damian 0 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Why love a person when you can love a city. Yes, it is a cliché. Paris has been having a huge impact on many that visit it for centuries. What I felt was nothing new. I don’t care. You read about it and see it on movies, but go there and if you are mentally/emotionally wired in anything like the same way that I am then you will know what I am talking about. After an adult life of sensory deprivation, I was overwhelmed. Now I understand why Tokyo poisoned me so much. Now I know what makes me tick. Every single cell in me was switched on in Paris. It was like a drug. On Saturday I walked the streets for 13 hours without stopping except to quite literally sit in disbelief (and this happened a lot). I am not just talking about the well known big sites but also the detail, the everyday things. I experienced exactly the same thing for 10 hours on Sunday. 23 hours of non stop walking over two days. I didn’t buy anything besides food and didn’t enter any museums or shops. I did nothing but walk and look at what could be seen from the streets. Actually, I did make an effort to visit one thing: a tapestry called “The Unicorn and the Lady”. I read about it a while back and you bet, it is incredible. Who would have thought that carpet hanging on a wall could be so good I have not really ever met any French people. But they must be amazing people to have created and maintained a city like Paris. I take my hat off to them and would almost give up my Australian citizenship to join them in their capital. My god, it was good to feel happiness again. How could I have been so unhappy for so long? Link to post Share on other sites
peterson 0 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 So, you like Paris better than Tokyo, then? Link to post Share on other sites
danz 0 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 yah...whatever... seems the parisians are having some maintainance problems... http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/05/23/paris.roofcollapse/index.html danz Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Americans aren't officially allowed to like the French.... Good to hear you liked it bd. Link to post Share on other sites
woywoy 0 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 American? Whos American? db is an aussie, through and through ... mate. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 You might find the effect is enhanced by clutching a red rose to your white bosom. (It's your fault that I downloaded a heap of Edith Piaf songs and am now going about humming Padam padam.) Link to post Share on other sites
MistaSparkle 0 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 sounds awesome man... how would you rate paris compared to London.... or, dare I say, tokyo? Link to post Share on other sites
nagpants 1 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Did you go inside Paris Hilton? Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 “Whatever…” Who have you been taking lessons from? It is kind of tough to compare Tokyo and Paris as they are so different. Obviously you can compare an alligator and a lion, but the comparisons would be rather boringly obvious. Both are big, strong and hunt other animals and both are respected in their own class, yet the differences hardly need highlighting. Architecturally, 98% of what you see in Tokyo you will not see in Paris. Likewise, 98% of that which is in Paris is not in Tokyo. I am sure Paris has ugly run down suburbs and also newer developments that are an eyesore. However in the area that I covered I didn’t see much. Even the obviously lesser areas were attractive. Paris is also a reasonably small city in terms of area and population but, and I bet you didn’t know this; it has twice the population density as Tokyo!! Three times as dense as inner London and 2.5 times as dense and New York (all 1999 data). What is amazing is the city is still stunning. Once again, hats of the Parisians. If there is one downside to Paris it is that after 2 days I felt that there was a sameness about the general theme. Everything felt so Paris. A little variation would be cool. It probably exists at a different level that I didn’t experience or in an area that I didn’t see. Paris is a nice round city that is laid out in such a fantastic manner. You can navigate the city with ease and everything sits in comfortable relation to each other. I don’t know if this was planned or an accident, but its impact on the ease at which you can ‘use’ the city is apparent. It is hard for me to compare Paris (where I stayed for 2 days) to London (where I have been for 2 weeks) to Tokyo (where I existed for 2 years). London has not yet caused me concern. It reminds me a lot of Australia in terms of people and the work environment. Keep in mind that the only Londoners I have met have been in the work place and I have a general dislike for the type of people that work in my industry anyway. Visually London can go from dirty ugly dreadful to very, very attractive just by walking a few blocks. London certainly has a lot of character but I suspect that it is a little more complicated to get into the skin of London. So far it seems that London is not very convenient but endlessly entertaining once you get orientated. The means-to-an-end drinking culture in London was quite obvious to me pretty early on. Like Australia, people, including women, are happy to stand in bars most nights without enjoying any food and yell over each other and crap music and ciggy smoke all for the benefit of claiming a social life and at the same time earning a big arse (women) and pot belly (men). In Australia the draw card is usually live sport tv. The same thing goes here and if you can’t talk sport, you don’t talk. In terms of work place, London feels like Australia and I am going to have to come to terms with this downside. The average meal at the average food place in the average area of London also leaves a lot to be desired (yet in a strange way I kind of enjoyed the crumby plate of food for what it was). I have no problems with London and am quite happy to be here both as an interesting place to live for a while and as a gateway into the awesomeness of Europe. Paris is also obviously all about living, about lifestyle. You see people of all ages and sexes out and about socialising together. In Tokyo I noticed that the active set where the teenagers and young 20 year olds that had the maturity level of a teenager anyway. I found that in Tokyo you rarely saw adults socialising and certainly seldom saw adult men and women out together. Thus Tokyo to me felt childish, like one big theme park. Seriously, if you have ever felt the urge to experience Paris then do it as soon as you can. It will either be a neutral experience or one that will open your eyes forever. In terms of living, style and design it has to be one of the most expressive, least oppressive most free thinking place in the world. It was built out of respect for academia in general, science, natural history and the arts…. and sex. Best place in the world. I will try to moderate my overt gushing. No doubt most of you are rolling your eyes. I certainly know of the types of people who would be, but then they are exactly the imaginatively oppressive characters that Paris is benefited by the lack thereof. Inside Paris Hilton. Funny. Actually, that is another topic. The ladies. Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I don't know man........there's something about your last post that just leaves me thinking you are starting to repeat yourself....... Glad you are getting out and about and enjoying your new life. Seeing as you mentioned it, how were the parisian ladees? Fairly awesome from memory and more recent accounts. That is a very good point you make about adult men and women in Tokyo socialising on a large scale. It seems very segregated here Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 Dims - Whoops, I don’t know how I managed to post it twice in the same post, but I have deleted the duplication now. Women folk: I can only comment on them from a visual perspective as I have never met any, let alone socialised with them. In short, they look great. 2 weeks in London and I am yet to look at a girl twice. I have not been in any trendy areas yet so perhaps that is why all the girls here look like mashed potato to me Either way, the girls I saw in Paris were hot. Not all of them but I safely say that there was a greater percentage of good looking girls in Paris than Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs (that is quite a claim, as I think that place is home to endless good looking girls). Even the less attractive and frumpy type girls looked naturally at ease and not uncomfortably straining to pull off an image that didn’t suit them. The women also had an air of ‘in control’ about themselves. When they wanted to give you a flirty look, they did it so you knew it. On the flipside, if they wanted you to notice that they didn’t notice you, then they did that very well! Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Quote: It seems very segregated here Yes, even married couples beds/futons are segregated for many. Girls looking like mashed potato!? Haha, thats a new one. Care to add more to that? Link to post Share on other sites
echineko 1 Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Paris sounds like wonderful place. I really want to go there. Is it easy and cheap to go from London? Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Visited Paris about 4 years ago. Seemed like a tightly-controlled city-planning process at work, which meant it was more harmonious/less jarring than Tokyo, but got to be somewhat monotonous at times. Subways were very easy to figure out, and we had beautiful weather at the time. Probably my favorite bit was walking along the Seine River. Actually, if I had the chance, I would love to go back in mid-July to catch the Tour de France. This year the place to be is probably the 16th stage, the time trial up the L'Alpe d'Huez. Just one huge big party... About working in Paris, would probably depend on how well you learn French, and whether you can find a place to rent (have heard up to 3-year waiting lists..!). Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 I'm dying to get to Paris at some point. France has the largest (or 2nd largest?) music industry in Europe, and of course Monet's garden in Giverny. I have an audio engineer friend who does a lot of work there and raves about it, and I know 2 women (who don't know each other and live in different countries) who both have holiday houses in the south of France and both have invited me to stay there. I saw photos of one place - ah, a painter's haven! Interestingly, when I was in England last year I met a number of people who were telling me that they have holiday homes in France (usually the south). Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Sunrise, keep in good touch with those people Link to post Share on other sites
MACHINE 0 Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Paris is a top city, I love it - been about 5 times now and never get tired of it. France is a top country actually, some excellent places all over. Holiday homes / timeshares are popular in the south of France (and Spain/Portugal) with Brits. Link to post Share on other sites
echineko 1 Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 I really want to go to Paris one day, it looks so cool, fashionable, romantic...many word to describe it. One day I hope.. Link to post Share on other sites
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