Now the journey REALLY starts, and hello PARIS!
I overslept at the hotel and barely made it out before the check out time was up. After bidding good bye to friends, Metin and I, with Joao and Tengam took a taxi to the hostel I will be staying for the next 2 days in Bastille.
So we got a taxi in front of the hotel, but for some reason, the taxi driver was not happy. For what? I don't know. But he was just not happy for the whole trip. He was pissed with us. But we still paid him with whatever amount he asked for, because I wanted to get the hell out of his life just as much as he does.
Bastille, according to some friends, is popular with students. I equate it to the "West Gate Place" of Taipei, but not as saturated with meaningless fashion craps. I don't know if I can say this is the representation of young Parisians, but I can see a lot of energy around this area.
Somehow I like this idea of graffiti on commercial vehicles. If I am a business owner, I will buy a white van and invite local kids to personalize it.
As we arrived at the hostel and left our luggages, we decided to head for the Notre Dame since Joao and Tengam needed to catch their flights soon.
I don't know what to think of the Notre Dame. I am not a Christian, so perhaps I would be much more emotional if I am one. However, I have to say that I have never been to a more highly crafted architecture in my life. The Notre Dame is an architectural feat of its time. I think it still in even for today's standards.
The weather wasn't exactly the best. Rainy, cloudy cold and misty, good photography was made very difficult. Nonetheless, it's the interior of Notre Dame that forms the experience.
One of the first things I looked for, is the buttress arch supports on the ceiling that I've read over and over again in art history textbooks.
The inside of Notre Dame is really dark. I wish there's more light, but with the weather outside, it will be difficult. This, however, made the stained glasses especially significant.
Much like Chinese religions (Buddhism and Taoism), candles play an important role in prayers and wishes, almost like a representation of one's presence.
So it was time to say good bye to Joao and Tengam as they headed back to the hotel then to the airport. Metin and I looked at the sky, and then the map, and decided to visit the Arab Museum as I heard the architecture was interesting. Well, from the outside, you can't see the interior, and I was curious, so I bought our tickets hoping to see something interesting inside.
However, the interior was completely covered by the exhibition set ups, so it was nothing but black drywalls. Disappointed, we walked out, and then realized this on the other side of the building.
These are basically mechanical windows made of Arabic patterns, that will open or close. From the inside, you can see very interesting mechanical parts that facilitate the movements, but we didn't see it move.
It was getting dark, rainy and cold. We decided to head to the Centre Pompidou. Due to the lack of light, I didn't take anymore photo, but this is where the digital camera comes handy.
No photo does not mean no video. The first exhibition we saw was the various architectural projects done by Richard Rogers with the idea of flipping an architecture inside out, exposing the elements that are usually hidden inside the building. I think if we just look at the Pompidou, it's hard to see what exactly he mean. However, when you see a collective of work with the same principle applied, you get it, and I think it's marvelous.
Among all the architectural models, I was particularly attracted to this one. It's a model to explain urban plans. In this case, it's Shanghai. The table itself is an interactive display. It tells stories by changing the display itself. For example, to show the time changes of a day, the shadow is animated to demonstrate the changing position of the sun. It then explains different districts by different colored lights. It's almost too futuristic, yet the technology behind it is extremely simple. I wish it's fully interactive, which the audience can wave across the space to access different portions of the data.
Other experiences at the Pompidou...
Well, Metin and I went to visit other exhibitions on the upper floors, and we came across the Philippe Starck collection. It's a corner dedicated to Philippe Starck's works. Some of which looks like works from his model making class from his college days. Well, first of all, I don't think Philippe Starck deserves a spot in the museum, at least not yet. Secondly, I don't think all of the things on display deserves to be displayed. It almost looks like he's such a god that any crap he accidentally produces are regarded as master pieces.
In a separate room were the chairs he designed. One of which is made of Carbon Fiber. It's a production chair. I reached my hand to it.... "DON'T TOUCH!" The museum staff yelled, like as if it's some thousand year-old artifact. Oh well, maybe I shouldn't complain about a museum staff doing her job, but I said to Metin," How ironic that it's a product that I can't touch!"
I will never ever want to have any of my designs in a museum.
French Ergonomics and logic
Metin needed to use the internet and it seemed that the computers in the Pompidou library have internet service, so we decided to do that. We walked around the glass partitions but couldn't find the entrance, but we found the exit with a guard who told us some instructions in a mixture of French and English. We felt weird because if the library is in the building, and that the exit is in the building, then why isn't the entrance in the building?
So we went to the information desk. The only person at the desk was helping someone else, so we waited at the empty counter beside it. Then another service staff came around. He saw us, but he didn't come to us. Instead, he stopped at 2 counters away from us and told us to go to him...... Hmmm.... I don't understand this logic.
So we asked him about the library entrance, and he said something that doesn't make sense too. Basically, we had to go out of the museum from the main entrance, walk around the museum to the back of it and enter from the rear into the library. As I said earlier, if the library is in the museum, why do we have to do this to get into the library????
So we did, and realized that there was no signifier or proper signage that directs people to the library entrance. It's like you have to be familiar with the Pompidou to know about the library entrance, a little local secret for the chosen ones.
So we went through the security and had our bags checked again, and queued up for the computer usage. We got our numbers and proceeded to the assigned computer, then very soon, I realized that the French keyboard is different than a standard keyboard! The Q and A are switched in place. I have to use "shift" to activate the "dot" and a bunch of other things that I had to figure out. Why? Is there something about the French language that requires such alteration? I have used the Japanese keyboard and it's different because the Japanese language is VERY different from English. The French.... I don't know. I can't really judge because I don't know French, but they are all based on alphabets aren't they?
After the Pompidou, it was almost 10pm and we decided to head back to the hostel.
Back to Bastille, we showed our receipts and they threw us the keys. Yes, the staff at the counter simply tossed the keys onto the counter. The only other occasion that I have done this is with dogs.
So in the morning when we checked in, they told Metin that his room has no working heater, and they are willing to give him "extra" blanket, which is nothing but a whimpy piece of thin rug. Well, the staff at the desk said he knows nothing about any free extra blanket, and didn't give it to Metin. No refund or whatsoever either.
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