A Rather Unromantic View

Early this morning, after a night out in Montmartre, three of us ended up with a bottle of wine on the steps of Sacre Coeur.

It was drizzling, and the usually spectacular view of Paris was decidedly muted. I squinted trying to make out any of the usual Parisian landmarks through the rain. The steps, usually full of tourists, were empty except for a couple at the far end huddling together in fruitless resistance against the crappy weather. Only a few minutes after we arrived, they gave up their attempt at a romantic moment and scampered away to drier, warmer pastures.

Down below there was a group of men surrounding a lone woman near a car. There appeared to be some sort of conflict, but we couldn't make out the nature of their argument. The only clue came when their voices escalated and one of the men shouted at the woman, "Arrete de faire la meuf!" ("Stop being such a chick!") Not too long afterwards they also walked away.

A little later two Arabs arrived at the top of the steps and started drinking and smoking. We continued chatting and shivering. The smell of hashish wafted towards us.

The other American in our group looked out on the darkened and rainy city and smiled. "We live in Paris, the most beautiful city in the world! Every neighborhood is a different universe. Isn't it amazing?"

The lone French person in our group replied, "I'm French. My view is more nuanced. Paris is completely different from the rest of France."

He replied, "It's completely different from the rest of the world. You can meet people from everywhere in the world here."

"But Paris is just too big and too dense. There's too much stress. It's never quiet. It's an ok place to be when you're young, but I don't want to stay very long."

A few minutes later our fatigue and the weather overcame us as well. We stood up to leave, beginning the long trek back to our warm homes on the other side of Paris.