If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast. (Ernest Hemingway)
As a city of light, Paris must have spent millions of euros for electricity. Not that it’s not worth it. Paris does look amazing in the night, with all those lamps adorning buildings and streets. It’s simply magical, almost like a fairy tale. And in daylight Paris isn’t bad at all. The most beautiful things in my opinion would be the building façades. The Romans, when they built the city thousands of years ago, must have hired the most capable and artistic architects who ever existed in the world because from this aspect alone, no other cities beat Paris. (Of course, I haven’t been to all cities in the world, but I’m pretty confident in issuing this statement).
I was very excited when Philippe, the CCF boss and the consulate for Bandung, called me one afternoon and asked in a casual way: “Mutia, do you want to go to Paris, all expenses paid?” It was almost too good to be true, but some too-good-to-be-true things do happen. I must have done something good in the past, to receive such a gift! So happily I was preparing my visit.
I really have nothing to complain about the sejour, really. Everything was perfect, and and went just as planned, from the beginning to the end. However, my heart wasn’t fluttering with joy. For my perhaps too critical eye, Paris is overrated. In cleanliness the city is way behind even a little village in Germany. Everything was expensive, and people can’t get a good a value for their money. Busses and metros are often late, and service sucked. For a European country, I was sometime surprised by the lack of professionalism shown by civil servants. But of course, to say that I hate Paris would probably be unjust. And I don’t. But if I can choose a city in Europe where I can live, Paris wouldn’t be the top of my list.
During my flight back home, I was contemplating. It was the second flight from Europe after five years and I had such a different mood. In my first flight I felt like crying all the time, was feeling like I’ve left a half of myself behind. But in my second flight I was actually looking forward to going home, to do things I have to do, to be with people I love and who love me…
Going to Paris was a trip long overdue. But God always knows the perfect timing, and I think this time He sent me out there to give me a different perspective, to make me really see that my life here is not so bad after all. In fact, I wouldn’t exchange this for an idle life in Paris. Because what makes a place a home is the people you’re with and the things you can accomplish in there. As long as you got all of these, you can live everywhere. You don’t have to have Paris inside you to live well, because even Hemingway, who had the movable feast within him, committed suicide in the end.
Before this trip I used to think that I have to go back to Europe again to be really, really happy again. But now I know that I can live everywhere. In Paris, in Berlin as my heart wishes to be, perhaps also in London, or even in a small city with too many public transports and motorbikes called Bandung. All I need is love and a meaning, and right here, right now, my needs are fulfilled.
As a city of light, Paris must have spent millions of euros for electricity. Not that it’s not worth it. Paris does look amazing in the night, with all those lamps adorning buildings and streets. It’s simply magical, almost like a fairy tale. And in daylight Paris isn’t bad at all. The most beautiful things in my opinion would be the building façades. The Romans, when they built the city thousands of years ago, must have hired the most capable and artistic architects who ever existed in the world because from this aspect alone, no other cities beat Paris. (Of course, I haven’t been to all cities in the world, but I’m pretty confident in issuing this statement).
I was very excited when Philippe, the CCF boss and the consulate for Bandung, called me one afternoon and asked in a casual way: “Mutia, do you want to go to Paris, all expenses paid?” It was almost too good to be true, but some too-good-to-be-true things do happen. I must have done something good in the past, to receive such a gift! So happily I was preparing my visit.
I really have nothing to complain about the sejour, really. Everything was perfect, and and went just as planned, from the beginning to the end. However, my heart wasn’t fluttering with joy. For my perhaps too critical eye, Paris is overrated. In cleanliness the city is way behind even a little village in Germany. Everything was expensive, and people can’t get a good a value for their money. Busses and metros are often late, and service sucked. For a European country, I was sometime surprised by the lack of professionalism shown by civil servants. But of course, to say that I hate Paris would probably be unjust. And I don’t. But if I can choose a city in Europe where I can live, Paris wouldn’t be the top of my list.
During my flight back home, I was contemplating. It was the second flight from Europe after five years and I had such a different mood. In my first flight I felt like crying all the time, was feeling like I’ve left a half of myself behind. But in my second flight I was actually looking forward to going home, to do things I have to do, to be with people I love and who love me…
Going to Paris was a trip long overdue. But God always knows the perfect timing, and I think this time He sent me out there to give me a different perspective, to make me really see that my life here is not so bad after all. In fact, I wouldn’t exchange this for an idle life in Paris. Because what makes a place a home is the people you’re with and the things you can accomplish in there. As long as you got all of these, you can live everywhere. You don’t have to have Paris inside you to live well, because even Hemingway, who had the movable feast within him, committed suicide in the end.
Before this trip I used to think that I have to go back to Europe again to be really, really happy again. But now I know that I can live everywhere. In Paris, in Berlin as my heart wishes to be, perhaps also in London, or even in a small city with too many public transports and motorbikes called Bandung. All I need is love and a meaning, and right here, right now, my needs are fulfilled.
