This week France celebrated the 14 juillet, or Bastille Day, as our side of the pond likes to call it. I have celebrated twice before on the roof of my building, but my parties might have been
the reason a contributing factor in the fact that the no one in the building is allowed any roof access anymore. Still, after climbing 8 flights of stairs, the stairwell gave us the best view around to watch fireworks explode from the Eiffel tower.
There are many things I wish I could give all of you who read here. Obviously, many of them are big things, important things, things like a lasting knowledge of saving grace, a place of belonging, a network of people who know and love you. But there are also more trivial things I wish I could give you and that list grows longer when I am in Paris. I wish I could give the taste of a perfect fresh baguette, hot and crispy and wrapped in brown paper. I wish I could give you the sound that your feet make when you walk down the old cobblestone streets of this city. And perhaps most of all, I wish that I could give all of you that moment, high above the city, when the lit tower starts sparkling like a million camera flashes, or the sun glinting of a million diamonds. I wish I could give you that, and hear your sharp intake of breath and softly whispered wow. I wish I could see you reduced to the child that that glittering tower brings out in all of us.
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- "Art rediscovers, generation by generation, what is necessary to humanness. " -John Gardner
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I’m living vicariously through you while you’re away, reminiscing with my roommate from ten years ago last month about our time in Paris, and all I can say to this is YES! All of those things, and enjoying a Monaco in a cafe while using the world cup to improve your French and soccer knowledge, and your teacher’s English. Bon temps!
Haha- such a good idea!
Hannah, I give you an internet hug. What amazing fireworks! And I’m trying to prep for my next Europe trip by learning a bit of French. Your pictures help inspire me and remind me to practice.
Girl, I give you one back!
And it is totally worth it to pick up some simple French before coming because it makes a HUGE difference in the reception that people have for you!
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