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The first thing that comes to mind when anyone talks about Paris is the Eiffel Tower. Well, I have to say I haven’t seen anything quite like it so far. Mesmerizing is perhaps the word for it. I had made every attempt to capture its beauty in my memory, while I was there. Its enormity enthralls you if not anything else and the same was the case with me. And now the heart feels an intense pull every time I see it on television. This time though I pacified myself by reading a little about it through #MyASUSZenfone. Did you know that this cultural icon of France was actually erected as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair? In fact, the structure which is now synonymous to France was initially criticized by some of it’s leading artists. I had no idea. And what were they thinking?

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The Louvre, I think, is the only museum where I wasn’t bored even for a moment, one that I would be glad to visit over and over again. You have to see it with your own eyes to believe how magnificent it is. I was swept off my feet. Truth be told I haven’t been to any museum quite like it. Honestly, I was lost in its grandeur but probably that’s exactly what happens to everyone who sets foot there. #MyASUSZenfone tells me that it was first opened as a museum in the year 1793. That’s a long, long time ago. In fact, it was initially built as a fortress. And during the World War II, it was used as the clearing house for artwork stolen by the Nazis. Interesting. 

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Any discussion about Paris is incomplete without the mention of the cruise on the Seine. It is, well, something else altogether. The bridges built on it with the imposing city structures on either banks, everything appears magical. And if you happen to be on a the cruise at night you realize why it is called the city of lights. My #MyASUSZenfone tells me there are 37 bridges within Paris on the Seine and dozens more over the river outside the city. And the ashes of Joan of Arc were actually scattered on this very river. Again, I didn’t know.

Of-course, nothing can quench this thirst of flying off to Paris at every available opportunity. But looks like this fact finding exercise through #MyASUSZenfone can be used to satiate this need to revisit Paris. Well, at-least it helped me calm the current pang of desire for it.