I love Paris every moment
Posted March 31st, 2018, 10:36 AM IST
I visited for four nights very recently because the ‘City of Light’ seems so much closer now with the direct flight from Chennai. This was my fifth trip to Paris but I was going there after a gap of 15 years. My London-based friend Fiona Goldman joined me. We had holidayed together during my last Paris trip. She arrived by the Eurostar, full of ‘joie de vivre’.
I was prepared for the unseasonable drop in the mercury. Hail to those trusted weather forecasters! The temperature was a chilly - 1 degree C when I landed fresh as a daisy and settled into a cab. The view from my cab window was a landscape of fleece-like snow with snowflakes settled snugly on the trees. An icy welcome to Paris? Hardly! It was picture-postcard perfect.
My trip was a happy balance of revisiting old haunts and discovering new attractions. Of course, paying homage to the iconic Eiffel Tower when it takes on a glorious golden hue at night is a pre-given. I did just that after the Bateaux Parisiens dinner cruise. Since the waters of the Seine were surging high, our boat could not go under the ‘ponts’ or bridges. Instead, we navigated the waters on the outskirts of Paris and we had an unexpected change of scenario.
We passed the impressive Microsoft office building, all the floors lit up. The tech-wizards were evidently hard at work keeping to US time. I could imagine Bill Gates smiling broadly. It’s always fun to do touristy things like posing for a jaunty picture. The boat’s photographer was prancing around trying to capture great angles. As a dinner cruise it was a most relaxing couple of hours. On stepping off the boat, an Indian flower seller gifted me a bouquet of roses. In a generous moment, I tipped him 10 Euros and he got us a taxi to drop us to our hotel. More than the tip, he seemed delighted at conversing in Hindi with a fellow Indian.
When in Paris, a visit to the legendary Lido situated on the famed Champs-Élysées is a must. If I say their show ‘Paris Merveilles’ is spectacular I am being a master of the art of understatement! The Bluebell girls, the feathers, the plumes, the music, the superb dinner… every dramatic note that elevates an evening at the Lido with Gallic flair lives on. Yet there is an infusion of a new dynamism.
We opted for the 3-course gourmet dinner accompanied by champagne before the show. My favourite starter —foie gras —melted in my mouth. After dinner the houselights dimmed.The one and a half hour performance was visually and rivetingly arresting. I even forgot to sip the remaining bubbly. Like us, the entire audience was transfixed. As a show it was extravagant, sensual, modern and daring. On an evening like this even the superlative dinner and champagne came second. ‘Paris Merveilles’ reigned supreme and tantalisingly seduced our senses. On the way out after donning my coat and scarf I could not resist taking a photo with the tres chic mannequins near the entrance.
We returned to our hotel with our spirits flying high. The morning beckoned to a brand new day full of promise …. In Gay Paree (To be continued)
- Kukatpally, Old City and Tolichowki made their mark as the city's top street food hubs
- Political leaders attend grand Alia Balai programme in Hyderabad
- Over 7,500 daily steps before surgery tied to fewer complications
- Deepika talks mental health with corporate bosses
- Sweet Shop - Owners of Calcutta and Other Ideas: Taste the universe
- Life in motion
- Witness The Most Riveting Courtroom Drama of The Year
- Mind-Body Synergy: Embracing Profound Connection Between Mental and Physical Health
- Red Haute Alert
- WWF-India Hosts Second Earth Series Talk: "A Tale of Two Cats"
- Hyderabad entrepreneurs ‘Modify’ clothes from aloe vera to orange peel
- How to Apply Onion Juice to Hair
- Patriotism is in thing, it’s Tricolour everywhere
- Celebs too wear fakes of reputed brands
- Elon Musk on fun trail says 'buying Coca Cola next'
More Lifestyle News
- Aditi Rao Hydari misses ‘Heeramandi’ event after wedding
- Bigg Boss winner Munawar Faruqui among 14 detained in Mumbai raid
- Mrunal Thakur follows ‘grandma diet,’ believes in not skipping meals
- Selena Gomez shares makeup-free selfies on Instagram
- Diljit collaborates with Saweetie for ‘Khutti’ Song, says ‘she just landed in Punjab’
- Malaika Arora, Arjun Kapoor, Richa, Ali Fazal, Farah, and more at KJo’s Bash
- Jamie Lever is ‘honoured’ to represent her heritage with Telugu debut film
- Janhvi and Aditya Roy Kapur shine on the ramp for Kalki at Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI
- I am fond of Kate Moss, says Diana Penty, about her fashion icon
- Kriti Kharbanda, Pulkit Samrat share pictures from dreamy wedding
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: file_get_contents(): http:// wrapper is disabled in the server configuration by allow_url_fopen=0
Filename: views/newsdetails.php
Line Number: 29
Backtrace:
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/views/newsdetails.php
Line: 29
Function: file_get_contents
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 135
Function: view
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 83
Function: newsdetails
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: file_get_contents(http://www.indiaaffiliates.in/ads.php?size=300X250): failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found
Filename: views/newsdetails.php
Line Number: 29
Backtrace:
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/views/newsdetails.php
Line: 29
Function: file_get_contents
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 135
Function: view
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 83
Function: newsdetails
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once