Paris: The Highlights (Part 2)

Eiffel, or The Bloody Daylight Never Ends

The one thing Saurabh and I did agree on, architecturally speaking, was Le Tour Eiffel. (Yes, I'm going to be prissy and use French articles when naming French things.) The tower bursts spectacularly into view when you approach it from Trocadero Metro station. Definitely the high point of the trip.

We'd heard that Le Tour Eiffel by night was dazzling, and we thought: what better place to see it from than the top of Le Arc De Triomphe (which is itself magnificent)? So we huffed and puffed and climbed the interminable staircase up the damned arch, knowing we would have only a few minutes at the top because it was 10:45 pm already and the place closed at 11 pm. We reached the top. There were no lights. Because there was still daylight. Because the sun in Paris sets at 10:30 pm.

Our gala "le Tour Eiffel a la soir" (I just invented all that French) experience was consequently hampered.

But the motto of the Saurabh-Nandini team is never-say-die, and we went back the next night at midnight to Trocadero once more. Le Eiffel was truly dazzling. The more interesting experience that night, however, was a close encounter with a pickpocket, who tried to engage us in friendly conversation, unaware that I had been warned about characters like him by my trusty Lonely Planet guide to Paris, and unaware that I had had my eye on him for a couple of minutes by now and had seen him "bump into" somebody already (I only saw him bumping into someone, not actually picking their pocket... but he did look very suspicious). Not that I had anything to fear - I had no money whatsoever in my purse. I did stand very, very close to Saurabh, though, shielding his wallet pocket (PDA squeamishness be damned, we were in Paris).

The pickpocket went off to chat with someone else soon enough, and Saurabh and I just stood there, taking in le view magnifique, hands clamped securely on valuables.

(To Be Continued... dum dum dum daaaaam!)