Two days after the busiest season at my job, I got on a plane and went to Paris. I booked a spot at a hostel for three days, and aside from that, I had nothing else booked. It wasn’t until the day I was leaving that I thought to myself…”um, what exactly are we doing?”… seriously, I booked a hostel for three days, and that was it?!?!? But as a good friend said before I left, you need nothing more than a toothbrush. It put my mind at ease, and the rest did work itself out.
So the trip had me traveling to two major cities Paris and London…
Paris was destination one, and I have to tell you, the couple I sat beside on the plane ride over must have thought that I was nuts, as every few moments they would ask what hotel I was staying at, and what sites I had planned to see. When I told them I was not sure, a look of confusion would come over their faces, followed by suggestions of places I should see. The lady was rather funny, as she was the planning type, and was trying to figure out what they were going to do when they landed.
So Paris, what were the sites I saw?
-The Louvre
-Musee D’orsay
-Centre Pompidou
-Notre Dame
As you can tell, I didn’t hit up everything during this first real trip because I wanted to save a lot for next time. So, let me start with the Louvre. WOW! Just the sheer size of it... I have never seen it’s equal. In three days I could barely do the collection and it’s artists justice. Consider this, I didn’t take an audio tour, so I was checking out the gallery without the obstacle of slowing down to appreciate the history of the painting and the artists, and I still missed two major sections.
Tourism. I was there one week ago, so it was mid October, and the place was packed. Tourism apparently never slows down in Paris, even in the winter. Everywhere you looked people were photographing, so I did what I had to do...“When in Rome…” however, the thing is, I wasn’t photographing and video taping for the same reason as everyone else. My purpose was more for study the building, as I don’t think I really photographed more than two paintings. I was more shocked by the size of the rooms, paintings, the building.
So what did I do at the Louvre? After I picked my jaw off the ground, I spent a fair bit of time studying styles and sketching. I have always wanted to be a part of the culture of the Louvre, I wanted to sketch statues/paintings and be amongst the many artists which have partaken in this practice over the years. At first, sketching was rather intimidating, consider 50% of the people who would pass by would peek over your should to see exactly what you were sketching. I think it’s just human nature, heck I caught myself doing it several times. If it weren’t for my music, I don’t think I would have gotten through a single picture, you need the audio distraction to ignore all the human distractions around you. The time I did spend sketching was focused on this collection of statues that I believe was from an old fountain, the subject was of four prisoners sitting. I sat down and sketched a couple of them from different angles, which can be found in the photos from this trip. All in all, the Louvre rocked.
What about the Muse D’Orsay? It was solid. A lot of impressionist’s work that took a bit of time to get through. The really cool part about the museum was that it was a train station in it’s previous life. I thought the best exhibit was Picasso’s artistic commentary on Manet’s “Lunch on the Grass.” You could just sense Picasso’s humor shining through the whole exhibit.
Oh, and of course, I got a chance to drop in for a little service at the Notre Dame cathedral. Really neat, I took a lot of video of it, but not too many photos. Overall, Paris was solid, art was oozing out of every corner of the city, and the people and culture were ever present. The one thing I never got? Why people in the city walk so fast, faster than any other city I have been too. Anyway, I finally understand why an artist would want to live in Paris.
London, London, London a city that I have been in love with for years on end… and it was just as good as always. Got to hang out with my sister and friend, hung out with a couple of my friends, and saw some great graffiti thanks to Laura P. What did I see in London?
-Oxford
-Leake Street (…the graffiti alley)
-National Gallery
-Tate Modern Museum
I think I have been to London three times in four years, so this leg of the trip was more about hanging out with friends/family rather than site seeing… just kicking about. I think the craziest site I got to see was Leake Street. Solid little hideout by Waterloo Station. When Laura took me there, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect… but after a few seconds, I think I fell in love with all the work. You’ll see why in the pictures I took. For graffiti fans I highly recommend this street. The day we were there, we were lucky enough to see some artists in action too.
See, I am not sure what else to write here, because this part was all about chilling and eating… I really don’t have much more to say. All I can say is take a through the pictures and let me know what you think, note all pictures were taken on a point and shoot camera.
Koray (Core-EYE) Salih
