after almost four long years away, i finally got back to paris in march. landing at charles de gaulle was like a dream, and not just because of the oneiric effects cast by the crazy smog that had descended upon paris before our arrival. at first i thought it was the haze that comes with a 14-hour flight followed immediately by a 7-hour flight, but when i saw that all the public transportation was free (score!), i knew it was for real.
after two years in canberra... and covered in smog, paris did feel a little icky at first. i'm not going to lie. nothing a proper croissant or hunk of stinky can't fix, of course, and within hours i was over the epic journey, the funk, and the ick, and absolutely delighted to be back.
we changed things up a bit for our first joint return to la mère patrie. kp found us a really great little studio on the right bank this time, in the 2nd. and though we hit up a few old haunts (chez gladines, obviously, deux bis crepes, obviously), we tried mostly new restaurants. my fave was a simple lunch joint we went to in the 6th to fuel up for a book-buying spree: la cuisine de bar. a menu full of the most delightful tartines you'll ever taste. i would brave that flight again tomorrow if it meant a ham and cheese tartine from cuisine de bar.
i would also pack up right now for another morcel of duck confit (of which i ate a rather embarrassing amount given that i was only there for a week!). french food. ahh, FRENCH FOOD! no pictures, though. i'm trying to reign that in a bit.
our pad - etienne marcel fairy tale
our metro stop
drinks with old pals
we were both there for work, but that was only 3 days for me. the rest of it we spent eating and museum-going. we saw some great exhibits, including an small agnès varda video installation, this one...
... and the bill viola exhibit at the palais royal, which was AMAZING.
my pictures don't do it the slightest bit of justice
when not eating or art-admiring, i was conferencing at Inalco (the Institut des langues et civilisations orientales). an entire conference in paris devoted to vietnamese literature and film... a dream come true for old lb! and it was a major milestone for me to give a conference paper in french in france, a right of passage if you will.
and of course, we wondered around... enjoying the sights and sounds of our favorite city, our home away from home.
