au soleil, sous la pluie, a midi ou a minuit

For my last full day in Paris! Yet by no means the end of the trip. Remember, friends, (and myself someday in the future) there are 5 more days of the trip, spent mostly in New York City. Halloween day and night were my last chance to enjoy Paris for what will likely be a long, long time. And I repeat: I am again surprised by how much I love Paris. If only I spoke French! But actually, I probably learned about 10-15 words of French while I was there, which is much more than I can say for everywhere else in Europe I visited. Perhaps the explanation for this is Julien, who would readily answer any questions I had about the city.

I may have mentioned that for this trip, I had no definite plans to go to any museums in Paris. I visited the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsee when I visited 5 years ago, and felt this time that it would be better to enjoy more of the city itself, strolling down the boulevards, etc.

But on Halloween I decided to go to the Georges Pompidou center, considered by some to be the finest collection of modern art in Europe!!! It was fortunate that the museum I had chosen was the only open one in town. Why do I keep forgetting that everything is closed on Monday. I'm not exactly sure what I was looking for in this museum, but I waited through three fairly long lines (listening to my iPod and reading Persuasion) until I entered the special exhibit on the Dada art movement. Lest anyone forget (and I welcome you to forget that I just used the word "lest") I was slightly obsessed with the Dada artist Man Ray while attending University. So, yes, I very much enjoyed seeing so much of his works (including the short film Return to Reason), as well as some by Picabia, Duchamp and Arp. The exhibit was organized into a large grid, where one could walk from one room to any adjacent. This allowed a free flow of people throughout the exhibit without creating that "lost in the museum" feeling I often get when there is no clear top down organization. One of my favorite rooms was that called "Dada Sounds", where bizarre music and voice compositions played, while museum guests entered, responded and exited.

I had PLANNED on eating lunch at the museum cafe on the 6th floor as it looked SUPER cool, but despite this being my last day, 30 euro plates and 15 euro drinks were enough reason for me to lose interest. I walked down through the Marais neighborhood (again...I liked it!) and found a cafe restaurant where I could enjoy a pate sandwich, a salad (the people next to me liked the looks of it so much they asked what it was) and a small pitcher of wine.

This left me enough time to wander over to the Île de la Cité for a final visit to Notre Dame Cathedral. I sat down in the second to front row where I could contemplate the rose windows to my left and right and maybe, just maybe reflect on the end of my trip. Before long, I somehow caught the attention of a priest who was slowly passing by. He asked me if I spoke English, a question which (naturally) led to a conversation about nice things like God, Jesus, Mary, Salvation and Baptism. I was inspired enough to stay until first vespers, beginning All Saint's Day. I enjoyed the incense and the prayers in both French and Latin, especially in as awesome a cathedral.

I made it back to Julien's place in time for a shower, some internet checking and dinner with him and his mom. I should note that everytime I ate at Julien's house his mom presented a selection of cheeses to eat after dinner. This made me happy.

A few nights before, Blanca and I had decided that it would be nice to meet up before I left for NY, so Julien and I went to her neighborhood and hung out with her, her boyfriend and a Quebecois who had once taken a bike across Canada. Blanca and I caught up on our lives between age 18 and 25 (much has happened to both of us) and she and Julien played "the name game." Also, her cat scratched my neck while jumping from the floor to the top of a door. I was more impressed by this feat of leaping than hurt by the scratch. As expected, it was good to see Blanca after so many years and to reconnect.

Julien and I stopped at one more bar to chat and wrap up the trip. More than occasional Halloweeners passed us in the streets, often with face makeup and witch hats.

Is that it? A beer? A cabride home? Goodbye Europe?