Paris, the City of Lights – Sept 13-16, 2013

Friday we caught the RyanAir flight from Pisa to the city we last visited 18 years ago – Paris.  Our 3 night get away was an opportunity to experience a new perspective on the City of Lights.  Our afternoon arrival had us checking in to an apartment within walking distance to Champ di Mars, the park for Paris’s most memorable icon, the Eiffel Tower. So, after some dinner it was the Tower that we set off to see.  Though it’s gigantic iron superstructure seems rather drab in the light of day, it’s true beauty is revealed at night when illuminated by it’s dazzling display of evening lights. 

  We walked through the crowds of people enjoying the tower and the cool evening air, until the  dark skies made good on their threats and decided to open up in rain.  We had ventured out prepared with rain jackets and umbrellas, and once the rain got serious we started back for the apartment.  Despite the rain we enjoyed the walk back through the park and city side streets until arriving home and turning in for the evening. 

The next morning we checked out and moved across town into the wonderful little Elyees Secret Hotel; it’s close to the Champs Elyees, the famed thoroughfare that connects the familiar Arc de Triomphe at one end, and Paris’s famous Louvre museum at the other.  The Louvre was swamped with mind numbingly long lines, so we perused the shops along the Elyees until we reached the Arc itself.  The uncooperative weather didn’t make for the best of days, but the sights we took in along the way proved more than worth the minor inconvenience.

Our next morning dawned bright and clear and proved to be a lesson in learning how to use Paris’s excellent Metro subway system, as we rode the trains south to the Palace of Versailles. Envisioned and commissioned by Louis the XIV, the palace of the French Monarchy was every bit as beautiful as we remembered and more.

It was the gardens, however, that proved to be the special treat.  We took advantage of the favorable weather and walked the grounds for hours, exploring the various groves, each with their own special theme of unique fountains, statues, and marble pillars.  

We spent more time in the resplendent gardens then we did in the palace itself, pausing for some outdoor lunch  along the way, all the while enjoying the use of our self-guiding audio phones that explained the wonders and significance of each of the garden’s special places.

 Our return to Paris found the city a dichotomy of grandeur; it is at once historic and thoroughly modern, provincial and cosmopolitan.  Parisians have always been known to carry themselves with dignity and class, yet by our observation they have long since thrown off their old reputation for snobbery; we found them to be engaging, warm, friendly, and speaking a surprising bit of English.  This mirrors our experiences and encounters with locals in Alsace France earlier this year.  It may have rained during our trip to Paris, however, the rain never seemed to dampen the spirit or luster of the City of Lights!