Barcelona

Barcelona rocks.

The love was more immediate than in Paris. I did end up having some take-your-breath-away moments in Paris since I wrote, though- one when I went back to the Louvre in the evening and the sun was setting over Les Jardins des Tuileries and L´Avenue des Champs Elysees and glowing pink and orange through the glass of the Grand Palais roof. Seeing the Eiffel Tower light up from a quiet (except for a few French guys drinking by their car) spot just across the river also gets under your skin in a way that daytime Paris didn´t for me. The mosaics of the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur took my breath away. I also got a thrill from looking through old photographs and postcards at a "marché des puces", trying to read the narrow cursive of the early 20th century scraled across the front of a postcard of the Arc de Triomphe.

In Barcelona I´ve been mesmerized by the rhythm of Flamenco at a little hole-in-the-wall bar, pulled along in the crush of people at a crowded beach club, and induced to move by the energetic musicians of live band, including the happiest saxophonist I´ve ever seen.

I like that the streets are narrow and flanked by the typical 6 story, stone and brick buildings, as in Paris, but are infused with a lot more colour and little more chaos. Shops and markets overflow with mosaic-ed souvenirs, clothing, cell phone cases and sunglasses (always together), handmade jewllery, bread, fruit and vegetables, knives, candy... Sunday in the park everyone was relaxing on the grass, slacklining, performing acrobatics and playing music. 

The typical schedule of a day here is not what I´m used to- essentially everything just starts and ends way later. A few late nights made for late mornings and I haven´t even been toCatedral de la Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell yet, so I´m going tomorrow. Today, it´s time to hit the beach.  

Paris

Well, I guess I won't get fat eating croissants and chocolates in this city after all. Quelle dommage! I say so because I haven't eaten a single one of either treat yet. But not to worry, I'll fix that tomorrow. Moreover, I say so because I have done nothing but walk since I arrived. Oui. I have been like a hamster in a wheel, only with more dog poop and clouds of cigarette smoke to dodge.

It occurs to me that that may not be the most romantic way to introduce my account of my start in a tres romantique city. While my personal ideal of a romantic locale would involve a bit more warmth (from the locals and from the climate) and a lot more nature, there's no denying Paris' charm.

It's just like you always imagined; all wrought iron balconies and French doors with net curtains, bakeries on every corner and people sipping coffees outside cafes with red awnings. There are trickling fountains and graceful bridges. There are cobblestones. And etcetera.

I visited the Louvre yesterday and found it marvellous and exhausting. I recognised some Da Vinci paintings from textbooks (or possibly from "The Da Vinci Code"...), observed that no humanoid Ancient Egyptian artifact seems to possess an intact nose (and there were a great many sick artifacts) and marvelled at innumerable brushstrokes and marble curves in a labyrinth of great halls, courtyards and galleries. By 5:30 my eyes were starting to glaze, totally overwhelmed.

Strangely enough, this exploration took place in the company of a pair of brothers from, guess where... Canada. Who lived in which city... Vancouver. And attended which university? Well if you said UBC, you are correct. Go figure that I go to France and the first thing I do is hang out with people who I've probably passed on Main Mall at some point in the last year. On a side note: "Travelling alone- You're seldom actually alone."

So, after a pleasant stroll into the cinquieme, which thanks to Paris' baffling (but tres charmant) streets, turned out to be a little longer than I had anticipated, I made it back to Aunt Seasonn's lovely flat ready for a cup of tea and supper of yummy homemade potato salad from the potatoes and radishes we'd shopped for at a street market earlier in the day. And ready for my butt to hit the couch for several hours.