Paris Je t'Aime

It was the end of high school and, having passed our final exams, Andrea, Walter and I were ready to escape. Our first trip abroad completely on our own was just around the corner; at first the idea was to visit Paris and then stop in Amsterdam, but... when it came down to it, the finances of us three greenhorns forced us to drop the second destination. My bright red Audi A3 was ready, the boot crammed with luggage, and off we went — the adventure had finally begun. 1200 km in one go, and in little more than 10 hours we were standing in front of the Eiffel Tower with my car; we had surely got there by mistake, but... what luck, we were in a very central spot, and now it was just a matter of finding a cheap hotel nearby; we turned the corner and... here it is, Ibis Tour Eiffel, 2 stars at 50,000 lire a night for the room, which split three ways...

This privileged position allowed us to admire that astonishing monument at the different stages of the day — morning, sunset and evening — the Eiffel Tower hypnotised us with its charm. The car stayed in the car park for 12 days and we got around by Métro and on our own two feet, discovering the secrets of this elegant city; to round it all off we treated ourselves to a day at Eurodisney (magical!!) and one at Versailles, but there (considering we had to pay for petrol to get back home!!!!) after doing our sums, we looked at the palace from the outside. As far as I'm concerned, I'd already had a first taste of Paris a few years earlier with my father, when I went with him to a trade fair in the city, and... the following year for the sparkling New Year's Eve of 2000.

In short, Paris is the city that impressed me the most by far; its incredible charm hypnotised me from the start, and finding myself under the Eiffel Tower, well... it always leaves me speechless!!