We leave Paris tomorrow! Off to Barcelona, but I am not at all ready to leave - I’ve grown so fond of our lives here in France. The big historical landmarks are important, but it’s really the little things about living here that I’m going to miss the most.
1) Adventures trying to get home late at night after the metro closes- long walks, 4AM infinite horse parades, characters on the bus, walking uphill on Avenue des Gobelins, passing the baby statue.
2) JPOTD. You may have noticed that Natalie and I are in mid-air in many pictures. France is not particularly bouncy, but we were just attempting to take one jumping picture each day. JPOTD, as it were.
3) The sun not setting til 10 every day!
4) Yelling “NON, MERCI” at the mass amounts of unwanted soliciters - rose sellers on Rue de Lappe, or randos yelling “COME HOME WITH ME” on the street. Quite a useful phrase, along with “Va te faire foutre” which Jill successfully used once, haha.
5) Good Meat, the “restaurant” across from where we live.
6) Quotable quotes all the time, by everyone. But especially ones by Neil: “An elephant is like, a bunch of horses put together”, or ”Helloooo, Mr. Warthog!”, or of course ”Whoa! Talk about meat!”
7) Hearing “No Woman, No Cry” played everywhere - by musicians at the Eiffel Tower, at bars, at the Bastille Day ball.
8) Amazing professors and fun classes - I learned wayyyy more French than I thought I was going to, and thoroughly enjoyed learning about Louis XIV, NapIII, and nerdy Pasteur as well in history class as well. Sarah, Leslie, Neil, Nelly, and Pamela are all winners.
9) Watching MTV France and Disney Channel France in our room. Hahah extremely educational, actually.
10) The outdoor markets with good fruit and interesting characters.
11) Boulangeries on every corner with good bread and sandwiches and éclairs. And crêpe stands.
12) Shants, and the songs involved. Re: everybody shants now
13) Situations like Moustachio and the 6:30AM metro or getting trapped in an apartment entrance, desperately trying to find the “porte” button with cell phone light… only in Paris, seriously.
14) Watching World Cup games over Kir Cassis or dishsoap Leffes.
15) 1euro1euro1euroFRESHWATER1euro1euro
16) All our favorite places: The Hideout, Melocotón (Stellas and the cave), Corcoran’s (laser light Irish pub), L’île de Crète for poulet frite, and the Humé Boulangerie. I’m going to miss these.
17) The wine fund and all of its bad investments.
18) Photographs with Chuck Norris doing whatever he wants to do.
19) The enigma of my life: the fact that I cannot find that bar off of Mouffetard from that Tuesday. Door with wooden winding staircase to underground. I will return someday and locate it.
20) “List of Things”
21) Citadines breakfast. And mints.
22) Morning runs by myself, watching Paris wake up - people setting up markets, walking their dogs, buying baguettes. Perfect.
23) The metro lines that we frequent the most - taking the 7 to Place Monge for Mouffetard, or the 5 to Bastille. Or playing my favorite game, “get off at a random stop and see what happens”. And knowing that Ivry/Villejuif will bring you home.
24) Meeting people in the funniest of ways - old men clapping, winners on the street who convince you not to go home just yet, or funny boys yelling about sharks while swimming.
25) Funny broken English spoken by our new French friends, made even better when imitated at a later time. Like Jill’s perfect impression of “Yuko is my friend, but Yoongi is my WIFE!”
26) Picnics - at various jardins, at the Seine, in the Place d’Italie donut. Fromage, pain, and Carrefour vin.
27) Ching ching-ing, with eye contact of course.
28) Superb friends who are always down for everything, but will also write a song about Sweet Clouds in my Mouth as we walk to the metro. Couldn’t have asked for better buds to share this time in Paris with.
29) Being stunned by how beautiful Paris is on a daily basis - no matter how cliché it is, it’s true. Looking out on the Seine or just walking anywhere - the French really do know how to appreciate beauty in life.
Thanks, Paris - it’s been fun. I’ll be back!
Off to Barcelona - time to see if I remember any Spanish, haha.
