After nearly a month of museums, parks, architecture, gardens, and sculpture, this question is near-impossible to answer. However, the particular works of art that will stay with me are Van Gogh's Nuit Étoilée and Haussman's symmetric and beautiful city plan.
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| Nuit Étoilée, Vincent Van Gogh (1888) Source: (link) |
As I mentioned in the previous two blog posts, I admire symmetry and geometrical perfection in any form, and the city of Paris as seen from any high point exudes these fundamental features. The similar heights and colors of buildings give the city a unified aspect and clearly demarcate the network of avenues and alleyways that tie the city together. From above, the city is a unified mass, with familiar landmarks extending above the skyline in all directions to give orientation. From the street, every building offers new features to inspect and admire - in a city this large, it is surprisingly difficult to find two buildings that look the same. And one of the things that speaks to my intellect when I see this city is the knowledge that all this was established back when Milwaukee and Minneapolis were little more than populous trading posts! The sense that 150 years is recent, the feel of a connected web within the city, and the endlessly changing facade that kept my head on a swivel for four weeks were what really made this trip unique for me.
What was Paris like? How did it differ from what I had imagined?
In Paris, one of the subtle features I appreciated most was the constant need to focus on incoming voices, and to be prepared to respond in one of two languages. The potential need to respond in French or English, or even to overhear a conversation held in a foreign language, led to a much richer texture to the sound around me. Having spent my life surrounded by English, I took the sounds and context of our language for granted, as part of the way the world works. But living in a society where speaking and listening are an active task made me pay attention to my world and kept my mind active anytime I was outside my dorm room. Going back to America is like leaving the room of blue fog I described in my previous post - after a while you forget the strange experience because normality is just so expected and uniform that nothing else could make sense... I'm hoping to hold onto this experience of diverse languages through French-speaking friends and student groups, but that experience is hard to replicate.
On May 21, I did not expect to become familiar with Paris to the point that major landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame didn't automatically draw my gaze. Instead, by the night of the river cruise (Thursday the 13th), the spectacular sights along the Seine had become expected and comfortable, rather than novel and fascinating. My perspective on the city had changed. From my excursions and experiences, the city of Paris felt like a place I could navigate as easily as speaking French - I might need some help from time to time, but in general I could run on instinct and emerge where I expected to. That being said, spending three weeks in Paris also underlined how little I truly saw of the city; after all, how much could I have absorbed with only one day per arrondissement even if I had spent double the time I did exploring and experimenting in the city? At least next time I visit I will have a better sense of what the city has to offer, and how best to unravel its paths.
On May 21, I did not expect to become familiar with Paris to the point that major landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame didn't automatically draw my gaze. Instead, by the night of the river cruise (Thursday the 13th), the spectacular sights along the Seine had become expected and comfortable, rather than novel and fascinating. My perspective on the city had changed. From my excursions and experiences, the city of Paris felt like a place I could navigate as easily as speaking French - I might need some help from time to time, but in general I could run on instinct and emerge where I expected to. That being said, spending three weeks in Paris also underlined how little I truly saw of the city; after all, how much could I have absorbed with only one day per arrondissement even if I had spent double the time I did exploring and experimenting in the city? At least next time I visit I will have a better sense of what the city has to offer, and how best to unravel its paths.
What has Paris taught/shown/inspired in me? What did I expect it to inspire, but found lacking?
On Monday morning, while riding the train from Pontorson to Rennes and having a conversation with two French travellers, I decided/determined/realized that I was fluent at French. This was a startling moment for me because despite my proficiency with the language, I have always hesitated to call myself fluent because there was so much I didn't know yet about the language. But on the third day when nearly every voice I heard was French, and I understood and responded to them with clarity (and a fair bit of gesturing) I began to accept that maybe "fluent" was an adjective that could apply to me. I realized that fluency isn't a matter of having a 10000 word functional vocabulary or an instinctive command of the genders of nouns and adjectives; it's about hearing people speak and gaining meaning from it without having to stop and think about their words. I will certainly need to stay in practice to keep up this fluency, but for now I am happy to have passed this key marker.
My stay in Paris gave me an opportunity to view myself in isolation, without my usual distractions or friends or activities to cloud the path that I take independently. This showed some aspects of my character that I appreciated, and some that I did not enjoy. I was proud of how confident I felt in jetting off alone to explore Paris for a day, by myself. I wandered through neighborhoods, found food, asked for directions, and explored independently and felt safe throughout the entire experience. I was also proud that my studies brought me to the point where I could function reliably as an interpreter for the group at restaurants and in museums. Furthermore, I was proud of the mindset that often encouraged me to try new things - the notion of "It's a cultural experience - give it a shot!" I don't have this mindset enough in my everyday life, often preferring to stick with old habits rather than trying for something new and unique. With luck, the notion of "cultural experience" will extend now that I am home - the Twin Cities have a culture, too, and I can experience it just as well.
My stay in Paris gave me an opportunity to view myself in isolation, without my usual distractions or friends or activities to cloud the path that I take independently. This showed some aspects of my character that I appreciated, and some that I did not enjoy. I was proud of how confident I felt in jetting off alone to explore Paris for a day, by myself. I wandered through neighborhoods, found food, asked for directions, and explored independently and felt safe throughout the entire experience. I was also proud that my studies brought me to the point where I could function reliably as an interpreter for the group at restaurants and in museums. Furthermore, I was proud of the mindset that often encouraged me to try new things - the notion of "It's a cultural experience - give it a shot!" I don't have this mindset enough in my everyday life, often preferring to stick with old habits rather than trying for something new and unique. With luck, the notion of "cultural experience" will extend now that I am home - the Twin Cities have a culture, too, and I can experience it just as well.
From a perspective relating more to my personal vision, this trip gave me many new perspectives on how best to leverage my science and engineering skills for the good of all. From the optical tricks in the Dynamo exhibition to the "magic" of the Eiffel Tower, I realized throughout this trip that one of my main questions on seeing this sort of artwork is not about symbolism, but about structure - how was this device created, and how does it do what it does? If I can answer these questions, others will look on in awe, and I will feel that I have created something truly unique.
Travelling with so many talented people, through galleries of the greatest artwork in the world made me recognize how many of my own skills have gathered dust in the past two to four years - I enjoyed tae kwon do and viola, but they have both been on a shelf for so long. Now would be a great time to shake off the cobwebs and see what I can achieve if I return my focus to these skills.
I do not know if or when I will get the chance to explore a new city for a full month, and certainly know that unless physicists start getting larger salaries it will not happen more than a handful of times in my life. Spending this trip with people whose interests and passions cover such a wide variety of perspectives was the perfect way to see the city. I've learned about history, art, language, culture, and myself in my time in Paris, and I will never forget the time I spent exploring this fascinating, ancient place.
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I do not know if or when I will get the chance to explore a new city for a full month, and certainly know that unless physicists start getting larger salaries it will not happen more than a handful of times in my life. Spending this trip with people whose interests and passions cover such a wide variety of perspectives was the perfect way to see the city. I've learned about history, art, language, culture, and myself in my time in Paris, and I will never forget the time I spent exploring this fascinating, ancient place.
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