PARIS - FRANCE

The city of love, the city of light or whatever you want to call it, Paris was my next destination after a most enjoyable month spent in different parts of Germany. Having already experienced a taste of France during a quick visit to the border city of Strasbourg, I was extremely looking forward to sampling more of the french culture, language and food and to exploring one of the worlds most famous cities.

After a 2 hour delay, my flight eventually made it from Stuttgart to Paris and with only a few difficulties (language related of course !) I made it to my hostel. The following day I set about exploring different parts of the city on foot and despite not really knowing exactly where I was going, I managed to make my way along the river Seine, passing a number of important sites along the way (Eifel Tower, Egyptian Obelisk and of course the Lourve). Thankfully the weather was good and it was nice walking around without any real plan.

One of the things that surprised me the most about the city was just how many people of African ancestry were there and it really gave the city a lively and exciting feel. Of course I was aware of the French presence in Africa but was certainly not prepared for the African presence in Paris. In the region around my hostel (11th arrondisment) I was treated to somewhat of an African market whilst walking around each morning as there were women clothed in traditional dress, selling hot corn and various fabrics which really gave the place a much different feel to what I had imagined Paris would be like.

Over the course of my 4 day stay in Paris, I took in as many of the 'sites' as possible, without actually making it inside any of the literally millions of art galleries such as the Musee d' Orsay and Lourve. Whilst not anti-art, the thought of walking for hours, looking at painting after painting did not exactly enthuse me (call me uncultured but I prefer to be amongst the people in a city) and as such, I probably didn't come away from Paris feeling like the city had really impressed me. Whilst there were a number of other sites of interest such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, Latin Quarter, Arc d' Triomphe and so on I wasn't overly impressed by Paris and the exorbident prices on everything from food to public transport, certainly didn't help.

It was however not a completely wasted visit as I did enjoy spending time with Claudia, a friend of mine from Chile, whom I hadn't seen for a number of months. We also met a really nice couple from Austria whom we hung out with a little.

As far as cities go, I didn't find Paris particularly interesting but it certainly wasn't the dullest place I have frequented during my travels. I guess for an art lover it would be one of the most exciting places in the world, but an art lover I am not. As for the Parisians, despite not being as friendly as the Brazillians, I found most were quite pleasant and generally willing to help if required. Whilst not a surprise, this certainly blew away some of the stereotypes surrounding the people from Paris.

Photos 1&2: Eva, Josef, Claudia and myself enjoying a drink at the end of a days sightseeing.
Photo 3: Claudia on one of the bridges crossing the river Seine.
Photos 4-20: Various sites around the city (Eifel Tower, Arc d' Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, Lourve, Egyptian Obelisk...)