I had never heard of this John Denver look alike sketch artist called Cabu, but was touched by his drawings that capture the many sides of Paris from the Assemblée Nationale to the sex shops at Pigalle. Cabu has been sketching Paris for more than 50 years but he still captures the little things you'd come across looking at the city as a newcomer. There are the monuments of course, but he also sketches scenes like the little Japanese tourists hauling designer shopping bags that stand taller than they do. The African men who stand outside the Chateau d'Eau metro stop hollering to hustle people into the hairdresser's across the street. He includes little notes in his sketches like "Rendez-vous at Saint Sulpice with a copy of the Da Vinci Code." .
What hit me most about what Cabu had to say about the city was that he moved to Paris when he was 17 and still feels 17 when he's here. I first set foot in Paris when I was 24. A few years later, I don't feel any different than I did at 24- not to compare that to Cabu feeling like a teenager at the age 68. But it made me wonder if I'm still living here when I'm 70, will being in Paris still make me feel like a fresh faced 24 year old? I know enough people here will tell you that living in the city could actually age you quicker. In any case, I still have moments where I'm running late and walking in the street and getting frustrated at how slowly some people walk in the middle of the sidewalk and how there's just too many people about and I think I'm going to crack and then I get a glimpse of the lights dancing on the Seine, a quiet, constant backdrop to the noise and traffic, and I remember why I live here.
