Paris

CEBU, Philippines - Four major cities in four different countries in seven days. Let’s begin.

In the plane, I was seated next to an elderly lady whom I assumed to be a nun, judging from the religious medallions hanging around her neck, and the way she kept reading the Bible when she wasn’t asleep. She did not speak a word of English, but I somehow figured out the things she needed help with, such as unbuckling her seat belt, and how to place the remote control back in the panel. Later, after she went to the bathroom, she passed by her seat. She went down the aisle, looking left and right, and when she turned around, I waved at her. She smiled. After flying 4,000 miles and eating a rock-hard croissant for breakfast, we landed in Paris, or, as the locals and my nun seatmate say, “Pa- ree”.

Sometimes my mind plays one song over and over and over again, without my willing it to do so. In Paris, as soon as we got off the plane, the song that incessantly played in my mind was “Les Poissons” from the Disney cartoon The Little Mermaid. It was sung by Chef Louis while he was chopping and gutting fish for dinner. “Les poissons, les poissons, how I love les poissons, love to chop, and to serve, little fish.” Obviously it had nothing to do with my travel except for the fact that Chef Louis was French. That’s how my old crazy brain worked sometimes.

The first thing I wanted to see was the Louvre museum. My husband Klaus and I took the subway, which was the only form of transportation we used to see all the sights in Paris. Paris has a surprisingly easy subway system, with a simple linear diagram of the stops displayed above the doors of the subway cars. We got off the stop for the Louvre, but it was the Place de la Concorde that we saw first, which had the obelisk as its main figure. This was the square where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed. TURN TO PAGE 30...

We proceeded to the Pyramid entrance of the museum. The Louvre, which is already eight centuries old, started out as a fortress and is now transformed into the largest museum in the world. One could spend days in the Louvre and still not be able to see all its treasures, but we were there for only a few hours. We explored one of its wings, called the Sully Wing, where we saw the Winged Victory, Venus de Milo and other Roman and Greek sculptures, Egyptian antiquities, royal treasures, and endless paintings covering whole halls. I was mesmerized by the beautiful paintings, which mostly portrayed religious figures and biblical events such as the Crucifixion and the Carrying of the Cross. But the painting in the Louvre that attracted the most people was the Mona Lisa, mounted alone on one wall behind thick glass.

I finally saw the real Notre-Dame Cathedral, which I’d only seen before in Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (evidently my cultural education came wholly from Disney cartoons). I saw the stone gargoyles perched on the ledges, the famous rose windows, the distinct facade with the central rose window and the two towers on either side. A Mass was being celebrated when we entered the church, but a pathway was made all around the sides of the church for the visitors. I was a little surprised when I saw that they offered merchandise inside, such as a vending machine dispensing prayer cards of the Pope, Notre-Dame coins, candles, and even a little stand selling rosaries and other religious items. This suddenly reminded me of the Bible, when Jesus drove away the moneychangers and people selling animals at a temple in Jerusalem. He said, “You shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

On our second day, we went to see the Arc de Triomphe, a magnificent structure with intricate details of military scenes which Napoleon had dedicated to his men after a great victory. I am happy to report that I was not the only Filipino there. There were a lot of Filipino visitors crowding near the Arc. They were easily spotted, posing and taking hundreds of pictures.

After the Arc, we went to see the Eiffel Tower, which had a massive crowd gathered at the bottom (probably permanently), waiting to get on the elevator to go up. I found out the tower had three levels. It was Klaus’ dream to go to the top level, and I was not going to disappoint him, even though the tower was more than a thousand feet high and I was afraid of heights. I happened to be standing right next to the elevator door while we were going up, and I refused to look through the glass and see how high we were going because then my knees would go weak and I would feel nauseous. Instead I focused on the bald head of one of the passengers. It was a long wait, it took more than an hour until we finally got to the top of the tower, but it was worth it. The view was absolutely gorgeous.

We went back to Montmartre where our hotel was, and also where the famous nightclub, the Moulin Rouge, was located. After walking down the street with all the sex shops, it was almost obligatory to walk up the hill to visit the Sacré-Coeur, another grand church sitting at the top of Montmartre.

The people were friendly and the food was exquisite. You will find fresh croissants and crepes everywhere. I had no idea how people there have stayed thin despite their rich and good food. Could it be the cigarettes? It seemed everybody there smoked. But I will never forget this little restaurant in Montmartre called Le Relais Gascon, recommended to us by the hotel staff.  There wasn’t much room in the restaurant. There was just enough space to squeeze in, and we sat at a table elbow to elbow with strangers. But the food was incredible. We had a beef dish with white sauce and vegetables, and chocolate mousse for dessert.

On our first night in Paris, I was wide awake and barely slept for an hour. It wasn’t the excitement that kept me up but rather, the café au lait that I’d ordered earlier that day. When the first light of morning appeared, I got up and looked out the window to see the Sacré-Coeur at the summit of a wide concrete staircase. I didn’t mind that I hadn’t slept.

Paris captured my heart. It is a beautiful city that you would not be disappointed to see. And one you would want to see again. And again.