Geeky Cat Miusings

There are so many ways to get ready for Paris, aside from packing pretty blouses, sleek skirts, and kitten-heel shoes. Here is how I am preparing for my journey.

Listen French music or at least songs with “Paris” in the title:
“Getto le braccia attorno a Parigi” or more commonly known as “I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris” by Morrissey from “Years of Refusal”
“Oh, Paris” from the recently released “The Good Feeling Music of Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele”
“A Paris” by Po.Lo. from the album “Paris Fetiche - The French Classic Rendez-Vous”

Read travel, history and cultural books of Paris.
Bloom’s Literary Guide to Paris: It takes you on a literary tour of the city, examining it as a setting in various works of literature, and as it has served as an influence for various authors. Reading the book enhances the experience of walking through the streets where Proust, Faubert, Wilde, Balzac, and Hugo loved, lived and died. If you have time to read fiction set in Paris, you deserve a box of macarons for your efforts.

Watch DVDs on any topic related to Paris.
There are many videos worth watching but I started with the impressionists: Morisot, Pissarro, Monet, Manet, Renoir, and Degas. Knowing more about the impressionist movement and the painter’s lives will enhance my appreciation of their art at the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Musée de l’Orangerie and other galleries. I was planning to watch other art videos as well as French movies, but I ran out of time so I’ll have to wait until I get back. The French film festival in Toronto was a start. Wouldn`t it be great to watch a French film in Paris!

Learn the language.
Learn to speak French. Or, if you are in a hurry because you didn’t plan your trip two years in advance, learn important, everyday phrases. For example, “On n’apprend pas aux vieux singes à faire des grimaces, which translates as “You cannot teach old monkeys to make faces“`can be handy when you are trying to buy bread in the boulangerie.

“Rien ne sert d’être vivant s’il faut qu’on travaille“ which translates as “Being alive serves no purpose if you have to work. I can picture myself sitting at a cafe, drinking un espresso and whispering that phrase while gazing into the distance, my shopping bags by my heels. Then I`ll be brought back down to earth by a philosopher who says, “Le travail éloigne de nous trois grands maux: l’ennui, le vice et le besoin“ (Work delivers us from three great evils: boredom, vice and want - Voltaire).

à bientôt