Two Days in Paris

photos by Bill Maxey


I had hung a postcard of the Steps of Montmartre in my cubical for many years; it followed me around for a few jobs. And then in late August, early September of 2001 I visited London and Paris. I was single and wasn't to meet my beloved Jay for 6 more months.

I stayed with my dear friend Nancy in London, and my friend Bill, who was going to Germany for a film festival, offered to arrive a few days early and escort me to Paris, as it would be my first time there.

The Louvre? It was beautiful, lit up at night. But I was there to imagine where Anais Nin and Henry Miller might have had coffee and to visit Jim Morrison's grave. Why the headstone of Oscar Wilde had tons of lipstick kisses all over it, I'll never know.

We walked a lot and I ate crepes with Nutella, petite loaves of bread and cheese, walked into fabric shops and saw the view of the entire city from the hill at the Sacre Coeur. If you haven't been there but saw the film Amelie (see 2:46), you know what that looks like. And when I did walk down that beautiful staircase, I really took it all in.

I'd been holding onto a mysterious roll of Holga film all of these years - until just recently when I finally had them developed. Looking at the photos, I feel like I lived a magnifique little dream.

Our lives are magnificent dreams of our very own creation. What shall we create this year?