Rolling Through a Dark France
Around five, a bruised, broken twilight gives up. Rolling through a dark France, its landscape hides from me. After an hour, taillight ghosts begin to cluster. Crossing anonymous sodium suburbs and neon valleys, hints of Paris are dropped.
Beyond the strobing rush of le périph, La Ville-Lumiere of memory becomes the city of now. For once, arrival is the easy part of the journey. An apartment, milk and wine are bought in the right sequence within minutes of each other.
It is odd to be back walking the street of the 12th arrondissement. Paris feels like an old girlfriend who has cheated age and looks like your recollection of another time. She has moved on, what you share is at best fond history, but she still has a special smile for you.
Beyond the strobing rush of le périph, La Ville-Lumiere of memory becomes the city of now. For once, arrival is the easy part of the journey. An apartment, milk and wine are bought in the right sequence within minutes of each other.
It is odd to be back walking the street of the 12th arrondissement. Paris feels like an old girlfriend who has cheated age and looks like your recollection of another time. She has moved on, what you share is at best fond history, but she still has a special smile for you.
Labels: 12th arrondissement, France, Paris
posted by David at
11:30 PM
7 Comments:
I like that you can buy an apartment within a few minutes.....nonetheless in a correct sequence ....
An apartment for a few days at least!
:-) Never been to Paris!! I think next time I visit home we should spend a few days there. It was worth a few days in Venice last time. I miss Europe.
A wonderful description of paris D
I hear the smog is similar to LA, these days. Did you bring your own oxygen? ;-)
Chandira – Next time you are over, you really do owe it to yourself to do a little bit of France. With the TGV being so bloody marvellous, you do not have to stop with Paris.
Judith – Thank you.
Marvin – Paris does not have LA-style heat in November so photochemical smog was not a problem, something also helped by Paris having an adequate public transport system and being a city where walking has not been criminalised. However, I still remain unconvinced about the stringency of the French driving test and riding a motorbike le périph remains one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.
I really like the description in the last paragraph. She has moved on, what you share is at best fond history, but she still has a special smile for you.
You are so descriptive that sometimes the visions that accompany your words leave me in a reverie.
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