The most surreal experience: Paris, France

Pati: On December 10, 1999 @ approximately 8:30a.m, a historical event took place, I arrived in Paris. As Marcella and I exited la gare d’Auzterlitz, I became overwhelmed with joyous sentiments. As many of my close friends know, for many years, it had been a dream of mine to aller en France. Alas, the pages of my French book would come to life! Walking through the streets of Paris, the astonishing French architecture made its rich past evident; I was speechless.

Our first task was to find our hotel. In our last day in Madrid, Marcella and I had decided to stay at L’hotel Bellevue et Chariot d’or. Our “trusty” book had indicated the hotel’s reasonable prices and cleanliness. As much as I LOVE FRANCE, the hotel was not all it was dressed up to be. However, the hotel was of minimal consequence. Paris vastly made up for the hotel. In great contrast to the disappointing Spanish cuisine, our first Parisian meal was absolutely delicious: sandwich au jambon (ham) et coca-cola (Marcella’s fav beverage).

Contrary to persistent stereotypes of the French as "rude" people, I found them to be very graceful, helpful, and friendly! I must say that I hope to one day return and become fluent in the language. It is because of the Parisian’s willingness to aid Marcella and I very long to master the Parisian metro system. I'd like to point out some info: The Métro opened on 19 July 1900, and has 199 km (124 miles) of track and 15 lines. There are 368 stations 87 of these being interchanges between lines. Every building is within 500 metres of a métro station. There are 3500 cars which transport roughly 6 million people per day!

Our first major site seeing voyage was La Tour Eiffel. The Parisian icon was built for the Exposition of 1889. At 300 meters (a little under 100 feet), it was then the tallest structure in the world, and the Parisians were at first aghast at what they considered to be an ugly skeleton towering over the city. Designed by the architectural engineer Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), it was constructed entirely of steel including 2,500,000 steel rivets. Every 7 years, La Tour Eiffel is painted and requires more than 52 metric tons of paint and 60 men working for the duration of four months. In addition to its role as a tourist attraction, the tower also serves as a radio and television transmitting station.

Another significant stop in our stay at Paris was to Le Musée du Louvre, a national art museum of France which is housed on the right bank of the Seine River. The structure, until 1682 a residence of the kings of France, is one of the largest palaces in the world. In 1793 Le Louvre was opened into a public museum. Divided into 7 departments, the Louvre collections incorporate works dating from the birth of the great antique civilizations right up to the first half of the XIXth century. Unfortunately, we did not have the time necessary to truly explore the vast richness of art contained in one place. However, we did have the opportunity to see the Mona Lisa and other great masterpieces by many great artists.

Perhaps the most unique place Marcella and I had the opportunity to visit was Les Catacombs.

Les Catacombs occupy a portion of the Parisian netherworld. Reportedly, the hollowed bowels of Paris predate the city itself--they began as rock quarries 1 to 2,000 years ago. In the 1780's, part of these quarries was sectioned off to house the contents of several of the city's cemeteries--the first and largest of these was the Cimetiere des Innocents. There are a number of explanations out there for why the cemeteries were emptied into the Catacombs. Some say that the cemeteries were simply overcrowded; others that they took up too much valuable space in the growing city; and still others claim that the cemeteries posed a health risk due to recent plagues. For whatever reason, the bones of six million people were exhumed and neatly re-stacked in rooms 65 meters below the city's streets. Some of the cemeteries were around four hundred years old when they were emptied. One source has it that the Cimetiere des Innocents was itself around 1,000 years old when it was emptied. The bones were arranged in stacks 5-6 feet high on either side of aisles that run, by some estimates, for hundreds of miles.

Marcella and I truly made great usage of our time in Paris. In the interest of time and the preservation of trees, I will briefly mention some other places Marcella and I went to: Sunday mass in Le Cathedral de Notre Dame, very smoke-infested internet café at 4 dollars per hour, shopping in les champs-elysees, Musée du Piccasso, etc. All I have left to say is that I will never forget the smiles of the Parisians, rushing through the streets as I repeatedly told Marcella, vite vite vite (quick, quick, quick) and hearing the melodic language of French flow from children.