Passing through the doors, you lost all sense of time, barely remembering the small alley in which you stood just moments before. You shake what feels like a veil from your eyes to find you're not where you thought you would be: there are no distinctly French experiences awaiting you here (although, there is a large plate of assorted fromages and baguettes on a low table in front of you--have some Pernod while youUre at it--The hosts know your hungry). You are immediately confronted with an image that startles your naive, touristic expectations--a mammoth room of contradictory datum. What strikes you first is the rich smell of a rain forest emanating from the vegetation growing in the center of the room, directly under an enormous dome whose clear panels are partially retracted like those of a Japanese fan. Several large, tropical trees arch toward the Parisian sky, creating a canopy from which birds speak volumes of short, happy lives in the City of Light. You are drawn into the green-hued light and the subtle cacophony of forest voices. Don't speak: look and listen for a while. You hear the soothing voice of an unseen stream as you notice the intricate marble, mosaic and dirt composite floor. You look around and above you to find an eclectic, peculiar amalgam of architectural styles: a mish-mash of Greco-Roman columns; Moorish arches and tile work; Spanish Rococo; steel and prefab inlays. As you near the center of the room, you notice a series of interconnected couches of a warm, durable material: they seem integral to the forest floor, as if they've grown from the earth and are a natural part of this unusual eco-system. Have a seat and consider the symbolism of where you are. This fantastic pastiche represents a life, a way of being in the world to which you've lost your connection to long ago, most likely in childhood. You begin to think about the life that has eluded you, the dreams that have died along the way. You realize that youUve lost touch with who you really are and that life is too often a difficult struggle and too much to bear sometimes. You begin to wonder why life cant seem so full of possibilities, like what you sense emerging from you and the world when youUre on vacation. How do I bring that wonder back with me into my real life? This is one place for you to reflect and realize that there are always opportunities for you to seize and make the most of, nobody is going to do it for you! Use your heart little grasshopper! Don't be misled by false paths and the allure of easy, surface answers to the arduous journey that awaits you! Enjoy yourself and good luck!
Dionysus, Corazon, and Pernod are here.
Exits: