The next time you see Paris…

If you stand barefoot on top of the Eifel Tower in Paris with the river Seine at your back and then look straight down between your big toe and its immediate neighbour, you will see a unique Catholic Church.

Not only are all the services there conducted in English, but it is also probably one of the newest churches in all of Europe. It was founded by Father Ignatius Paoli, an Irish priest en route to Rome who stopped in Paris and recognised the need for an English speaking congregation. St Joseph’s Catholic church was completed in May 1987 and it is located within the same building that housed the original St Joseph’s church which dates back to 1863. The original church archives acknowledge it as having baptised Oscar Wilde.

Now, having contrived some sort of Catholic connection to the Eiffel Tower, I feel I can justifiably wax lyrical about this landmark.

When it was opened in Paris to mark the 1889 Centennial Exposition, architectural experts and the populace alike thought that Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel must have been out of his mind to think that the latticework monstrosity could possibly have represented anything vaguely French.

All these years later, the tower is not only the most used trademark of the City of Paris, but also has become the icon of everything that is quintessentially Francophone the world over.

And even for those who have no connection with France, the Eiffel Tower is probably one of the world’s most easily recognised landmarks. It is top of the list for the vast number of tourists who pour into la belle France every year. And that’s a lot of people — Paris gets as many tourists on the average holiday weekend as the whole of southern Africa gets in a year!

Eiffel’s masterpiece still dominates the skyline. Majestic, mysterious and monstrous. It is as if its maze of metalwork is magnetised, the way it draws you to its four massive metal feet. And going up the Eiffel in one of its massive lifts is a unique experience in itself. For the first one third part of its journey the lifts have to climb the angled legs which means that the floor has to tilt to keep on the level.

One cannot help but catch one’s breath at the sheer majesty of the Parisian skyline as it unfolds as the lift rises higher and higher. A skyline that really hasn’t changed much in the past century, if one can look beyond the odd office towers and concentrate rather on the aesthetic beauty of Sacré-Cœur and vast spread of the Louvre.

Ever since Eiffel got his way with what was not only an incredibly radical design but something that for 30 years would be, at 300m, the world’s tallest building, Parisians have experimented with architecture that most other cities would have shunned out of hand. The intricate network of pipes and piping that make up the Centre Pompidou took courage to construct, but has paid off in terms of its value as a tourist attraction.

But Paris is not all about buildings and tourists traps. It is not even about magnificent shopping and the home of most of the world’s most famous fashion brand names. It is about atmosphere. That wonderful feeling of joie de vivre as you walk its elegant streets. Ask anyone who has come to love Paris what its secret is, and most likely you will be told that it is something invisible and intangible. It is a feeling of excitement, history and well being. It was Archbishop Desmond Tutu who talked about walking through Paris without feeling in the least bit threatened.

But most of all, Paris is its people. And those who don’t understand Parisians will complain about them being rude and unapproachable. Which is way off the mark. To appreciate Paris, and France for that matter, one has to understand the niceties of French culture. One has to understand that no Frenchman would ever start a conversation with a friend or stranger without going through traditional greetings. No Frenchman would forget to say thank-you to someone in the throng in front of him who holds open the door to an underground station or shop.

So, when tourists just stop passersby at random and ask for directions without so much as a bon jour or excusez moi, it is hardly surprising that some of the locals start sulking. The same applies when one is shopping. Common courtesies are strictly followed in France. Shopkeepers expect their greetings to be returned and not ignored and replaced with a callous: “how much?”

So, if its an English language Mass you are after next time you are in Paris, pop in to St Joe’s to say bon jour and merci to God, and afterwards zip barefoot up the Eiffel Tower for a unique view of Paris through your toes.