The day started with a wonderful French class after which we decided to head to the Louvre. My roommate here, Lucy, is an art history major and there is nothing cooler than watching an art history major in the Louvre. I have always looked at art and seen colors and scenes without putting any real thought into what a painting might represent but watching her look at paintings that meant so much more than I had ever understood gave me a greater appreciation for them. I started to realize that every painting in that museum was there for a reason, because it truly was a magnificent work of art. When I saw the Winged Victory, which has always been my favorite, I was in awe. I don't think I have ever in my life loved a work of art but today I felt like I truly loved Winged Victory. She was elegant and strong. While I hated how everywhere in the Louvre there were ten million people with their cameras flashing, I sometimes didn't even notice because I was busy finally appreciating art.
After we were dead tired from walking around the Louvre for over 2 hours we decided to go back to the hotel and take a break before the evening festivities.
Tonight these festivities were to visit the 11th arrondisement which is known as the hipster neighborhood where another girl from the program was participating in a poetry slam at a bar. We arrived at the bar and went to get a glass of wine since happy hour was in full swing. I was subsequently asked by a beautiful young couple where the poetry was being read in the bar. Having no idea I blubbered like an idiot trying to speak French and as soon as they had walked away I was informed by the other girls that the woman was an actress who had been on One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars, and Vampire Diaries. Thankfully I didn't know who she was or I would've made even more of a fool of myself trying to explain in French that I had no idea.
Once we went into the basement for the reading it was amazing. It was actually a crazy sauna with no seating which sounds miserable (like a frat party actually). But I can't even explain how amazing it was. The poetry was outstanding and the girl in our program who read was spectacular. People sang and played guitar and I just stood there sweating and listening and wishing that there was anything I could contribute to this creative melting pot. There were old men singing songs about cities I'd never been to and gorgeous young men reading poetry about love and coffee.
I've never considered myself to be a cool person, kind of the Nick Carraway in most social situations. Surrounded by magic and only there to record whatever amazing things happen because those creating the magic had more important things to do. But tonight, when I was more like Nick Carraway than ever, I've felt a part of the magic. I understood the French artists who gave up every cent and promise of food to live in this city where magic hangs thick like the smoke in the Parisian air. I felt inspired and energized by the people who were so much cooler than me and yet spoke to me as if we were the same.
I don't want any of my family members who read this blog entry to worry that I might upend my life to become a starving artist in Paris because I still acknowledge my lack of artistic talent. I only wish to attempt to share the creative energy that flowed through my body today. Today I understood Paris. I understood the art and the poetry and the lifestyle that has inspired people who inspired the world. It seems to me that everything substantial starts somewhere and so much of it has started here and it takes a day like today to understand how people like Rodin, Picasso and Hemingway could have changed the world here.
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