1888

We found this graffiti on a street in Montmartre while coincidentally taking a slow stroll through the neighborhood. A group of us decided that taking some time to get a little lost would be well worth it, as we would be able to discover the city from a perspective unmapped by most tourists. This photo thus expresses a huge facet of the French mentality. "Take the time to see." Much of of the quality of French life is contingent upon appreciating the surrounding beauty of the world. And as Americans, we seldom allocate free time or move without purpose, driving and walking hastily past everyone and everything without a care for the journey but rather the destination. The French embody the exact opposite. They lay out in parks and saunter at a casual pace because they understand that, that is the only way we, as a modern people besieged by our obsession with efficiency, can treasure what truly surrounds us.