightfall. True to its name, Paris was alight. What dazzled us most: our host's impeccable view of the Eiffel Tower, lit up as though it were made of a million, glittering diamonds. That view was unforgettable and... savoring it rescued us from ingesting the cheese. -- Kerry Bird

Image By PrasanthM (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

I'd spent a good portion of my college summer break in Italy. It was nice and everything, but pasta isn't my favorite food and I'd had my fill. I was excited for my family's next destination: Paris!

Image by Rainer Zenz [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Sure, seeing sights like the Arc de Triomphe and Seine were exciting. What my heart was set on, though, was eating as many pommes frites as I could get my hands on. And ice. There'd been a sad shortage of ice in Italy, too.

After check-in at the hotel in Paris, a knock on our suite door revealed... ice delivery! We were provided with oodles of ice. Now, to find Pommes Frites and my every wish would come true.

Just around the corner from the hotel was a little cafe. And yes, they had pommes frites. I ordered the largest portion available and ate to my heart's content. I fell in love not only with those fries, but the cafe and the city it called home. We must've eaten there 12 times during our stay. The staff was incredibly nice and, without having to ask, knew to have an order up of Pommes Frites with my name all over it! -- Susan Snyder

Image by fdecomite (French Flag  Uploaded by tm) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I remember, back in 1961 when I was in the 6th grade, my teacher Miss Meisel taught our homeroom class La Marseillaise. When Mademoiselle Burac, our French teacher, entered the room for our lesson we all stood. Miss Meisel playing the piano, and we began singing La Marseillaise. Our little French teacher, so far from home, cried. I shall never forget that. Vive la France! — Nancy Allen Perrow

Timescape 3 by Alice Aycock courtesy of Alice Aycock

Back in the 1990s, Alice Aycock taught at the Ecole des Beaux Arts while in residence at Paris' Cartier Foundation for the Arts in Jouy-en-Josas. She had a lot to say to Change Your Life Travels about what happened in Paris last week. Some of those thoughts, could stand as a directive for the world to follow: "Whatever it is in us as human beings that reaches for the marvelous and extraordinary is, at this point, at stake. In the end, we have to have the courage to go for what is good in us."

Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris while in residence at the Cartier Foundation for the Arts in nearby Jouy-en-Josas.