The Paris Days: Part Deux

Hello again,

I wanted to get caught up before I head out to Plum Village so I thought this would be a good time to finish up the account of my time in Paris.  Also, I found these interesting and decided to post them in case you would like to take a look the first two are on food and the last one is just for the beginning of the video, a little background on Thay and Plum Village:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVlJqwft9I8&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hW6Dm_m5t4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZKrl5n79hY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWerJwf3-3I

On to Paris...

On my third day in Paris I took a train out to Versailles and paid a silly amount of money for a ticket to the "musical extravaganza" or something like that, which essentially meant that they played classical music over loud speakers as you walk through the gardens haha.  I only did this cause I didn´t see another way in.  I walked through the labyrinth for a little while, slowly making my way to great pool which looks like (if you could actually see it all in one shot) two of the pools in front of the Washington memorial in a plus sign shape, except bigger.  I made it there only to find out that that was the end of the paid section and that the area around the pool was free...rrrr, I guess its better than if I had had to pay again.  So I walked through in the forest which surrounded the pool for an hour or so (I had walked so long I thought I had made it to the other side of the pool only to find out upon my return that I had only made it to the left side of the plus). Then I sat down and watched the rowers for a while, did my tai chi form in the trees for another hour...all and all it was very relaxing.  I handed my ticket to a nice French boy with his girlfriend in line since the tickets were good for ins and outs.  I thought he shouldn´t have to cop €16 for a pair of tickets for a falsely advertised event. I took the train from Versailles into Paris with no real "goal" other than to pass by the Eiffel tower, which I did.  And then I proceeded to walk ...and walk...and walk for the rest of the day.  I weaved back and forth over the Seine for 5 or so hours.  Something would draw me to one side and then I would see a church spire on that side and a huge dome on the other and so on.  I walked all the way back to Notre Dame and after grabbing a not so awesome crepe and with my feet throbbing I hopped back on the metro for St. Cloud.

Day four (and maybe my favorite day in Paris, though they were all pretty awesome) was a Metta day.  (Brief aside: I realized that I should clarify what I´m talking about when I say that today was a --insert pali word here-- day.  I´m not following some isolated Buddhist calendar.  Shortly before I left on this trip I had, in the 10 petals of the lotus on my wrist, tattooed the 10 paramitas ("perfectible qualities", also possibly read as "qualities that perfect") that I felt were appropriate for me (seven of the "traditional" ones and three I traded out for various reasons).  They are: Sila (moral conduct, virtue, character), Kataññu (gratitude, lit. "acknowledging what has occurred"), Khanti (patience, tolerance, endurance), Pañña (insight, wisdom), Upekkha (equanimity, mental quiescence), Sati (mindfulness, remembering), Samadhi (meditative concentration), Viriya (energy, drive, effort), Dana (generosity), and Metta (goodwill, loving-kindness).  I rotate the concentration of my practice, not at the exclusion of the other nine, around my wrist each day.  So now you know what I´m talking about.  And for those of you who don´t like tattoos...eh.) So, on day four I headed up to Montmartre (home of the Moulin Rouge and the artist district) and Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) which is a big beautiful church on top of a hill that overlooks all of Paris. As I wandered up the steep hill through Montmartre passing the cafes and street artists of all styles I had in mind the imagined images I conjured while reading the part of My Name Is Asher Lev when Asher goes to Paris to study art and wanders through Montemartre.  The fact that the two did not match exactly did not bother me in the slightest, and I realized that the depression or stress caused by an imagined reality not aligning with actual reality is proportionate to our attachment to that imagined realm and our perceived dependency on it for our happiness (but more on imagination another time). In any case, I stopped into St. Pierre, a small church between the artists´ square and Sacre Coeur, and discovered amazing abstract stained glass crucifixion in the apse that kept my attention for quite a while.  Then I headed over to the big church. 
Out in front was a trio of young people, I assume students, playing beautifully arranged classical music and so I stood and watched for a bit before and after going in.  I vaguely remembered having been at the church with my parents 11 years prior.  (I remembered complaining about having to walk up the enormous hill and then eating my words when I saw the view.)  In any case, I went inside the rather ornate church and after about a quarter of a round I decided that I would do my Metta practice while circumambulating the church, which I felt was appropriate given its name.  So I walked through the church isles doing walking meditation, generating Metta, reciting (mentally) my now usual practice:

May I be grateful for the goodness in my life
May I always respond to pain with empathy and compassion
May I recognize pain in its myriad forms and not be blinded by delusion
May I realize true happiness

May all beings be grateful for the goodness in their lives
May they always respond to pain with empathy and compassion
May they recognize pain in its myriad forms and not be blinded by delusion
May all beings realize true happiness

After three rounds of that around the church and 40 minutes or so I was pretty amped and in quite a good mood. I headed out and hung out in the artists´square again and probably inspected every artist´s work and spoke with a few of them about their canvases.  I bought a Klimt print of Tod Und Leben that I liked very much in a nearby shop.  I then remembered that I wanted to see the Bateau Lavoir (a small apartment complex in Montemartre, which housed many a great artist, including Picasso before he became a household name and which also made an important appearance in My Name is Asher Lev) but I couldn´t remember what it was called so I asked one of the artists in my fantastic French where "Picasso´s Castle" was.  After he looked at me a little funny he figured out what I was talking about and pointed me in the right direction..unfortunately for me, though it may have been the right general direction it took me an hour and a half to get there...I walked in a big circle right around it.  Once I finally got there, I discovered that between the time the book was written and now it had been destroyed by fire and rebuilt..but it didn´t really lessen the effect on me.  I sat in the square for a while and saw a highschool field trip approach the little building while they´re teacher gave them the history in French and I ate my lunch (oh, and it took them a while to find it too so it wasn´t just me).  I walked around quite content for a little bit before heading back to the train and to St. Cloud.

Alright, I thought I could get done with Paris today but it ain´t gonna happen.  I gotta get organized and rested for tomorrow.  I´m pretty excited for Plum Village.  I hope you enjoy the clips if you watched them.