takin' it easy

A few more days of comfort and security. After the new year, I'll immerse myself back into a world of few plans and many possibilities. Aachen (in Germany) is going to be the first stop out of Paris, where I'll be staying with a friend. After that, I'll be alone with my Eurail pass, my credit card and my backpack.

Since successfully digesting all the food that I consumed over Christmas, I've lazily explored Paris. Late starts out of a warm bed have left me taking in Paris in mere 4 or 5 hour bursts, which has been perfect. However, I've found that I don't have the nerve to avoid the hordes of tourists and skip the main attractions. I waited in line with the mob so that I could catch a brief glimpse of Mona Lisa, and duly left when the security guards started yelling "allez, allez!". I crammed myself into a lift so that I could say that I've been to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I joined the gawking, finger-pointing tourists in the Sacré Coeur, and looked at the praying nuns as though they were novelty acts.

I've also managed to fit in some more left-field outings in an attempt to really get to the bottom of Paris. At least that's what I thought I was doing when I went to the Cimetière du Père Lachaise, only to find camera toting tourists seeking out the graves of Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison. The "Sons et Lumières" (Sound and Light) exhibition in the Centre Pompidou was worth seeing. I don't think I've ever seen the works of so many somewhat confused and delusional conceptual artists put together in a more interesting and well structured manner. You could actually see some logic in what these tortured, misunderstood people were trying to do. The nearby squatter house for artists was equally interesting. It seemed that the price of free accommodation in a creative environment was having your living environment, unfinished artworks and just about everything else about you wide open to the public. I'd struggle to live like that.

Well, it's getting towards a time when I should be sleeping, so I'll stop typing for now. Not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow, and I don't think it really matters what I end up doing. When you're looking at things that are so unfamiliar, everything looks like it should be in a painting. I'm sure I'll be smelling new smells, seeing people decked out in Parisian fashion, seeing strange looking birds, unusual architecture... nothing's ordinary. I tend to forget that at home.