Thursday, January 9, 2014

Air France







    My plane landed on August 23rd in the Paris, France airport.  It was a bit crowded when the 70 or so tourists unloaded the plane all in search of the tour guide. Little did we know our tour guide was simply an artist in disguise.

   I think we were all tourists at first (even though we’ll never admit it). We needed a map and step by step directions to find our way around Paris. We were too afraid to step over the line or make a wrong turn because it was ingrained into our minds that every question needs an answer, every variable needs a letter, and behind every equal sign there is a solution. But in Paris we learned to “eff that crap!” In Paris we learned that you don’t have to be a kid to go to space camp. In Paris we learned to paint with chalk, write about blocks, and that stealing someone’s crayons is emotionally disturbing so BACK OFF! In Paris we learned that our tour guide was secretly an artist talking about business school like it would actually help you in life. But we all knew Christine would choose Raoul because it’s “logical” right? The Phantom never stood a chance. He was a musical genius who was misunderstood and apparently sane means more to relationships than love these days.

   Our tour guide was disguised as an artist. He taught us religion like there was no anti-Christ. I know it’s sacrilegious but in Paris we learned to speak the truth. In Paris no one cared about grammar, punctuation, or capitalization. In Paris we were artists with an unfinished canvas. 
In Paris we learned to scribble and ramble out our thoughts. In Paris we found ourselves naked while still fully clothed. But on January 10th everything changes, because our flight leaves a 12:12 at the sound of a lunch bell. Some of us might shed a few tears because Paris was more than just delicious croissants and the Eiffel Tower. Paris is where it rained almost every day, and you know what they say about kissing in the rain. Paris is where the jocks, the hipsters, the cheerleaders, the goths, the brainwashed, the broken, the terrified and the out spoken had completely forgotten about all the stereotypes for 80 minutes every other day. Paris is where we finally learned the difference between being a native and a tourist.

  They say you get “lost in Paris,”

  but somehow,

  somehow I think I was found.

13 comments:

  1. "Paris is where it rained almost every day, and you know what they say about kissing in the rain."

    "the brainwashed, the broken, the terrified and the out spoken had completely forgotten"

    shit

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  2. damn.

    you've always been one of my favorites, and yesterday I figured out who you were and realized I've said exactly zero words to you in my entire life. I'm sorry.

    "we learned to paint with chalk, write about blocks, and that stealing someone’s crayons is emotionally disturbing so BACK OFF!"

    "In Paris we found ourselves naked"


    "the brainwashed, the broken, the terrified and the out spoken had completely forgotten"

    ^favorite line of the whole thing.

    You are absolutely brilliant. Don't ever stop writing.

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    Replies
    1. I still don't know who you are but I promise when I found out we're going to talk like crazy! Your writing has inspired me from day one. I remember showing all my friends your blog. I even stole your blog quote title thingy and put on Tumblr cuz I thought it was so stinking good haha.Thank you for always commenting on my blog and having positive feedback :) writing still scares the crap out of me and it helps when there is people like you telling me to keep going. So seriously thank you so much I'm going to miss your blog.

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    2. Deal! But WARNING...I'm so so weird. haha so beware. It's a miracle I even have friends honestly.
      And thank you so much! This means the world to me! I don't even know what to say...you have been such an inspiration to me. Whenever I'm having trouble writing, your blog is one of the first ones I come to for inspo. Amazing. Always. And if it makes you feel any better writing scares the cuss out of me. I'm terrified of having people read it. Tomorrow...I'm so so nervous and I still don't know what I'm going to say. Freaking out. Anywho...thank you so much for this comment. Made more than just my day. I'm going to miss your blog too. Although, I'm going to hopefully keep mine going. I don't want to stop. Or maybe I'll start a new one. If I do, I shall let you know. But for now, I should just stick to writing my real talk for tomorrow...
      You are seriously amazing. And this might sound awful, but I was shocked when I found out this was you. I'm guilty of judgement because even though I've never said a word to you, I never thought this was you. So I'm apologizing right now for ever having judged you. Consciously or not. I'm so sorry. Just goes to show that you never really know people. (until you read their creative writing blogs and find out who they are haha jk)

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  3. The whole things is disgustingly amazing but the last line sent goosebumps through my whole body. I will miss being able to see your beautiful writing.

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  4. this kind of made me cry a little bit.

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  5. Good Gandhi, I have no idea how I missed this one til now.

    Now that I'm feeling nostalgic towards Paris the beauty in these lines made my heart ache and wish I could travel back to that class once more (and keep all the wisdom it has taught me thus far)

    "He was a musical genius who was misunderstood and apparently sane means more to relationships than love these days."

    ^THAT^

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  6. "Taught us religion like there was no anti-Christ."
    Too many good lines to steal.
    When I get around to posting a travel guide on my blog, this will be it.

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    Replies
    1. She around to it.

      Which made me re-discover it.

      Now it's an example for this semester's class.

      Great post.

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