The Last Tango in Paris
Finally the post about our trip to Paris... I have been waiting for months to write this one, but now that it's time I really can't begin to talk about it and I am worried that if I start I wouldn't be able to stop.
It was jut 5 days we spent there over the new years but it feels like we were living there for ages. Memory is starting to fade and I don't want to delve too deep in fear of an overwhelming crave to go back.
After much praying to Caillech (goddess of weather) we reached Paris safely albeit with a delay of 3 hours. Very tired after a day spent at stations and airports we started our journey to the hotel from the Airport. A train to a particular metro stop and then hop on another line to reach the hotel stop. Old matchbox carriages, too many stairs at the stations, quite dirty too but one look at the Eiffel tower all lit up in the evening (from the train) one can forget all the inconveniences. I just stared wonder struck, am I really in paris? am I seeing this in my dreams? All tiredness just seemed to flow out of me... I was ready to explore.
The thing about Paris is that it has been glorified in too many movies and books, all the travel channels do features on it ad nauseum and then you hear people say that its a dirty old city, nothing great about it, has all the problems of a large city, there's so much poverty and bla bla bla!
So with a mixture of the glorifications and the let downs you are in doubt. You fear the Seine wont be like the one you saw in Anastasia or it wont be as mysterious as in Da Vinci Code, the Notre-Dame wont have Quasimodo in it and the Sacre-Couer wont be the most beautiful sight like in Sabrina.
Well, let me tell you that those thoughts are sacrilegious. Paris is the city of lights, love and so much more. Don't ever listen to someone who says "it's not that great" or "I don't know why people make such a fuss about the city" because they just don't get it and are jealous of everyone else who understand and love the place.
We were out there in the biting cold, all the trees were almost bare, our teeth were chattering, and it even rained but with all the negatives of the weather the weirdest thing happened, a busker played La Vie En Rose on his harp at the Sacre-Couer and I recorded it on my camera without realising that it doesn't record the sound. I actually smiled and I did feel the warm gushy feeling one feels at spring time.
Another site to behold was when the ascending escalator took us out of the metro station at the Arc de triomphe stop, you can see the monument come to view slowly as you move up-- oh well I almost tripped- it was the best that getting off an escalator can be!
Paris is very cosmopolitan and tourism is a very important industry so it is very easy to deal with people if you are polite and patient and say Merci often. French food is delicious and expensive, and the people who serve the food may come across as people with an attitude problem, believe me, they are not deliberately trying to be rude or snobbish it's just the way they are and after a while you will stop feeling offended!
Walk around the city, feel the wind in your hair, see the fashionistas on Champs Elysees, stroll through the Tuileries and take a boat ride on the Seine. And I too recommend The Louvre as one of the things to do before you die.
As Hemingway said "Paris is a movable feast" the experience will live with you forever. I have luckily seen a few of the famous cities of the world, all beautiful and unique and different but it is New York city, Bombay and Paris that I want to go back to again and again and again.
As a child I never knew I would be able to visit these beautiful places, they were just dreams. My wish for travelling was answered long ago as my parents love it too and provided me with the opportunity to see some of the beauties of India.
I will say to whoever wants to see the world, grab it with both hands and legs at the slightest opportunity. It will not disappoint you.
P.S. What people fail to mention is that Paris is the city of stairs- fix your knees and back before you plan to go!
It was jut 5 days we spent there over the new years but it feels like we were living there for ages. Memory is starting to fade and I don't want to delve too deep in fear of an overwhelming crave to go back.
After much praying to Caillech (goddess of weather) we reached Paris safely albeit with a delay of 3 hours. Very tired after a day spent at stations and airports we started our journey to the hotel from the Airport. A train to a particular metro stop and then hop on another line to reach the hotel stop. Old matchbox carriages, too many stairs at the stations, quite dirty too but one look at the Eiffel tower all lit up in the evening (from the train) one can forget all the inconveniences. I just stared wonder struck, am I really in paris? am I seeing this in my dreams? All tiredness just seemed to flow out of me... I was ready to explore.
The thing about Paris is that it has been glorified in too many movies and books, all the travel channels do features on it ad nauseum and then you hear people say that its a dirty old city, nothing great about it, has all the problems of a large city, there's so much poverty and bla bla bla!
So with a mixture of the glorifications and the let downs you are in doubt. You fear the Seine wont be like the one you saw in Anastasia or it wont be as mysterious as in Da Vinci Code, the Notre-Dame wont have Quasimodo in it and the Sacre-Couer wont be the most beautiful sight like in Sabrina.
Well, let me tell you that those thoughts are sacrilegious. Paris is the city of lights, love and so much more. Don't ever listen to someone who says "it's not that great" or "I don't know why people make such a fuss about the city" because they just don't get it and are jealous of everyone else who understand and love the place.
We were out there in the biting cold, all the trees were almost bare, our teeth were chattering, and it even rained but with all the negatives of the weather the weirdest thing happened, a busker played La Vie En Rose on his harp at the Sacre-Couer and I recorded it on my camera without realising that it doesn't record the sound. I actually smiled and I did feel the warm gushy feeling one feels at spring time.
Another site to behold was when the ascending escalator took us out of the metro station at the Arc de triomphe stop, you can see the monument come to view slowly as you move up-- oh well I almost tripped- it was the best that getting off an escalator can be!
Paris is very cosmopolitan and tourism is a very important industry so it is very easy to deal with people if you are polite and patient and say Merci often. French food is delicious and expensive, and the people who serve the food may come across as people with an attitude problem, believe me, they are not deliberately trying to be rude or snobbish it's just the way they are and after a while you will stop feeling offended!
Walk around the city, feel the wind in your hair, see the fashionistas on Champs Elysees, stroll through the Tuileries and take a boat ride on the Seine. And I too recommend The Louvre as one of the things to do before you die.
As Hemingway said "Paris is a movable feast" the experience will live with you forever. I have luckily seen a few of the famous cities of the world, all beautiful and unique and different but it is New York city, Bombay and Paris that I want to go back to again and again and again.
As a child I never knew I would be able to visit these beautiful places, they were just dreams. My wish for travelling was answered long ago as my parents love it too and provided me with the opportunity to see some of the beauties of India.
I will say to whoever wants to see the world, grab it with both hands and legs at the slightest opportunity. It will not disappoint you.
P.S. What people fail to mention is that Paris is the city of stairs- fix your knees and back before you plan to go!
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