That night , I cried ...

One might say that crying is merely a biological process humans and most animals are capable of. A mere act of releasing saline fluid loaded with protein and water from lacrimal glands present in the human eye.Ah! and not to forget, there is definitely this 'forever-complex' neural connection between lacrimose glands and the human brain with the notorious hormones doing their little stunt in between :P but doesn't it seem like there is something more to all of this ? Something more intriguing ? Some uncracked mystery ? Something subtle yet profound ?

Tears say it all, don't they ?

They come out when you can no longer use your tongue to utter words , when you can no longer use your pen to write down your thoughts, when you can no longer use your tactile senses to enact or perform an action, when you have something within you that your heart can no longer endure.An expression that bypasses barriers of all kinds , be it cultural,racial,territorial or lingual.They share no boundaries , no limitations ,no regulations.They are what they are , how they are , when they are ..Tears , plain tears ..

Yes, that night , I cried ...

With the sweetness of macaroons ( from Ladurée ) still tingling my tongue ,I continued on with my journey through the 'Oh-so-amazing !' Champs-Elysées and reached Arc De Triomphe a.k.a Bombay's Gateway of India or even better, Delhi's India Gate .Just that this was a French version of the same monument :) Okay fine, with all respect and giving AOT its due credit , this is the only monument in Paris that gives Eiffel Tower a run for its money.Everyone who goes to see ET visits AOT ,giving AOT its fair share of glory :) Reason ? It's historical significance.It honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces.Told ya ...Ditto , India Gate :P.

So here I was standing in front of this super famous monument wanting to go close to take a self-guided audio tour ,learn more about its historical value and more importantly take a few selfies and put them on instagram but then a question dawned upon me which maxed out my grey cells.The question was,"How do I  cross this damn road and get to the other side?"

For those who do not know ,the roundabout surrounding AOT is the world's craziest.I'm not kidding ! With traffic from 12 major avenues feeding into it, there is a strict 'never-to-ever-dare-cross-this-one' policy slapped onto it :) The roundabout is 10 lanes wide but unlike the roads, roundabouts in Paris have no lane markings making this a fantastic entertainment opportunity.One can spend hours just standing on the side of the road watching the traffic negotiate.The rule for use of these roundabouts is that under no circumstances should you use your indicator to show people what your intentions are. Instead, weave in and out of the ‘lanes’ in a random fashion, and then cut off several lanes of traffic when you reach your exit.Simple ! Now , go figure ! So , there I was figuring out how to cross the road making a few bold attempts but kept zipping in and out .After half an hour or so when I realized I wasn't making much of a progress ,I spotted a European couple , most definitely not French ,struggling with the same ordeal,I decided to just do as they intended to do .So , I stood there waiting for them to figure and just 'cut copy paste' their strategy.I saw them looking for what seemed like a subway and I just put my Sherlock Holmes hat on , carefully placed myself 10 steps behind them and continued with my stalking plan.One step at a time .Only if I had a newspaper , a top hat and an overcoat , would I have really lived the moment but this was fair to start with.Within minutes of my chase , I was there , right in the middle of the road under the Arch's canopy ! Neat ! Only if they had put more sign boards or let's say only if people like me would learn how to read sign boards ;), would it have made my life a little simpler :) Anyhoo, so yeah ! AOT , pretty impressive stuff I would say.However, same story,  different characters .In short, Desi masala curry packaged in a non Desi container. We Indians should learn how to package our stuff better .It will fetch us millions :P Throw in a few self guided audio tours in multiple languages, throw in an extra fee to climb up the Arch , throw in a souvenir shop with jazzy fridge magnets and there you go.Same yellow dal but this time with a spicier tadka ! :D

The dilemma at Arc De Triomphe :P

The Lonesome Obelisk ( Place de la Concorde )

I still had time on my hands before wrapping up for the day that had a trip to Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysées and Arc De Triomphe laid out for it.I decided to walk back the 2 kms stretch on Champs-Elysées and take the metro from where I started , Hotel Invalids .So I grabbed a cuppa coffee and languidly dawdled down the lane .Lost in the evening humdrum , I guess I might have missed the turn to Invalids and so my direction didn't change .I just kept going straight up till I came to a stop.I was intrigued by a striking columnar structure bang in the center of a huge open space surrounded by palacial buildings ( place de la concorde ).I hadn't seen too many columns with a pyramid shaped top in Paris .This one resembled an obelisk I had seen in Luxor,Egypt .I clearly remembered that our tour guide in Luxor told us that once upon a time , at the entrance of Luxor Temple stood 2 obelisks which looked exactly identical but one was shorter than the other.The shorter one was later gifted to France.So these days, at the entrance of Luxor Temple ,you find Mr. lonesome obelisk standing all companion less.As I was dusting off my memories from year 2010 ,I went up close to confirm and voila ! It was indeed an obelisk.It had a spire on top and a cartouche imprinted on it ! During ancient Egyptian times ,cartouche was the place holder for the name of the pharoah.This oblong print enclosed a group of Egyptian hieroglyphs , typically representing the name and title of a monarch and a pharaoh would have five or more names and hence a cartouche contained a minimum of five figures.

Palace de la Concorde

 I loitered in the fading sunshine and entered Garden of Tuileries(Jardin des Tuileries) . As I walked on the soft wet sand that was glazed by rain drops , I could hear the autumn wind rustling through the tree leaves .I stood by a pond quietly watching the wind blow the surface of water ,pigeons pecking on the edge of pond in the sand,people cozily standing around the fountain, hands in pockets, soaking in the last rays for the remainder of the evening.I closed my eyes to this low crisp whispering and gulped in a big draft of cold damp air.Absorbed in my own thoughts and inner world , I continued walking slowly on a bed of freshly fallen leaves ,along the garden's axis feeling the same wind that was swaying the tree branches , brushing my face.My lungs embraced every single air molecule and invited them to fill every corner of its chambers .My heart overflowed with a sense gratification and fulfillment.My cheeks flaunted a pink winter blush.My eyes gleamed with a blissful smile.

Jardin des Tuileries

A soft glowing light filled the sky , scattering the sun's rays in the atmosphere.Twilight was here.It was a walk to remember.I only realized that I had reached the end of the garden when I saw an Arch.It looked similar to Arc de Triomphe I had seen earlier in the day, only smaller in size .This was Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. It is triumphal arch in Paris, built to commemorate Napoleon's military victories.Still lost in my nature nostalgia and seemingly disinterested in the Arch, I took reserved and coy steps towards it , through its canopy and then froze to my first sight of the pyramids of Louvre. It was dark.Night had just begun to fall in.The atmosphere was quaint and calming.The pyramids were breathtakingly lit up.My feet refused to move.My hands refused to take out the camera.My jaws refused to close.My eyes refused to blink..And there they came ....rolling off my cheeks , unstoppable .I stood there , just stood there crying.

Yes, that night I cried ...

The splendid Louvre at night !