Paris

So I realize I haven't yet finished writing about my trip to Ecuador (I still have one more to go) but unfortunately, I'm off somewhere else so that will all have to wait. Sometimes things just work out that way.

In the very first post I wrote in this blog, I talked about a commitment to myself I made way back in 1994 when I first got out of school to make sure I got on a plane at least once a year and go somewhere new. It's been one of the best ideas I've ever had. But I didn't start out on day one of my post-college career with that idea. That pledge I made was a result of almost not taking a vacation at all during the first year I worked and I learned a valuable life lesson in almost missing out.

My first year out of college was all about work, work, work! I was living in the tiny village of Cooperstown, New York working for $10 an hour starting to learn how to be an architect. The best thing about that job was that I got a lot of opportunity to grow my career and that I got paid time and a half for each hour of overtime I logged. And I made sure I worked a lot that first year, so much so that whenever any sort of idea of taking time off came up, I talked myself into the fact that there was too much to do at work and I just couldn't leave. As a result, I ended taking my 12 days of use-it-or-lose-it personal and vacation time on the last 12 business days of 1994. And you know what happened while I was gone from work? Nothing. The place didn't self destruct, nobody took my job and our clients got served just as if I was there. From that point on, I have never put work ahead of vacation. It's not worth it.

So where did I go at the end of December 1994 with my precious 12 days off? Paris. I booked the flight and hotel through a travel agent (remember those?) on Main Street in Cooperstown and it cost me pretty much all I had. I think the total for a flight out New York and a room at the Hotel D'Amsterdam came to just about $1,300 and it literally almost completely drained my checking account. I was actually worried if spending all that money was the right thing to do but in a move that was completely out of character for me at that time in my life, I threw caution to the wind and didn't look back.

I loved every minute of it. I have by no means been to anywhere near all of the cities on Earth but of the ones I've been to, Paris is my absolute favorite. Hands down. There is a sense when you are in Paris that you are in the middle of all human history and culture in Europe. There is no place I have been that is simultaneously so historic, so self-important, so cultured and so focused on being alive than Paris. On that first trip in 1994 I discovered the architecture of Le Corbusier and Hector Guimard (including riding the tiny tiny two person elevator at Castel Beranger); I fell on my knees in front of Auguste Perret's apartments on the rue Franklin (Perret is a personal hero of mine); got up close and personal with some gargoyles at Notre Dame de Paris; and pretty much existed on crepes from street carts.

Ten years after that first almost broke the bank trip, I went back. But this time in the spring and not with my last 12 days of time off at the end of the calendar year. If you have never been to Sainte-Chapelle right across from Notre Dame de Paris on the Ile de la Cité, I suggest you do so the next time you are in Paris (he says like he knows people who just randomly hang out in Paris...). I've been to any number of gothic churches in my life and nothing has been so spectacular as Sainte-Chapelle. The explosion of color is just amazing in such a small space. That 2004 trip featured my one and only visit to Sainte-Chapelle in addition to exploring art nouveau furniture at the Musee D'Orsay, eating entire meals of cheese and of course heading out to Raincy to visit Perret's Notre Dame du Raincy for a little hero worship.

So now it's 12 years later and I haven't been back to Paris since. And that's just too long. So next week, I'm heading back there; to where my love of traveling after graduation started for me. One of the things I find most wonderful about Paris is that there is so much to do and experience there that is mind blowingly awesome that it's hard to imagine ever being bored. On this trip I'm armed with a whole set of new experiences that (for the most part) I've not touched during my first two weeks in that city. Paris is the place. I can't wait to set foot in this city again.

Closing note: The photos in this blog post are from my 2004 trip to Paris and I just have to say what was I thinking with my personal appearance? I'm wearing clothes that are clearly far too big for me and they are either making me look overweight or I just was. I'm a total mess. I've talked myself into the fact that I look better at 48 (today) than I did at 35 (then). Maybe I'm kidding myself. Regardless, I vow to never wear an entire wardrobe that is too big for me ever again. Au revoir.