Montparnasse Walk

Beginning my walk at the Montparnasse Tower was an interesting one. Before my arrival I had read that the Tower was officially the ugliest tower in the world at one point. I find this intriguing since this is not usually the case in my experience with very tall buildings. I didn’t find it a beautiful building, but I was still slightly surprised that it had one point been classified as unsightly. Perhaps this speaks to the high standards of French taste, unless it speaks of the poor taste of the French in what may have been an attempt at modern architecture. Perhaps it shows how rooted the French are in making structures that are uniquely French in their use and style. To indulge in other designs on a large scale would take away from the European ambience that Paris has.

This walk began in an area that have never been to. The first and biggest difference is that it is more urban than the sections of district that I frequent. The wider streets made for the plentiful shoppers are evident of the heavy traffic the region expects to receive. Cars and buses were more abundant as well; bringing in and exporting the soon-to-be customers at the shops with large windows. The store windows are a suggestion of what the people who routinely visit the 16th arrondissement are styled like. I guessed that the clothes in the windows looked to be the attire of 25-40 year-olds with a substantial amount money to spend on clothes. The step just below semi-formal that is worn so casually by this group of women. In keeping with what I saw in the windows, I noticed many of the women on the street clothed similarly. Seeing the clothes embodied as actual women on the street gave me satisfaction to confirm my judgment as true.

Continuing on my walk I came across a pair of women signing to each other on the edge of a curb. They seemed as if they ran into one another in passing, happened to notice that the other signed and struck up a conversation. I have only seen a discussion like this one once on a subway in New York. Two sign language communicators engaging, bonded by their language and affiliation to someone without hearing or being that person themself. Watching them, I observed the same feeling that I had experienced the time before. I was pleased to see people communicating due to a commonality coupled with a touch of pride, not unlike the way a mother is happy to see her children get along. It really is not so uncommon for people to find qualities they are surprised to share with others, but the added layer of using a special kind of transmission gives it more weight for me. This is probably credited to my appreciation for my own unexpected bonds. One such bond is one I shared with a girl that I only saw on the street. She wore two puffs in her hair and casually talked to two other people while she munched on something. She was the only black girl that I saw on my entire walk. Beyond that, the reason she stood out to me is because is because of the shoes she was wearing. She had on Jordan shoes. I felt connected to her because seeing her in them was a reminder of home. I was also happy to see another person in this city who values them.  

The most difficult part for me as a tourist in France is navigating new areas. The trains are straightforward enough to travel on, but the circular arrangement of the streets are unfamiliar to me and hard to understand. For example, I was confused for 3 weeks as to how I could walk such a short distance to the seventh arrondissement without having to pass any numbers between seven and fifteen. I have benefited from parallel and perpendicular streets more than I have known. The maps at bus stops are harder to read as well, especially for a person who has never been especially competent with more typical streets. They become even more troublesome for me to understand with streets that revolve around each other so that I can never locate the one I am searching for. Despite this, Paris is not unmanageable city for an American to reside in. I can not speak for people who come from places with languages that are valued less than English. I expect that without French and English, Paris does become a tough place to understand.