Dec

Memorable Paris Moments of 2013

by Meredith Mullins on December 26, 2013

Fireworks at the Eiffel Tower show life lessons and memorable moments in Paris for the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Celebrating at the Eiffel Tower
© Meredith Mullins

Life Lessons from The Year in Review

The end of the year inspires reflections, accolades, and lists.

The year in review. Favorite films. Important deaths and births. Mayoral gaffs. Best books. Rudest awakenings. Most inspiring quotes. Persons of the year.

I like these lists—for their role in examining what moments had impact on our lives and for reminding us just how much happens in a year.

I invariably say “Wow, did that happen THIS year? It seems like a lifetime ago.”

I look back on 2013 (another adventure-filled year in Paris) and offer ten of my most memorable “Oh, I See” moments.

These selections were all life changing—not in a dramatic way but in a way that still felt deep and long lasting, and made me continue to see the world from a new perspective.

The Silence of Snow

Snow at the Louvre, showing life lessons and memorable moments from the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

A transformative snowstorm at the Louvre
© Meredith Mullins

Snow is rare in Paris. When the flurries swirl, magic happens. Usually, the dusting of flakes is gone within hours. This January, however, the whiteness endured.

Like the voice of snow itself, the world was soft, muffled, and muted. Places usually familiar were transformed into graphic elements of white and dark, lines, forms, and textures. A new city was born . . . and it was simply beautiful.

Snow at the Eiffel Tower showing life lessons and memorable moments in Paris from the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

A rare view of the Eiffel Tower, simplified by snow
© Meredith Mullins

The Kindness of Strangers

Abdel, the owner of a tiny Ile St Louis grocery, was friendly to me even as a stranger. When I first arrived in Paris, he loaned me taxi money, without knowing who I was, and without hesitation.

Grocery owner waves in aisle, showing life lessons and memorable moments from Paris in the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Abdel, the nicest grocery owner in Paris, always has a smile.
© Meredith Mullins

Now, thousands of bonjours later, he is a friend, a neighbor, and one of the nicest people I know. He works from 6 am until midnight and always has a smile.

With Abdel, the memorable moments happen every day. The lesson I want to learn is how to be more like him.

The Rising of the Seine

The Seine is a constant source of memorable moments. It is the life pulse of Paris. It rises. It falls. It churns. It reflects. It breathes.

In February, with one huge exhale, it spilled over its banks and changed landscape into riverscape.

Flooded Seine bank, showing life lessons and memorable moments from Paris in the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

What was once land was now river.
© Meredith Mullins

While there were, sadly, many floods and tsunamis in the world this year that were far more disastrous, I was still riveted by the changing water. I watched each day as it rose and covered more land-based things. Inch by inch.

River barge with multiple planks to shore, showing life lessons and memorable moments from Paris in the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Each day as the river rose, a gangplank extension appeared.
© Meredith Mullins

When you live on an island in the middle of the Seine (as I do) or on a barge near the river, you pay close attention to those inches.

And you begin to ask yourself what is important to save from your home should disaster come. An interesting question to ask, flood or no flood.

The Year of the Pet

Parisians’ love of cats and dogs is legendary. Evidence of this love exists in many forms—from The Cat Café to fluffy pet heads popping out of Gucci handbags on the metro.

dachshund on a bus, showing life lessons and memorable moments from Paris in the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The good life
© Meredith Mullins

Dogs strut into restaurants with their owners (no health laws here). Cats curl up in sunny window sills of apartment after apartment. Puppies provide warmth and companionship to the homeless.

In a city that could get lonely, dogs and cats offer way to connect— memorable moments that bring us closer together and make us smile, even when life gets tough.

Person walking a cat, life lessons and memorable moments in Paris from the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The true meaning of cat walk
© Meredith Mullins

The Vibrance of Spring

It’s official—whether truth or perception: Every spring in Paris is more vibrant than the one before.

Perhaps it’s because the winters grow colder and grayer each year, making the long-awaited change in weather even more spectacular.

Pink flowers in a park, showing life lessons and memorable moments in Paris from the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The vibrance of spring (without Photoshop)
© Meredith Mullins

The flowers bloom with such force that you can see petals springing open if you pause long enough. The colors are so rich that, even in truthful images, you have to suspect a Photoshop dalliance.

The whole city comes alive to worship the sun, the gardens, and the fine art of café sitting.

And you think to yourself, could next year be even more beautiful?

Yes.

Flowers and trees of Versailles, showing life lessons and memorable moments in Paris from the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Springtime at the Palace of Versailles
© Meredith Mullins

The Americanization of Paris

What is so appealing about fast food, pizza delivery, vending machines with M&Ms, and Law and Order and CSI dubbed into French on prime time TV?

Those of us who came to France for the elegance of the culture and a deeper level of life appreciation are scared.

American culture is sweeping through Paris at an alarming rate.

Waiter with coke, showing life lessons and memorable moments in Paris from the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Norbert from Reminet presenting vintage 2013
© Meredith Mullins

Admittedly, I am personally responsible for the pairing of diet coke (vintage 2013) with French dejeuner. (People frowned at first, but now it’s common practice.)

However, I have to draw the line.

Those of us who have lived through what will become Paris’s inevitable future know there is a price to be paid.

Dominos delivery motorcycles, showing life lessons and memorable moments in Paris from the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Ready to meet the demand
© Meredith Mulins

The Importance of Elegance

Paris events are an art form all their own. Nuit Blanche, Fête de la Musique, Nuit de Musées, and hundreds of festivals and parades keep the city alive with culture.

My choice for “most memorable” event this year was the White Dinner (Diner en Blanc).

White dinner at the Louvre, showing life lessons and memorable moments from Paris in the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Thousands of the elite secret club celebrate the Diner en Blanc.
© Meredith Mullins

I wasn’t invited, mind you. I’m not cool enough (yet) to be part of this clandestine club (even though there are 11,000 elite members).

But once the secret location is announced (minutes before the event is to start), it’s not hard to find thousands of people dressed in white carrying candelabras and champagne.

The key word is elegance—white garden party dress, crystal and silver place settings, white linen tablecloths, and the grace to welcome an uninvited guest (like me) with a glass of champagne.

The Celebration of Liberty

Fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, showing life lessons and memorable moments in Paris from the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Bastille Day at the Eiffel Tower
© Meredith Mullins

Any time there are fireworks over the Eiffel Tower, it’s a memorable moment.

Combine that with the French Independence Day (Bastille Day), and the fiery explosions shake the very roots of liberté, egalité, fraternité.

Vive la France!

Exhibit of the Year

Salgado, Kahlo/Rivera, Braque, Karsh, Chagall, Boudin?

Who would have thought I would vote for a tower of street art as the best exhibit of the year?

Mirrored green eyes, artistic expression of street art at the Tour 13 (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Mirrored eye at the Tour 13 (work by Mosko from France)
Photo © Meredith Mullins

The Tour 13 was so creative and so provocative of place that I dreamt about it for weeks after seeing it.

Each street artist who was invited to create a part of the nine-story building (whether a kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom, or a closet) made the space his or her own, saying whatever they wanted in whatever way they wanted.

Great art leaves an impression long after the immediate experience. If my vivid dreams and strong visual memories of these installations are an indication, this was art of the greatest kind.

Running rabbits, artistic expression of street art at the Tour 13 (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

Tour 13 (Work by Pantonio from Portugal)
Photo © Meredith Mullins

The Art of Looking Up

Oh, I see.

Often it’s just the wandering that offers the beauty and adventure. Walks through Paris in the changing light often left me sighing with sheer joy.

For me this year, the most precious moments came from the simple art of looking up.

Sunset reflections in windows, showing life lessons and memorable moments from Paris in the 2013 year in review (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The simple art of walking home and looking up
© Meredith Mullins

Here’s to many memorable moments in 2014. Happy New Year from OIC.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 43 Comments

Cultural Encounters/France (Paris)

Oct

Culture Smart: How’s Life in Costa Rica?

by Sheron Long on October 6, 2013

Tile floor showing the traditional Costa Rican greeting "Pura Vida," which represents deeper cultural values on the love of life

Tile floor in a Costa Rican restaurant greets visitors with a love of life.
© Sheron Long

When It Comes to Greetings & Good-byes, “Pura Vida” Sings

Ciao! That’s a pretty universal way to say “good-bye,” though in Italian—the language that gave this word to the world—it’s used for both “hello” and “good-bye.” In that respect, it’s much like aloha in Hawaiian or pura vida in the Spanish language of Costa Rica.

Sheron Long 1 Comment

Costa Rica/Cultural Encounters/Language & Culture

Sep

Daily Cultural Encounters at Conflict Kitchen

by Janine Boylan on September 9, 2013

A cultural encounter with Venezuela at Conflict Kitchen. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

Sharing a Meal with Our “Enemies”

What do you really know about the people in Cuba? Iran? Afghanistan? Venezuela? North Korea?

Jon Rubin and Dawn Weleski expect that you will be a lot more informed after lunch at their restaurant.

Conflict Kitchen, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to encouraging cultural encounters and promoting dialog about countries with which the United States is in conflict.

Every few months, the restaurant completely changes its storefront and its menu, featuring one country at a time. It has served foods from Afghanistan, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba and is planning to feature North Korean cuisine next. The menu is simple, often only offering a handful of items, but the conversation that accompanies the food is meant to be full of “Oh, I see” moments.

A cultural encounter with Afghanistan: takeout menu. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

Starting the Conversation

Rubin and Weleski co-founded Conflict Kitchen about three years ago as an art project. They chose food as their medium because, Rubin told the Los Angeles Times, “. . . we use it to get people to open up and talk to strangers.”

They have found that their customers often don’t know much about the country they are featuring. But they are eager to learn more.

Conflict Kitchen hosts a cultural encounter with Tehran through a webcam dinner. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

Beyond its daily takeout service, the restaurant also hosts performances and events, such as a live, webcam-connected dinner party between people in Tehran and customers in Pittsburgh. For this meal, the same menu was prepared in both countries so the guests enjoyed the same conversation and food. The result was a comfortable, but eye-opening, cultural encounter for everyone with conversation that meandered from dating to politics to, of course, food.

The Wrappers

On a typical day at Conflict Kitchen, customers receive their takeout food wrapped in colorful paper printed with interviews from people of the featured culture.

“We need to create conversations that are much more first person, and more direct, and more humane.” Jon Rubin told the BBC.

Conflict Kitchen's Cuban wrapper, showing a cultural encounter. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

The wrappers are direct messages from people about their culture. The quotes give insight about their lives, values, and beliefs.

From an Afghan: Hospitality is the ultimate equalizer, and that’s how Afghans define themselves culturally. Even now. They live through this hardship of war and being tormented with poverty. Still, when you go to the market, you say hi to the guy who is just a small store owner. If it’s lunchtime, he has a little plate of potatoes and beans with a piece of naan in front of him. And he will say, “Come on. Have some food with me.” He sincerely wants you to have the food. That’s a characteristic that’s been there for generations and still exists.

A cultural encounter with Afghanistan through Conflict Kitchen. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

From an Iranian: All Persians are poets. They memorize poetry and quote it often. They consult Hafez every day to see what their fortune is. Sometimes it takes the form of a bird being released and a poetic fragment being given in exchange for some money. Many poems have turned into idioms, so every day an Iranian uses a number of [phrases from poems] even if they are not aware.

A cultural encounter with Iran at Conflict Kitchen. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

From a Venezuelan: People in Venezuela are very warm with a great sense of humor. They can make lemonade out of a lemon storm. Venezuelans would consider the noise of the falling lemons as a song and would invent a lyric for it while dancing to the rhythm.

From a Cuban: I’m the only one of my friends that stayed in Cuba. I stayed because I fell in love; for my family; because I found a sense of purpose here. This is my country. My kids are 12 and 5 and, when they are adults, they’ll do the best they can whether it’s here in Cuba or wherever.

A cultural encounter with Cuba at Conflict Kitchen. (Image © Conflict Kitchen)

Breaking Stereotypes

Researcher Margo Monteith explains that media, society, and family all play a role in shaping how we think about others. Negative stereotypes run deeper than we might think and changing them can be hard. But recognizing the wrong perceptions we have and gradually changing the habit of the prejudiced response can help reduce and reverse our thinking.

Eating a meal and sharing an enlightening conversation about a culture is a positive step toward changing our views.

As Abraham Lincoln said, “The best way to destroy your enemy is to make him your friend.” Conflict Kitchen is helping its customers do just that.

Bring a little or a lot of Conflict Kitchen to your table with our free download of their Cuban recipes!

Visit Conflict Kitchen’s Facebook page for recent photos and upcoming events.