“In Paris, everybody wants to be an actor; nobody is content to be a spectator.” - Jean Cocteau

My first time in Paris was nothing short of sheer brilliance. A place that has moved me the most, a place where I felt proud looking at the wonderful buildings, wonderful people & where I felt like a celebrity. It is tough to find a place which brings instant gratification when looking at buildings & cathedrals; a place which makes you feel at home instantly; a place where you feel like crying out loud to God and thank him for making "Paree". But all this ranting would have not been possible without my company Result AB. Our kick-off / meeting with other offices took place in Paris & thanks to them, I managed to party at those "hip" places rubbing arms, shoulders (& much more) with those French babes (Stockholm women are still is ahead in terms of beauty & overall complexion) and managing to convince them that an Indian is not a person who says "Wobbeling wobbeling baby" (Courtesy Russel Peters).

I managed to get just about half a day to go around Paris. My colleagues have been to Paris a dozen times at least before & they were not interested in coming for an afternoon of sightseeing; they rightly preferred to sip some wine instead. So with no time to lose, I decided to take a map & with the help of my French colleagues at Result, managed to mark those must see places, took out my camera & started on what turned out to be one of the best "afternoon with myself enjoying my own company". Our French office is located right at Champs-Élysées. Champs-Élysées kicks your mood to dizzying heights - Place de la Concorde in the east, with its obelisk, to the Place Charles de Gaulle (formerly the Place de l'Étoile) in the west, location of the Arc de Triomphe. Literally translated as the most beautiful street in the world, it is the home for thousands of bars, restaurants, clothing outlets & with millions of visitors flocking on the street, on bi-cycles, on cars & those sight seeing buses, it is hard to control your urge to jump about pinching yourself that "You are in Paris my boy" or as in ratatouille, ask yourself time & again "Am I in Paris?".

I spent about 30 minutes taking pictures around the street ( & in the process drained my battery life heavily only to find my camera dying near Louvre towards the fag end of my evening). The train system is excellent & very detailed which meant that getting around every nook & corner in the city was darn simple. My first stop was Eiffel Tower. I had to walk quite a bit to view the Eiffel. My walk encompassed 2 museums forming an arch on the front side of the Eiffel. Once you come into open air, you will the find the tower slowly but gracefully appearing to your eye balls - now its time your heart skips couple of beats. I had goosebumps all over my body, shocked & dazed by the sheer magnificence of the sight, it took me more than 5 minutes, more than 1 knock over my shoulder to get me back crashing to earth from the ecstatic state I was in. I then ignored requests from strangers to capture some pictures for them & instead ran down to get close to Eiffel. The sight just got better & better as you went closer & it just made me feel smaller as I got closer. The height was dizzying, the image was daunting & those souvenirs shops outside the Eiffel just makes your experience complete. Those key chains, those shirts with the Eiffel tower, those postcards, the French flag - I just wished I could take home everything. Once I got near the Eiffel, the queue was so long that I did not have the patience nor the time to wait to get on the building. I was not saddened to not get up the Eiffel, as I knew for sure that I will come back to Paris before I get back to Singapore; I also would have to keep some unvisited sights for someone who will be joining me in my second trip to Paris & who loves Paris much more than I do. It would not be an understatement to say that I enjoyed Paris not just because it was "Paris" nor because I have read about Paris & its beauty before, but probably because of this person's sheer excitement & energy when talking about Paris. The wait for this trip is not long & the prospects look out of the world to say the least.

I managed to get some views of nortre dame , Louvre & walked along the river seine, got myself a charcoal portrait (picture below), all this to treasure those 3 days of my life - where I was in an extreme state of excitement, where work combined with excitement, where everything fell into place, where the screamings on the train (not to open the door just because it was so full) did not scare me but surprisingly amused me, where I felt proud to have French friends who have always been humble about Paris, where I met so many people along the way, got so many friends & more so felt this was truly a place where I would love to spend some years of my life, enjoying life, enjoying love & most importantly enjoying the beautiful sight of Paree.