The City of Love

Paris has several nicknames the city of light, city of love and international capital of style. We went to Paris in August, the time when Parisians go for vacation. Parisians also need a break from all the fun and need to get serious sometimes.

In Paris, the first stop was the Eiffel Tower. Vinay, our tour manager told us that he once got a Gujarati tour group to the Eiffel tower.

They looked at the tower and said, ‘What’s the speciality in this? It is made of junk’.

Yes, the tower is dark grey and plain but it is one of the civil engineering marvels. It stands 320 m tall yet rests very lightly on the ground.  People other than the Gujaratis’ are fascinated by it. An American woman named Erika Eiffel even married the Eiffel Tower. In the night, the tower sparkles and it is one of the most romantic sights in the world. Hundreds of lights on the tower twinkle at random times and steal the glory of the stars.

We went on a Siene river cruise around ten ‘o’ clock in the night. On the cruise we saw, a few antique boats parked along the river. One of the boats had beautiful potted plants and a woman was watering them. Watering the plants on the river looked ironic to me. Just throw the pots in the water then they would have enough water for life.  

We passed beneath the aesthetic bridges. The sculptures on the bridges looked at us with muted silence. A young Chinese kid, about 3-4 years old sat beside us along with his mother. Whenever we passed beneath the bridges; he shouted in his cute loud voice, ‘Helloooo’ and waved his hand. The people on top of the bridges helloed him too. We saw couples huddled together and kissing one another. A kind puppeteer on one of the bridges played his puppets to us in the brief span we went beneath the bridge.

As we passed along the river we saw a piece of the Parisian night life. The youth sat in groups with vodka bottles and other drinks by their side. Guys wore cool hats and scarves. Women wore long gowns, short skirts and coats. We also heard loud music and saw people were dancing. A person of African origin was teaching a white woman how to dance. A dining cruise passed by us. Couples seated across each other got to know one another as they waited for the food. On the banks of River Siene, I saw nothing but love and happiness. Paris indeed comes to life in the night. 

(L to R) A street opposite to National Academy of Music, The Louvre Pyramid, River Siene and L'Hotel national des Invalides

Eiffel Tower and the view from top of the Eiffel Tower