There is so much to say, I have a hard time figuring out where to start. The truth is that I have fallen in love. I don’t know if it’s just a phase or if it’s the real thing, but all I know is that right now it feels right. I’m having a love affair with Paris (haha, I hope I didn’t make anyone’s heart just stop). Nilufa and I managed to do almost everything in our 3 days and 4 nights visit. Here's a day-by-day breakdown:
Sunday Night:
We arrived in Charles de Gaulle airport around 8 pm (the flight from Birmingham was only an hour long) and quickly learned how to ride the metro. Lucky for us, their system is really simple and efficient. Paris is divided into districts with the first one starting in the main city centre spiraling outwards. Our hotel was in the first district so we were walking distance from all the major sites. I remember emerging from the metro station and seeing how lit up and lively the entire area was for a Sunday night! Our hotel was nothing special but had all the essentials. We ate a quick sandwich and decided to get a good night's rest to prepare for the next day.
After indulging in a pain au chocolat (think of a square croissant infused with dark chocolate filling) and a cafe au lait (which is nothing like a cafe latte but more like an espresso!) we made our way to the louvre. The weather was pure perfection: a breezy 10 degrees, the warm sun cascading over rooftops, and a cloudless blue sky...there was no way we were taking a cab or metro anywhere on a day like that! To get to the Louvre we walked along the Seine river - which divides Paris into 'rive droite' (right river) and 'rive gauche' (left river). Ten minutes later we got to the Louvre and were a little confused because we didn't see the giant glass pyramids. All we saw was a big old building! But then once we turned the corner and walked through the arches, we came to the centre 'courtyard' and the pyramids stood in the middle. For a good minute I just stared at my surroundings...was I really in Paris? In the Louvre? I couldn't believe my eyes (literally).
After we finally figured out where the entrance to the louvre was (inside the bigger pyramid - duh!) we made our way to the most popular works: Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. There was a sea of people around the Mona Lisa, snapping pictures and walking from one side to the other, in awe of her gaze following them. We also browsed through the Egyptian section which I found fascinating! All those tombs and mummified people from thousands of years ago...it's hard to believe that those civilizations existed and created their own tools for communication and survival. When we left through the back exit and walked through the garden, we could see a faint silhouette of the Arc de Triomphe and realized that we weren't very far from the Champs d'Elysees. So we decided to try walking there and stopping for lunch along the way.
Don’t let people fool you into thinking the Champs is where all the major shopping and designer stores are. It is not. I walked up and down the entire street and found a handful of the major fashion brands I was expecting. Where was Chanel? Where was Dior? Where was the giant Louis Vuitton suitcase-shaped building in my dreams? I’ll tell you where. On Rue Montaigne. We were lucky enough to stumble upon it while wandering aimlessly and we had so much fun taking pictures infront of the fashion houses. I never found the suitcase building even though I went in two Louis Vuitton stores so it must be hidden somewhere else. But it didn’t really matter – I got my fashion fill.
The Arc de Triomphe is a mammoth ending to the champs d’elysees. We were trying to figure out how to get to it for the longest time, because the structure is in the centre of a roundabout, with traffic constantly driving around it…there was no way to safely cross the road. There’s actually an underground connection which you have to pay to walk through (and we opted not to because we wanted to save our money for the Eiffel Tower). What’s really special about Paris is that the modern city is flawlessly built around the historical attractions. It’s not like when you walk to the champs d’elysees or the louvre there are only foreigners around – the locals are constantly passing by as well to get to work or eat or go home. And no matter how new or old a building may be, they all maintain the same structural design as the traditional architecture so even a new hotel or restaurant has the same charm as the more ancient sites.
Paris (and I suppose you could argue France in general) is all about integration – even their culture, which has been given the bad reputation of ‘imperialist’ attempts to unite people. The Chinese, the Lebanese, the Blacks, the South-Asians all speak perfect French and wear French clothes and eat French food – it’s not like Toronto or Leicester where different ethnicities come here and continue to express their own culture in a new country. If you go to France, you become French. I haven’t decided if that’s a good thing or not yet.
So when we got to the Arc, the Eiffel Tower was in clear sight. Even though we were tired from walking such a long distance we figured it would be a waste to take a metro for such a short distance. With sore feet, and a boost of energy from the fashion, we made our way to the tower. We timed ourselves perfectly, because we were at the base of the tower as the sun was setting. The atmosphere was beautiful for pictures (as you can tell below), and we got to watch the lights come on as the tower went from steely-grey to gold. When we got up to the top floor (by lift…there was no way we were taking the stairs) you could fully appreciate why Paris is known as the city of lights. Unfortunately it was freezing at night and very windy at such high altitudes (my ears even popped on the lift!) but we made sure to take in the view and enjoy the sparkling city below.
By the end of the night, we were exhausted! I couldn’t believe how much we managed to cover on our first day in Paris. We wanted to sample some more French food for dinner, so we ducked into a little restaurant near our hotel (after taking a cab back to our area!). I didn’t get a chance to eat very authentic French food because most of it is strange meat products like duck liver and snails and such…but in general everything they make is of such high quality. The fruits and vegetables are ripe and fresh, they serve each meal with careful attention to detail from the placement of cutlery to the Dijon mustard and baskets of freshly baked baguettes on the side. Eating in Paris is an art. Nobody walks and eats at the same time. Even if you’re having a coffee and a croissant, you must sit down and savour every sip, each bite, enjoy the flavours and textures – it’s the French way! I still dream about that chocolate-pistachio swirled soft-serve ice cream I had in a waffle cone at the chocolaterie. And that’s the other wonderful thing about Paris…even though it’s a major commercial centre, the people there are never in a rush like in other metropolitans like Toronto or London. Parisians make the time to earn a living and enjoy it.
Tuesday:
Since we covered nearly everything the day before, we decided to just do some shopping during the day and head up to Montmartre at dusk – the highest point in Paris where the Basilique du Sacre Coeur is situated. We were able to find a few sales and reasonably-priced items at the shopping mall in our area called Les Halles. I wouldn’t say that Parisians are particularly beautiful people in terms of their genes – but what does make them stand out is their style. They know how to dress and make themselves up – and that beret look isn’t a cliché, everyone wears them! I’ve heard a lot of rumours about the French being snobs but atleast with us, everyone was accommodating and friendly. What I loved was being able to practice my French with the locals. Even though most of them speak English, if you make the effort to speak in French to them, they will engage in conversation with you. It was the first time for me in about 11 years that I’ve been in a French-speaking environment outside the classroom, and I found myself going out of my way to make conversation with people just so I could speak more French!
The highlight of my entire trip had to be Sacre-Coeur. We didn’t even bother visiting Notre Dame because we heard it wasn’t that spectacular in comparison to the basilica. Getting to the top of the hill was the worst climb ever….so many stairs! Nilufa and I made this joke about how at most religious sites, it’s always really physically draining to get to them and how maybe you need to be exhausted in order to have a spiritual revelation! We might’ve just been delirious from all the walking though! Anyways once we reached the top we couldn’t believe what we saw. Sacre-Coeur is like the Taj Mahal of France. Inside they were holding their evening mass, so we got to listen to the priest give his sermon in French and walk around the church. You can’t take pictures of the inside, but the ceiling and walls are painted with vivid depictions of Christ in bright reds and blues with gold trim. They have separate sections around the perimeter for different saints too, with beautiful white statues that match the stone of the church (which is a special stone that never gets tarnished or worn down). We had an uncompromised view of the whole city as the sun was setting on our last night. 
There’s just so much more I can say about Paris but I know I’ve gone on long enough. It’s such an enchanting city, and coming back to Leicester wasn’t easy after spending a few days there! I’ve always been of the mind that it doesn’t matter where you are, what makes a place fun and exciting is based on what you create for yourself – the people you meet, the things you do. But being in Paris made me realize that there are just some places that are charming and beautiful and fun regardless of what you create for yourself. I would love to live in Paris for a year or two. Brush up on my French, stock up on some quality prêt-a-porter, perfect!
Even though this trip is over, I know I will be re-kindling my affair with Paris next month, because my best friend Mel is coming to visit and Paris is on the must-see list! So au-revoir for now my love, we will meet again very soon!!!
2 comments:
HI Div,
That is the biggest croissant I have ever seen. mmmm
Glad you are having fun!
Shant
lesta is wak
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