A foreign love.

A friend recommended the french film, "Paris Je T'aime" for my viewing pleasure. I absolutely enjoyed the film. I loved the different little films through out it. I must say Paris is so tempting on film. Out of all the stories I loved four in particular: Quais de Seine; La Marais; Bastille; 14e arronissement.

• Quais de Seine is the story of a chance. A young man who is sitting with his friends in a park. His friends attempt to pick up women by yelling things they think will perk the women's interest. A young Muslim woman sitting near finds the friends to be annoying and leaves, but trips. They mock her, while the young man comes to her rescue. They talk, she leaves. He then suddenly decides to find her at her Mosque. The idea of taking a chance like that is so romantic and alluring.

• La Marais is the story of lost words. A young french man meets a printshop worker and instantly believes him to be his soulmate. The other young man sits and listens to the french man pour his heart out to him. The french man leaves and it is saddly revealed that the printshop worker doesn't speak french well. The story ends with the printshop worker running down the street. It's hard to say what the ending means...to me I think he was running towards the young french man and not away. The things the french man said, even though the words were foreign, the feeling had to have still been there.

• Bastille is the story of reconnecting. A husband is meeting his wife in a restaurant to tell her that he is leaving her. As he watches her walk towards the restaurant, he tells the viewer all the things that he cannot stand about her anymore. It seems there is nothing left for them, especially once it is revealed that he has been having an affair for over a year. When the wife arrives at the table she begins to weep. The husband clearly thinks that she knows, but she hands him papers from the doctor. She's dying. He decides to stay with his wife. The story ends with, "In pretending to be a man in love, he became a man in love."

• 14e arrondissement is the story of growth. An American tourist spends 6 days in Paris by herself. She describes her adventures. Of all the stories her's is the most touching. I'm not sure if it's because I understand the joy and sadness she feels at the end or for another reason. When I visited Italy in high school it held that feeling for me too. "All I can say is that I felt, at the same time, joy and sadness. But not too much sadness, because I felt alive. Yes, alive. That was the moment I fell in love with Paris. And I felt Paris in love with me."

I'd love to visit Paris. This film has reminded me of that picture I saw as a child. It's not the same one as the one posted in this blog, but the idea is similiar. It's couple in front of the Eiffel Tower kissing and they seem in such love. I thought as a young girl, wouldn't that be great? It seems as a young woman I still feel that way. I love the way Paris looks, I love the way french sounds, and my heart still aches everytime I see a picture of a couple kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower. Maybe someday I can travel there with a boyfriend or maybe even a husband. Until then Paris....Je t'aime.