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)

Dec

A Taste of Good Cheer

by Your friends at OIC on December 23, 2013

Happy Holidays from OIC Moments

Images © iStockphoto

Your friends at OIC 1 Comment

Cultural Diversity/Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Worldwide Sites

Dec

Meaningful Greetings for the Holiday Season

by Janine Boylan on December 9, 2013

Rwandan orphans overcoming obstacles through their fair-paying jobs at Cards from Africa. (Image © Cards from Africa)

Youth in Rwanda display their hand-crafted cards.
Image courtesy of Cards from Africa, a division of Good Paper

Crafting Cards and Overcoming Obstacles

When we choose our family’s annual holiday greeting cards, we try to find something that shows a bit of our personality and what is important to us as a family. After all, this is often the only letter some friends receive from me all year long!

But what if our cards could help others at the same time?

I discovered three card lines that do that. These handmade greetings are transforming the lives of people in Haiti, the Philippines, and Rwanda.

Hope for Haiti

The 2010 earthquake in Haiti turned many lives upside down. People lost their homes and livelihoods in a matter of moments.

Six months after the quake, a group of woman met in the government camp where they were living. They decided to do something to work their way out of the crowded, unprotected tents they were living in.

Ranging in age from 18 to 82, the women chose to make and sell greeting cards. They named their group OFEDA—Organisation des Femmes Dévouées en Action (Organization of Dedicated Women in Action).

OFEDA women in Haiti overcoming obstacles through work on their handmade cards. (Image © Paula Allen)

OFEDA women at work in their camp
Image by Paula Allen

handmade card from OFEDA, illustrating women from Haiti overcoming obstacles. (Image © OFEDA)

A hand-stitched holiday card from OFEDA
Image courtesy of OFEDA

Eventually other women joined their group.

They drew pictures, cut and glued paper, and stitched designs to create the cards. They worked on rickety tables, through blistering heat or pouring rain.

Then, in 2012, tropical storm Isaac ripped through their camp.

Somehow they managed to keep their card-making supplies safe. Just days after the storm, they overcame this latest obstacle and were back at work.

Now, four years later, the fairy tale ending hasn’t happened yet. The woman are still in the tent camp.

But some things have changed. The group has expanded to 200 members. A group of U.S. soap makers has taught the OFEDA women how to make handmade soap to sell.

The women also added hand-sewn bags and knit hats to their product line. And the card makers continue with their cards.

With the profits from their work, the women have been able to buy needed personal supplies. Currently their supplies are provided by donation, but as the sales increase, the women will be able to fully run their own business.

See their work at OFEDA.com.

Hope for the Philippines

Women in the Philippines overcoming obstacles through work on handmade cards. (Image © Sanctuary Spring/Good Paper)

Image courtesy of Sanctuary Spring,
a division of Good Paper

The women of Sanctuary Spring make sweet, humorous cards. But their pasts were not sweet or humorous.

Due to poverty, trickery, or desperation, these women turned to prostitution for income.

They faced humiliation daily. But one by one, they found their way from this frightening life on the street to a safe and secure job with an income that allows them to provide food and education for their families.

The women’s lives have changed dramatically. Some have learned to be more patient as they cut and piece together the cheerful cards; others have learned the art of sewing for the first time. They feel safe in a community of friends who understand and support them. Some women are making plans to create their own businesses.

One card maker, Jasmine, explains, “Above all, I am learning hope and transformation from the darkness of my past. I have seen the value of women and my thinking has changed about how a woman should speak, think, and live.”

View the cards on the Good Paper site.

Through Sanctuary Spring, women in the Philippines are overcoming obstacles with jobs making handmade cards like this. (Image © Sanctuary Spring/Good Paper)

Image courtesy of Sanctuary Spring, a division of Good Paper

Hope for Rwanda

The horrific genocide in Rwanda during the 1990s made international headlines. While the country has made tremendous progress since that time, its young people are still recovering.

Many youth lost their parents to either the killing or to disease. That meant that these school-aged kids instantly had to act as responsible adults and care for their multiple siblings.

Through Cards from Africa, youth in Rwanda are overcoming obstacles with jobs making cards like this. (Image © Cards from Africa/Good Paper)

Image courtesy of Cards from Africa,
a division of Good Paper

Cards from Africa has given these young people, aged 18–25, an opportunity to work in a safe and clean environment and earn more than five times what they might earn elsewhere.

These wages support the families, and, perhaps just as importantly, allow the younger siblings to stay in school.

In addition, the cards are made from office waste. With no official recycling in Rwanda, waste paper is normally burned instead of reused. So, these cards lengthen the life cycle of the paper and keep the air a little cleaner.

Visit the Good Paper site to see the cards.

Youth overcoming obstacles and making cards in Rwanda. (Image © Cards from Africa/Good Paper)

Making each card with joy.
Image courtesy Cards from Africa, a division of Good Paper

Oh, I see so many great choices for meaningful seasonal greetings!

Now how do I choose?

Sanctuary Spring and Cards from Africa are two product lines from Good Paper. Check out their site to see other hand-crafted fair trade items.