People come to Paris to fall in love...

It has been 10 years since I started dating “Paris” also said to be the city of love, the city where romance was invented.

I decided to go for a walk and meet my “Paris” when I popped into a group of school students around 5 to 6 years old screaming of ecstasy and happiness because they saw the Eiffel tower, this famous tower built by Gustave Eiffel, virtually known by everyone in the world. Even Remy, the rat in “Ratatouille” gazes on rooftops along with this landmark!

It reminded me of my little “Sabi” having the same expressions in front of the Eiffel tower, the Seine or even Notre dame: “Look, Look mommy this is where Quasimodo lives, in the bell towers!” thanks to Disney, maybe, but first to Victor Hugo, Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine and many many more….

After then, I had to go meet another Parisian lover, Woody Allen, with whom I share my love for Paris. Just like him, I love the statues, kiosks, metro entrances, buildings, sidewalk-café,...

I love the rich history of this city written on its monuments, palaces, told in its theatres, hidden behind its facades or decorated by its lights.

The beauty of Paris is that you can go everywhere; it’s very easy, sitting on a bench or walking down the streets, to escape into a fantasy of your own, live a big romance and enter a movie dreamland!

In this city you can easily go meet Napoléon Bonaparte, Pierre and Marie Curie, Emile Zola, Jean de la Fontaine, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Dali, you can listen to Piaf or even Aznavour, you can contemplate Charles Garnier, Le Corbusier, Mallet-Stevens, Viollet-le-Duc or even sit on an Eames, a Jacobsen or a Jean Prouvé.

In 10 years in Paris, i got 3 great Love: in 2004, i fell in love with my great one, 2006 my mini me and 2011 my soon to be my shining star.

But I also got many lovers and firsts:

- My first kiss on the pont de la Tourelle, under the statue of St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, designed by monumental sculptor Paul Landowski

- My fiancé’s proposal at the Train Bleu, a restaurant granted historical monument status by André Malraux and counted Coco Chanel, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali among its regular guests.

- My First brunch with my love at Les Deux Magots, the place to meet the literary and intellectual élite of the city. Its historical reputation is derived from the patronage of Surrealist artists, intellectuals such as Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and young writers such as Ernest Hemingway.

- My first big laugh in front of the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais when my best friend came to visit,

- My first africain hot chocolate as a chocoholic at Angelina, the café that became my favorite hangout place as it was for Audrey Hepburn, Proust and Coco Chanel.

- My first Firework display on the 14th of July, a private party on the Top of the Museum of Quai Branly, under construction that year, discussing Jean Nouvel’s work with a coupe de champagne in my boyfriend’s arms.

- My first tiny little shared apartment near invalides

- …..

I can't stop but wonder if Paris will always be, to everybody, the city of good sex, fancy cheese and wine, crazy nights, romantic cafés and great love as it was for me the last 10 years?

I haven't left yet but I can’t stop thinking that there is no place like Paris, it will always be my favourite city!