Paris Boheme: On the Metro.

According to Urban Dictionary

Boheme - Carefree lifestyle unbounded by convention.

Bohemian - Movement of artist and poets in late 19th century France, especially in Paris. Bohemians believed in living outside of the bourgeois (conventional, middle class) mainstream culture. Bohemians were against the Salon (the institution that controlled the literary and art market in France until the turn of the 20th century)and believed that art and literature should be radical. They often gathered in "cafes" and drank absinthe. Many Bohemians were politically radical, being either anarchists or members of the Commune de Paris during the Franco-Prussian war. The Bohemian movement died out at the turn of the century but had a large influence on later movements such as surrealism, the beat generation, and punk rock.
Toulouse - Lautrec depicted the romanticized life of many Bohemians, although the reality of the life-style was often very difficult and tragic.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

On the Metro.

I have a love hate relationship with the Metro. I love it because it is such an easy system to use and you can get wherever you need to go relatively easily. I hate it when it is crowded and too many people pushing and shoving you. I love it in the quieter periods, where I can sit and indulge in one of my favourite pastimes of people watching. I love the interesting characters that you see, like the day there was a quaint old french man with his jaunty little hat humming the tune to La Vie en Rose, which was then in my head for the rest of the day. Tonight on the Metro, I witnessed one of the most graceful slides that I have seen. A man caught unawares went sliding back as the train took off and kind of glided towards the pole coming to rest against it with a graceful sweep of one leg crossing in front of the other, resulting in him nonchalantly leaning against the pole as if nothing had happened. Most impressive, as opposed to the one I witnessed the other night where there were a group of drunk middle aged Englishmen heading back after a night out the town. One of them lost his footing and went flying from one pole all the way down the middle of the train to the next pole. Of course in his inebriated state, it was the funniest thing in the world and it actually was quite funny. Anyway the Metro is a breeding ground for interesting characters; quick glimpses at other people's behaviour.