A couple of weeks ago I took a trip to the lovely city of Paris with my Nana (my mums mum) to explore galleries and exhibits. We're both Art fanatics in our own right, my Nana a painter and myself a photographer. We had the pleasure of visiting the Lourve, Palais De Tokyo, the Sacre-Coeur, Artist quarters and Paris Photo. The trip was lovely and I really enjoyed myself so I wanted to share some snaps from my iPhone.
When I look back I like to look back on the first two days as unfortunaly we were there when the awful Paris events unfolded, out of respect I felt I couldn't post photographs of the great time we had straight away as i wanted to respect the families who's loved ones didn't make it back from their holidays and night out without a scratch like I did. I also had my brand new iPhone stolen (thank goodness for iCloud and VSCO sync) on my way back to the airport by an awful human being who was still pinching people's possessions while many were in sorrow. I had to file a police report with an interpretator in between all of the caos that was happening around me and found myself (don't read the rest of this sentence if you're squeamish) spewing into a bag in a bus full of people; a mix of stress, the flu and travel sickness. I didn't get back until midnight as our flight was delayed at Gatwick due to the threat in the airport at home too. I had to remind myself that no matter the burden I was alive and well, a humbling experience.
My last night, the Friday, and the Saturday going back to the airport really made me think about what is important to me and slightly changed my perspective. It really does make you realise how we should appreciate the little things like watching the Eiffel sparkle at around 10.15pm as 11 police cars wiz past while you're blissfully walking along the river by the Lourve. Like the phone calls and messages we received from loved ones who were concerned whilst I was walking back to the hotel' moments before moaning about the pains in my feet from the long day of walking (still unaware of everything unfolding around me).
I am Truly grateful for being in the right place at the right time, for the little things like falling asleep and waking up the next day. So I guess what I'm trying to say is love and live every moment. This trip taught me about Art and Culture, but also about my gratefulness and love for life.
Another thing I noticed, the news stations on the telly were so focussed on the sorrow, on reporting that the streets were quiet and people were hiding back at home on that Saturday morning (before national mourning was announced). What I saw was something quite different, I saw strength, I saw people getting up and out on the streets showing those terrorisers out there that nothing they do can strike them down, I saw a United city with flags at half mast out of respect. Although these Parisians were most certainly worried (I would be and I was worried on that day) they never showed an ounce of weakness. Instead kindness, strength and the ability to go on and push through fear. Something that I completely respect.
After Christmas I'll share the rest of the snaps from my short trip away, once I've shuffled through them. For this post I really wanted to talk about the trip separately as not to dampen the mood of the first two lovely days of the trip. It ended up as probably the worst weekend I've experienced but also a beautiful trip spending quality time with one of my relatives.
It's kind of Bittersweet to look back on, or I guess the other way around if you think about it. This isn't a sad post but rather a reflection of thoughts, a bit like a diary entry and also a celebration of all the goodness that good people, smart people and things like art and architecture bring to make a city beautiful throughout terrible times.
I hope you'll come back for my next Paris post, I'll be sharing all the things I loved and appreciated whilst there!
Laura x
