What I learned from looking at walls, Part Deux

As promised, the street art and graffiti that caught my eye in Paris.

Lots of great street art, but first, my favorite graffiti, which says “Every Lesbian Kiss is a Revolution.”

N.B. Do not use baiser as a verb unless you mean something that’s substantially more than a kiss. I learned this in an EXTREMELY embarrassing way, where I thought I was saying “He (referring to British cycling commentator Phil Liggett, who I was really excited to meet) kissed me twice and my husband took pictures” but what I ACTUALLY said was “He f*cked me twice and my husband took pictures.” cue Sarah dying of mortification

Do yourself a huge favor and learn from my mistake.

I took French through college and I really think one of my teachers should have shared this vitally important piece of information before letting unsuspecting me out on the French streets - don’t you?!

This graffiti was right next door to the Bataclan, where 90 people were murdered in one of a series of coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic State in November 2015.

In 2017, I worked for an entire year on a novel now known as The Fail Book, because after all that work, I ended up having to scrap it and start over with a new idea. It was, to put it mildly, not fun.

But one of the characters was into street art, so I did a bunch of research on it and that’s how I learned about the French street artist known as Invader. I had a lot of fun spotting his work as we walked around the Marais and in other parts of Paris.

So I guess the FailBook wasn’t a total fail after all, because I learned something new that I could pull out of my head 9 years later.

It was probably due to my rusty French (use it or lose it and I need to find a French conversation group nearby because I’ve definitely been losing it) but it took me a minute to figure this one out. “Mobilize against the racist European laws and those who permit their application.”

At first I wasn’t sure if it was a white supremacist group protesting immigration but there was a context clue - it was on a wall in the Marais, which was at one point the Jewish heart of Paris, but since the 80’s has become a major LGTBQIA hub. Then there was “La Fortress Europe Tue,” which made me realize it was about the deaths of refugees due to the Fortress Europe laws around immigration.

This one was really well done - but it gave me the shivers.

Okay here’s a palate cleanser - some more fun from the streets of Paris. As a Doors fan, I loved the name of the the shop on the top right.

Now we pause for a short fashion break. My feet already hurt when I saw these. I am not-nor have ever been-woman enough to attempt to walk in these. But I do admire their architecture.

I felt like I should be giving a Gallic shrug while smoking a Galouise as I contemplated this one. I think it lies at the heart of every human - the desire for the world know that we are here.

I loved spotting these around Paris because it gave me hope. What a cool art project - you can follow it on Instagram @universalhumanity

I’ll leave you with another affirmation for your bathroom mirror:

You can listen to this while you contemplate it - and the croissants, which I miss having for breakfast with my café crème every morning.