It was my first time back in Paris since leaving definitively last year. While my old Parisian-cynic self would be rolling my eyes at the enchanted tourists, I was finally able to appreciate it again for the city that it can be.
The edges of bad memories of being pushed and shoved about in the metro softened by not having to travel during peak hours, where there are a few more spaces for small courtesies, unhurried by not having to be anywhere at a particular time (except for the train station Anne, except for the train station…)
It wasn’t only the harsh memories that got a bit fuzzy, but my mental map of several areas also. Doesn’t help when you you’re relying on a department store map that thought putting in names of metro stations was less important than inserting very large not to scale images of where their store was located (where my pocket Paris map has got to is a damned mystery). Still, enough tourists seemed to consider that I looked like I knew where I was going well enough to ask for directions. It was also my first time in Paris with a proper camera, it’s a bit of a shame that two years of living there has only been documented in grainy digital images. But I tried to make up for it a little…
oh come on. a little bit of excitement and rush never did anyone no harm, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, etc. Heh.