Sunday, October 19, 2008

Weird Paris.


Yesterday was a beautiful day in Paris. Just like the day before..and the day before that. I swear I wake up every day telling Sophie how great it is outside. Even when its raining and dreary... it is still that perfect dreary day. So, I woke up yesterday making sure I waste the day. I got dressed put my face on and headed out the door. No specific location in mind just got on the train and let it take me somewhere. Thinking of places I havnt been to yet, I transferred trains and headed to Pere Lachaise. 





Knowing this was the place where my husband was laid to rest I had been waiting for the perfect day to go. This place ment something to me, even before I had walked through its gates. Seeing in on tv or pictures didn't do it any justice. I was... speechless. I was alone and I think i preferred it that way because I wouldn't have known what to say. I walked my own paths and took my time looking, hearing, and experiencing. Everything from the black crows that legit frightened me to a legit black cat guarding a gravestone. 







SPOTTED: BLACK CAT LIVING UP TO ITS REPUTATION. 





Maps are available for those who like to purchase them. PL is huge and very easy to get lost. roads lead to paths that lead to steps that lead to dirty paths. I didn't get a map just because I didn't have any particular locations in mind beside Jim and I already had an idea where he was chillen. My spidy sense led me right to him. Also a tomb that had <3Jim on it. Which is pictured below. It was a lot smaller than I had thought, and it was super clean. there was no graffiti like you see in the pictures and no crazy hippies dancing or anything. You could tell where they had sand blasted the surrounding tombs, and there was a security guard making sure no one hoped the fence that was around him. It was me and like 4 other people when I walked up. It would have been nice to have some alone time with him but, maybe another day. 




Statures like the ones above guarded tombs. They were so expressive and so...in moarning. Ive never seen anything like it. They looked so real. It was weird. Really weird. 









PL was like a town of graves. A ghost town. Their were so many of them. Just pilled on top one another. Some dated back to the 1800' s and others as recent as 2005. I took so many pictures and I dont even think I got through half of it. My friend Sam and I decided for our birthdays we would rent vespas and have a picnic there...how...gothic girl of us. 
PL is my favorite place in this city so far. Ive seen a lot and learned a lot, but this place just was... surreal. I fell in love with it after 30 seconds. Im having a hard time trying to describe to ya'll how i felt but i just cant seem to find the words that describe what I was feeling while walking through this historic place. 

Later that day I met up with Sam and we went to the Paris flea market which was kind of outside city limits. Getting of the train I gripped my purse and walked through the south side of chicago..i mean...paris. Im sorry but I dont have pictures but my camera died. It was super cool though. Lets just say...I bought a Michael Jackson necklace for 2euro. And some french man tried to tell me a designer bag for 40euro. I. Dont. Think.So. 
We got hamburgers at some stand where the man behind the counter wrote my name as " peace and love" and then went on to say " Chicago is dangerous but they have the Chicago bulls!". ( everyone here loves the bulls.) 

This part of Paris was dirty, grimy, and filled with gangster boo's But walking like, 3 blocks in some direction ( I still dont know N-S-E-W) we were back in regular Paris. We stumbled into an african street fair where pig pigs feet merchandised like lollypops, cow guts were being sold on the street and goat bodies hanging from hooks. Gross. 

Paris is weird. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

those pictures are beautiful! When I was paris we passed this graveyard but didnt get a chance to go in. Those gravestones are just amaaazing. Especially the one with the palm gates? gorge :)

Anonymous said...

Every single picture is beautiful. I really liked this post! It offered a lot of insight, etc. I'm really glad you liked it; I didn't have the time when I was there to go. But maybe someday.

p.s...that black cat IS creepy. Good find.

claire said...

please update your blog. i come and look at it multiple times a day, and always see "weird paris" staring back at me...i'm starting to feel creepy. miss you guys. a lot.

madeline said...

thank you guys for checking! were sorry for the lack of posts! please keep checking! we love you and miss you!