A la prochaine - Paris

This must have been the great opportunity that I have had in the summer to visit Paris this year.The stirring sights and delights reflected my enthusiasm each day with much to see and enjoy as I explore the major landmarks of the cities on foot.These things met my expectations and even multiplied my admiration to diverse, arcaded passages and impressive architecture of many Romainville buildings.With the panoply of historical scenery and lush descriptions of some of the facets, I was convinced that it was another horizon for me with significant relationship to my background as Filipino and to my enduring quest for learning.

It came to my mind what the 19th English poet and critic Matthew Arnold once said, "A pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know; on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world."On one of my experiences in traveling, I could not think of anything that describes the inner quest of each artistic work shown in various landmarks of the city except a goal to perfection with all the details in craftsmanship.Much of the city had diverse menus of landmarks embellished with tapestries, cobblestones, courtyards, and lovely parks.Like a treasure-trove of art, history, and culture, the growth ethic of international recognition had strongly been claimed without doubt and in the widespread belief that had even grown in legendary proportions.

By the time I arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport in the morning of rush hour, I started to read the map and learn how to take the subways.With my limited knowledge of French, I was so pleased to meet some of the locals who helped me find the way to get to places I wanted to visit.

This heightened need as a stranger in this city had an effect a better understanding of what it means to be a migrant.I felt that.However, I tried to counterbalance it by being courageous to ask for information.From there in the airport, I bought two tickets, i.e. RER B[1] to Station Roissypole that took me to La Chapelle and from there to Porte Dauphine where I would be heading for the place to stay; the second ticket was for a five-day visit in Paris which cost me the total amount of €36.Immediately, I took the elevator down the Boutique level to catch the shuttle train.

La politesse was certainly a plus for them especially in their usual salutations such as Bonjour Monsieur, Pardon, S'il vous plait or Au revoir."These are rooted in their culture and they made me feel good after being acknowledged.

It was noontime when I got to the city where I would be staying near the Arc de Triomphe in Charles de Gaulle Étoile.While walking I noticed how Parisians enjoyed toting their baguettes as they were heading for their destinations either in the subways or in the streets.Some restaurant tables spilled out onto cobblestones or plazas.I was amazed to see a huge crowd dining amid all the noise and summer humidity.There was no air-conditioning as this was common in Europe.This reminded me of some bars, taverns, and some restaurants in Montréal, Canada.

I stopped by McDonald to have a light sandwich and soda.Then off I went to the place where I would be staying.[2]After having rested a bit, I decided to take a walk on Champs Elysees Blvd. which is like Times Square of New York.Tourists stroll and take pictures.Shops, restaurants, bars, and other business centers like Louis Vuitton, Celio, Swarowski, Public Drugstore, Adidas, Marriott and Quick were swamped with people from all walks of life.

The following day I started to explore the city.I went first to see where the church was.I tried to take Line 2 that was bound for Nation.I got off on Gare du Nord and took another train Line 5 bound for Gare de l'Est.Right at the corner of the street I saw Paroisse Saint-Laurent[3] on Boulevard Magenta.I attended mass in French.This was the first church I attended for mass.

I met up with my former friend and classmate Raquel Manalang who took me to Basilique de Sacré Coeur for a visit.We got off on Anvers and just across the street right up in the hill was the church itself. Again, there were a lot of tourists and pilgrims from all over the world.We took some pictures.

American novelist in the 19th century Nathaniel Hawthorne once said, "I never knew what a palace was until I had a glimpse of the Louvre."He made sense to me seeing those majestic palaces and beautiful gardens around. They made me think of those villas and castles in Munich, Salzburg, Neuschwanstein or the Bavarian mountains.Indeed, they amazed me with awe how they were able to build them with such artistry, beauty and quality of architectural designs.We also took some pictures and then headed for Léon de Bruxelles restaurant where we ordered for a yummy mussel's meal.

Afterwards, we walked through the street passing the place where Princess Diana and her friend Dodi al Fayed died in a car accident in the Pont-de-l'Alma road tunnel.[4]We went to Bateaux-Mouches[5]pier where we took the sightseeing cruise along the bank.With the usual itineraries of the boat that lasted for an hour, we traced the scenic route and the historic landmarks lining the Seine, along with splendid bridges.One of them was the Pont-Neuf bridge which is considered the oldest whose first stone was laid in 1578 by Henri II in the presence of Queen Mother - Catherine de Médicis.[6]And the newest one which was completed in the summer of 1996 was the Pont-Charles-de-Gaulle built to accommodate the recent influx of traffic from various grands projets.[7]We saw the following from the Seine River while passing: Trocadéro, Tour Eiffel,[8] Grand Palais, Hôtel des Invalides, Concorde, Musée d'Orsay, Musée du Louvre, Institut de France, Notre Dame, Hôtel de Ville, the Grand Biblioteque, and Bercy.

Personally, I could not understand well the narration about those significant places mentioned due to noise and distraction of passengers who take pictures.But it was a good experience for me in an open excursion boat that, at least, it gave me a bird's eye view of the city from the river Seine.

We proceeded to Eiffel Tower[9] where we took some pictures and bought some souvenirs.Heat was scorching and a mammoth crowd of tourists was on line to go up the tower.We decided not to join them due to strong humidity and the long line of tourists.Instead, we moved on and continued walking until we reached Trocadéro Park where we stayed to watch on big screen the live telecast of World Cup 2010 held in South Africa.It was the major step to soccer eliminations for final championship between Germany and Spain.It amazed me the huge turn up of so many young people shouting boisterously.Their flags were displayed and waved all over.The whole park was completely swamped with watchers from across the country and overseas.Some of them were tourists and pilgrims.

At rush hour just before the game was about to conclude and we were already heading back home, subways had started to get crowded.Trains were not air-conditioned.People were in a hurry.So I decided to go home on foot.We parted our ways and promised each other that we would see each other again.

But one thing I noticed as I was crossing Pont Alexandre III[10] to pass the Champs-Élysées Blvd. was that there were still some beggars that one could see in public places.There were some entertainers, too, singing or playing instruments in subways asking for alms or donations.

Two days after, we took the so-called Paris City Hop-on Hop-off tour to get around town.It was good to see the major top attractions of the city such as the Louvre,[11] the Glass Pyramid, Notre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower, Musée d'Orsay, Arc de Triomphe, Sorbonne University, L'Ecole Militaire, Hotel des Invalides, and of course, Champs-Elysées.Disneyland Paris was not included though.But as a whole, we enjoyed sightseeing amid the hot spells of the day.

It was getting dark already and so we decided to have dinner in one of the restaurants on Faubourg Montmartre named Peninsula.It was Chinese buffet and so we really savored and enjoyed the food they served.But there was not much a choice as we could have seen in the States like in New York, for instance.Then we headed back to Champs-Elysées to stroll for window shopping and taking pictures.At night time it was beautiful.For me, it was a double pleasure for the spirit seeing different peoples across cultures and the lovely items displayed in various shops.In France there's a familiar expression, 'léche-vitrine' which translates literally as 'lick the window.'And we did that.Lovely windows, indeed!Perhaps we had empty pockets for costly items like perfume, t-shirts, slacks, shoes.However, I bought some nice post cards.That made the difference as we wound up the day with a lot of fun, jokes and laughter.

I passed by the bakery 'patisserie' to get some fresh croissants, bananas and a bottle of water for my breakfast.Truly, food in Paris was also expensive.

The day after I went to mass at St-Louis d'Antin Parish.[12]I took the Métro from Ternes station and got off on Villiers, the third stop, and transferred to another train heading for Gallieni.Then I got off on Saint-Lazare known as the second busiest in Paris. Its terminus train station was huge and according to the locales it has 27 platforms bound for six destination groups.It was like Union Square for me.

As many streets in Paris have gutters running down the middle and cobblestones in many parts of the city, I came to notice how impatient drivers were.Honking was like a common melody on the road especially at rush hours.Here I discovered the fashion and culinary delights from the Department Stores of Galeries, Lafayette and Printemps.I was told that it was an expensive area.

I also saw the beautiful Opera building and other churches which I visited like l'Eglise de la Trinité,[13] and the Paroisse Saint-Augustin on Avenue César Caire where I saw some memoirs of Blessed Charles de Foucauld, founder of The Little Brothers and Little Sisters of Jesus being displayed in one of the chapels.They were precious memorabilia and indeed, classic examples of gothic and baroque architectures.Beautiful!

Then I visited Bastille[14] known as the Bastille-Saint-Antoine, the 'fortress-prison in Paris.French people celebrate its commemoration on 14th July as the Fête de la Fédération (Bastille Day).I could not believe how they celebrated it with all the fireworks and revelries same thing with the 4th of July among the Americans.

I also visited the house of Victor Hugo,[15] 19th century French novelist and exponent of the Romantic Movement in France.But I was not able to get in due to prescribed schedule of visits.I came on a Monday and visitation starts on a Tuesday.I was quite disappointed but I moved on to see those shops around the area.I took my lunch there, too, with baguette, French fries, and soda.

After lunch, I headed for St Michel where I walked to visit the church of St-Germain-des-Prés,[16] the oldest church in Paris which was built by the Merovingian King Childebert in 542 to house holy relics.It was rebuilt thrice, i.e. 11th century, 19th century, and in the 1990s, respectively.They said that it was a very influential Benedictine abbey.

However, during the French Revolution it was razed by fire.But it's good to know, too, that the 3 original Romanesque belfries still remain and they are the oldest in France.It says in the pamphlet that the skull of René Descartes, the 17th century mathematician and philosopher, along with the body of John Casimir, a 17th century king of Poland who was abbot of St-Germain, are buried inside the church.The architectural design of the interior side has a Romanesque nave and a Gothic choir.

I said a little prayer and lit a candle.Each chapel had a statue of a saint and people prayed in silence.Others took pictures while another group of pilgrims and tourists listened to their tour guide.I got a copy of mass schedule and took a couple of pictures.Then I moved on to visit the church of St Sulpice[17] that stands on the southern side of the Seine in Paris, close to the Il-de-la-Cité, a little north of the Palais-du-Luxembourg.As far as I remember, this is also one of the locations that Dan Brown featured in his novel Da Vinci Code.Its interior side was embellished with massive baroque architecture.

There was something that caught my attention as I was slowly looking at the details of the interior church.Like other churches of Paris, there are no pews, but rows of chairs.I noticed that more references were given to Mary Magdalene though many claimed that it was the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A cluster of young men and women were gathered around the patio with their backpacks.They were Americans.I was so pleased to know that they had this great love for history and culture, along with their sense of appreciation for architectural designs of many churches and edifices in Paris.

While window shopping was a favorite pastime elsewhere in Paris, I was interested to visit music store for some classical pieces.I found one along the corner of Seine River near St Michel where I bought Debussy's Clair de Lune and Mozart's Sonata in G Major.And they cost me €7.00 each.I continued walking until I got to Institut de France - La Sorbonne.I took some pictures from outside and then I headed back to Notre-Dame.Along the bridge I saw a young woman playing the guitar while singing.Passers-by would drop some coins in the basket.I said to my self, 'this is another source of income, nice job!'

I wanted to use the rest room (toilet) before heading back home.I thought I did not have some coins left.But luckily when I reached my pocket I got one euro and that enabled me to get in to the WC. When I came out I realized that I had an appointment with my friend for dinner.So I rushed to take the Métro en route to Porte Dauphine.I took the train via La Défense and got off on Charles de Gaulle Etoile which was just a walking distance from my place.

The following day I attended mass again at St Louis d'Antin on Place d'Estienne d'Orves in St Lazare.There was a good attendance of people in church. However, when I needed to use the rest room, I had to put in €.20 to enable me to get in.Afterwards, I headed back home to get my camera.

It's interesting to see how the Parisians especially the young ones get attached to the hotbed of mobile communication and ipod music.Almost everybody in the train had a mobile phone.Still thriving in the French capital, a diverse blend of cultures especially from Algeria, Africa, Turkey, and other Mediterranean countries was pretty evident.Most of them were Muslims while others might not be practicing their faiths.

I went to see the famous Moulin Rouge in Pigalle.It was like the Broadway musical in New York.I asked a Belgian guy who was in the lobby to take me a couple of snapshots.But looking around, I found the area quite filthy and crowded.It reminded me of Ermita in Manila.There were lots of tourists.Souvenirs shops, restaurants, bars, a store for musical instruments, and sex shops were all found here.I bought some post cards and a few souvenirs.

In Barbès Rochechouart, I went to the Internet Café to check my emails and facebook updates.Then I went to Gare du Nord Train Station to buy those chocolate croissants for my breakfast.The influx of passengers across the country was unbelievable.A lot of people were always on the move.Truly, there was the panoply of voices that tells me each person had his own plan for the summer.

The anxiety that I had at the beginning since I arrived here was complemented with the thrill of grabbing other opportunities that made me confident and enthusiastic to learn something new each day.Like many tourists, I felt the sting of being a stranger but that did not prevent me from running my own schedule or asking questions from others whenever called for.To budget my allowance was another major concern that played a part in my sojourn in this city.It was worth doing that as I took a step to take the Métro every day.

The many facets of Paris and its contents to the wealth of human horizons had a spark light in sight, a considerable insight into my life as a man who's always on the move.It was, indeed, an experience of great value; a colorful outlook in life that had steadily been developed in me and at the same time brought me into focus: humanity vis-a-vis civilization.

[1] RER B departure is every day from 4:56 am to 11:56 pm, every 4 minutes, from station at Roissypole and Terminal 2 (Tickets - approx. 8 €) and travel passes covering zones 1 to 5.It can be purchased from the ticket offices and machines in RER stations.

[2] Wagram - 5, rue Poncelet 75017 Tel (00 33 0 147 6413 17) near Ternes bound for Porte Dauphine

[3]www.asaintlaurent.com Métro: Gare de lEst (lignes 4, 5 et 7).

[4] cf. The Daily Telegraph (London). 31 August 1997.Archived from the original on 2002-11-13.

[5] East of the Pont-de-l'Alma, in front of the Trocádero and across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.The term bateaux-mouches in literal translation is "fly-boats".It was derived from an area of Lyon where the predecessors of these boats were first built by the Félizate shipyard in 1863, before being introduced to Paris at the end of the 19th century.The various arms of the Rhône River in a marshy are of the river valley around Lyon were called "mouches".Apparently, the boats whose shallow hulls were well-suited for the purpose were commonly found navigating these "mouches".There is another theory o the origins of the term, one which is based on an entry in Robert historique de la langue francaise (Le Robert, 1992,-1998, volume II, p. 2300, article "mouche").The entry states that the word mouche was once a colloquial or slang expression for "spy" (see modern word: mouchard).With this in mind, the nickname of mouche was conferred upon a small warship in 1814, and subsequently to a small steamship in 1867.Thus, bateau mouche was adopted to designate any similarly styled vessel.

[6] cf. Bridges of Paris, web pages hosted by the Mairie de Paris

[7] cf. Les Ponts-de_Paris, web page hosted by L'Histoire en Ligne (webmaster: Denis Blondeau).

[8]www.paris in photos.For a time it stood as the tallest structure in the world, until New York built the Chrysler Building.The Eiffel Tower has its height of 324 meters (1063 feet), weight: 10,000 tonnes; steps 1660; construction period: 2 years, 2 months, 5 days; maintenance painted every 7 years, using 50 tonnes of paint.Requires 25 men painting throught the year.It was built between 1887 and 1889 for the 1889 World Fair (Exposition Universelle), the centennial celebration of the French Revolution, and was opened by the English King, Edward VII.Surprisingly only one man was killed during its construction, during the fitting of the Otis Elevator: Gustave had been particularly meticulous when it came to safety.In the early 1900's the tower was used for radio transmissions, and for a period during German occupation in World War II, the Germans used it for their television broadcasts.During this occupation, French saboteurs cut the lift cables forcing Adolf Hitler to climb the stairs to the summit - he later ordered the destruction of the tower, but the German General instructed to carry this out refused his orders for fear of the infamy, history would bestow upon him.Since 1957, the tower is used for transmission of TV and radio.

[9] Its name was derived from Alexandre Gustave Eiffel.He was the engineer not only behind the Eiffel Tower, but many other structures including the Statue of Liberty.It was built for the previous 1889 French exposition and was taken over by the Germans during World War II.

[10] It says that one of the requirements for the construction of this bridge was that it must not obstruct views of the Invalides and Champs-Élysées, so as a result it only reaches a height of six meters.The bridge features some exquisite Art Nouveau lamps, cherubs, Nymphs and golden Pegasus horses, the Nymphs on the upstream side of the bridge carry the weapons of the Parisians, whereas the Nymphs downstream, carry the weapons of Russia.The bridge's name itself, came of Russia, and whose son laid the first foundation stone in 1896.

[11] cf. About.com Paris.It is extremely huge.Housed in the Palais du Louvre, the former seat of French royalty, the Louvre emerged in the 12th century as a medieval fortress, slowly evolving toward its status as a public arts museum during the French Revolution in the late 18th century.Since then, it has become the world's most visited museum, and an enduring symbol of French excellence in the arts.

[12] 4, rue de Castellane - 75008 Paris.

[13] Place d'Estienne d'Orves - 75009 Paris - www.latriniteparis.com - Métro Trinité/Saint Lazare - RER Auber

[14] cf. Wikipedia. Bastille is a French word meaning "castle" or "stronghold", or "bastion", used with a definite article (la Bastille in French, the Bastille in English), it refers to the prison Medieval fortress in Paris that became a symbol of despotism.In the 17th-18th centuries, the Bastille was used as a French state prison and a place for detention for important persons.On July 14, 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution, an armed mob of Parisians captured the fortress and released its prisoners, a dramatic action that came to symbolize the end of the ancien régime.The Bastille was subsequently demolished by the Revolutionary government.This has been a French national holiday since 1880.

[15]ibid.(26 February 1802 - 22 May 1885).Outside France, his best-known works are his novels, Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

[16] Eglise Saint-Germaine-des-Prés - 3 Place Saint-Germaine-des-Prés - 75006 Paris.www.eglise.sgp.org

[17]Métro:StSulpice.www.frommers.com/destinations/paris/A25304.html#ixzz0wnFYhAj3 The 1844 fountain by Visconti displays the sculpted likenesses of four bishops of the Louis XIV era: Fenelon, Massillon, Bossuet, and Flechier.Work on the church, at one time Paris' largest, began in 1646.Though laborers built the body by 1745, work on the bell towers continued until 1780, when one was finished and the other left incomplete.One of the priceless treasures inside is Servandoni's rococo Chapelle-de-la-Madone (Chapel of the Madonna), with a Pigalle statue of the Virgin.The church has one of the world's largest organs, comprising 6,700 pipes; it has been played by musicians such as Marcel Dupré and Charles -Marie Widor.