With the collaboration of Gerald Carmen
Photos: Felipe Argote
Paris. The name reminds us of the Trojan prince which according to Homer's poem seduced and abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon, in turn, Resulting in the misfortune of Troy and its inhabitants. But Paris has no relationship with Troy, Achilles, Patroclus and Hector. Neither its name is linked with the chief Paris, who blew himself up along with the Patriarchs in their tribe in the stone of Vigia in what is now Chitre to avoid being chained by the Spanish soldiers, as was before Urracá.
The name Paris comes from a Gallic tribe called the Parisii that inhabited these lands 250 years before Christ until the Germanic tribes of the Franks dominated the site and grantme the capital of his empire in the fourth century.
In the city of Paris tells all in its wake thousands of human events. Every street, every building, every square, every monument are faced with events that marked its history. The first thing that moves us is to meet in the middle of scenario that tells Victor Hugo in his great novel Les Miserables. A passerby seemed to be Jean Valjean, while a traffic policeman was the picture of Javert, the circumspect and tenacious detective who chase Valjean.
All Paris is a great outdoor museum, the centerpiece, the Eiffel Tower, constructed in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel on the occasion of World's Fair rises imposingly in the Field of Mars with its nearly 300 meters high, facing the majestic river Senna. It is estimated that last year more than Six million people visited. The Arc of Triunf, built in the place now called Charles de Gaulle on the Champs-Elysees by Jean Chalgrin, by order of Napoleon Bonaparte to commemorate his victory in 1805 in the Battle of the Three Emperors in Which Napoleon defeated the Russian-Austrian coalition Led by Zar Alexander I.
The Place de la Bastille, where they exist before 1789 called the Bastille prison, taken by the people during the revolutionary epics days that began on 14 July that year. Here stands the monument called the July column 46.3 meters high, crowned by the sculpture's genius Auguste free Dumond. This monument, because of its place and its name is thought that commemorates the storming of the Bastille but was built by order of Louis Philippe of France, to commemorate the revolutionary days of July 1830.
Another stuff are the museums. The Orsay museum, which houses the impressive paintings of the impressionist Vincent Van Gogh and of course the Louvre that it was impossible to go in its entirety and had to settle for the privilege of observing the living room of the Mona Lisa, the Venus di Milo the Greek and Roman sculptures, the Hall of Egypt with the Sphinx, sarcophagi and mummies and the colossal Persians statues of Darius the Great.
The glass pyramid places in the yard and that serves as the entrance to the museum as well remember as Robert Langdon chasing clues in Dan Brown's book, I think it is itself a work of art worthy of being on any other place of Paris. The pyramid, a colossal build by architect Pei Leoh, Cantonese, even after reading the arguments of its apologists and Francois Mitterrand's own reasons, I think it is inappropriate to the surrounding Renaissance building.
The Louvre museum shows in its 68.000 meters of exhibition, 35,000 pieces of a total of 445,000 which it owns, in addition to the 1,400 pieces that travel the world in exhibitions.
Paris at night is magical, outdoor cafes, nightlife, to belonging and strangers. Thats why Paris is the point of greatest tourist attraction worldwide. It is a privilege to see it and live it. Unlike custom in other countries, the French make dinnera ritual . Nothing to sit and be happy if you're served quickly. Before requesting they serve wine, which can be savored leisurely in the middle of an interesting conversation. After at least a couple of drinks is requested dinner that comes in three dishes, plus dessert. We went for dinner not earlier than eight on the night and never finished the evening before eleven. But with the air full of motivation time passes very quickly. Paris is out of all been known. As the poetry of Ruben Dario ... and see her means you will never forget her.
Paris as a city, is the fourth economy in the world after Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It is one of the engines of world economy and by consequence of the European Union.
Leaving the city of light, give my passport to the French police officer at the airport and trying to avoid a smile at him with his cup round cap and blue vest, the striking resemblance to Inspector Clouseau.
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