the week I got to be a tourist/girl

I discovered make-up at 20. I got a blackberry four years after everyone got it, and I also discovered Paris a good 4 months after getting here.

I finally got to be a tourist this week. With school a week away, I took some time off to actually enjoy the city and see things that I hadn't seen before or do things that I usually claim to be too busy to do.

First, I went to the Pere Lachaise cemetery, located kind of near my house. As in, maybe four metro stations away on the same line. I took an afternoon off to pay a tribute to Jim Morrison and the rest of Paris's creme de la creme.



Interesting fun fact is that Paris's cemetery used to be located in central Paris, but new laws in the 1800's dictated that that wasn't that clean, so they opened one "outside" Paris. As Paris grew, the cemetery became enveloped in the town. It's still east of central Paris, but definitely within the city's bounds.






I had a moment with Jim Morrison's grave. I really hated how people kept hogging his grave. I think the only reason why they go is to see his grave and they've probably heard "Light My Fire" and "Riders of the Storm". Sometimes I feel so cliche liking him this much, because everyone else likes him too, and they know who he is even if they're not big fans. He's not an obscure idol to like. He's just really fascinating. The summer before I went to college, I spent a long time (the electricity was getting cut for 7 hours a day) reading books about The Doors (like My Life with the Doors by Ray Manzarek) and watching everything I could about The Doors. Yes, I watched the movie with Val Kilmer. Yes, I was in love with Val Kilmer in that movie. He makes you love Jim but hate him at the same time. Anyway, I then went on to listening to "An American Prayer" which was an album they released posthumously, well for Jim, that is. It's bit of his poetry, still not sure what I think of it, but as lyrics, they're great, so it's his poetry with music from The Doors. It was finished after Jim's death and it's supposed to be poetry he recorded before he died with a jam session by the other musicians. It's quite glorious, it's exciting to hear. It's like 60 minutes or so of pure entertainment. You don't want to skip any of it. "Ghost Song" and "An American Prayer" are my favorites. It's deep and you just want to lie down and listen to it on repeat.

On Pere Lachaise, some graves were truly beautiful, but there was something strange about being by myself at a cemetery. There was no one there and I'm pretty sure if I had stayed longer I would've gotten frostbite. I saw a real burial taking place there, too. People were crying and saying "merci d'etre venu." My mom says you always have to shower after going to a wake. I wondered for a while if I should shower after visiting it. I didn't, but it crossed my mind that I should have. I think it has something to do with karma? I'm not sure.

That same day, I met up with Katherine at this bar/cafe called L'imprevu. It's the unexpected, kind of. Actually, unforeseen. Katherine Mary Hayes had said they had really good chai there and she was right. I feel like going there often, but the chai goes for 4 euros and I am poverty-town. We had a cup and then I sat and read. Dave popped in later. I went home and made rice and beans.

Notice that I'm now reading. This is The Wild Things by Dave Eggers. Someone said it's on the bestseller list of the NYT. It's so good so far. I think it's based on Where the Wild Things are. I miss reading for fun. I miss reading that I actually want to do and have no deadlines for.

This weekend was also ladies weekend. Martin and Dave were gone, so the girls took over. This doesn't happen often and I usually find myself the only girl among a sea of guys. Not this weekend though.

We watched the State of the Union on Thursday, I believe. Friday was pre-game at Nasty's and party at Sydney's. Sydney described her party as "debauchery" and she said baby jesus wept. What else could you want? The party she had was in honor of her new roommate, Lily. We miss Nathan.

Saturday was ladies night. Pre-game at Nasty's and then La Cantoche and Social club. All in the Sentier area.

I hadn't been to Social in ages, but it wasn't as trashy as I remember it to be. Just a tad. We met two girls, one french and one spanish. The spanish one met this nicaraguan girl at a summer camp! I guess Exeter's small. We danced for a good kind of sweaty time.

This was the lineup:

SAMEDI 30 JANVIER /JACKIN'TOWN

MOODYMANN (USA)
DJ DEEP (Deeply Roated House Records / FR)
MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE (FOUR ROSES / ALL)
MANU 12INCH (FR)

23h / 15 euros

We didn't pay to get in though! Thank you, N.