There is no doubt I love Paris, but there are some things a girl from Southwest Texas misses. The hardest part is the sky. Where are those stars? When I designed my house in the desert, I put in a 4′ x 4′ skylight above my bed, so I could sleep beneath my beloved brilliant sky…so dark, and yet so bright. Paris does have a special luminous sky, but there is no feeling of space. It is after all, the “city of light.” And so much light dims the stars to just whispers.
The other night, though, I saw a magnificent moon, vivid, large, radiant, suspended near the lace effect of the Eiffel Tower. The Seine reflected clearly both images. As I moved, the moon traveled with me: from the right, through the golden strands of the illuminated tower, to the left. Approaching Place de la Concorde, it brushed the tip of the Obelisk from Luxor. Then it kissed the Louvre, and graced the Pyramid with its reflection. The Hôtel de Ville became magical with the fountains providing gently lit curtains on either side of the square in front, and the moon grinning madly at Paris above the elegant city hall.
No, I will never see the stars and depth of the sky in Paris, and I will always yearn for them. But in El Paso, Texas, I will never see the moon giving its blessing on man’s architectural achievements that make Paris so breathtaking.
Originally printed in the “Massey Fine Arts” newsletter Vol. 4 No. 1, December © 1996, 2022 by Ann James Massey, SWA, CPSA, UKCPS, AAPL
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