I have so many stories about Paris by night. During the exchange programme, we were sorely disappointed because Paris by night turned out to be just Paris by evening because we went in May and were told we couldn't stay too late. As a result, as soon as the lights of Paris started coming on, we were indoors once more.To make up for that, a few years later, my sister took me to see the Eiffel Tower by night, and that was another experience altogether.In winter, it's much easier to sit and gaze at the lights of Paris, for night falls conveniently early. Shortly after dusk, two days before Christmas, we made our way towards the Seine and took the famous boat ride through the city. Ah ... Paris! It is special, this city full of magical lights! People talk about the charm of Christmas and how everything is lit up and festive in December, but even without the added festivity, the … [Read more...]
Travelling to France during the Strikes
Only yesterday I read about Paris transport being set to return to normal after a 45-day strike. 45 days. It's a long time. For part of this time, we were in France too, and there, we learned about why these strikes are important to so many people. Despite my faltering, rusty French, we spoke about the gilets jaunes, about the importance of protests and the effect of the proposed pension reforms on teachers, rail workers and others.For many, Christmas 2019 and New Year 2020 were perhaps the worst times to visit France. The country witnessed the longest strike in decades and of course travel plans went awry. A co-passenger on my flight to Paris told me of a friend who visited France for just a day and could not even see the Eiffel Tower because of the strikes.As for me, I realised once more how lucky I am. What began with an exchange programme between Fergusson College and a … [Read more...]
Straight to the Louvre
The conversation I overheard while I was at CDG airport convinced me that I simply had to make the most of my youth and of being young in France.I landed in Paris on the 4th of June, 2006, a Sunday. It was the first Sunday of the month, and I was in Paris. That meant only one thing for us - free entry to the Louvre! So, luggage and all, we went straight to the Louvre.France has always been like that for me. Pack as much as possible, as much as possible, into each minute there. So what if I had spent hours awake, terrified of falling asleep on my co-passenger? So what if I had preferred the beautiful mountains below to the sleep I needed? We went to the Louvre. When would I get the chance again?Later that evening, when I was exhausted and my head was swimming, I thought I had been hallucinating, but it was true. Out of the blue, I met a classmate of mine in the Louvre. To meet … [Read more...]
Flying Alone
"Window or aisle?" "Aisle, please."I took my boarding pass and boarded the flight. No sister with me this time. No one to hold my hand. No one to exchange sparkling glances of excitement with. Sure, I was going to meet her, but on this journey in 2006, I was alone.The journey to Milan from Mumbai was a long one, but I sat straight, willing myself not to fall asleep. What if my head dropped and I leaned against the man sitting next to me? Mortifying! Better to be sleep-deprived. I was travelling alone, I reminded myself, and I had no comfortable shoulder to rest on.Chewing the inside of my cheek, I kept myself awake. I could not bring myself to eat dinner at 2 in the morning, so I drank a glass of water and stared out of the window. The world I was flying over looked like a topo map. I loved topo maps. I found myself marking settlements in my head with red dots, matching the red … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe
That year, we went from Salzburg to Munich. We spent a few hours at Munich and then went to Berlin. And from Berlin, northward to Amsterdam.Our night in Amsterdam was another night out, but after so many journeys and so many crazy backpacking experiences, we'd figured out a few things. We had Eurail passes that we kept gushing about - we could use them.We spent the night on trains. Took a train to Utrecht, then another to Rotterdam, and then one back to Amsterdam. That's how we spent the night. We didn't see tulips or windmills. We did see Rijksmuseum and Anne Frank's house.But honestly, we were exhausted. For a long time, we just sat by a canal and did nothing. We were depressed because we thought we'd lost some money, and we were filled up with all kinds of thoughts and emotions.Fifteen days of glorious backpacking. After Salzburg, I did not write any more; I was too tired. But … [Read more...]
The Eiffel Tower
I was not at all impressed when I first saw the Eiffel Tower. My problem with the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal and the Mona Lisa is that they look just like the pictures. When you go and look at them, there's nothing that you have not already seen or sensed, unlike, for example, when you see the Notre Dame, the Sistine Chapel or the acropolis. When I said this, everybody told me that the charm of the Eiffel Tower lies in how it's lit at night. So my sister and I decided to go at night to see the Eiffel Tower and then take the last train out from Paris back to Grenoble.It was worth it, people were right; the Eiffel Tower was truly beautiful. Paris by night is charming, and the Eiffel Tower carried some of that mood - call it romantic, call it festive, call it anything.We worked out our schedule to the letter, planning perfectly how long the metro-ride to the station would take so that … [Read more...]