j'aime paris

aahh, sunday morning, somehow divine in and of itself. i’ve been home for one week, sliding back into routine while simultaneously planning my next vacation. summarizing some of the best weeks of my life is impossible. i spent time with some of my favorite people in places i have only dreamt of. somehow, despite a sordid history involving expectations, the romantic ideals of paris, italy and south india lived up to my idealizations.

when brian and i entered the bastille metro stop, exiting the train we’d taken from the airport, we heard music. often times music accompanies me, but it’s usually in my head. we rounded the corner to see an accordianist (?) playing in the long hallway. we smiled, mounted the stairs to the street, and turned in wonder as the sun rose over paris. the first twenty-four hours of crepes, sandwiches, wine, coffee, notre dame, the louve (and, well, actually, the entire time) were filled by exchanged looks of amazement, even if i was only exchanging them with myself. an advent mass in notre dame really IS this incredible. the street cafes really ARE this quaint and wonderful. the eiffel tower and champs de ellyse really ARE this beautiful at sunset. wine, cheese and bread ARE indeed the most economic dinner options and wine is the same price as a diet coke in a restaurant. amazing. oh, and another thing. parisian people really ARE this friendly (that whole parisians-as-assholes crap is just a french initiative to keep tourist numbers low. otherwise we would all be eating nutella crepes overlooking the seine).

additionally, paris is the most romantic city in the world, as proven by my hott date with myself. crepes at notre dame, museo picasso, museo d’orsay, shopping in the most fashionable city in the world (and trying to pose as a fashionable parisian), perusing christmas displays, watching the sunset over the louve, enjoying a meal of salmon, wine and crème brulee. it was my first solo date of my 8 weeks, and was hard to top (for which i had to make extreme effort in s. india). though i’ve never truly struggled in the arena of treating myself…