Week 2 - Becoming one with the Parisians

 

What helped me immerse myself more into the city were the musées. Ever since I was young, museums have been a love of mine. Museums often hold wonders and bits of history that remind us of our humanity and purpose. The first musée I arrived at was Musée d’Orsay, an art museum on the left bank of the Seine River. There I stared wide-eyed at the collection of Claude Monet’s neo-impressionist dot art and various sculptures of Dante’s inferno. Going here made me feel much more immersed as everyone looked in awe and inspired at the art that came before us.

Courtesy photos by Cydney Macon. Artwork from Musée d’Orsay.

As I moved further into the next week, the culture shock had calmed down. Our class explored the eerie Catacombs. I'll admit that the Catacombs weren't my favorite class venture as I'm not a fan of being that close to skulls. However, it was still intriguing to learn the history of how the Catacombs came to be. This week we also went to the fun modern art museum, Centre de Pompidou. For me, being around modern art helps to think out of the box. Most pieces were abstract which as a writer, is inspiring as to how my own writing can reflect abstract art.

Courtesy photos by Cydney Macon. Left photo is from the Catacombes. Right photo is artwork from Marc Chagall.

What I remembered most that week was the vulnerability in sharing my writing with my classmates. I'm rather private about my passion for writing thus sharing fictional work with others was stepping point for me. On the weekend before the start of Week 2, I had the privilege of climbing the Eiffel tower. It was a tiring accomplishment, but I could feel a great surreal feeling placing my hands on the cool iron. It made me realize I was leaving my footprints in Paris.

 

Courtesy photos by Cydney Macon. Views from the Eiffel Tower.