The Voguette
Random Musings from Paris!
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Residence
Sunday, March 7, 2010,10:13 AM
Squeezed in between a tiny pizza parlor and a boulangerie, my apartment on Boulevard Voltaire is a quirky haven of art and kitsch. My host mom seems to have a fetish for everything "africa" - around every corner you might come across wooden carving, a kente inspired pattern, or, if you're lucky, the zebra-print toilet. Yet the apartment also contains references to many other cultures. In my room there hangs a painting of a chinese dragon and the kitchen houses a collection of italian prints - you know, the kind with the little fat italian waiter holding a bottle of wine, or a bowl of pasta and then it says "BRAVO" in big block letters? Yeah. Muriel hopped on that bandwagon.
However, it seems that my apartment is a pretty good representation of our arrondissement (well minus the African obsession anyway). We live in the 11th - famous for its furniture-makers and old artisanal traditions. I realized that if you wander down any random street in our district, it is almost certain that you will find signs written in at least four different languages, and three types of international cuisine. It's really interesting to see how people from different places share the same urban space.
Speaking of sharing, our bathroom is African Safari themed. It comes complete with a stuffed Cheetah that watches you as you shower. You think I'm joking, but I'm dead serious. We also have zebra and leopard print towels. But the best part is the mobile that hangs from the light. Yes, I said mobile.
My room is pretty spacious, but there seems to be an overload of artificial flowers and plants. There's also random pieces of reprinted artwork in here. A colorful Matisse hangs across from a Cezanne-esque bowl of fruits. It's almost as if Muriel likes the artificial more than the real thing for I've yet to see a real plant or a real bowl of fruits sitting around the apartment, but plenty of fake ones. Interesting.
 Labels: apartment, paris
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