Lost in time, lost in space

Paris is a great place to contemplate both place and time. There is a strong sense of both here. The area behind Notre Dame has the oldest streets in Paris. Time: not a few hundred meters behind me as I stand here in rue des Chantres is the daily hurly burly of tour buses, crowds of tourists, and dozens of souvenir shops leaving no doubt that is a day in the 21^st Century. With just a little change of view and viewpoint I am now here, on this tiny street, perhaps only 8 feet wide but not now, rather I am back in the 12^th century walking this street, a few meters from the Abbey where Abelard lived and walked this street with thoughts of his beloved Héloïse. I think, 900 years later, on a street so close to Notre dame, about whose footprints may have been left here, of what thoughts were thought here, of what dreams dreamt. I am startled by the sound of a motorcycle and need to press close to the wall to let the 21^st century speed by. My time warp is over, interrupted by modernity, but I am still here, in this space in Paris wondering yet again what gives her this strong sense of place and time. It is an urban setting and has been for a long time. Perhaps it is how each of these urban locations present themselves to us. I think of the difference between a supermarket and Place Maubert where I go today to buy my supper. The supermarket has a linear, almost proscribed course one takes which guides ones motions and emotions. It feels like a chore. At Place Maubert one wanders from market to market, never in the same order and guided by who I am today.