Paris, Part 1

So I went to Paris last month. For the first time. And, yes, it was amazing. The food, the buildings, the people, the landmarks, the museums filled with art, the food. Yes, it was all pretty overwhelming, and endlessly interesting. I've been reading about Paris, and France, my whole life; I dont consider myself a Francophile, but Paris is one place I've always wanted to visit.

Travel does interesting things to us. Supposedly travel is to be part of either working or a vacation, sometimes both. To travel overseas is to see your culture from afar, and the view can be interesting. Every time I go abroad I always make an effort to speak to local residents as I am fascinated by their lives, their politics and their views on the US. Personally I find that travelling makes me listen and observe more, especially when I go to places where I dont speak the language, if for nothing else trying to get from point A to point B as easily as possible. Usually its not a problem as English is a universal language, and if you combine a few polite phrases in the native tongue with simple politeness you will find much success and friendly people.

But what I really want to say is that Paris is a glorious place. As full of light and culture as has been written about. Even though I was there in December approaching the winter solstice, and the sunlight had a weak and watery quality about it, it was still very obvious as to how beautiful the city is. Parisians are a prideful bunch, but they have very good reason to be, as they are the guardians of some of the world's most important treasures, a responsibility they take seriously (and they never let you forget it either).

So the piece above, which you might recognize, is fairly emblematic of Paris. You see the image everywhere, on posters, billboards, tourist tchotkes. Its also quite the thing to see it in person. As you might imagine it is quite the superstar in its home in the Louvre, there are signs everywhere pointing to its gallery, and when you enter the gallery, there are tourists 10 deep in front of the painting. However Baby and I timed this all just right; we went to the Louvre on Wednesday, when it is open late until 9pm and we entered about 4pm. So the first time I went to the Mona Lisa's gallery the tourists were 10 deep in front of the painting; I went and looked at other galleries and pieces, came back in about an hour, the number of tourists were halved; went away for another hour, came back and had her to myself, along with about 2 other tourists. Well, nothing quite prepares you for these moments until you actually live them, as happened for me and Ms Lisa. She says so much, with that enigmatic smile, and still keeps her secrets. The shading, the lighting, the detail. And the size of the painting, its not much larger than 2.5ft X 3.5ft. I wonder, though, all the people who come to see this piece, and it must be thousands, daily, do they come to see it because its famous, or because its beautiful? Or both?

-photo by Melissa Massie