A week in Paris

#94: A photographic dance through the streets — and far too long an email for your humble inbox

In the year 2003, I had my first choice in electives — French or Spanish. As a kid already interested in what it meant to be from Louisiana, I chose French, beginning a few years of learning the basics and more consequently, becoming intrigued with the city of Paris. As my artsy romanticism only grew through the years, the interest in Paris lingered with it. Just this month, I finally made it over to check in on the intrigue and test its realness.

A day into our plane landing I clearly came to understand my draw and was honestly stunned to realize just how beautiful this place was. Beauty was everywhere I looked. My imagined connection was proven true in this clear priority of sensory beauty. Shared values!

I’m not much into writing these days; I feel that I’ve lost the touch. But if a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ve got some-thousands-worth for ya. With the proliferation of smart phones, it feels that the value of a photo has depreciated a bit — but perhaps I’m wrong there, maybe a good photo is worth that much more.

I took the one camera I feel most comfortable with and a small point and shoot for Mary. I wanted to capture the entire trip without feeling that the camera was intruding. Full immersion in the romantic atmosphere of it all was important to me.

We were so fortunate to stay at a beautiful hotel in a central location. Our terrace overlooked classic French apartments and their cute clay chimney-pots. The morning sun lit Sacré Coeur to the far northwest.

Our old friends Genn and Jojo moved to Paris just a couple of months ago. Our new friends DJ and Sophie’s trip overlapped with ours. Spending time with friends in a new place made it all the more special.

We walked entirely too much. I had a foot injury bugging me the week leading up to our arrival, and the foot injury led to me tweaking my knee. No fun, but our week was divided between a chunk of long walks and then a few days of taxiing around instead. I liked the difference in perspective this provided — nothing beats a good walk, but toting my camera out a car window is a peculiarly convenient way to shoot the street. I realized this shooting a few blocks of Southern Decadence in the French Quarter in 2019 and have been itching to make it a more regular practice since. The obvious inconvenience of the tactic is that it requires a driver, of course. In this case, pas de problème!

I think it is true that it’s not the destination, but the journey, that matters. But there is no journey without the destination — and Paris, as perfect a destination as any, is full of memorable ones.

Paris is, of course, a city of food and drink — a culture circling cuisine. Something we can all get behind! Our primary interaction with the people of Paris was of course in the confines of our hotel, cafés, bistros, and bars. For whatever reason, the French do have an unkind reputation. But my personal impression of Parisians is warm. Nearly everyone we encountered was easy-going, open, and generous, aside from the guy muttering to his partner in French about how we’d ordered too much food. “Américains,” he joked to the waiter.

This may end up being the longest newsletter of all time. I thought about splitting it into parts, or just not including some photos. But I decided against both of those in the spirit of Paris’ all-consuming, all-at-once and never-ceasing beauty. This next section of photos is a medley of people and textures.

I know you’re thinking that at this point, there couldn’t possible be more. You would be wrong. To be honest, I’m skimping a bit. There’s so much here! I’ll close with a collage of evening atmospheres and personal moments.