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October 16th 2006

Published: October 17th 2006

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YuliaM

Park Luxembourg

Fall has finally come to Paris - and it is beautiful!

This weekend really showed how different Paris can be, how many various faces it has, and how they are all beautiful in their own way. One night spent with a huge group of people, another in complete loneliness. A day spent in an old village on the banks of a peaceful river, the next one in a futuristic and modern part of the city. Street performers attracting crowds one minute, and small semi-private performance around literature-reading and songs to a guitar the next. Paintings of impressionists next to landscapes of today.
Probably the most amazing experience I have had so far in France is visit to Pontoise and Auvers-sur-Oise, two little towns 30 minutes from Paris. Located on the banks of a beautiful little river, Oise, they were loved by Impressionists, that got inspired by the beautiful scenery. Pontoise is famous mostly thanks to Pisarro, and Van Gogh spent his last 2 months in Auvers-sur-Oise (where he also committed suicide). Beutiful little streets, hidden pathways, peaceful promenades along the river, and quite conversations. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. I especially enjoyed the reproductions of famous paintings next to the landscapes of today. Van Gogh's imagination is simply breathtaking,

Bibliotheque Mitterand

National Library, which is only aout 5 minutes from where I live

especially considering his unstable and depressed state during that period.
You can imagine the shock I experienced the next day, when Camila and I visited La Defense, a modern business district on the outskirts of Paris. Huge buildings of concrete and glass, examples of modern art and contemporary art - so not the calm and beauty of the day before. I have to admit though, I did enjoy it - there is some sort of beauty and perfection in all that. After a couple hours at la Defense, we felt a need for something a bit older and nicer, so we headed to Marais, one of the oldest and most beautiful quarters of Paris. It is also a Jewish and gay quarter 😊
And of course, there was another "Fete", celebration, going on in Paris - this time to celebrate reading and books. So there was a lot going on in the Marais. We witnessed a very funny costumed performance portraying angry mob during the Revolution in front of Archives Nationales, fencing lessons for the little ones, various street performers, a concert/literature-reading in the House of Poetry, a movie about Kafka in the Judaism Museum. One very cultural evening.
Overall,

Weird ads

Just a random ad I saw in Paris - I do not like the message at all!

I am feeling happier and more at peace now. With classes starting, I should have more than enough to do, and I feel like I have finally found some good people to share my time and thoughts with. I am also trying to take more time for myself - reading, writing in my journal (I have another hand-written one in Russian), writing letters to friends, or just taking lonely walks in my quarter.

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