I arrived to Gare de Lyon train station last Thursday afternoon. When I left the station with my backpacks in tow and began walking around the city I was in awe of how much it felt like I had been here before. The familiar architecture, the central river, the numerous bridges and some of the most recognizable tourist attractions in the world, were the things I soaked in within my first hour in the city of Paris.
It was remarkable how having never been to Paris or even looked at it on a map I knew so many things about it. I felt like a tour guide.
The river
"Over there is the windy, one-way road that runs parallel to the river. It's the road Liam Neeson drove on in Taken to rescue his daughter where he eventually jumped off of...that bridge over there!"
The Louvre
"Does anyone else feel like we just stepped into the filming for The Da Vinci Code? I swear I can hear Tom Hanks and Jean Reno."
The Love-Lock Bridges
"Well the reason people put locks on these bridges is to lock away things of importance to them. In Now You See Me, Mark Ruffalo's character talks about how we all have secret hopes, dreams and loves in life. He referenced how there's no better way to share something with everything, yet no one, than to lock your thoughts away in a lock and toss the key to the bottom of the river where tens of thousands of people have done the same thing. It shows how we're connected, yet so different."
Random street rat
"See that massive rat running across the sidewalk up there? Yea, Pixar wasn't joking."
Notre Dame
"We should go to the top of the bell tower and maybe the Hunchback is still there..."
(Fine, a tour guide of recent pop culture that references Paris, but a tour guide all the same.)
And, of course, the Eiffel Tower which needs no quote to represent its jaw-dropping architecture and wonder because quite simply, there are no words to describe how amazing it is to see in person.
You have either visited the Eiffel Tower or you haven't. Period. And if you fall into the second category all I can say is it never seems real. It's a picture, reference, aura you see and hear about so often that you never think you will have the privilege to experience it with your own eyes.
Walking through the streets and along the river was a unique feeling on its own. Every large building is exactly like every post card, picture and movie has ever made it seem. It was the first city I have ever visited where I felt as though I was transported into a story book. Even when I replay the memories from that weekend I hear stereotypical Paris music in my head; and now I'm sure you can hear it too.
Aside from being the most expensive city in Europe (an argument can be made for London but I believe it's only because they're on the pound; plus they're not part of the EU so they're like Puerto Rico to the US) this city was an absolute treat - literally. The wine was sweet, the crêpes with Nutella were out of this world, and water is always free (something you really appreciate when you live in Spain).
To summarize it all I can only think of one thing.
Paris, yes, is "The City of Lights" and "The City of Love." The lights aspect I don't think anyone can argue, however, I always had a problem with it being called "The City of Love" because of everything I had heard about the way the French behave in a pretentious manner.
Having spent almost three days in Paris I can confidently say it was not given this name because you meet your wife here or meet lovely people, but because you yourself fall in love with the city.
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