Around the World: Part Eight

A Night in the City of Light

We boarded the bus and were off to a mesmerizing night journey. We reached the venue a few minutes before the midnight stroke. We clicked the illuminated Eiffel tower; eyes were filled with its yellow-orange light projections. At the stroke of midnight, the Eiffel Tower was adorned with its golden covering and sparkles (consisting of 20000 randomly light up bulbs) for a couple of minutes. What all could be captured, videoed and photographed was done and we left the venue for the city orientation tour.

Paris is the capital of France; call it the city of Love, city of Light, city of Fashion. Most of the monuments are illuminated at night; we did view a few from our bus:

Place de la Concorde

It is one of the major public squares (Place means a square) in Paris, notable for the executions under a guillotine (the culprits head is cut off from the body) in front of the crowds during the French Revolution. One of the executions included that of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.

Louvre Museum (Musee du Louvre)

It’s the world’s largest art museum; includes the famous Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting. The Louvre Pyramid, which serves as the main entrance to the museum, is a large glass and metal pyramid, illuminated in the night.

Arc de Triomphe (Triumphal arch of the star)

This famous monument is located at the western end of Champs-Elysees, at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle. The star is a juncture, radiating twelve avenues. Beneath the arch at ground level lies the Tomb of Unknown Soldier. The Unknown Soldier was laid to rest in 1921, in honor of the 1.3 million French soldiers who lost their lives in World War I. There are four main sculptor groups per pillar: Le Triomphe de 1810 features the crowning of Napoleon Bonaparte. There are six reliefs sculpted on the facades depicting moments of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s era. Names of the French soldiers and wars are engraved on the inner walls.

We returned to the hotel at quarter to one. Next day’s program was WhatsApped to us and also the magic numbers. We were travelling to another country tomorrow. Co-travelers do share in our experience on Paris in the comments below.

Read next: Around the World: Part Nine