Is Álainn é an Saol : Paris and Versailles

Arc de Triomphe

What is left to say about the beauty of Paris that has not already been said....and by commentators far more witty and eloquent than I?

“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.” – Thomas Jefferson

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” – Ernest Hemingway

“There is but one Paris and however hard living may be here, and if it became worse and harder even—the French air clears up the brain and does good—a world of good.” - Vincent van Gogh

“An artist has no home in Europe except in Paris.” -Friedrich Nietzsche

Paris, the City of Light, la Ville-Lumière, founded by Celts in the 3^rd century BC along the banks of the River Seine, is truly one of the most beautiful cities I have seen. Nearly every street boasts landmarks rich with history from Gallo-Roman to Medieval to the period of Enlightened Revolution to Napoleonic, and it is almost impossible not be riveted and inspired by the beauty which can be found in every direction.

I went for a week in 2012, and 7 days was still not sufficient to explore all I wanted. But my favorite memories include being awed by Jacques-Louis David’s Le Sacre de Napoléon in the Louvre, getting lost in both Montmartre and the Marais and stumbling upon quaint cafes and beautiful chapels, visiting the Military Museum and tomb of Napoleon I, and walking the gardens of Versailles.

I only got halfway up the Eiffel Tower and didn’t spend much time on the Champs-Élysées as I’m not much of a shopper. But I did spend hours walking along the banks of the Seine and through sprawling gardens and in museums and cathedrals and crypts. And I can’t imagine not falling in love with Paris…..or planning a return from nearly the moment I left.