Saturday, August 6, 2011

The End ... a lot overdue!

I’ve been back in Canada for a while now, but I struggled to bring myself to write the final post of my Paris blog. Partly because I’ve been busy, but also (mostly) because I haven’t wanted to - It’s hard to find words to wrap up such an incredible experience.

I spent my last few days trying to appreciate the small things that I came to love, including the outside of the Louvre at night, the Seine at sunrise, and salted butter anytime of the day. One of my last days was the most memorable... I went to the Bulgari exhibit at the Grand Palais, walked along the Champs Elysees with a vin chaud, and (somewhat expectedly) spent the last of my euros at the original Hermes boutique.

I also had a ton of packing to do! I was amazed at how much stuff I had accumulated during my stay. And since I prioritized Hermes over cab fare, I had to haul my luggage on the train to the airport... According to the scale at the airport my luggage weighed more than I did (impressive considering the amount of food consumption during my stay), so it was a pretty Herculean effort to travel with everything on public transit. I managed to make it to the airport (barely and with the help of a few willing Frenchmen) and left without incident just a few hours before the snowstorms paralyzed European airports for everyone else.

It was difficult to leave, but I was also so happy to see my family and Matt again. I had an amazing holiday at home with my mom, dad and brother, and was reunited with my favorite dog, Penny.

Sadly, my Nana passed away shortly after I got back, but one of my favorite memories is of her telling me about her trip to England when she was about my age. I wish I could remember more details, but I definitely recall being inspired by her sense of adventure and independence. I feel there are some parallels between my trip and hers, and hope that I inherited some of her strong will and wry sense of humor. I’m missing her a ton and regret not being able to share this with her, but I think she would have appreciated the effort I made to experience something new.

It was a bit of an adjustment to come back to Canada after being away for that long. It’s obviously not a huge culture shock, but I definitely noticed the little things - more space, people actually understanding what I say (most of the time), less butter... I’ve tried to incorporate the French way of living in little ways to my life here - I appreciate walking everywhere and urban density, enjoying coffee, wine, and everyday pleasures, and keeping a good work/life balance (although that’s never really been an issue!) I’ve also noticed that my eyes still constantly seek out images to photograph and I usually stop if I smell baking of any kind - I consider both habits as precious souvenirs.

Besides a few behavioural and appetite adjustments, I think I gained the most from just having such an extended break. I cherish the time I had to relax and reevaluate and refocus. I feel I have a clearer vision of who I am and what I want to be. When I reflect on my time there, I feel somehow stronger and more sure of myself, like I can accomplish whatever goals I set (or ‘go straight to the top’ as my Dad likes to say). But I also recognize this trip as totally dream-like, and that break from reality actually renewed my drive to make a difference in the community that I consider home. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity I had to live in Paris, and will always reflect on the beauty and adventure I got to experience, but am acutely aware that I have more meaningful contributions to make and am excited to be back where I can start.

Just after New Years, I went back to Saskatoon with Matt and stayed there while he finished his last semester of law school. We went on a trip to Mexico in May and moved to Vancouver just after that, so that’s where I am now (and probably will be for good!) I’ve been working for the UBC Faculty of Medicine as a researcher and, even though my head is still spinning a little, I love it. We found a great apartment and are thinking about adding a kitten to the family... So, things have been generally really awesome! I’m thinking about keeping this blog going because its been really looking at pictures and writing something other than research - The next posts may not be as glamorous as Paris, but I’ve learned that real life is just as entertaining! In the meantime, here are some pictures of my last few days in Paris...

The Bulgari exhibit at the Grand Palais (I admit there are a ridiculous amount of necklace close-ups, but they were outrageously beautiful!)







The exhibit was staged in really angular, black lacquered walls that looked like a jewel-shaped jewelry box. The ceiling was really low compared to the actual height of the Grand Palais, but there were a few open places...




There were original sketches...



... and an entire room devoted to Elizabeth Taylor! One of the quotes projected on the wall was from Richard Burton saying, "the only word Elizabeth knows in Italian is Bulgari"






Following the Bulgari exhibit I went to the Hermes flagship, which had a window display done by Pierre Herme! It was obviously a sign I had to go in...






And the last photo is kind of random, but its the Christmas display at Lanvin, right across from Hermes... I thought it was pretty funny

Friday, December 10, 2010

Snow!

It snowed so much here on Wednesday! I've been hoping it would snow before I leave so I was totally into it, but it definitely caused some complications... the buses weren't running and the airport was shut down for a while. Luckily I was neither bussing or flying anywhere! And my Canadian-ness finally paid off - navigating through snow is second nature for me, but the Parisians definitely lost some of their composure.

It was cold enough that I didn't venture too far away from my apartment, so I ended up at the Pantheon. The crypt was actually amazing, and seeing Rousseau and Voltaire definitely stirred up some sentiment for my days in undergrad studying political theory. Foucault's pendulum was also pretty incredible - it's kind of mesmerizing to just watch the ball go back and forth and change angles.

Here are some pictures from the snowfall and the Pantheon, and a few of yesterday's amazing sunset from the Tuileries...








From my apartment...




Sunday, December 5, 2010

Door Details

Just as a random, and probably unnecessary, supplement to my last post - I fell in love with some doors/shutters at Versailles. I wasted what was left of my camera battery and took a million pictures of really pretty painted and carved flowers. Kait had to come back because I took so long and found me crouched around a random window, which seemed to be the only one with this type of treatment - I'm more than certain people thought I lost my mind. But check it out, I'm in love with them...








The last week...

Sorry! I've been a total blog slacker... I'm going to blame it on the weather - It's so gray and snowy and cold. I really don't feel like doing much of anything besides reading and drinking tea. And Kait was here, so she was pretty distracting (in the best possible way, of course!)

I will fully admit to having the memory of a goldfish, so the writing of this post will not be that lengthy, but there are plenty of photos! Except my camera took a tumble at the concert and hasn't quite regained its full function - We got this shot before that though.



The rest of the night was super fun and a lot more crazy than my usual days of museum-going and pastry-eating. Its kind of nice to party once in a while - I usually feel a lot older than my 23 years, so its a good reminder I've got some of my youth left. I think that same day we went to Pompidou... I'm not a huge contemporary art fan but I'm glad I finally went. Mostly just because the escalator was so cool and there's a really good view from the top floor.







Afterwards we just walked around. I found a store with my name but unfortunate spelling, and there's also a pastry named after Caroline, my brother's girlfriend (spelled correctly!)







We went to Versailles and it was seriously magical. The palace itself was cool to see but walking around the gardens was just incredible. It was pretty much freezing but the light was amazing. There was a little bit of snow on the ground and hardly anybody was there. It felt like we were in our own fantasy land. We went to the Grand and Petit Trianon, but the best was the little faux-village that Marie Antoinette had built. There were little bridges and swans and a sunset... it was one the most beautiful things I've ever seen and a total highlight of my entire experience here.



It was soooo cold...






This is for my friend Angelica because she likes to weave, I'm pretty sure this is her dream spot...