Tuesday 9 November 2010

Five days in Paris

What is there to say of Paris that hasn't already been written, painted or sung?

If I were a musician I'd recreate the sounds - of the traffic rushing through the Grands Boulevards; the horns blaring as a delivery van blocks a tight corner; the pigeons softly whistling from a zinc-roofed  attic high above the street; the drunken shout at three in the morning; or the joyous mix of saxophone and double-bass that lifts the hearts and heads of the rain-soaked tourists winding their way past the artists' studios of Montmartre.

Were I an artist, I'd sketch the skeletal trees clinging on to their last golden leaves against a blue November sky. With a palette of silver and grey, I'd paint the city skyline seen from the top of the Pompidou Centre, with glistening drops of rain falling all around. I'd draw the lined but knowing eyes of the maitre d' who's seen it all and said so little.

With the skill of a poet, I might scribe a sonnet to the chic and beautiful, or perhaps the dirty and shoeless. I'd type a page on the old red typewriter at Shakespeare and Co., to add to the words upon words that line its walls. I'd find the lines to question why churches that should inspire love and hope are built so fearsome, dark and brooding.

But for five days in Paris we weren't painters, singers or writers. Instead, we walked. We walked and walked. We strolled and marched, rushed and dallied, paused and paced; through the streets, beside the Seine, around the gardens. As we walked and talked, we breathed and sensed the city, and somehow felt we came to know it just a little bit more.

14 comments:

Baglady said...

It's wonderful that two people can post the same story so differently.

The image of "dirty and shoeless" against the red typewriter in Shakespeare and co is wonderful.

I want to go myself now!

Liz said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful vacation in Paris. One day...

(By the way, I love the new picture up the top.)

Pat said...

Real melancholy is the end of an affair in the autumn in Paris.

caterpillar said...

The picture of the city is captured not in pictures but in passages as these... very very nice....

Annah said...

Paris and London are my lust destinations for next year. Hoping to go to both.

A Moveable Feast by Hemingway got me hooked. glad you had a wonderful time.

Talli Roland said...

Sigh! Sounds wonderful. I'm dying to go to Paris!

Starlight said...

I love your blog! And I also love Paris, it's a wonderful city and I'm sure you had an awesome time :)

Shopgirl said...

This made me speechless and have the urge to immediately stop blogging. One second thought, just speechless. In "Californian": awesome!

Sensible Footwear said...

That was beautiful. And I totally agree about the walking.

Mr London Street said...

Wherever you go, you don't stop being a writer. This proves it as well as anything could. And there are loads of things that could be written about Paris but haven't been yet, because only you could write them about only your version of the city.

Sharon Longworth said...

Baglady - that's the thing with Paris isn't it - so many contradictions and so many things to make you stop and think.

Liz - One day.... it'll be worth the wait. (Thanks for the comment on the picture - it's our own front room in all its usual chaos)

Pat - you've written a whole story there in just those few words.

Sharon Longworth said...

Caterpillar - thank you. It's so hard to write about a place and even start to do it justice. I'm glad you liked this.

Annah - I hope you get to visit both. Paris is wonderful, but I'm a London girl, who's never lived more than 30 miles away from its centre, so that's the city that really has my heart.

Talli - I was a bit nervous about you reading this, given your '24 hours' prowess, so I'm glad I was at least able to prompt a wish to visit!

Sharon Longworth said...

Starlight - I'm so pleased you like the blog - thank you for reading and taking the time to leave such a kind comment.

Shopgirl - gosh - thank you!

Sensible Footwear - the walking was great, and it means we only covered a small part of the city, so there's loads more to do next time...

MLS - thank you. You already know I loved your post about Paris. Anyone reading these comments should click on Mr London Street's link on my side bar and look through the archives - it's worth the detour.

Creatively Sensitive said...

Sharon, you Are an artist. I can vividly see the "the skeletal trees clinging on to their last golden leaves against a blue November sky"! And with the bonus of a lovely rhythm