London VS Paris (1/2)
March 24, 2008 – 10:43 pmOh boy, I can already feel the flames coming in for this one. This is a classic battle between two cities, just like Los Angeles and San Francisco, Beijing and Shanghai, Tokyo and Osaka, Moscow and St. Petersburg. I think I shall in the future indulge myself in writing about those rivalries also, but for now let’s focus on Dickens’s choice of cities.
A photo of Notre Dame, the Parisian landmark, that’s not special in any way.
This is not an objective analysis of any sort, with no basis in economics, politics, history, or even culture (well, maybe a little). This is just a fun comparison based on my limited personal experiences in the two European metropolises. Well, at least I hope it’s fun.
Let’s see…London wins. I’m really one for suspense, am I not? But that’s not the most important part. It’s the journey, not the destination, right?
As far as I was concerned, Paris had a lot of things going for it. I spent more time there than I did in London. I have more friends in Paris than in London. When I was in the City of Lights, I stayed with a buddy of mine whereas in London I had no one (at the time).
Many Americans have a certain view of European cities. Well, stereotypes come from somewhere. As my friend was opening the gate to his apartment complex on my first day in Paris, I spotted an attractive couple outside just short of ripping each other’s clothes off, at which point my friend commented, “Man, you’re going to have such a romantic view of Paris!” Inside his apartment, he told me about how his neighbors had been having hot, steamy sex when he knocked one day. My final night in Paris, he took me to a house party hosted by two of his pretty friends, who were a lesbian couple (settle down, fellas). On the car ride back, we were arguing over who was more gorgeous. Now, speaking as any ordinary American college guy in Paris, should I have any complaints about the French capital?
Well, yes.
I admit the French notoriety for hospitality is sometimes exaggerated, but that’s only sometimes. I don’t speak French. At least not yet… At the house party and every friend of my friend I met, everyone spoke at least some English (some spoke it rather well), but I had a tough time asking for help in English when I was wandering the city by myself. It is not exactly false that Parisians don’t like people asking them if they can speak English, even if or perhaps especially if the question is asked in French with a very obvious foreign accent. At least the older folks seem to have that mentality still. I got fed up and just spoke in Spanish to them. That worked out quite well.
