Paris Was Undoubtedly Built To Impress

I visited France’s capital city for the first time this month. Together, with my family, we boarded a flight from Leeds Bradford Airport to Beauvais Paris Airport— a quick 1 hour and 40-minute journey where we reached Paris at night at around 20:30. Upon landing, our pre-booked taxi picked us up at around 21:30 and left us to our hotel (in Neuilly Plaisance).

Paris, as it turns out, is a fantastic city. To say that it is beautiful would be an understatement. The city always seemed to be alive. There was an energy, even late at night, that I have only felt in New York.

Our tour of the City of Love began with the ‘Eiffel Tower,’ followed by the Seine River cruise, Louvre Museum and an enlightening visit to the Notre dame de Paris. By far, the virtual reality at Ru Amsterdam was the one thing the kids and I loved most.

LOUVRE
The Louvre was amazing to see; it is the biggest museum in the world – they receive about 7.5 million visitors a year. We spent a day there perusing the Near East and Egyptian galleries, to our delight. One of my daughters wanted to tour the Chinese gallery, and it was full of good history to read.

An interesting fact: in 1940, when German forces entered Paris, they sent a special delegation to the famous museum. The Germans were surprised and disappointed as the museum was almost empty!

In August 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War two, all major works of art (including the Mona Lisa) had been transported to several secret hiding places in western and southern France. The Nazis never found them.

After World War II, the hidden items were transported back to Paris and placed in the museum again. Because of this large-scale rescue operation, valuable and famous treasures of art collections survived the war.

Hitler intended to build the biggest museum in Europe in his hometown of Linz, Austria, to display what he regarded as the best of the art. He spent a substantial amount of effort envisioning the museum. It is suggested that Hitler's failure to be a professional artist may have influenced this obsession as he applied to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna twice, 1907 and 1908. He was 18 and 19, respectively.

In general, Hitler didn’t care about preserving anything, anyone or any city. He visited Paris shortly after it fell and decided that it would make a good place for his troops to have for rest and recreation.

But when it was about to fall to the allies again, after D Day he ordered the commander of Paris, General Choltitz, to dynamite the whole city. Choltitz was already suffering from chronic heart disease and was not a well man and he decided to ignore Hitler’s command. So, he surrendered Paris to an advance party of a French tank brigade.

LESSONS
All in all, I have learned lots of new things from the 10-day trip in this beautiful city of Paris. The visit to the zoo and Louvre made me think on how Africa could be making a lot of money out of tourism, but our leaders haven’t really put much thought into this.

There is something to be said its charming architecture, its lovely people although I was surprised to see how empty it is when compared to many areas of the UK. There are abandoned buildings in lots of villages and some towns, too, but all are very well kept. Everything, even the non-famous ones, are quite impressive.

Most of the houses I saw were as big, with big compounds, as the houses in Uganda. The houses in the USA are much bigger,though. People like eating from outside more than inside the house.

The city is much vaster than most people who haven't been there realize. No, you don't just go to Notre Dame, and then the Eiffel Tower on foot. It takes a few hours to walk that distance.

Don't waste your money on the hop-on-hop-off buses. They're not worth it.

In August, Paris can get very hot, and even kind of polluted (especially compared to London which is much windier with fresher/seaside-like wind), so, these summer months can be quite a challenge.

Don’t rent a car for use while you’re in Paris. No one drives in Paris unless they absolutely must, and when you look at some of the streets you can see why. Just keep your ‘Navigo Easy’ train pass throughout your trip for trains and metros.

If you learn a bit about French and Parisian history beforehand, it will most likely enhance your interest in some of its sites. The French love speaking their language so much - some don't understand English at all.

TRANSPORT
The roads compared to the UK are much better, excellent surfaces, superb condition. They are well-designed and well-maintained, a jarring difference to the uneven UK roads I am used to.

The train rides and the subway walks are an interesting mode of transport in Paris. The metro was eventually easy to figure out and it’s extremely clean. Please take the Metro everywhere. The RER goes to the airport as well and is much cheaper than a taxi. Rush hour traffic doesn't affect the underground either, except maybe getting more squished on the train.

We managed to walk a bunch and took several photos at: the pyramids outside the Louvre Museum, the Jardin du Luxembourg, in front of the Eiffel Tower, and along the Seine, lots of museums, zoo, and saw a bunch of architecture.

I hold a deep appreciation for architecture and Paris is a city where you can just walk and admire the most beautiful buildings and gardens. Strolling around is how visitors discover those treasures of small boutiques, patisseries, and coffee shops.

We discovered life as Parisians live it: nice restaurants, bistros, bike rides, and visits to little local markets and supermarkets to buy fruits, meat.

FOOD
Finally, we cannot mention life in Paris without talking about the food. Food and fuel are more expensive than in the UK. But the high-end restaurants and stores alike were to die for— the general quality of the food you can find at your local grocery is very high - much better than London, for instance.

PEOPLE
People say the French can be rude to black people, but I did not find this to be true. To be frank, I do not speak one word of French. Only the occasional “oui’s” and “bonjour’s” in my poor pronunciation were my only aid in communicating— the rest in English. Luckily, this never seemed to pose a problem as the French seemed very accommodating. The experience changed my perspective on Parisians.

The trendy city evokes romantic emotions in the hearts of people. It is also famously known for its cuisines and the warm hospitality of people and art lovers could also spend a lifetime browsing the galleries of the world-famous museums.

Basically, I loved Paris and its people, and hope that I will continue to enjoy visiting the country for many years to come (Brexit permitting). My wife and kids came back happy, allihamudulilah. There are infinite things to do and enjoy in the city of light, and if you ever have the chance, I promise you won’t regret it. Paris is a must-go place in one’s lifetime!

In the words of Henry IV of France: ‘Paris vaut bien une messe,’ a direct translation of, ‘Paris is well worth a mass,’ something I wholeheartedly agree to. --

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba, UK
"Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive." - Henry Steele Commager 1902-98