Paris is For Awe

Mom and I went to Europe for my high school graduation present to each other and while music was a huge part of the success of the trip, this particular song evokes a memory of awe. A very nice male homosexual guide decided to take me on a short road trip near and around France’s beautiful communities. I mention his sexual preference right off the bat because he insisted there was no ulterior motive other than to show his city off to a pretty young tourist. Naïve, I may have been but cultured and cautious, I was taught to be, so mother allowed this guided event to occur.

I was thrilled. I am near 18, my birthday was eleven days away, and I am being whisked away in a dark-green convertible MG with gold-colored spike wheel covers and the most kick-ass stereo system I had ever heard. “Blaupunc“, he said and I said “no Bonnie Tyler“, and we laughed between broken English and fairly-learned well French from two years in high school learning it before this trip to Europe. Not bad because I had my tour-guide laughing and just beaming his city was appreciated so much.

Paris is very glitzy, especially at night, as people, lights, signs, sounds and music come alive vicariously through the brick facades and curtained-off alleyways. Suddenly every club swings their doors open, every café raises its shutters and blinds and embraces a thirsty, hungry and excited mass of tourists and regulars. The familiar awe of crowds is not so paralyzing because of the spacious arena Parisians have to romp around in. Between the hills and valleys of lush acreage there is a humming of traffic by vehicles and pedestrians and cyclists, mostly cyclists. My tour-guide, after cruising through the back roads of Paris, decides he must park a short distance from one of the seven wonders of the world: the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower was built to honor the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889. This magnificent structure which stands 320.75m including antenna and 7000 tons of steel, it commemorates the centenary of the French Revolution. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII of England, opened the tower. The most exciting thing about this magnificent architectural statue is that just as the song started, I looked up and suddenly felt so small and insignificant. In total awe, a total eclipse of my heart for sure loving something so non-physical and yet so very important. I realized in my stature of insignificance, I too now stood among many who as insignificant as me, became significant to the memory.