G L A N C E S

For a car lover, Europe will never be far from the consciousness.  A lot of the romantic marques—Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Mercedes-Benz—were born on this continent.  Until the present day, European cars have also led the pack in design and ultimate performance, influencing carmakers worldwide.  We spent a few days on the continent of wonders—in spring nonetheless—and couldn't help staring at the moving artwork on the streets, as well as the wondrous sights surrounding them.

Paris
Arguably the cultural capital of Europe, Paris is undoubtedly its most romantic city.  Gilded fences surround beautiful gardens and stunning architecture, and even otherwise mundane bridges are embellished with elegant figurines.  Nearly each square meter is seeped in history, and this certainly contributes to the imperial air of the city. 

There's a circumferential road around Paris, appropriately called the Peripherique, but you can only see the sights if you use the inside roads.  That means facing congested traffic, and parking is either impossibly expensive or just impossible to find.  It's therefore best explored on foot, combined with the Metro.  It's an excellent subway system, easy to understand and use. We followed the advice of Rick Steves' Paris—an excellent guidebook.

While walking, our eyes kept being drawn to the cars on the streets.   For car watching, a promising start is to walk the length of Champ-Élysées.  The long and wide avenue starts at the Louvre, massive imperial palace turned museum.  There's a multitude of car shops here, and they're not just the usual showrooms.  The cars are sold as lifestyle items, and you can expect to find elaborate exhibitions as well as the vehicles themselves.  Mercedes-Benz had an MiB II-themed display, and Renault didn't even have any of its road cars.  Instead, it had a full Formula One display, complete with the RS22 V10, car components, driver suits and the Renault R202 F1 car.

Speaking of French cars, we noticed that local cars dominate the roads here.  Striking styling seems to be essential to make a sale to a Parisian: cheeky Peugeot 206s, angular Renault Clios & Lagunas, and bulbous Citröen Picassos were plentiful. Toyota Yaris, Alfa 156, and the occasional Mercedes SL55 were also well represented. Perhaps the most impressive traffic circle in the world, the Arc de Triomphe, bookends the other end of the Champ-Élysées.

Man can't live on gleaming metal alone, and after we had our fill of new autos, Paris provided plenty of other masterpieces to inspire the soul.  The artifacts and artwork displayed in the vast Louvre and the Orsay provoke nothing less than awe.  (We expected the Mona Lisa to be much larger, though.) Landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the medieval Notre Dame cathedral were even more astounding than we expected them to be.  Even smaller museums like Rodin’s house and the haunting Cluny were just as fascinating.

One of our favorite parts of the city is the quaint Montmartre area—the only real hill overlooking the city.  Paris’ only remaining vineyard, Van Gogh’s Paris home, Sacré-Coeur church and the Moulin Rouge are all within a few minutes’ walk. Be sure to grab a bite at the century-old boulangerie; the place may be historical but the pastries are oven-fresh and sumptuous.

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