Bienvenue à Paris

I’ve moved to Paris! I wanted to be closer to the center of Europe and the other great capitals from where I’ve reported over the last few years. Plus ever since I first visited here in 1978 this has been my favorite city. I’ve visited several times but at last I get a chance to live here. I bought a small apartment in the 19th arrondissement with a killer 30th floor view, right by the Canal Saint-Martin. 

A biweekly fruit, vegetable and seafood market is nearby and so I’m eating fresh oysters each week. Looking forward to Fall, there should be an abundance of cultural opportunities for me to review here. I’ll be going to the Philharmonie about once a month and will be seeing the complete Wagner Ring at the Paris opera in December. Plus, I’m two hours from London, so my theater opportunities should increase dramatically compared to Portugal. I’m very excited to be here.

My first up-close comments on French culture and style lie mostly in the small details that I see as I get used to my new home. The visual is very important here:  shopkeepers align their store merchandise with care, not always for the most logical reasons, but instead to make a strong visual impact. For example, many shopkeepers in the market are careful to keep their fruit organized in an aesthetically pleasing, geometric array. The firework show that I saw Versailles last week was not just spectacular but aesthetically pleasing, with a very artistic use of drones to depict Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette and others. I’m not sure I ever admired a firework show as a work of art before. This is one of the reasons that I moved here—I’m very energized by architecturally and artistically integrated environments. This should be a wonderful upcoming few years. Please join with me for my new cultural immersion in central Europe.