Why Do I Love Paris?

That is one of those questions that is impossible to answer simply. I believe that certain things or places can strike a deep chord with people, sometimes it has to do with a memory, your heritage or some unknown. My love is an unknown. It started long ago, watching Greg LeMond ride Le Tour de France, at least that is how I remember it. For an hour every Saturday during July they would show a cut down version of the previous weeks events on the Wide World of Sports on ABC, or something like that. The riders would be whizzing past these amazing old castles, mountains, vineyards, fields and monuments and I was enchanted. Not terribly surprising to note that my other passion is biking now. Then the history of France became a focus for me and the more I traveled here, the more enrapt I became. Today everyone knows my fixation, some say obsession for this country and especially Paris. So as I spend a week here now, I have tried to take some time to note what it is I love so much. Here you go:

• Standing in the middle of a bridge over the Seine and looking east to Notre Dame, the Hotel de Ville and the Louvre and west to La Tour Eiffel, the Grand Palais and the Place de la Concorde.
• Buying croissants in the morning for breakfast.
• The meat shop, next to the patisserie, next to the wine shop, next to the fruit stand, next to the cheese shop, next to the "supermarket" the size of a postage stamp. Interspursed with an eyeglass store, a phone store, a shoe store and a house needs shop.
  
• A fabulous Metro system, even when on strike.
• The sound of the sirens.
• Knowing that behind every huge door with a key pad lies a whole world, that I am just now getting to see.
• The light on the river on a sunny day.
• Seeing La Eiffel Tour peek around so many corners.
• Cafes with tiny tables and the seats all facing the street.
• Knowing that people watching is expected.
• The sound of the French language and wishing that I understood more then every 3rd word.
• Knowing that when I leave for this ninth time, I will be ready to come back for my tenth.

Merci pour lire.