The City of Light

 The moon flickers overhead aligning perfectly with the limitless charcoal sky. It’s dim golden tint glimmers subtly as if it were shedding light upon the world’s biggest stage. In an instant you forget all the cliches that you have heard about Paris, and become entranced in the city’s wonder. You can’t help but question yourself. Am I dreaming? Even the small boat resting upon the tranquil River Seine mystifies you. It is surrounded by glass walls that reflect the city’s lights and encircle its passengers with elegance and simplicity. The passengers of the glass menagerie have become awestruck and motionless. Slowly and smoothy the small Bateaux begins its journey down the Seine. The glass seems to mask the breathtaking scenery, so you venture out of the menagerie onto the Bateaux’s small splintered wooden deck. Notre Dame stands to the right with it’s gargoyle statues scrapping the night sky. It’s gothic architecture transports you to the reign of Louis VII, but you blink your eyes and sadly realize that you are in the 21st century. You feel the night’s breeze gently caress your face and become rejuvenated when the river’s mist meanders down your cheek. In the distance you can faintly hear people commenting on the sights coupled together with the French music playing from the captain’s quarters.The journey continues and the Bateaux cautiously approaches  every bridge, as if it fears to venture underneath them. Each bridge differs from the other. The marble etchings immortalize anyone from a god to an animal. A material once pale and cold has become alive, managing to sustain the fiery soul of the ancestor it depicts. 

     You scratch your nose as a way of distracting it. The warm fresh baguettes and croissants allow their tantalizing aromas to waft their way into your direction. You can still taste the flakey freshly baked croissant you had for lunch. The molten and velvety hot chocolate center of the croissant soothed your cold body from head to toe. You check your hands to make sure you wiped away the chocolate that trickled down your hands as you took your last bite. Nothing remains. In an instant your hunger is forgotten as you shade your eyes from a beam of light pointing directly at you. You look up and time looses its existence. The buildings surrounding this masterpiece seem to be a backdrop. The Eiffel Tower becomes the focal point and its gargantuan iron structure reminds you of how minuscule in size you are. It seems unreal as it’s lights ripple off the Seine and its grayish brown exterior has altered its color like a chameleon. The golden hue it emits warms your soul and comforts you. The world has temporarily become mute. For once in your life you are content, wishing that this moment can become like the marble bridges, suspended in time. The “City of Light” is in fact all that it is supposed to be. You look over from a distance and smile as the Eiffel Tower looks after its city, gently embracing it with its light.