Jour 22 - A Green Bicycle

Mots du jour: tu (you), mon (my), ami (friend)

Ceren and Her Green Bicycle in Paris

‘It’s raining. Let’s stop for another beer!’, I called out. ‘No, the Louvre!’, Ceren yelled back. A few minutes later I cried, ‘Legay Choc! I want some pastry!’ ‘No, the Louvre!’, Ceren yelled back again. She was racing through the streets of Paris on her green antique bicycle, which she had purchased the day I arrived in Paris a few weeks ago. Ceren is so proud of her bicycle. I was following in hot pursuit, on a rent-a-bike, and enjoying every second of it immensely.

Ceren, her Green Bicycle, and a Row of Rent-a-bikes

We finally reached our destination, and as we stood in the long line I asked Ceren if The Louvre had a water closet. I got a nice smile. I (half) jokingly asked Ceren about more beer and received instead a pinch in the side, a ‘you’re so stupid!’ comment, and a prohibition to not drink again before 6:00 pm. Surprisingly, after we finally received our admission into The Louvre, I actually did find beer; at a concession stand in a main hall. Even though it was only 4:30 pm, I indulged; justifying it to Ceren by saying I needed to calm my nerves before seeing Mona Lisa.

I wasn’t taking the Louvre seriously.

The Louvre’s okay. It’s full of tourists checking off another item on their bucket lists. Maybe that’s why I was here too; to say I saw Mona Lisa. When I saw her, all I seemed to care about was snapping a trophy photo. I never even stopped long enough to consider her famous smile.

Antoine-Jean Gros (1771-1835; photo credit to Ceren)

What I was really enjoying was my time with Ceren.

I suppose there was one painting at the Louvre that meant something to me. It’s the one that was on the cover of a book I read once – Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. I had stared at the cover often, scouring every detail, imagining what it must have been like to be there. It had been the only illustration of the 1,000-page manuscript that I spent months with. Now, here was the cover staring back at me.

Boissons and Fromages

Première Expérience de la France

Jour 22 – A Green Bicycle

< Previous Post         Next Post >