#parisstories

[thepariscollective-blog]

Hic et Nunc (Here and now): the challenge of immigration in France

This morning at the market I met a fruit and veg seller from Egypt. He spoke a bit of English, so we had a short conversation in fits and starts, choppy sentences and lots of head nodding and probably too many utterances of “oui”.  Laughing at my market list, he graciously helped me find “petit oignon”, “echalates”, “frambroises”, and “bananes”. It wasn’t until the end of the conversation that he told me he was from Egypt. He said he’d be traveling there in two months. 

In this moment I wished I could readily speak French, as I wanted to know more about this man. What was his story? What was his experience in France? What was it like being an immigrant to a country that has traditionally been resistant to multiculturalism and diversity? Why did he come to Paris? How did he become a market seller? 

These questions remain unanswered. Yet after my short exchange with him, I was reminded of an exhibition I attended the other day at the Musée de l'Homme, entitled: “His et Nunc” (Here and Now). The exhibition features photographs by French photographer Clarisse Rebotier and explores how migrants arrive in France and are welcomed and integrated into society. 

While I know that the market seller I met this morning has a personal story relative to his experience, I cannot help but wonder what connections could be made between his life and the lives of other immigrants showcased in this small exhibition... And now as I reflect on the exhibition, this was the main message of Rebotier after all-- each immigrant to France is first and foremost an individual with a unique story worthy of considering.

  Placed within the context of a larger exhibition, “Saison en droits!”, which commemorates the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, thirty black and white portraits of French immigrants and refugees are displayed on a single wall. Subjects are photographed on the Esplanade of Human Rights at Trocadero, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. 

The Eiffel Tower, while blurry behind the subjects, stands as a symbol representative of France, rooted in time and place. This in turn allows the photographed individuals to be rooted in time and place, be it for the quick snap of a photograph; many of these individuals have come to France fleeing war in their home countries. Most importantly, the depiction of the Eiffel Tower in each of the thirty portraits reveals that the Eiffel Tower belongs to everyone. This idea, taken as a key theme, can point to Rebotier’s underlying message that France should be and is for everyone. 

Looking at Rebotier’s documentary and artistic photographs, we glimpse smiling and peaceful immigrants, migrants, and refugees. Yet it is of supreme importance to recognize that the subjects in each of the photographs are not just immigrants, migrants, and refugees, but people with an identity. 

Rebotier has highlighted the identity of each of her subjects in two major ways. First, the names of each of her subjects are written in pencil next to their photographs on the museum wall. This is significant because a name holds one’s individuality. A name personalizes a story... for there is danger when we generalize, make assumptions, and consider “a single story” representative of any people group. 

Considering the topic of immigrants in France, Rebotier says, “Although I often hear about people who are ‘different’, personally, I still haven’t understood what they’re supposed to be different from...?” 

The people photographed are more than immigrants, they are human beings with lived experiences-- deep sorrows and triumphant joys-- just like you and I. Written on the walls within this context, a name holds power; it distinguishes each person from one another but relates us all in the solidarity of being human.   

The second way in which Rebotier has highlighted identity includes transforming her exhibition into more of a participatory project. By letting each of her subjects develop their own photographs in the dark room, these individuals have become authors and artists themselves. This action, while simple, is profound in the way it communicates the idea of ownership over one’s life. Even though welcoming diversity and integrating refugees is currently a great challenge for France, immigrants and refugees do not and should not have to live subjugated solely under the titles of “immigrant”, “refugee”, or “migrant”. While these titles are part of their story and who they are at the moment, but it does not make up who they are in totality. 

We all must be empowered to embark on our own paths and live freely, unhindered by stereotypes and paths others have laid out before us to follow. 

“They’re cheerful. They’re fighters! I wanted to show that refugees are first and foremost citizens who are incredibly full of emotions and life,” states Rebotier. 

After viewing this exhibition, I say let this be the new mantra for France. Through these small yet impactful images, I have hope for Paris and the fight for equality here. But still the hard work of change needs to be done.

One voice, that of Clarisee Rebotier’s, has spoken out-- and more still need to join-- because largely those who have suffered from discrimination have been silenced. Let the voices rise, against all forms of discrimination, and instead for unity. And may I add-- this is not an issue to be highlighted because of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but because it truly matters HIC ET NUNC-- here and now. 

[kyliegalloway]

best. final exam. ever. (a blog detailing the scavenger hunt final exam for Paris 2019)

Today we did our final exam for this May Term, and I have to say: BEST. EXAM. EVER. Exploring new places in Paris? Yes please! We were given some expectations and then a list of sites to visit with a partner, and then left to figure out which route we would like to go! I’m glad I like directions and navigating because today was a whole lot of that.

(Note: I posted the pictures with the locations tagged on my Instagram, @kyliegtravels, if you would like to see exact locations. They are all under my “final exam” highlight.)

Picture from Paris Stories at Hope College Facebook

The following is the expectations/rules we were given this morning (bright and early at 8am) for the day.

Objective:

Demonstrate proficiency in Pairs by:

1.     Ability to successfully navigate mass transit. You must use the metro and/or the buses to get around. NO UBER.NO TAXI.

2.     Referencing only your Paris Pratique and Michelin Guide for directions—not cell phones. Should it be revealed that you used your cell phone for navigational purposes, you and your partner will receive an automatic failing grade on the exam.

3.     Find historically/culturally significant locations per the list provided, and experience them.

4.     Do so in an efficient way (within the 6 hour limit).

5.     We encourage you to take a break for lunch, snacks, etc.

Mechanics:

·     8 am start time from the Citadines Place d’Italie

·     You may NOT use computers and phones to plan the best route. Your sites are not listed in any geographical “order.”

·     2pm arrival (not earlier) at the professors’ apartment: rue Watteau

o  Please bring your laptops and your Michelin Green Guide to rue Watteau. (Pick these at the Citadines before arriving at rue Watteau)

·     YOU MUST VISIT EACH SITE WITH YOUR PARTNER

·     Each group must take a photo at each site, and slow down a bit, and think about the space.

·     Back at the professors’ apartment (or if you finish early, please feel free to begin working), make Tumblr posts documenting your groups journey—including each site visited.

o  Divide the blog posts between partners/group members.

o  If you reference a source, please be sure to include the citation. Your Michelin Guide is a great reference.

After reviewing these expectations, we were given our partners and the list of our sites.

Group 1: Rousseau (Emily and Kylie)

1.     In front of a street sign on rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1er)

2.     On the steps of the La Madeleine (8e), Place de la Madeleine

3.     In the Place des Vosges (3e)

4.     In the center of the Arenes de Lutece (5e), 49 rue Monge

5.     The exterior façade of St-Etienne-du-Mont church (5e), Place Sainte-Genevieve

6.     Galerie Vivienne (covered passage, 2e), 4 rue des Petits-Champs

7.     Inside the Gare Saint-Lazare SNCF (big trains) train station, the one painted often by Monet (8e), 13 rue d’Amsterdam

8.     Place Edith Piaf (20e)

9.     Temple of Sibyl, Parc des Buttes Chaumont (19e)

Emily and I went to work to figure out what the best way to find each of these places would be. We used our Michelin Green Guides and our Paris Pratique to craft our path. The following is the path we followed to complete our final exam. We started out by taking line 7 (La Courneve) to Place Monge to our first site.

Arenes de Lutece:

We decided to go here first because it was the closest to our hotel, and we had seen signs for it in the line 7 Metro. It was pretty easy to find when we came up out of the metro because there were signs for it, so I expected more people to be there. We were the only people there. I’m not sure if that’s because we were there at 8:15am. The Arenes De Lutece and is located in the Latin Quarter. It is an amphitheater and could originally hold 15,000 people. It is one of the only surviving evidence of the Roman period in Paris. It was interesting to see that apartment buildings have been built over part of the amphitheater. We enjoyed appreciating the calm arena before we set off on the rest of our day. We decided earlier to walk to the next site because it was in the same arrondisement and it didn’t make sense to take a Metro.

Source: https://www.parisinfo.com/musee-monument-paris/71451/Arenes-de-Lutece-et-square-Capitan

St-Etienne-du-Mont Church and Place Sainte Genevieve:

We walked down some winding streets, which is the character of the Latin Quarter to find St-Etienne-du-Mont Church. I’m not going to lie, this was pretty easy to find because it is so distinguishable. It was cool to see the Pantheon next to it too. In fact, in 1744 King Louis XV replaced the Saint Genevieve Abbey with the Pantheon. The abbey was looted and burned in the Revolution. It was attached to what is now called St-Etienne-du-Mont Church. This is why the place near the church is called the Place Sainte Genevieve. I had never heard of this church before and] the façade of it is quite grandiose, Renaissance style. It was restored after the revolution and actually slants left due to the shape of the ground. According to the churches website, it is a product of a transition period between gothic and Renaissance styles. I think this is for sure true because of what we have learned about the two styles in class. Another interesting thing about this area is that the original wall fortification is still present in some areas and we just happened to walk by, how cool! We then continued our walk to the Cardinal Lemoine station and took line 10 (Gare d’Austerlitz) to Gare d’Austerlitz and transferred to line 5 (Bobigny), exiting at Bastille.

Source: https://www.saintetiennedumont.fr/en

Place de Vosges:

Check out Emily’s blog for this entry at. https://thepariscollective.tumblr.com/tagged/scavengerhunt!

After exploring Place de Vosges, we walked to the Chemin Vert Station and took line 8 (Balard) to Republique and transferred to line 3 (Galleieni) and got off at Porte de Bagnolet.

Place Edith Piaf:

I was surprised because we popped out of the underground Metro station into a market and the statue of Edith Piaf was on our right. Emily has the entry for this site too! We enjoyed a walk through the market before embarking to our next site, which was the one we knew the least about. We went to the Gambetta station and took line 3 (Levallois) to Pere Lachaise, then transferred to line 2 (Porte Dauphine) and got off at Belleville.

Temple of Sibyl, Parc des Buttes Chaumont:

We found the Parc des Buttes Chaumont easily In our Paris Pratique, but the Temple of Sibyl wasn’t labeled so we ended up looking it up in our Michelin guide while on the Metro and finding a map of the entire Parc. It was quite a hike to find this site (which makes sense because the 19this near Montmatre) and it was definitely not a tourist area so it wasn’t labeled from the streets. I think this may have been my favorite site we visited. In 1860, Napoleon III integrated the areas surrounding the park into the city, creating a need to make these areas “Parisian.” Haussmann played a role in the installation of this park, a large English-style park, along with the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincenne. Adolphe Alphand created this park by buying 25 hectagres of the Buttes Chaumont. Originally this had been quarries, but they were abandoned in the mid 1800s. It was a three year process to form the park from construction of artificial cliffs (the one in the lake where the temple is located is the most prominent) to digging trails both steep and flat to planting new species. The lake was created by using a local water tank. The park was inaugurated with the Universal Exhibition of 1867, when Napoleon III wanted to show off his newly Haussmannized capital. I would love to go back and explore this park when I have more time because it looked like there was lots of trails and different paths to explore. Emily has a little more about the Temple of Sibyl on her blog if you would like to read more about that. We hopped on the 7b (Pre-St.-Gervais) and got off at Place des Fetes, then got on line 11 (Chatlet) to Arts et Metiers, and then line 3 (Levallois) to Bourse.

Source: https://www.histoires-de-paris.fr/parc-buttes-chaumont/

Galerie Vivienne:

I knew from our assignment sheet that this was a covered passage, but as we stepped into it, it was much more extravagant than I expected. It felt like I was in a department store because the ornamentation of the ceiling or the glass roof and the detailed floor felt too special to just be a street passage. It was built in 1823 and now houses a cute bookstore, boutiques of various kinds, food shops, and probably more that we didn’t see because the spectacle of the passage itself was so beautiful. We walked through it and on to Rue Etienne Marcel to find our next site.

Source: https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/100272/Galerie-Vivienne

Rue Jean-Jacques-Rousseau:

This is the street our group was named after! Check our Emily’s blog to understand it’s importance. We walked from here to the nearby Etienne Marcel Metro stop. We got on line 4 (Cligancourt) to Strasbourg-St. Denis and transferred to line 8 (Balard) for the Madeleine stop.

On the steps of the La Madeleine, Place de la Madeleine:

You would think finding the front of the church would be easy, but it turns out we got turned around. We got out of the Metro and went towards the back of the church, and got super confused because it was locked. Not to mention, it was under construction, so that might also have added to the confusion of where the front was and it also doesn’t look like other churches in Paris, so we were a little shocked by that. Don’t worry though, we wandered around the place and found the front steps of the church. After looking into this place later, it is now well known for the little cookie/cakes that Marcel Proust made famous, but there is a deep history of the church. The church is situated between Place de la Concorde and the Palais Garnier. It is different than a religious building because Napoleon wanted it to be a pantheon to honor his armies. The iconic Corinthian colomns were under construction, but we still got to see some of them. We also saw many signs for concerts, which the church hosts regularly. From here we walked to our last location. We followed Rue Torchet towards Printemps and then Rue de Havre straight to the station.

Sources: https://en.parisinfo.com/transport/73127/Place-de-la-Madeleine,https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71158/Eglise-de-la-Madeleine

Gare St. Lazare:

Emily wrote about this site too, but I want to mention how modernized this building was. I expected it to be more like what Monet painted, yet instead, it felt more like a mall. We had a hard time getting a picture inside of ourselves without it looking like a mall, so we took a few pictures inside and headed outside to get our selfie with the iconic sign.

Whew! That was a lot! We started at 8am and got done early (noon) before we had to be at our professors’ apartment at 2pm. Since we had time, we decided to pull up Dr. Janes’ food recommendations list and found Cosi, a sandwich shop in the 6th. It was fun to celebrate completing our exam with some delicious sandwiches. Then, we went to our professors’ apartment for a delicious spread and to work on our blog posts. I want to go back to so many of these places because we were on such a timed schedule today! I look forward to revisiting these places someday and knowing the history of them because I took an exam by finding them. This class was such a cool experience I never imagined myself doing after finishing my first year of college, but I’m so glad I did. My professors are absolutely amazing and I’m so grateful for them. They’ve given us such great guidance and tours at places around the city, but also the independence to wander and explore. I will never forget this trip and it was such a fun way to wrap it up with a whirlwind scavenger hunt of such a beautiful city.

[maddiezimmerman]

A Parisian Scavenger Hunt

Today we had our “final exam” for the Paris May term! We were all split into small groups and given a series of locations across the city that we had to find using only our Paris Pratique maps and the Metro. Before setting off, we formulated a plan of how we wanted to get from place to place. We decided to go the farthest away first (the 18th arrondissement) and then make our way back through the 9th, 8th, 7th, 1st, and 6th, which worked out perfectly! We zig-zagged back and forth a little bit, but we didn’t have any problems getting anywhere, and best of all, we had fun searching for everything!

The Bateau-Lavoir, where Picasso painted “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” (18e)

Our group stumbled through a small public square and up too many steep stairs to find the Bateau-Lavoir. Also called "The Boat Wash-house,” this small building was both a place for artists to meet and build upon ideas but is most famously the place where Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Though one of the smallest holes-in-the-wall of Monmarte, this building essentially was the birthplace of a lot of the art that not only made history but inspired much of the contemporary art we see to this day.

Art Deco stained-glass ceiling of Galeries Lafayette (9e)

The Galeries Lafayette was established in 1893 originally as a small novelty store, though it quickly grew to become a giant department store when the owners purchased the entire building where their store was located. The breathtaking 43-meter high, Neo-Byzantine dome was designed by glass artist Jacques Gruber and is reminiscent of the stained-glass you might find in the churches around Paris.

The Gare Saint-Lazare SNCF train station, the one painted so often by Monet (8e)

The Gare Saint-Lazare is one of the largest and busiest railway stations in Paris and was designed by architect Juste Lisch in 1873. The station was an attractive subject for numerous artists during the Impressionist period, including Manet, Monet, and Caillebotte. Today the station’s passenger hall also features a three-level shopping mall and handles around 275,000 passengers every day.

Pont Alexandre III (7e-8e)

Pont Alexandre III was built for the Universal Exposition in 1900. Its name comes from the alliance France made with Russia during the Third Republic, and it is known for its beauty. There are four pillars that are on the bridge that have golden statues at the top of them. These pillars represent sciences, art, commerce, and industry. 

The Wall of Peace in the Parc du Champ de Mars (7e)

The Wall of Peace is a wall of glass that is located in the 7th arrondissement. This wall was created in 2000 to commemorate the new millennium. It has the word “peace” inscribed on it in multiple different languages, ranging from French to Chinese. However, there is a controversy about whether the Wall of Peace should be kept or removed. It was originally only supposed to be up for four months but instead has been up for 18 years. For now, the wall is still standing, though is surrounded by a tall fence.

Place Dauphine (1e)

Place Dauphine is a small square that would be incredibly easy to miss due to its size and the fact that it is sandwiched between two streets and a number of buildings. But what makes this quaint little area full of gravel, trees, and benches so special is its location in regards to the Seine. Initially created in 1607, this historically public square was a treat to discover as we would have never seen it otherwise.

“Le Bateau Ivre” (or “The Drunken Boat”) wall poem by Rimbaud near the Church of Saint Sulpice (6e)

Le Bateau Ivre is a poem written in 1871 by Arthur Rimbaud, who was a famous French poet. This poem is written on the wall of Rue Ferou near the Church of Saint Sulpice in the 6th arrondissement and describes the drifting and sinking of a boat lost at sea. This poem is drawn on this particular wall because Rimbaud wrote Le Bateau Ivre in a cafe nearby when he was only 16 years old.

"Jacob Wrestling with the Angel" and "Heliodones Driven from the Temple" murals by Eugene Delacroix in the Church of Saint Sulpice (6e)

These two gorgeous frescoes by Delacroix were commissioned by the Church of Saint Sulpice to adorn the walls of the Chapel of Holy Angels, the first side-chapel on the right side of the church. Delacroix worked on these murals between 1857 and 1861 and created three in total, the third being Saint Michael Slaying the Dragon. These commissions offered him the opportunity to work on a large scale, like many of the old masters he admired.

[kellyjeancreates]

Home

Reflecting on how little time we have left here as a class, I've been looking back on how those first few days felt for me. One of the first experiences I had in exploring the city was wandering around the 6th arrondissement with friends as we found a bakery and decided to check out les Jardins de Luxembourgas as we ate baguettes the size of our arms.

What is now used to house the senate of France used to be the Palace of Luxembourg. The surrounding gardens were brought to life by Marie Medici in 1612. Originally from Italy, the queen let homesick and wanted the gardens to pay homage to the land she missed.

Learning about this sad inspiration of the gardens spoke to me. My second day being thousands of miles away from both home and my family had been a good day and at that point, I had already noticed the odd sense of peace I had for being in the midst of a non-English speaking city. A two week study abroad trip, however, is not equal to moving to another country in a world where trains, planes, and phones did not exist. The only pieces of my life I could use to empathize with Marie was the disorientation of moving to college.

Walking through the garden, the amount of Parisians sitting in the lawn chairs, taking time to nap and talk to others was comforting. Maybe it's the weather in the Midwest, maybe it's the lack of spaces like this, or maybe it's culture, but the atmosphere of these gardens gave me a peace similar to the feeling I get when I arrive home after a few stressful weeks at college.

I wonder about her choice of the David Conquers Goliath sculpture at the center of the gardens. I want to sit down and talk with her about what specific places in Italy she used as inspiration and why. I'm curious about the palm trees, when and why they are apart of this garden in Paris.

Nobelity and security imply that these gardens would have looked much different for Marie Medici. But I wonder if she would like the way the area is used today. Most of all, I'm curious what it's like for the average Parisian deciding they would like to go for a walk and end at these gardens. I wonder if they, too, can consider it their home.

[thepariscollective-blog]

“Those with nerves exhausted by work would relax there, following the restful example of those still waters, and, to whoever entered it, the room would provide a refuge of peaceful meditation in the middle of a flowering aquarium.”

—Claude Monet, 1909

[thepariscollective-blog]

Both, And

What I love most about Paris so far is that it is a place of juxtapositions. This may seems strange to admire, but this “gray” personality of Paris, how she says she’ll be not black OR white in anything— any opinion, any stance— speaks to my artist heart that always sees the world in the most colourful gray, in an attempt to find the middle ground between extremes.

The phenomenon of being a place of such juxtaposition rings odd and inviting—odd mostly because of the differing anecdotes I glimpse being lived out before me on a day to day basis while staying here. Inviting because each of these lived stories almost beckons me to look closer, to pay attention.

Just the other day we walked along the winding narrow streets of the 11th on the way to dinner (barely enough room for one person, let alone three, on the sidewalks!), while hours before we had stared wide-eyed at the open and majestic Haussmann-style boulevards emanating outwards from the Arc de Triomphe.

This same day we strolled down the Champs-Élysées and bought perhaps the most expensive (yet also the most delicious) macrons in Paris. The spacious boulevard was packed with shoppers clad in name brand clothes, many tourists, and the poshest shops in all of Paris. As my professor would say, the character of the Champs-Élysées could be described as shi-shi and a bit hoity-toity. We lived this narrative for the afternoon, in a pretend-fantasy-tourist sort of way (my opinions on Champs-Élysées and the wealth of the boulevard and what it stands for in France is a whole different story), yet at dinner later we became the common folk in search of not expensive sweets but simple crusty bread to fill our grumbling stomachs.

At dinner at Les Galopines de Lulu, a quintessentially French bistro, we had the kindest waitor in perhaps all of Paris. He didn’t speak much English, but he took the time to describe each item on the menu and translate it for us. In this tiny bistro, he was the only waitor present and was visibly all over the place, tending to all of the customers, managing multiple tables. One would think he would come to us Americans as stressed out and annoyed at our presence, at our incapability to speak and read French... but he came to us in the most hospitable manner and showed us utmost kindness.

This came as a surprise when just days prior, a friend and I had gone to the grocery store in search of dinner and became the laughing stocks and frustration of all the customers in the shop as we struggled to use the self-check out machines (we thought we knew what we were doing, but it turns out even the self-check outs are different from American ones). We gathered many of the French were annoyed with our floundering, especially one of the store clerks, as he had to come over and assist us at least five times. Outsiders looking in, oui, we are un-French!

After dinner at Les Galopins, another juxtaposition to our day came about on the metro returning home that evening; we witnessed two homeless people asking for money. They called out loudly on the train while we bumbled along, walking from car to car. Many Parisians stood or sat with eyes glued to the floor, unwilling to help, set on their mission from point A to point B. Yet a few offered a handful of coins to the homeless as they passed by. How can so many in Paris be so wealthy, and also so many be so poor?

I could go on and on... Paris is rich and poor, old and new, quaint and modern, hospitable and cold, filled with young and aged, fast-paced and extremely leisurely, home to many locals and a place of destination for tourists, elegant and dingy, beautiful and ugly, building-filled and park-filled, “French” but also a giant melting pot of people from all over the world, local and metro city, neighbourhood and country, specialised and general, colourful and beige, wide open and small and narrow.

Each day seems to present different moments of juxtaposition and I find myself planted in two stories at once much of the time, fulfilling entirely different, yet related, roles. I am the outsider yet participant in Parisian society, I am confused at what I see must also delighted and inspired.

Through direct experience and immersion in Parisian culture, I am realising Paris comes to me not as a place of either/or, but rather a place of both/and.

Paris walks a fine line between the two ends of the spectrum, doesn’t invite me in all the time to make sense of it all, but every one and a while she whispers and reveals her purpose and personality and I strain to listen. I’ve been here almost a week and I feel as though I have just begun to “meet” Paris, to appreciate her narrative. Already in my mind I am missing her, anticipating my departure, yet kissing the sides of her cheeks in familiar greeting sometime in the future (I can only hope).

So with the remaining time I have with Paris, I will continue to get to know her. This is all I can do— will it ever stop? Does this “getting to know” ever cease with a particular place? Places forever keep changing, as we do as humans. This concept of continued change between the observed and the observer may even produce a narrative entirely different than what one had experienced a short time prior in a specific place, at a specific time.

Continued change is inevitable, but I must question legacy— what will hold true and constant, if anything, about who Paris is and who I am? I say all this to claim— people and places aren’t that different after all— we may be one in the same: changing, being, welcoming, continuing, living, speaking.

[thepariscollective-blog]

I’ll Cling to the Beauty

Suddenly we have three full days left in Paris and I’m beginning to feel the anxious tug between two places--home and here. I want to go home but also I feel such a deep connection to Paris and I wish I could stay longer, delve further into this complex place and culture... learn French! and actually form relationships with Parisians. 

Maybe the grace to return will be extended to me, but until then, I’ll remember Paris and hold her within my heart... she’ll still be teaching me lessons, no doubt, long after I’m gone. 

Something I’ve been grappling with while in Paris is the question of how to heal while still “doing life”, refusing to be stagnant in processing and brokenness but to keep on moving and living. This past academic year has been exceptionally difficult, and to be quite honest, I’m burnt out. But the world doesn’t stop for any one of us, even though it seems like it should as we chase it down and try to grasp it as it chugs away like one of the metro trains in Paris. 

In this season of life, everything seems to move at breakneck speed and I find myself caught up in it, trying to keep pace, and freaking out in the midst of it all... Yet while in Paris I’ve seen Parisians hustle like they mean it along with rest and engage with others like they’ve got nowhere to be for the next several hours (and they don’t-- they are fully present and planted). This everyday observation makes we question-- what can I learn from Parisians? What “Parisian practices” can I observe and take back with me? 

Perhaps my time in Paris isn’t only about seeing all the art and visiting all the museums, but about living a different way of life, one of observation and purpose, directness and intention, sensitivity and depth. Achievement has been my aim in life thus far if I’m being totally honest... but achievement of what? I cannot answer. The rat race never ends, and I am never satisfied. How does one give themselves permission to step away from the rat race? To negate the very human desire for more, more?

If anything, Paris has taught me to appreciate, rest, and be content with less. What do I really need? God. Love. A place to rest my head. Food to satisfy. Simple clothes. Not much.

And by miracles and sacrifices of others each day, these needs are mercifully met, day after day. All is gift, and my heart is thankful. Sitting by the beautiful Seine this afternoon, taking in the sights around me-- those quaint apartments, the mahogany doors, the uneven cobblestoned streets, that blue blue sky!-- this thankfulness grew and grew... this is what it means to appreciate. I am a student of appreciation. It is an art form in and of itself.

I can’t help but question--who am I, to be given this beauty of Paris? 

I don’t deserve it, this beauty. Yet to refuse would be to neglect all Paris has to offer. So I accept and swear not to take it for granted, because in three short days I’ll be on a plane home.

The tender realization came to me early this morning: with my needs taken care of, with Paris’s beauty before me each day in a thousand ways-- I can only be content and joyful despite the departure soon to come. Perhaps this truth can extend to the other places attached to my being, the places even more so a part of me-- my home in Indiana, Holland, MI... 

I’ll cling to beauty, hold it close and accept it as pure gift. I’ll treasure it and watch over it, guard the beauty when destruction comes, when the rat race threatens to pull me back in... As long as there is beauty, around and within, death and destruction cannot win. 

Thankfulness precedes the miracle, as Ann Voskamp says, and the miracle involves both a certain brokenness and a restoration, but constant through it all? Beauty. Beauty that we may choose to see or ignore, in the midst of the swirling chaos that is all too often everyday life. 

Beauty, thanksgiving, the brokenness, the miracle, beauty. 

With three days left in Paris, I’ll cling to the beauty, I’ll open myself to the beauty. May it present itself in unique ways. May it enthrall and delight, encourage and challenge. Beauty in brokenness, beauty in place, beauty in the souls that wander around me, strangers and close friends. 

And most of all, beauty in the One who gives, in the One who is Beauty itself, who bestows beauty and whispers “beautiful” in my ear-- God, my Father. He is the origin of beautiful, and the ultimate giver of beauty. Without my Father, I cannot see, and all the beauty is lost on me... 

Three days left, and: 

“You will be adorned with beauty and grace, and wisdom’s glory will wrap itself around you, making you victorious in the race.” (Prof. 4:9)

(Take that, you stupid rat race!)

[thepariscollective-blog]

Settle In

“Settle in.” 

My brain is on overload currently but there is this quiet whisper within that tells me over and over again-- “Settle in, settle in.” 

In essence, give in to this place, Paris, and succumb to the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. Enjoy. Breathe. Think. Be aware, and fully alive (even if being fully alive necessitates messing up a thousand French words and getting in everyone’s way by accident on the Metro). What a joy it is to be fully alive, making mistakes and decisions, speaking and seeing and being present in Paris. 

It doesn’t seem quite real that I am here. I don’t know what I think of Paris yet (how quick we are to try to make judgements!), only that I feel out of place and like I belong all at once.

It’s always astounding to me after I travel somewhere to realize that yes, 5,000 miles away, real life DOES go on in Paris, France. People live here. Just like me, they buy groceries and go to work, take classes and spend time with friends. They smile and joke (albeit in a much more reserved way), nourish themselves with food and drink, and return home at night to rest. 

As an American, we are half a world away, the French and I... but suddenly my world has converged with theirs and what this means I do not know yet.

Paris holds me this evening, my tired self, full from the richest dinner I’ve possibly had. She holds me and I will give in... I’ll settle in. I’ve made it here, to this wonderfully imperfect, bold and beautiful place. And I’ll settle in.