Oh la la, Paris!

I only knew Paris before as the City of Lights, from the books I read and of course from the movies. I was quite excited when summer came since my friends and I were discussing about taking an inter-rail route but it boiled down to a choice between Madrid or Paris because we did not have time to do a long vacation due to approaching classes. Since our girlfriends preferred an all-girl tour to Madrid, we guys, Odd and I, opted to travel to Paris.

As the plane landed at Charles de Gaulle, I was feeling giddy and excited. I didn't know what Paris had in store for me but armed with a 2 GB memory card in my digital camera, I was prepared. On my first day, with our friend Guillaume (who works in the Ministry of Defense), we toured Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe vicinity. We walked almost the entire street, despite the raging heat.

The street was also packed with tourists shopping, since you can find many shops like Louis Vuitton on this street. I've never seen such a busy street in my entire life!

During the second day, we opted to visit Chateau de Versaille since Guillaume lives in Versaille. The entire area of Chateau de Versaille is screaming opulence. The place is really grand, beautiful and still under restoration. The doors are engraved with real gold! Walking around it made us think that we were participating in a walk-a-thon. The area is just too huge to cover in one day. After that, my legs were quite sore. On the third day, being tired from the previous excursions, we opted to just visit the Louvre and greet Mona Lisa. As usual, the place is packed with tourists with long queues. Sometimes I told myself, Paris aside from being called the City of Lights or Love should also be dubbed as the City of Queuing. Kidding aside, the Louvre again is so huge. It reminds me of a huge mall and instead of boutiques or stores, there are huge paintings dating back to the 16th century and sculptures from the ancient world. It's like we were shopping for pieces of information and appreciating and studying the things from the past.

It's really a culturally enlightening experience!

Finally, on the last day, we woke up early so that we would arrive at the Eiffel tower before the queue to go up got too long. To get to the first and second level, you have to brave the long stairs. Not really good for people with asthma or whatever. To get to the top, people will have to take the elevator from the second level. Though I really wanted to get to the top, again the long queue was discouraging me since we could not afford to wait a couple of hours. We needed to get to our next destination which was by far my most favourite, Les Catacombes.

When we arrived at Denfert-Rochereau, where Les Catacombes is located, we already saw people queuing. I brushed aside a nagging feeling and fell in line. Entering the catacombs was far better and cooler than walking in the gardens of Versaille. I had this kind of adventure, not to mention the feeling of creepiness. We walked along the dark corridors of the catacombs where you can see bones and skulls of dead people beautifully arranged. These remains have been exhumed from different cemeteries in Paris and placed here. (If you want more info about the area, you can simply google it.) After that, the last area we visited was the Basilique du Sacré Cœur or Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Montmarte. It is gorgeous and if you walk further, you can find cosy restaurants and cafés. Not to mention that the area is brimming with portrait artists. You can have your portrait sketched in no time there. If you explore a bit more, you can find the famous Moulin Rouge, as well. Entrance to this establishment is quite expensive with the price tag of 190 euros or so.

Paris is really a vibrant city, full of vitality and gimmicks for the tourists. I even heard that every year tourists outnumber the population in France. That is amazing! For me, this trip was more like a cultural soiree of sorts. I learned lots of things and this riveting feeling for traveling had taken over me. Oh, of course, I drank champagne. What is a more appropriate place to drink champagne than in Paris? Vive le Paris!

*This writer is a student majoring in Film and TV production and a web designer living in Bergen, Norway. You can follow his adventures at his blog http://www.queerchef.com