Wouldn’t You Love to See Gay Paree (Paris)

Wouldn’t You Love to see Paris (and the Olympics)?

Wow. The last week has been something else, with Americans winning medals left and right in gymnastics, swimming, running, you name it. The 33rd (Modern) Olympics have obviously been a thrill for the Americans visiting there. And during the opening ceremony, the athletes were boating down the Seine River.

Paris is also supposed to be about love and romance.

The opening Olympic ceremony, with a guy running with a torch in a colonial outfit in the heat, a fencing guard covering his face, ran all over the city. Say, didn’t fencing actually “begin” in France? Actually, it dates back to Egypt and Greece long ago. Italy’s Renaissance brought it back. Well, “my” people (am half Italian in ethnic heritage) did, according to my research. 

And during this hours’ long event you could hear the dongs of the bells of the Notre Dame church and watched a seemingly  headless woman in red (Marie Antoinette reference, for sure).

Then I spied women in long dresses walking on “sticks” well above the ground, swaying back and forth. Weird. And Lady Gaga was singing in French with big, feathery pink pom poms around her. And red smoke drew a heart in the sky, even though it was starting to rain. And the athletes of so many nations floated by in boats. Truly unique. It makes you want to go to Paris (me, anyway).

Paris is where James Joyce escaped to, so to speak, from Ireland. Yet he didn’t write about France (as far as I know), but about Ireland, his homeland. He’d actually originally gone to Paris to study medicine in 1902. It was where the “Shakespeare  And Company bookstore” was, which Joyce frequented, as did many English speakers. And it carried works by Joyce as well.

Of course, Paris is known for much more. The outdoor cafes, the romantic Eiffel Tower, the Louvre art museum, the River Seine, the Moulin Rouge performances. They say it is a place for honeymooners.

Yes, Paris has the Versailles Palace, sweet pastries, historic tours nearby, rowboating at the Bois de Vincennes, a view from the top the the Arc de Triomphe, sunset drinks on the Seine, and more.

I only saw the Olympics on TV. But it’d be nice to actually see Paris in person, a worthwhile trip to learn about this city and then visit!