Today I woke up, packed my bag, and went out for a day of exploring. I was surprised to see that Hotel de Ville (City Hall) was covered in Israeli flags. Puzzled, I considered asking someone what was the occasion. A moment later, two orthodox men sitting near called out to me, informing me that there were holes in my jeans (all of my pants were dirty except for the ones with hole's in them). Laughing, I took the opportunity to ask them my question. They told me the Prime Minister of Israel was visiting and that because the President of France had Jewish ancestors, the building was covered with Israeli flags as a sign of respect/gratitude. Think I was surprised to see this? Parisians seemed a bit shocked. The two guys (1 French, 1 Belgian) were from Chabad and needless to say, they invited me to Shabbat dinner.
Later, I met two friends and went to Happy Hour at Le Curieux Spaghetti Bar. This funky restaurant is uber trendy, but most importantly has free pizza and olives from 6 - 8. The decor is very interesting, the wallpaper (designed by art students) is brightly colored and is changed every few weeks. Afterwards, we went to Centre Pompidou (the museum of modern art), although no one in Paris calls it by this name. Locals refer to it as Boubourg (named after the street the museum is on). I'm not gonna say that I don't like modern art, or that modern art sucks, it's just that I don't understand how anyone distinguishes between good and bad modern art. I am referring in particular to the canvasses that are either blank or just have a few squiggly lines drawn on them. Some of the stuff was really cool, I just don't get who decides which blank canvasses are worthy of being put in a museum.
I also started a new project today. Instead of just taking pictures of monuments and buildings, I would take pictures that capture Parisian life or the feel of Paris. While I didn't succeed today, I did come up with a few pictures that were pretty cool. Click them to see the full size:
Later, I met two friends and went to Happy Hour at Le Curieux Spaghetti Bar. This funky restaurant is uber trendy, but most importantly has free pizza and olives from 6 - 8. The decor is very interesting, the wallpaper (designed by art students) is brightly colored and is changed every few weeks. Afterwards, we went to Centre Pompidou (the museum of modern art), although no one in Paris calls it by this name. Locals refer to it as Boubourg (named after the street the museum is on). I'm not gonna say that I don't like modern art, or that modern art sucks, it's just that I don't understand how anyone distinguishes between good and bad modern art. I am referring in particular to the canvasses that are either blank or just have a few squiggly lines drawn on them. Some of the stuff was really cool, I just don't get who decides which blank canvasses are worthy of being put in a museum. 
I also started a new project today. Instead of just taking pictures of monuments and buildings, I would take pictures that capture Parisian life or the feel of Paris. While I didn't succeed today, I did come up with a few pictures that were pretty cool. Click them to see the full size:
1 comment:
a. i'm happy that they have happy hour all over the world
b. pizza and olives... have the french converted you to the wonderful world of olives?
c. escargo.. ew. taste better than it looks?
d. I'm super jealous of your French/ European adventure!
miss you!
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