“Oh that’s normal,” says Matthieu as water gushes down his narrow Parisian street. That quote was to become the ironic mantra of my friend Mark and I’s weekend in Paris staying with my friend Matthieu. After surviving a sudden hurricane at the top of the Eiffel Tower, riding a tandem bike around Paris, getting locked in Mattheiu’s apartment, and having little kids try to scare us at Notre Dame, I realized that this would be anything but a normal weekend in Paris. However, traveling with Mark, much less hanging out with him, is never normal. I met Mark at a summer camp nine years ago where we later worked as the camp’s videographers and photographers and have stayed in touch since.
Being with Mark always makes me want to do all the crazy things you wish you had the guts to do everyday and brings out some of my best qualities. As a photographer, Mark never misses an opportunity to find a way to capture our surroundings in an out-of-the-box way that challenges me take risks in my art. We almost perished crossing a freeway trying to get the perfect shot of the Paris version of the Statue of Liberty!
Mark and I are unafraid to approach people we don’t know and make conversation, which usually turns into really interesting and sometimes strange situations. One weekend, whenever we saw a group of tourists trying to take group pictures, we asked to be their photographer. That day I met people from Spain, Argentina, Japan, Korea, Canada, and Portugal.
Instead of getting upset when something inconvenient occurs, Mark and I turn it into a funny adventure. After going to a party in a Paris suburb, complete with a revolving disco ball, we missed the very last subway going to the apartment. Being too cheap to take a taxi, walked the five kilometers back. Two hours later, after lots of laughs and sore feet, we’d met many people and seen a very different side of Paris we wouldn’t have otherwise.
So, it never fails that I have a hysterical time and a good story to tell after being with Mark. As we left Paris that weekend Mark and I stopped to get snacks at a corner shop. While walking out of the store, the man sprayed Axe body spray around the premises for no apparent reason. “Oh that normal!” Mark and I exclaim. I never did find out why there was water gushing down Matthieu’s street.