Hopefully, we’ll never match this bad again!

Today was a day in transit as we flew from Paris to Copenhagen. Nothing exciting, but I did have some time to reflect on Paris. Its art, architecture, and history is amazing is unbelievable. And I mean, it’s the cultural and fashion capital of the world. Wine is nearly as cheap as water and Parisians know how to relax. On the other hand, its crowded, expensive, polluted, and everyone smokes. Despite those qualities, Joylani and I came to the conclusion that Paris is one of those cities you have to visit at least once.

Paris is regarded as one of the most expensive cities in the world. And while that is true, we learned that you don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy it.

We spent the morning at the Louvre, browsing the greatest collection of art on earth. Like most Parisian attractions, the Louvre charged an entrance fee. However, our 35 euro Carte Musee-Monuments (Museum & Monuments card) allowed us access, just as it had at several other attractions. The pass turned out to be an extremely economical way to see everything we wanted in Paris.

After the Louvre, we walked a couple blocks until we found a small market and bakery. Although the many bars and brasseries on nearby Rue de Rivoli were average-price for Paris, they seemed expensive to us. So we bought our food and picnicked in the (Unesco-listed) Jardin des Tuileries, a beautiful park located between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde. The food was good, the weather great, the location beautiful, and the cost low.

Joylani and I decided to explore the Left Bank before dinner. As we walked through the labyrinth that Paris is, we found a supermarket. We decided to buy our food there, rather than eat out. For just under five euro, we bought: a half-liter water, a bottle of wine, a box of crackers, a thing of camembert, a box of dessert cookies, and four yogurts. We stopped by a bakery afterwards and bought a three-foot baguette for one euro, as well. So we spent less than six euros and enjoyed the best Paris has to offer: wine, cheese, and bread.

Paris is a city of art. From fashion to architecture, art is everywhere. Today was Versailles and the Pompidou, while tomorrow is the Louvre. The Pompidou was tough for me, because modern art doesn’t seem very artistic to me. Not that the more realistic-looking paintings are much better- it seems that in all the old paintings, half the subjects have halos and the other half are naked. Anyways, back to the point, I would say that abstract’s a bunch of junk that children could make, but Joylani seems to see something more. She sees things that I don’t see, sometimes interpreting the meaning and emotions of certain paintings.

At first, I thought she just was imaginative, creative, and ascribed her own perspective to the paintings. But having visited many art museums over the past few years, I noticed she’s consistent with what real art critics say. I’ve tested this by comparing what she says to what art books or Wikipedia. Not the most scientific method, but the consistency leads me to believe that there is a common “art language” if you will. It’s like how bees can see ultraviolet light, which humans cannot see. Maybe a better analogy would be how the daily stock tables in the paper look like abstract to Joylani. But the numbers make sense to me and I can even conjecture what happened in the markets that day.

The most beautiful thing I saw today though, was from the top of Notre Dame. The outside and inside were unbelievable, but nothing compared to the view from the top. On any other day, I’ll admit the view from Sacre Coeur was better. But not today. After raining on and off all day, the sun was just breaking through the clouds as we reached the top of Notre Dame. In front of us, rays of light rained down on the Right Bank, bathing the city in light. Behind us, the cathedral’s spire was illuminated and the dozens of gargoyles lit up too. The sun continued to emerge until the entire city was shining. It was beautiful. It was art.

Is there anywhere better to spend a Saturday night with your love?

We left yesterday early in the morning and its now noon, Paris time. Only, we’re not in Paris. We are stuck in London at Heathrow Airport. After waiting on the tarmac for two hours at JFK before taking off (it could have been worse though—by the time we took off, there were approximately 100 planes waiting to take-off behind us), we missed our connecting flight from London to Paris. When we de-boarded our tardy flight at Heathrow, we had about 30-40 minutes to make it to our final flight. Our optimism was slowly shattered as we began to realize how big Heathrow is. After walking a long ways we boarded a shuttle to the next terminal. Twenty minutes later, after driving through what I thought was an extensive road system for an airport, we arrived at our terminal. We waited in a long line for a security check, and waited a little bit longer while Matt got patted down by the guard. Finally we came to monitors showing our flight’s status: final boarding, Gate 23. I began to run, Matt followed, and together we dodged the oncoming traffic of passengers and luggage. A sign pointed to Gates 22-24 just down the hallway—the longest hallway ever. We continued to go as fast as we could to the gate, but when we arrived we discovered that our plane had already left. Dejected and very much out of breath (I haven’t run like that since playing soccer in jr. high!), we slowly made our way all the way back to the ticket counter by the security checkpoint and joined dozens of other passengers who had also missed their connecting flights due to the fiasco at JFK. Our flight keeps getting pushed back in 30 minute increments, so I have no idea when we will end up leaving this place. Luckily the airport is a good place to people watch. Mostly I am enjoying checking out everyone’s clothes. After packing up the apartment a month ago, I’ve pretty much been wearing the same 5 outfits over and over, so it is nice to see some variety in someone’s wardrobe, even if it isn’t mine.:-)

If you decide to go for the orange pants, be sure to spring for the socks too.

Post-flight:
After 8 hours in London and 40 minutes in the air, Matt and I finally arrived in Paris, minus one bag. Four days later, still no bag. Hopefully we will get it before leaving Europe; among other things, I miss my full-sized tooth brush. I have, however, seen many more people wearing orange pants. Maybe I will get some for Matt…

I’m somewhere over the North Atlantic right now. Joylani’s sleeping on my right and on my left the moon’s illuminating the tiny ice crystals that have formed on my window. The cabin is dark, except for the few small TV screens of others that can’t sleep. Throughout the day, I’ve just been trying to tell myself that we’re actually gone. But its not real yet. A couple weeks ago, Joylani said this trip was like a college final in that things were winding down, we were preparing like mad, and we’d be happy when we would be done to enjoy the summer. Whenever I finished finals, it always took me a few days to unwind, relax, and actually realize I was done with school. I never felt relieved or relaxed after my last final. Likewise, it may take me awhile to unwind from the pre-trip stress and relax a little. And actually, the more I think about it, the more I know it won’t hit me. Realization that our dreams and planning have come to fruition will be more of a process for me.

It’s like getting reacquainted with an old friend. Although you know them well, it takes time to catch up and back into the good ole swing of things. Today was just a day in transit, but it feels good to be traveling again. Just as we feel most comfortable with those closest to us, I feel most comfortable while on the road, so to speak. I got no sleep last night, I barely ate anything today, our flight was delayed for hours, and I’m not very comfortable in this seat, but I’m happy. We’re traveling and it feels good.

After an abbreviated night, the sun just broke over the horizon of endless clouds. A bright orange disk washing away the darkness with its radiance. Today is a new day. We will be in Europe in a couple hours. More exciting though, is that its not only the dawn of a new day, but a new chapter in our lives.

We should be in the air right now, but here’s a little quote that inspired us to take flight:

“Often I go to some distant region of the world to be reminded of who I really am. There is no mystery about why this should so. Stripped of your ordinary surroundings, your friends, your daily routines, your refrigerator full of food, your closet full of your clothes – with all this taken away, you are forced into direct experience. Such direct experience inevitably makes you aware of who it is that is having the experience. That’s not always comfortable, but it is always invigorating.
I eventually realized that direct experience is the most valuable experience I can have. Western man is so surrounded by ideas, so bombarded with opinions, concepts, and information structures of all sorts, that it becomes difficult to experience anything without the intervening filter of these structures. And the natural world – our traditional source of insights is rapidly disappearing.”
–Michael Crichton