We have been to Paris. I would like to roughly paraphrase Descartes:
'I have been to Paris, therefore I think, therefore I am.'
The magnificence of the city is overwhelming. Strange enough, this has been my second visit to Lutetia - the ancient name of Paris - and ten years ago it did not impress me as much. Maybe it's like good red wine which needs some maturity to be appreciated. Appreciated we did, and we've more or less decided to make it an annual trip for clothes shopping and much-needed artistic inspiration.
Paris excerts a gentler pressure than its cousin, London. In Londres I've always felt the frantic urge to create something formidable, to assert myself and do amazing things. In Paris I felt inspired to be creative in a way as gentle and urgent as the aquamarine waters of the Seine snaking its way through the suburbs...ok. ok....I'm getting carried away - I'll admit, the water is a murky shade of aquamarine. Coming from Pretoria where the grandest person-made structure is the Union Buildings, and with a tiny Museum of Modern Art, the grandeurs of Paris are wonderful to behold.
A few most refreshing things about Paris are the following:
1. An endless supply of outstanding quality croissants for breakfast, in a pretty standard hotel.
2. The almost total lack of Amreican shops and influences on the high streets.
3. The absence of yobbos
4. How incredibly chic everybody was.
...a very chic resident...
