“Why are you so obsessed with Space Invader?” Harry Lee Reed
I got my first taste of Paris today. We actually drove in yesterday and got ourselves situated in the apartment we rented in the eastern part of the city, but today was my first opportunity to explore.
I won’t mention the tourist attraction we visited in order to satisfy our ten year old, except to say that it’s colder, the higher up you go.
The similarities to Washington D.C. are pretty apparent. Both cities are low–no skyscrapers crowding out the skyline. And both are made up of wide boulevards, circles, diagonal streets, and plazas. I love D.C. We still have a place there, and a part of me looks forward to perhaps moving back someday. But as similar as they are, D.C. ‘s got nothing on Paris. Everything about this city is grand and beautiful. To walk the city is to marvel at the beauty and function man is capable of building.
I had fun reading Joe Klein’s biography of Woody Guthrie while we moved around the city today. I’m not sure why, but I got a kick out of reading about a true American hero from the scrappy oil town of Okemah, Oklahoma, while cruising through the underground of Paris.
When we got back, just steps from the apartment, we spotted a Space Invader. For me, it might’ve been the highlight of the day. My kid didn’t quite understand why I thought it was so cool . . . and I couldn’t exactly explain it. In the end I just told him you have your monuments, and I have mine.
New Bayou Books 