Despite my misperceptions of the city, Paris still held an undeniable allure. The two and half days we had devoted to seeing the sights was nowhere near enough; it was the sheer immensity and variety of attractions of the French capital. The arrondissements (“districts”) of the City of Light, twenty in all back in 2015, were arranged in a series of concentric circles like those of escargot (that wonderfully French snail delicacy!) and dotted with a seemingly endless number of diversions. In the center of the metropolis, the famous Louvre museum stood prominently in the 1st arrondissement. To the Northwest, at the convergence of the 16th, 17th, and 8th districts was the Arc De Triomphe. Just South across the Seine river, in the 7th arrondissement, was the iconic Eiffel Tower. In the very Far East, laid to rest were the rich and famous at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in the 20th.
But like sugar-depraved children let loose in a candy store, we tried to fit in everything and then some, to the detriment of any lasting meaningfulness.
