Montmartre, of Moulin Rouge fame, hub of poor artists and musicians from Picasso to Montigliani, has now transformed into the epicenter of Parisian tourism. Walking up the "butte" (hill) you see dozens and dozens of charicaturists and street musicians. Though still obviously beautiful, it isn't quite the quiet cobblestoned locale pictured in Amelie. Although the view of Paris from the Sacre Coeur is astounding:
Paris is a quiet city. Which isn't to say that it doesn't have violent undercurrents. For example, last night I was standing with my friend while waiting for the night bus at Pigalle (the famous "Pig Alley" of WWI), and had a fat drunk man fall on me while he was attempting to beat up another fat drunk man for being Arab. This was probably the first time in several years that I was honest to god afraid, because 1. I'm not quite the Aryan myself, 2. This guy could hurt me, and 3. I realized that I didn't know the French equivalent for 911 lest something should happen. Thankfully everything ended up fine, but it was still a rude awakening. Paris, like all of the world outside of my academic bubble, is racist as hell.But on to better things: went to Louvre, FINALLY! It has become some kind of post-class ritual to hang out in the Jardin de Tuileries outside of the Louvre, but before yesterday I have not yet stepped inside the Louvre's halls. I got my unlimited student-of-art-history pass that lets me in for free anytime I feel like Louvre-ing, so obviously I will return for artgasms aplenty. So far I've only explored a part of the greco-roman galleries, which are still amazing, don't get me wrong. But I'm most excited about someday finding "The Lacemaker" of Vermeer. I love Vermeer.
Although seeing the Venus de Milo isn't shabby at all:
Or the imagined bust of Homer:
Seeing this sculpture of Artemis my second-favorite Greek god(dess) rekindled my dorky high school love for Greek mythology:
And, of course, an obligatory shot of the Louvre at dusk:
Gorgeous. And now, a weekend babysitting Parisian kids. I need euros desperately, so hopefully I will return chez moi a bit more replenished and ready for good old-fashioned consumerism. Hooray.
2 comments:
That's really terrifying. The fat racist story, I mean. I'm VERY relieved that you're okay.
On a lighter note: you're a Greek mythology nerd too?? Amazing. Whose your #1 favorite Greek God or Goddess?
Athena. Definitely. Big surprise, huh? Artemis is a close call, though. Although it's really annoying how all of the cool goddesses had to be virgins. It wasn't possible to be a woman warrior, you had to be a "maiden" warrior, goddamn them. And I also liked Hermes...
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