Bienvenue vers Paris
I have arrived. I am in Paris; city of lights. Why then does it all seem so dark? At 6:30am the airport is hardly active. No cafes are open. The escalators sit idle. The only movement comes courtesy of jet lagged travelers making their way from the concourse through the passport turnstiles on to the baggage carousel. They seem robotic in their motion. If I didn’t know better I would think I was trapped in a factory scene from a Fritz Lang film.
After a solid half hour of mild confusion and false posturing in an effort to appear less touristy I found my way to the train. The RER transit, or Réseau Express Régional, is not as glamorous as I had imagined. The seats are padded with ripped vinyl and the walls are marked with graffiti in some illegible language.
I would arrive in Gare du Nord in about twenty minutes. Gare du Nord being my final destination, of course. I reached for my iPod hoping to identify my feelings of discomfort and displacement (a feeling I have become all too familiar with in recent months) with a sort of soundtrack. It is at this point that I realized things would never again be the same. Life has changed for me. The burdens I feel I carry bare a striking similarity to what others may call freedom. I carry the weight of only myself. For the most part I am alone…in the physical sense, mind you.
And just as I begin to mourn the loss of “life as we know it” the train emerged - catapulted even - from the tunnels of Paris into the cradle of the city. The sun was beginning to rise and the city was coming to life. People waiting at the station with coffee in hand and an air of optimism in their step. I watched as they all made progress; one foot in front of the other.
I turned the knob on my pod and allowed my MUSE to overwhelm me. Bliss? Indeed.
Bliss by MUSE
February 19th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Wow, did you ever see this adventure coming? I remember when we had talked about all of us going to europe and doing like a two week backpack trek across the countinent. Well you are the only one to get close to that. I know that we are all part of a plan bigger than us and I know that this is an opportunity for you to do your next part of that journey. I love you man and I would love to come hang out for a week or two to give you some company. Hang tough and we will see you soon. Justin