Oct 04, Oh yes, I am madly in love. Like all love affairs, my love for Paris did not happen overnight. Neither did I fall in love at first sight. Oh no! I arrived in Paris with my colleague John Eremu, on August 31, at around pm. We were not at the Charles de Gaulle Airport by our hosts. Perhaps they wanted us to discover the French language in an adventurous way. I hardly know French and neither did Eremu. So when a taxi driver approached us, all the little French I knew deserted me.
He could easily misunderstand me. After getting lost a few times, we finally got to our destination. Hotel Nicolo was quite unusual as we were to learn that night. There was more in store for us. Hungry and exhausted, we trudged down the stairs to ask for supper. By now it was pm. I wondered whether food had an obscene meaning in French. I was soon enlightened.
At pm we were walking around Rue de Passy looking for food. I decided then that I hated France. But all this changed the next day when we went on a tour of Paris. I had never seen such beauty in one place before. The flowers, streets, buildings and the eiffel tower were mind blowing.
I was rather disappointed by the Eiffel Tower because it looked dull. What impre-ssed me though was that it was built in the 19th century for a World Exhibit-ion and has stood the test of time. The roadside cafes, the beautifully crafted buildings and bridges were simply breathtaking.
Paris is romantic. It is the norm here to see couples of all ages kissing at every corner, especially over the weekend when the sun is out. Little wonder when you look around. I noted with great interest that there were many statues of naked men around the city. Curiously, the statues of women had perky breasts and large feet! As we drove past the residence of the Saudi ambassador, we were told 30 Mercedes Benzes had been specially flown in from Germany for his use, talk about extravagance.
