When you think of Paris, what’re the first things that pop to mind? The Eiffel tower, rainbow-coloured macaroons, fashion, art, berets, mimes, art of beret-wearing mimes, the louvre, French, all the songs you’ve listened to … Yeah, there’s a lot of things. But for me the first thing that comes to mind is a song from “Anastasia”
“Welcome, my friends, to Paris.
Here, have a flower on me.
Forget where you’re from.
You’re in France!
Children, come!
I’ll show you that French joie de vivre.”
France is such a beautiful country, n’est-ce pas? With such beautiful language and architecture. Many odes, works of art, songs, literature have been composed in honour of the simply magnéfique French and its merveilleuse capital, Paris. By the way, when does all the French start to get annoying?
One of my favourite songs of all time is La Siene by Vanessa Pardis. i simply cannot get enough of either the English or French version.
“She’s resplendent, so confident
La Seine, La Seine, La Seine
I realize, I’m hypnotized
La Seine, La Seine, La Seine”
And the river the song sings about is definitely resplendent. It’s made of water, which is what you usually want your rivers to be made of. (Yes, i know coke seems like a better option but this way is cleaner). The Seine river has gone through a lot (get it?), and witnessed Paris history, and times before Paris. it’s definitely a wonderful experience to travel across the same river the likes of Napoleon crossed.
Of course we can’t talk about La Seine without talking about the famous structure on it. La Seine Musicale was built on an island on the Seine. Solar panels on the sail of the building absorb its heat and glare during the day and generate electricity to light up part of the structure. It’s awe-inspiring for music lovers from all over the world to mix.
Wait, I think there’s another famous structure over the Seine. If you don’t know what the Eiffel tower is, What rock have you been living under and can I come and live there sometimes? Almost everyone in the world except Abeokuta citizens know the Eiffel tower. It’s tall, it’s pointy, and most importantly, it’s instagrammable. Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower, named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Constructed from 1887 to 1889 as the entrance to the 1899 World’s Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France’s leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. (Which goes to show you, Uncle Solomon, that my cat in a Hat doodles in primary school could become priceless art in a hundred years. But I forgive you for my 02 out of 10, genius is so often underappreciated). The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.
Image of Paris at sunrise with the Eiffel Tower.
The Notre Dame cathedral has to be one of the famous books in history. Victor Hugo was all about historical preservation of buildings and wrote a 940 page long book in 1831 called, “Notre-Dame de Paris” which the English Translator changed to “Hunchback of Notre Dame.” because it was more dramatic. This book has gone on to be adapted into several plays, musicals and movies, in both French and English. Victor Hugo must be feeling very victorious (see what I did there) because the building still stands today, and even survived a fire in 2019
The Galeries Lafayette. If you’re a “Hamilton the musical” stan or happened to be livin close to one , you probably already know who Lafeyette is.
“Yo, turns out we have a secret weapon
An immigrant you know and love who’s unafraid to step in
He’s constantly confusing, confounding the British henchmen
Everyone give it up for America’s favorite fighting Frenchman
Lafayette!”
Sadly enough, this building is not about that Laffeyette. But it’s still worth a visit. Finished in 1912, The Galeries Lafayette is one of the most stunning places you’ll ever shop in.
The Louvre. This is one of the most famous art galleries, and the home of the famous Mona Lisa. It has feautured in quite a number of songs, half the time when artistes are flexing and half the time for ‘reasons.’ My absolute favorite non-Disney one is probably Lorde’s “The Louvre.”
“But we’re the greatest, they’ll hang us in the Louvre
Down the back, but who cares, still the Louvre.”
Paris is a beautiful city filled with art, culture and wonder and it’s definitely one of the most beautiful places to visit. A tenth of Paris’ wonder cannot be captured in one article. I do hope you enjoyed this brief glance.
Author’s note: I made no mention of Paris being the “city of love” for the benefit of your single ass. Oh dear, I’ve ruined the whole effect now, haven’t I? Stop reading. Well, if you continued, what did you expect to find?
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