Bon jour Madame & Monsieur,

      Not always the first impression is your impression.The next three days showed that my first day was just an aberration in the ever-growing beauty of the Paris. 

Paris -  A heaven for artists and a land of art.

        Paris is beautiful and she knows that. She wears the crown arrogantly that the world has given her as the beautiful city of the world. Her beautiful Castles and Churches echo that, her streets live with that pride that is unique to Paris. 

        Paris has exhausted all the superrelatives that can be attributed to a city. Infact, it is impossible to capture the grandness and the magic of Paris in words.

         Paris is a conglomeration of cultures. Anybody can live there, in any way. A Paris-ian cannot be defined in a particular color, race or language. You will find this in all walks of life in Paris.

       Lets walk around Paris for some of the icons of Paris. 

            Eiffel Tower - A Trade fair attraction that become a symbol of Paris. It was opposed by French aritists & purists, that it stands uglier among all other great architectures in Paris, when it was built. It was spared from being alomst torn down, because it was ideal platform for new transmitting machine in 1909. Now, your Paris trip is not complete without Eiffel Tower.

       Did you know that its height varies up to 15 cm depending on temperature?

            Our luck seemed to be improving,after the disastrous first day, we were told that the day we went to Eiffel, that the trip to the top of Eiffel Tower is free and other old monuments too. Otherwise, its quite expensive to go to top of the Tower.

           Monalisa - A smile that caught the imagination of the whole world. Highlight of world's largest museum, the Louvre museum. I just don’t understand why people flock to see this. Because on the way to Monalisa, I could see so many better masterpieces. Okay, I admit that I can't tell a Leonardo Da vinci from a Michelangelo. But still...

         Arc de Triomphe  - Constructed to honor Napoleans victories and second most famous landmark. It is also at the western end of that most elegant of avenues, the Champs-Elysées (Elysian Fields), which you saw in last week's pictures. For any major national important event, people will make a rally in this road. You would have seen it in TV when France won the World Cup 98.
 

      During our stay there, our daily dinner menu included, "Mini Idlis", "Ghee Roast", "Egg paratha" etc.

       Wondering that Chandru is day-dreaming? 

       Absolutely not, there is an Indian quater where u can find numerous Tamil restaurants where you get from Idlis to Aloo paratha. Wow! Idlis after almost six loooooong months. My parents enjoyed the lunch there. 

        Basically the hotel belongs to Tamilians from Pondicherry, which, as you know, was a French Colony.

         One more thing, I could find the 2-wheelers in Paris, bikes and scooters, which I have not seen in. Infact riding a motorcycle is the best way to beat traffic in Paris. Transport through Paris is easier with metros, the under ground system which is 100 years old.

       Notre Dame - One of the first Gothic architecture at the heart of the city.

Paris boasts more than 80 museums and around 200 art galleries. (God knows what they have there?) 

         When I realised there aren't (m)any skyscrappers, I stumbled upon "Le Defense". French decided that they need to show that they are not far behind in modern architecture, hence created this new quarter with modern buildings, still retaining the old touch. Square shaped, Cylinder shaped, triangle, and many other wonderful and amazing designs just on the limits of the city as Financial District of Paris. The construction of this new district was not easy, many locals criticized this glass and steel buildings.

         We also visited Versailes Palace and Garden, which is out of Paris. The house of Parliament is situated in this palace and the palace is a small town itself. We couldn’t visit the DisneyLand though.

           Hotel Ritz - Famous for a wrong reason, this is where Princess Diana had her last dinner. From here, Paparazzi chased her till she crashed onto the wall of road tunnel.       

           Fashion -We discussed already about fashion in general. French wine doesn't need any more explantion.

         French Kiss - Another french special. Its common to find people kissing in streets of Europe, but French kiss is legendery and this edition will be incomplete without it. (I would say that "romantic" is the word that is attached to Paris always) 

        Infact, I found a book "Places to kiss in Paris". This book details the places in & around Paris to kiss and its a big one too. (No, No, I have not bought it, one sec, seems my parents... well we'll discuss later, bye :-)

         Food - With the exception of China, France has a more varied and developed cuisine than any other country. You have every kind of restaurant here, Mexico to Thai.

          French language gave us a number of words for those who enjoy good living and good eating. "Gourmet," "gourmand," and "gastronome" come from French, as does "bon vivant."

           Food, Music and Wine are the recipes for a good life, according to French.

           When the sun sets a new city wakes up. I definitely recommend a stroll by night in Paris. You will have the chance to see the monuments' other face. In some cases the night view is much more spectacular. Especially Eiffel tower was wonderful, though it was difficult to capture in my camera.

            Our guide, who was a German, was explaining in German. We asked him to translate in English too and later found out that he knows little Tamil as well, since his father was working in IIT, Chennai during 1970s. That was a pleasant surprise!!.

            Do you know that there are 450 types of Cheese in France?

           An hour-long cruise along the Sein River through Paris would be a delightful dessert to end your trip.
 

That's all folks!! ciao!

Your Friend,
Chandru
Editor, 
Euro Times
http://eurotimes.50megs.com