“Don’t forget to wear your jackets,” abang had warned us
before my little brother and I had stepped out of our hotel. The sky was
crystal clear, warm and sunny. Sure it wasn’t Malaysian weather, but why ruin a
perfectly beautiful day by wearing layers of clothes.
We didn’t take heed to abang’s warning. Both of us took the
metro from Bibliothèque station to Champ de Mars. We had been in Paris for
three days now, and every time we past the magnificent structure it just took
my breath away.
I was delighted to see that there wasn’t a long queue to go
up Eiffel Tower. At a price of € 12 to reach the peak( I found that
pretty reasonable) and joined the small crowd. I watched at the people in the
line. They were from all over the world.
There were the three Japanese old ladies in front of us, chattering away,
sometimes glancing around , nodding and grinning as our eyes met. The group of
Russian boys, whoopping and talking loudly, the French couples cuddling to each
other. All of them had one thing in common. All of them were wearing coats! I
looked at my white long sleeve T-shirt and my brother’s short sleeve. It was
getting breezy but surely it would be warmer as we go up the peak.
After we had passed the tight security (mental note please check your pockets before you passed the metal detectors.
And no the metal detector will not breakdown no matter how many times it beeps
when you passed by!)
We took the elevator which led us to the second level of the
tower. There we had to queue up again to go on the elevator that will take us
all the way to the summit. It was a loooooooong wait. That was the time when we
felt the cold. The wind was blowing strongly. My hands were numb and my nose
was turning pink. My brother was starting to do a little jiggle to keep himself
warm.
The minute the
elevator open its door, I was hit by the blast of the wind. It was really,
really cold! We tried to channel the cold by focusing on our surrounding. And
WHAT a surrounding it was! We could see the whole of France. WE saw a mini
Notre Dame, Louvre and Champ De Mars. It was heaven to amateur photographers
like the two of us ! We were snapping away like mad, either taking picture of
one of us or helping to take picture of others. We even got our pictures taken !
But our excitement lasted for fifteen minutes as the cold got the best of us.
And we head down.
I had a sore throat
even before we reached the hotel and had a full blown fever as we drove out of
Paris I didn’t even dare to tell abang as I know I wouldn’t be able to escape
an ‘I told you so’. Goodbye Paris , Goodbye Eiffel Tower, I would never take
your weather for granted if I ever come back.
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