A tumultuous love affair

I'm sure you can all tell that I love Paris, I don't need to list all the ways that I have made this obvious, but this first month being back in the city that I know (or think I know) and love has been somewhat unexpected. Getting to know a new city or a new culture is never easy, and is especially bizarre when you think you already know the important things to know about that culture or city. And despite my assertions that I do in fact love this city and this culture, it has not been easy to love it. But I in my stubbornness insist on doing so.

Whereas two years ago I relied heavily on the metro, this time I decided to begin reacquainting myself with Paris by walking as much as possible. I grew to know and love the metro, perhaps partly because I had a pass that allowed me unlimited trips for one monthly fee, or because its freezing in Paris in the winter, or because I have never really experienced city transportation before. But popping out of the ground at random places does nothing to help you learn how to orient yourself. So, this time, I walked everywhere. Sometimes I would walk for three or four hours in a day, just to do one or two errands. Within three days I felt like I knew the city better than I had in three months of living here as a student. This is both wonderful and somewhat alarming, because I realized how much I hadn't really known about the city before. I finally started to make connections between all these different monuments and places, and I added street names to mental images. I even began refusing to allow myself to look at a map when I was out walking. Paris is truly best experienced through walking, whether you are visiting for three days or living here for three years. Nothing I see ever bores me. I am constantly in awe, constantly aware of the history, of the cultures past and present that give life to such a vibrant city.

Since those first three days, I have discovered the Marais, the Canal, Chinatown, and many other picturesque neighborhoods in Paris. And despite the somewhat monochromatic architecture that is characteristic of this city, I am finding that its neighborhoods are pretty distinct from one another (and are especially distinct from where I lived before, in a more residential neighborhood in the south western part of the city). Much is the same, and there is always a beautiful gothic church or a small cobblestoned street to be found, but I am picking up more and more on some pretty significant differences. This fact only makes me love my neighborhood, the Marais, even more, when two years ago I had barely ever set foot in the third arrondissement. I love the tiny jewelry shops, antique stores, vintage stores, the artisan boulangeries or charcuteries, the markets, the small streets and alleyways, the random majestic buildings that you see suddenly upon turning a corner, the way you can walk in the street because cars come so infrequently. I love that I have a view of Notre Dame from the corner of my street.

Thus I continue to discover new things in this city, which only intrigues me more and more. Despite all the financial and administrative obstacles: I may not be getting paid for a month and a half; I may have to wait three weeks for internet in my apartment to be set up; banks may be closed on weekends and Mondays; my classes may be cancelled but I may only be told AFTER an hour long commute at 8 am to my elementary school; metros and buses may be out of commission every few days because of random strikes; I may be stereotyped, ignored, bullied, or made fun of, because of my nationality. But Paris, it would take a lot more than that to make me fall out of love with you.