Napoleon's Feet - a graduate student's step(s) between the sublime and the ridiculous

FORTY SEVEN

Jul 2nd, 2008 8:07:36 pm - Subscribe

i walk through the fourth, third and tenth arrondissement, up through the marais and around Republique, to get from the national archives to my apartment. it took me a little over two weeks to realise the walk is probably less lengthy and definitely more pleasant than a metro ride. the "paris by arrondissement" book that maps out each of paris' neighbourhoods by page gives a poor idea of how utterly walkable most areas in town are. for the past four years, since my very first visit to paris, ive been convinced that it is impossibly huge. in fact, it isnt impossible. most neighbourhoods, contrary to my earlier impressions, do connect with one another. a walk through paris might be long, and it might be short. there is mostly always something beautiful to see.

i walked home from the national archives and picked up some dinner items along the way. it was one of the first times since ive arrived that ive felt utterly at home. most of the time i feel a bit out of place, foreign. sometimes i feel like i can get lost in the crowd. when i wear a pretty dress, i am parisian. when im sitting in a café with no book, no computer and no knapsack, i am a parisian. when i take the metro and know where im going without looking at my map, i am parisian. but today, picking up groceries and house stuff, i didnt feel like a parisian. in fact, i didnt feel like anything in particular at all. i communicated in french without thinking, i walked down through republique without thinking. is that what feeling at home is like?

i can be parisian and canadian, foreign and at home all at once in this city. i can do it because i love it but am terrified of it at the same time.