Paris

I should love Paris.  The architecture is beautiful, the people speak a language that I understand, and the city is full of culture and history.  However, for some unknown reason, I just have never really enjoyed it as much as other cities in Europe. 

For a two week project, it is hardly a sacrifice to be working in Paris so I really don’t mind being back.  I arrived by early afternoon on Monday and was immediately thrust into the most complex project I have ever faced at work.  Part of me feels completely overwhelmed but a larger part feels excited to conquer a challenge that I have never encountered before.  Hopefully I will succeed.

My hotel is in the perfect location – literally across the street from the Louvre.  When I look out my window, I can actually see statues through the window of the museum.  Unfortunately, this is the closest I will get to the Louvre this week because I’m just too busy to be a tourist. 

Here's the view from my bedroom window

On Sunday evening, I made time to attend a Vespers service at Notre Dame Cathedral.  I always enjoyed the intimate atmosphere of the services in Cologne and London but I should have known that this place would be entirely different.  Apparently Notre Dame is 850 years old this year, so it is even more popular than usual.  So popular, in fact, that they built viewing platforms across from the façade just so people could take pictures. 

As I was waiting in line just to walk through the door, I realized that I don’t like Paris because it makes me feel like a tourist.  I’m just one of millions of people who parade through the cathedral and it doesn’t feel special anymore.  Maybe I care too much about feeling like a local but I just get bored more easily when I’m seeing a site that has already been photographed by millions of people this year alone. (Ok, that still didn't stop me from taking some pictures myself!)    

Here are the viewing stands in front of Notre Dame Cathedral

I joined the crowd for a picture of the cathedral

I spent one morning running through the adjacent Tuileries gardens and along the Seine because the fitness room was occupied.  It is admittedly really cool to run through the arches of the palace and past statues that are probably older than my country.  I try to look like a local although I’m sure everyone probably knows immediately that I am just a foreigner, trying too hard to look like a local.

In a further attempt to live like a local, I signed up for an 8k race on Armistice Day called Les Bacchantes.  The run was organized to raise money for prostate cancer and it played up the “movember” theme by asking participants to wear a moustache for the run.  Part of me wanted to grow a mustache for the run but then I felt too ridiculous after one day of stubble, so I chickened out.  

The race started near L’Arc de Triomphe and I am familiar enough with the area to get to the starting line without a map.  Go me.  Such a local!   As I turned to jog up the Champs-Élysées, I noticed that the street was blocked for a special event and I was forced to detour.  A map would have been nice at that moment, but I tuned in my inner-compass and navigated my way back to where I needed to be. 

The race was a lot of fun and I was amazed to see that the vast majority of people were wearing a moustache (mostly fake ones).  However, one question lingered in my mind: Where did all these people find fake mustaches?!?  It’s not such a common accessory in America…  In the end, I finished in the top 2% and with a respectable time, but still far from my personal best.  Hopefully I can get my speed back up again someday.

Week #2 in Paris has been a challenge but I pushed through and motivated myself with plenty of macarons, crepes, and floating island desserts.  I don’t like French food but their desserts are pretty incredible.  This is probably one of the reasons why I am not running fast anymore but you only live once.

Unfortunately, my project remains unresolved and I learned that I must come back to Paris a few more times before the end of the year.  I already have other projects planned, so this will require a lot of juggling.  On the positive side, return trips to Paris will give me plenty of opportunities to appreciate a city that I should already love.