Marvelous Imagination--2004/12/31-01/01 Paris
Paris is a city that allows us to throw ourselves in fantasies, including romance. Moreover, Paris itself is with marvelous imaginations.
New Year’s Eve
I went to Paris for the New Year. At that time, I have nothing except a one-way train ticket to Paris and my backpack. I finally decided to get rid of my residence in the noisy and expensive international student house. Not being able to find a decent living that soon, I bought the ticket and headed to this famous and “romantic” city without any key and reservations of hostels. I felt a little nervous, yet delight, and expected the coming adventure.
I have to say that I was in good luck. I randomly got into a hostel in Clichy and they told me they still had one bed left in this popular occasion. I mean it! When I got off the train, I thought everyone in the world was in Paris! Imagine the crowds push back and forth, without some space for me, this little girl, to take a deep breath. Long lines at the information desk, rare space for luggage on the metro, everything reminded me of Taipei, where I could not even get on trains in the busy off-work hours. Sigh..this was really NOT a good first impression. I was afraid that I was going to ruin my first days of the New Year.
Nevertheless, I was there and I would not let this kind of “tragedy” happen on me. I joined the chats with the friends I met in the hostel as usual and after a few rounds of random chat we finally set off, planning to visit Eiffel Tower(艾菲爾鐵塔) at night and later on joined the celebrations for New Year in Avenue des Champs Elysée(香榭里舍大道). These are so famous spots and in a sense, they represent the imagination of “romance.” I have to admit that the night scene in Paris is wondrous, especially a lot flashlights and bright decorations were added due to the coming New Year celebrations; however, what we met first was not very “romantic” but interesting troubles.
Is it romantic to casually begin a French chat with an old gentleman one meets on the street corner in Paris? Perhaps, perhaps not. We accidentally started talking with an old Turkish gentleman who has lived in Paris for 31 years and was enthusiastic about leading us to Eiffel Tower. Hence, Sylvia, Louis, and Jo, two Taiwanese girls and one boy from HongKong, without proper French speaking ability, gladly accepted this warm-hearted help. Later on, we found out that the only advantage of letting him guide us was that he could ask the direction in French! He himself was not sure how to go to the Eiffel Tower, either! And he actually speaks little English. After striving to communicate with broken French words (attention! Not sentences, “words”), we got to our destination but much later than expected. After appreciating the splendid Eiffel Tower with us, he left without more words but two warm kisses on our cheeks and disappeared in the crowd. Alone, at the starting point of the New Year’s festivity, when there were crowds everywhere.
(In an instant, I felt as if I understood why the Turkish old gentleman always smiled with slight sadness. The same mood of wander, the same fondness to the place where we were at the moment, yet at the New Year’s time, the misses to particular people or things dominate part of our joyous hearts. Being alone at the moment while others were in revelry was too ..lonely...)
It was nearly midnight, a moment that everyone in the crowd has been waiting for so long, the last few minutes of 2004. Bright lights were hanged on the trees on both sides. Crowds gathered on the long walk from Arc de Triomphe Etoile(凱旋門) to Place de la Concord(協和廣場) and left little space for strolling. Although there were crowds and we heard some noises made by youngsters, in general people were very calm. We saw some ladies and gentlemen had champagne at hand; some youngsters with phosphorescent sticks or circles; much more tourists hold cameras taking shots of the amazing crowd and expecting an excellent moment. Strangely it was very calm, not much deliberate make-up of atmosphere, just natural and people were waiting. No countdowns, no one knew that exact time, especially when our watches have already passed 12 o’clock. People started to feel a bit uneasy, as if we did not know what we were exactly waiting for. The couple standing in front of us were hesitating and eventually decided to open the champagne…just at the moment we saw the bright signs of “Paris 2005” starts sparkling and people, in the instant, released the suppressed cheers. While people hugged each other and wished one another “Bonne Année”(Happy New Year), the splendid fireworks brightened the dark sky!
Whenever I tell told my friends that I went to Paris on New Year’s eve, most of them have the same reaction: oh..how wonderful!! Is it really so? I have to say, we still need rich imagination to feel the lasting romantic atmosphere in Paris. This is not something cliché and can be just spoken out. This is something real and something must be felt by heart. As for me, I was very glad that at the moment of this New Year, if it is fairly important, I was with another girl from Taiwan, sharing the misses and joy. However, the Parisians amazed me with their temperate ways of welcoming the New Year—without shows and noises but pure joy and warm cheers, gathering around in the same place. Yet, I cannot stop wondering that there must be much more drunk people in the local pubs yelling out their cheers.
Montmartre 蒙馬特
Please do not think that I came to Paris merely for joining the New Year’s merriment. To speak the truth, I was just as curious as usual and wondered how Parisians celebrate New Year. It was a bad habit that I was so used to it that I did not try harder to observe people while I was in Taiwan. However, it is never too late to realize the fact.
New Year’s Day was also my start of exploring Paris. By instinct, I picked Montmartre, the place where Vincent van Gogh stayed when he was in Paris, to be my first destination. Perhaps because of living in Holland, now I favored everything related to the Netherlands, especially a few Dutch artists. Due to their cultural developments, there were not so many famous artists in Dutch history. However, they are very proud of Vincent van Gogh and Rembrandt. The Netherlands is a small country without such abundant and diverse culture as in France, yet the people realize their history and culture and furthermore truly appreciated. In the mean time, they also accept and respect others’ treasures. My European friends sometimes joke at the Dutch people as not having their own real culture, however, perhaps it is why they can survive and remain their status in the world by widely accept all kinds of differences, yet do not forget their history and identity.
I had strayed from my topic. Montmartre, the place where Vincent van Gogh had stayed, locates on a hill in the northern part of Paris. Climbing up to the hilltop we can see the overview of Paris. The scene is extremely wonderful at night! On the way to the top, I passed by Van Gogh’s previous residence and found that the building itself is not peculiar but the surrounding area was so colorful. Red and green spaced in-between on the roof of the shops, with light yellow-golden getting through the houses. Van Gogh’s works became more and more dynamic after his moving to Paris. I suppose the environment gave huge influences.
I cannot resist on the aroma of crèpe（可麗餅）and bought one with fromage(cheese) in one of the small snacks stores along the way. To my surprise, unlike the crispy ones I had in Taiwan, it was very soft. I quickly had a big bite and felt satisfied when feeling the cheese melted in my mouth and seeing the melted cheese flows out at the same time. Meanwhile, I went around the Place du Tertre, a small ground that many painters gathered to do paintings, using different materials such as watercolor, oil painting, sketch, wax or crayon. Here is a popular tourists’s area as well so these come-and-go visitors become the most-welcomed models for the painters. (Of course they have to pay!) I was secretly thinking: it’ll be great if we can have one place like this in Taiwan.
Besides the enjoyment of vision, “listen,” there was music in the air. Not very far from the painting area, there was a white-haired gentleman playing the bass viol (低音大提琴). Whether the tune is familiar or unfamiliar, people enjoyed the low and gentle sounds. Listen to the music, I slightly felt both the warmth and loneliness being a wanderer in Paris.
Arts is not merely arts. Art is life.
(continued)
Recorded/Feb. 12th, 2005
New Year’s Eve
I went to Paris for the New Year. At that time, I have nothing except a one-way train ticket to Paris and my backpack. I finally decided to get rid of my residence in the noisy and expensive international student house. Not being able to find a decent living that soon, I bought the ticket and headed to this famous and “romantic” city without any key and reservations of hostels. I felt a little nervous, yet delight, and expected the coming adventure.
I have to say that I was in good luck. I randomly got into a hostel in Clichy and they told me they still had one bed left in this popular occasion. I mean it! When I got off the train, I thought everyone in the world was in Paris! Imagine the crowds push back and forth, without some space for me, this little girl, to take a deep breath. Long lines at the information desk, rare space for luggage on the metro, everything reminded me of Taipei, where I could not even get on trains in the busy off-work hours. Sigh..this was really NOT a good first impression. I was afraid that I was going to ruin my first days of the New Year.
Nevertheless, I was there and I would not let this kind of “tragedy” happen on me. I joined the chats with the friends I met in the hostel as usual and after a few rounds of random chat we finally set off, planning to visit Eiffel Tower(艾菲爾鐵塔) at night and later on joined the celebrations for New Year in Avenue des Champs Elysée(香榭里舍大道). These are so famous spots and in a sense, they represent the imagination of “romance.” I have to admit that the night scene in Paris is wondrous, especially a lot flashlights and bright decorations were added due to the coming New Year celebrations; however, what we met first was not very “romantic” but interesting troubles.
Is it romantic to casually begin a French chat with an old gentleman one meets on the street corner in Paris? Perhaps, perhaps not. We accidentally started talking with an old Turkish gentleman who has lived in Paris for 31 years and was enthusiastic about leading us to Eiffel Tower. Hence, Sylvia, Louis, and Jo, two Taiwanese girls and one boy from HongKong, without proper French speaking ability, gladly accepted this warm-hearted help. Later on, we found out that the only advantage of letting him guide us was that he could ask the direction in French! He himself was not sure how to go to the Eiffel Tower, either! And he actually speaks little English. After striving to communicate with broken French words (attention! Not sentences, “words”), we got to our destination but much later than expected. After appreciating the splendid Eiffel Tower with us, he left without more words but two warm kisses on our cheeks and disappeared in the crowd. Alone, at the starting point of the New Year’s festivity, when there were crowds everywhere.
(In an instant, I felt as if I understood why the Turkish old gentleman always smiled with slight sadness. The same mood of wander, the same fondness to the place where we were at the moment, yet at the New Year’s time, the misses to particular people or things dominate part of our joyous hearts. Being alone at the moment while others were in revelry was too ..lonely...)
It was nearly midnight, a moment that everyone in the crowd has been waiting for so long, the last few minutes of 2004. Bright lights were hanged on the trees on both sides. Crowds gathered on the long walk from Arc de Triomphe Etoile(凱旋門) to Place de la Concord(協和廣場) and left little space for strolling. Although there were crowds and we heard some noises made by youngsters, in general people were very calm. We saw some ladies and gentlemen had champagne at hand; some youngsters with phosphorescent sticks or circles; much more tourists hold cameras taking shots of the amazing crowd and expecting an excellent moment. Strangely it was very calm, not much deliberate make-up of atmosphere, just natural and people were waiting. No countdowns, no one knew that exact time, especially when our watches have already passed 12 o’clock. People started to feel a bit uneasy, as if we did not know what we were exactly waiting for. The couple standing in front of us were hesitating and eventually decided to open the champagne…just at the moment we saw the bright signs of “Paris 2005” starts sparkling and people, in the instant, released the suppressed cheers. While people hugged each other and wished one another “Bonne Année”(Happy New Year), the splendid fireworks brightened the dark sky!
Whenever I tell told my friends that I went to Paris on New Year’s eve, most of them have the same reaction: oh..how wonderful!! Is it really so? I have to say, we still need rich imagination to feel the lasting romantic atmosphere in Paris. This is not something cliché and can be just spoken out. This is something real and something must be felt by heart. As for me, I was very glad that at the moment of this New Year, if it is fairly important, I was with another girl from Taiwan, sharing the misses and joy. However, the Parisians amazed me with their temperate ways of welcoming the New Year—without shows and noises but pure joy and warm cheers, gathering around in the same place. Yet, I cannot stop wondering that there must be much more drunk people in the local pubs yelling out their cheers.
Montmartre 蒙馬特
Please do not think that I came to Paris merely for joining the New Year’s merriment. To speak the truth, I was just as curious as usual and wondered how Parisians celebrate New Year. It was a bad habit that I was so used to it that I did not try harder to observe people while I was in Taiwan. However, it is never too late to realize the fact.
New Year’s Day was also my start of exploring Paris. By instinct, I picked Montmartre, the place where Vincent van Gogh stayed when he was in Paris, to be my first destination. Perhaps because of living in Holland, now I favored everything related to the Netherlands, especially a few Dutch artists. Due to their cultural developments, there were not so many famous artists in Dutch history. However, they are very proud of Vincent van Gogh and Rembrandt. The Netherlands is a small country without such abundant and diverse culture as in France, yet the people realize their history and culture and furthermore truly appreciated. In the mean time, they also accept and respect others’ treasures. My European friends sometimes joke at the Dutch people as not having their own real culture, however, perhaps it is why they can survive and remain their status in the world by widely accept all kinds of differences, yet do not forget their history and identity.
I had strayed from my topic. Montmartre, the place where Vincent van Gogh had stayed, locates on a hill in the northern part of Paris. Climbing up to the hilltop we can see the overview of Paris. The scene is extremely wonderful at night! On the way to the top, I passed by Van Gogh’s previous residence and found that the building itself is not peculiar but the surrounding area was so colorful. Red and green spaced in-between on the roof of the shops, with light yellow-golden getting through the houses. Van Gogh’s works became more and more dynamic after his moving to Paris. I suppose the environment gave huge influences.
I cannot resist on the aroma of crèpe（可麗餅）and bought one with fromage(cheese) in one of the small snacks stores along the way. To my surprise, unlike the crispy ones I had in Taiwan, it was very soft. I quickly had a big bite and felt satisfied when feeling the cheese melted in my mouth and seeing the melted cheese flows out at the same time. Meanwhile, I went around the Place du Tertre, a small ground that many painters gathered to do paintings, using different materials such as watercolor, oil painting, sketch, wax or crayon. Here is a popular tourists’s area as well so these come-and-go visitors become the most-welcomed models for the painters. (Of course they have to pay!) I was secretly thinking: it’ll be great if we can have one place like this in Taiwan.
Besides the enjoyment of vision, “listen,” there was music in the air. Not very far from the painting area, there was a white-haired gentleman playing the bass viol (低音大提琴). Whether the tune is familiar or unfamiliar, people enjoyed the low and gentle sounds. Listen to the music, I slightly felt both the warmth and loneliness being a wanderer in Paris.
Arts is not merely arts. Art is life.
(continued)
Recorded/Feb. 12th, 2005
posted by itchingjo at 4:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home