Culture Shock

Dedicated to Roger and Christine...two very kind and nice people who wanted to meet a little dog and in turn shed some light for her owner.

So far my observations about Paris have been less than genial.  I guess it is my nature if not human nature to note and hopefully address that which makes us uncomfortable or afraid.

Last fall, I commented in an e-mail to my friend and confidante Alice that I am feeling quite the stranger in a strange land.  Having to face Paris on my own while Bill works has really pushed me way outside my comfort zone. 

I know the city by her history and landmarks; the fairy tales and images from books and film.  I have memories from our previous visits to Paris... but here I am stepping from the brink, over the edge, connecting my safe, soft perceptions to my new reality.  It is time to conquer uncertainty, overcome fear and live.

I am somewhat the perfectionist (okay, I heard that collective sarcastic "NO?!" all the way over the Atlantic, people).  The perfectionist...entering a new culture, developing new habits, adopting a new language or creating some sort of fusion speak, which I like to call Franglais...all the changes make this perfectionist feel like a blind person walking into a mine field.  I am so afraid to make mistakes, to offend, or to appear to be less than who I am.  Silly and paranoid perhaps, but this is where I am in my education de Paris.

The last time I went to the Musee d'Orsay, I reveled in the beaux arts of Cezanne, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh and Rodin.  As I stood and studied the paintings of Renoir, Monet and Lautrec, I realized I was looking at MY Paris...the Paris I understood from my classes back at Stoneham High School; the Paris I learned about through my World and Art History classes at UMass Lowell, and of course from all the films, Lili,  Gigi, An American in Paris. Here fulminating in the paintings was
The City of Lights
The City of Music
The City of Joie de Vivre
My city of je ne sais crois!

In these works of art, I found the love, the open outward love that Parisians had for the city and each other.  Yes, the people in the paintings are in love with Paris and each other.  They celebrated her history, her unique culture...so much admired by the world lo those many decades ago.  The paintings inspired song in one's heart, and a longing to live that life.  The paintings even exposed a darker side of Paris...but without seeing the dark, how can you savor the light?

So for the time, I will peck away at the darkness and find the light of Paris.  I will also do some remodeling of that pesky perfectionist...My Paris is out there, I know it.  Perhaps I will help my neighbors find it too.