Parisian Rain

No the title is not a denunciation, just a mere statement of the amount of rain and gray skies I'd witnessed in my two weeks in the city in November.

The last time I was in Paris was 10 years ago. It was just after France has won the world cup at home and I was a mere teenager along on a Russian tour. Coming back as a *cringe* young adult on my own was like stepping into the city for the first time.

Despite this, some things did eerily spring back to memory. I recall years ago being disappointed with the metro, then having only known that of NYC. It was smaller, filled with gypsies and the trains didn't stop before the doors opened!

This time around I was surprised to find that they've improved dramatically. Sure, it would be nice if they had Metro card type function instead of those awful little paper tickets, but otherwise the cars have been modernized and are on par with the Metro in Madrid and Barcelona.

Yes, a few of the scary cars are still there and the doors to fly open (if you trigger them) before a complete stop happens but unlike NYC no one is sticking their limbs through the doors to hold up the train! Though, those pesky strikes that they seem to have every month... week... day, do serve to hold up the trains ;)

I was lucky enough this time to be taken around by a friend and though most of the highlights came from the most mundane (touristicly speaking)things, I had to check out some of the stalwarts. One such was the Notre Dame Cathedral.

The last thing I want to do is get into an all encompassing and an overly generalizing statement about religion. These thoughts are based on my own experiences or lack their of in witnessing religious rituals especially on the grand scale that they occur in places like Cathedrals, Hindu Temples or even Major Mosques. Take these words as those of a mere spectator.

Ten years ago, the Notre Dame was under construction. The entire facade was covered in scaffolding and entrance was limited. It has now been completed and entry is free. On a Friday night we went in and happened upon an actual mass in progress.
Now, I haven't been to many of these but I've seen them on TV and maybe walked by a few back home, but what I witnessed that night was something straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Imagine walking in from the cold gray skies pelting water you from every angle, into a vast warm cavern. At the complete opposite end is a priest with a microphone. I'm sure if there were some effects put on it or if it was just the nature of the architecture but there was a distinct resounding echo. He spoke very slowly with an even meter so that it seemed the echo of each word would thrust forward the next, creating a trance like mantra.

This was combined with Theater quality lights that were strategically placed all around the cathedral and heaps of incense which kept the place in a sort of thick haze and gave off a particular scent. Everyone was really into it and bowed their head deeply, all senses thoroughly engaged. Call me immature but the whole thing felt like some strange movie where we were witnessing a weird cult do a ritual even down to the resolute way the priest seemed to aim some object at the sky as he recited the conclusion.

After the completion they play the massive Pipe organ which fills the room with another echoing sound. The whole thing was really quite surreal. Despite that, the cathedral itself is quite beautiful, though my favorite still remains the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

Despite this, most fun I had in Paris, other than gorging on 500 sorts of cheese,was an early morning ritual for the Parisian youth. On a particular night, we ended up staying up really late until about 5am or so when my friend told me of a thing French people like to do on nights likes these and that is go (in various states of inebriation) and get a fresh Croissant from a Bakery (Boulangerie/Patisserie here) before it opens.

Most bakery's officially open at 7am or 8am, but they start baking before that. Naturally, we got out at 6am (after not sleeping all night) and followed our noses. The relative lack of traffic in the early morning means the air is just clean enough to catch a scent. After a bit of walking, we found one not too far away and went to the side door in the alleyway.

My friend went and knocked and after awhile a somewhat perturbed and sleepy baker opened the door and she proceeded to convince him to go and grab a few and sell them to us. Mission accomplished!

I must confess, these croissants were the best croissants, nay, pastries, I've ever had in my life! They are nothing like the frauds that come from Costco or Starbucks! These things just melt in your mouth!

Naturally we had to find a Cafe to drink some coffee with, um, breakfast. Did I mention that none of the million cafe's actually serve pastries here? You always have to bring your own. Strange.

So I spent my days in Paris and so I pledged to not eat another Croissant until I returned ... I'll try anyway. Soon, it was time to say goodbye to Paris and trade the rain for the SNOW of Norway.

More photos @ http://public.fotki.com/Dimakay/travel/paris/ Be sure to see the pix of Jim Morrison's Grave and that of Batman!?