End of February, 2022. Europe woke up to a war when Russia invaded Ukraine. COVID restrictions have loosened. And I am packing to spend three days in Paris…

Paris, the City of Love, is a popular destination for lovers and honeymooners. I’ve never been to and after all, what does an unromantic, coldly realistic person have to do with it? Well, let’s say that I’m taking the “City of Light’ version of the story, the center of education and ideas during the Age of Enlightenment, one of the first major European cities to use street lighting.

Life after the lockdown wants to arm wrestle again and more than ever I’m convinced to follow Uncle Horace advice and ‘seize the day’ , when everything around me manifests a life out of control… There is a wish list out there for me to tick and Paris and moreover an ‘oblation’ – a beer to Jim Morrison’s grave -is among the top.

The best way to explore a city is by foot, just simply wander, follow its rhythm, allow yourself get lost. After all, only on foot you could meet properly the ghosts of the city !And voilá …they are waiting for you at every corner. Camus enjoys a gauloise cigarette over an espresso in Café de Flore while Hemingway indulges himself with another giant frozen daiquiri.At 35 Boulevard des Capucines Cezanne, Degas and Monet are among the artists ‘hungry for independence’ who are about to change how the painting is perceived. Lautrec was surely busy in one of his habitual hang-out spots somewhere in Monmarte …As I get closer to the seine river I can hear Jean Valjean’s shortness of breath as he tries to run away from zealous inspector Javert. Soon enough river water gonna get turbulent by a boat chase when Lupin, the gentleman burglar struggles to get away. Wandering around totally enchanted I end up feeling sympathy for poor Gil in ‘Midnight in Paris’ Woody Allens’ main character who was left walking aimlessly through the Parisian alleys of the ’20  swallowed by the Parisian backdrop.  

Medieval neighborhoods overcrowded and filthy thanks to the public works of the Baron Haussmann are  transformed to majestic avenues, parks and squares. By 1870 Paris was renovated and clean with new sewers, fountains and aqueducts, the ideal scenery for the upcoming ‘Belle Epoque”. 

Outside the Louvre museum the human queue forms a Chinese dragon that offers itself as  sacrifice to that emblematic building – temple where treasures and traces of the human history are kept.

Built by Philip II in the 12^th century its life began as a fortress and royal residence to host later Napoleon’s ‘trophies- souvenirs’ from the conquering territories. This kind of ‘tradition’ will carry on with the French archaeologists following the armed forces in Thessaloniki during the WW1. The long-suffering valuable pieces had again to be removed and hidden before the Nazi invasion. And here we are today walking among the major masterpieces, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Mona Lisa…. And many others that insist to keep their mystery to the non francophone visitors since many of the descriptions are written only in French.

Louvre beyond its treasures emanates France‘s cultural grandeur, both in terms of its superiority and its domination. The country still holds 13 territories outside Europe, remnants of the French colonial empire.

Père Lachaise. A necropolis extended over 44 hectares within which some of those whose work achieved global recognition rest, from Oscar Wilde to Chopin, Honoré de Balzac to Molière ,and Edith Piaf. Among them, Jim Morrison rests in the cemetery’s most visited grave. His minimalist grave evolved into a sanctuary, a sacred place where fans and devotees from all around the world honor the 60’s spirit, the shaman of  heightened consciousness and freedom. Thousands of grave monuments, the lack of tourist signage and the modest dimensions of the singer’s burial place are some of the obstacles that every “pilgrim” must overcome trying to find the grave. But don’t give up hope since the grave has become a form of outdoor sanctuary where fans pay tribute. It is estimated that approximately 80% of the cemetery’s two million annual visitors are primarily drawn to the cemetery by Jim Morrison’s grave. So, all you have to do is look around for more experienced-looking Jim fans to go past and follow them to your destination.  The grave is covered with a plethora of offerings, flowers, candles, notes and of course a lot of …staff (bottles of whisky, joints…) and many personal notes…

 I am finally here to make a teen dream come true, ‘just a beer in Jim’s grave’. I’m here to pay homage to a poet, to an artist, to a transcendental and unconventional human being who acted kata ton demona eautou. I’m here to pay homage to my own turbulent puberty wondering how much of that girl is left in today’s woman. Perhaps more self-assured same misfit to this human world … I look around at the rest of the visitors. Each one seems to have his intimate relationship with the shaman and that somehow makes us members of the same tribe –nostalgic for another world that never came. The mission has been accomplished and overwhelmed by emotions I’m anxious now to get myself out of that burial labyrinth…

Thessaloniki, February 2025. Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. its nearing its third anniversary this month, COVID-19 is not a major menace to humanity, but human beings are. The world is a wobbly place to live and we are just    

 “Riders on the storm / Into this world we’re born / Into this world we’re thrown / Like a dog without a bone / An actor out on loan.”

As I ride as well, please allow me to make a stop and indulge myself with a glass of red wine in a Parisian bistro… A santé !