Paris, here I come!

With just a few short hours left before i hop on my gruelling flight to the the elegant city of Paris I thought i’d share with you a passage from page 23 of Nagel’s Guide to Paris titled; ‘Employment of time’.

To “see’ Paris, more or less, the formula “a month in Paris” is as indespensable as a “month in Rome” is for the Italian Capital. A sojourn of four weeks in Paris is not too long for anyone who desires to have a complete idea and to devote to the principal collections and monuments more than a passing glance. One may also thus avoid the fatigue resulting from too hastly visits.

A fortnight however may suffice, if needs be, to make an exact survey of Paris, without, nevertheless, being able to visit thoroughly the big collections, or have much rest.

It may be added that one can visit Paris in a week, naturally without making any serious or deep study of the city, by a week, we mean eight days completely filled up, every minute taken from morning until night. For such a visit one must be blessed with good health, for nothing is more tiring than walking about a city, entering churches and visiting museums, in a word sight-seeing all day long amid a continual movement of the population which is not the least attractive spectacle of a city like Paris but which leads to an undeniable fatigue.

Well, without the luxury of a month in Paris, or even a fortnight, i’m going to have to employ my time well… Having visited Paris twice before, I’m more intrigued by the small details, the culture, the cafes, the little alleyways and hidden courtyards, than the big tourist traps… but the Eiffel Tower does have a mysterious and continuing allure which might see me head back time and again.

To my one or two readers 🙂 strap yourselves in… I’m about to step back in time and i hope you’ll come with me for the ride!

Au revoir et salut!

Reece 01/01/2010