Day 54 What is Paris

28 December 2012

There was so much to write about Paris...

 

... and so less too.

Much of what we know—the Sacred Heart cathedral, the Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Obelisk, all other famous tourist spots, ones that one is obliged to see, we saw. If anything, I thought it was overrated. Some streets stank.

This is such a negative lead paragraph.

I liked the lit Eiffel Tower though---we found a spot, supposedly only so we could park the van, but from that corner in the road, we had a full view of the tower, one that we marvelled at. We helped ourselves with taking endless photos of the tower with ourselves, individually and as group, as the foreground, wondering “is this actually the Eiffel Tower?”

I liked the view of Paris from the Arc de Triomphe too. I was informed that Napoleon would stand on top of the structure to view his entire city, to monitor if there were riots brewing in the city or rallies on the streets. From the top, you could see a web-like view of Paris. The roads run like perfectly-lined webs. It must have been hard for an ordinary Parisian during this leader’s time to be idling on the road at night and not be caught.

Not to mention, I had a bad night the day before. Or let's just say I didn't get the sleep I needed. Hence, the grumpiness.

That day, I was so grumpy I didn’t’ see the point taking all these pictures. Why did we have to stop at a spot with a very nice background, smile, wait for the click of the camera, turn 45 degrees to capture another backdrop, then another angle, another shot, one more, and another, and a last one? As if we were modelling these places. No time to observe, feel the cold of the cheeks, to keenly gaze at the gilded arcs of a church and wonder how come it still stands here after all these years, and at people and tourists and ask what brings them here, what are their tragedies and conveniences and luxuries in life and they’re here and what will Paris do to their soul. There was no time to care, no time to blink for a tourist who chases after all these spots to see. But there was always something to see from every corner, and some girl who wears a black-knitted bonnet and you wonder why she chose that color today.

There was no time to kiss, no one to kiss, as you got here during a time when you are alone and your other half hasn’t arrived in your life yet. And even if this is Paris and you’d rather kiss anyone than not kiss at all, you still want to save that French kiss for someone worthy. #