My Diary

Paris adventures
My dream city with sad sides

I still remember the words of my father: ‘Paris is the center of fashion, but our town is also not so backward. If any new fashions are seen in Paris today, we can see the same fashion the next day in our town’. I didn’t know what town my father was talking about – maybe our own – but it planted a special desire in my mind to visit Paris, a dream that came true almost 15 years later in October 2005.
Due to my limited knowledge of Paris, before my journey with a Czech tour operator, I knew only three things about the city: fashion, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc De Triomphe, but later I saw these were but a few of the attractions of this beautiful city.
Paris, whose founding dates back to many years BC, became famous after the 11th century, but the real architecture of Paris began with Charles V (1364-1380) when he built the second enclosure on the right bank surrounding the Hotel St-Paul, the king’s new residence, ‘Celestines’.
The expansion of Paris accelerated with the extension from Porte Saint-Denis to the borders of the Tuileries. Louis XIV continued the expansion by installing his government at Versailles, which is widely accepted today as the second largest royal palace in the world.
Historians say that, in spite of world wars, Paris continued to develop, even under the famous dictatorship of Napoleon III, who made some more major changes. Then there was the World Fair in 1889 and the appearance of an initially controversial, but later celebrated, monument the Eiffel tower.
There are a lot of things to see in Paris, but the unique Eiffel Tower, officially opened on 30 March 1889,has become almost the symbol of France.
Waiting in the queue to get a ticket to ascend the tower, I saw people from almost every country in the world waiting in the same line. If you stand between the tower’s four legs and gaze upwards, you have the impression that the tower will collapse under the burden of so many people.
Since 1889 the tower has had the same steady influx of people, counted in the millions annually, who contribute an extraordinary amount of money to the economy of France. Nevertheless, in order to reach the first floor of this three-floor tower visitors have to climb 360 steps, although there is also an elevator in operation. From the first floor visitors have to climb 380 more steps to reach to the second floor, which is almost 155 meters high. Another 1062 steps will take visitors to the last floor, the highest point in the country with an extraordinary view of the city.
If you would like to visit to Paris, don’t forget to take a night boat trip on the river, which divides Paris into the right and left banks. This boat will carry you with a commentary in more than eight languages, including English, to all the attractive places of the city.

The second tallest building in Paris is the Montparnasse Tower, also an interesting place to visit. The tower has started to offer tourist services in its top floor (the 58th floor) from which you can see an extraordinary panorama of Paris. A further interesting point of this building is its elevator, which is the fastest lift in Europe, taking you to the top of the 195-metre-tall building in only 38 seconds.

Talking about beauty of France, aside from its huge fashion shops, beautiful opera houses and colorful attractions, there were a large number of perfume shops. I was surprised to see even a museum of perfume there. There were plenty of opportunities for shopping but I wouldn’t say anything was cheap.
On the subject of shopping, the modern part of Paris, La Defense, should be a favorite option, containing as it does the largest shopping center in Europe. But unless you have definite plans to go there, a short day-trip will never be enough. I found myself in this shopping center by accident, and managed to spend almost a whole day there.

Conclusion:

People say Paris is the most beautiful, most colorful, most attractive city in the world. I agree with this – it’s really one of the most impressive cities I’ve ever visited. But as a journalist and a sensitive man, I couldn’t ignore some negative sides of this city. Our hotel was in an area close to the Chateau Rouge metro station, an area populated by Asian and African immigrants. This was the first time I’d ever been afraid for my welfare even though I’d grown up myself against a background of violence.
One night before leaving the hotel at 8 p.m. I couldn’t stop myself asking the receptionist whether it wasn’t dangerous to go out at that time. I had a reason for asking: when I was walking around the streets that day, I kept feeling that everyone was staring at me. The group of young black people at every street-corner seemed threatening; some were drinking and smoking although it was still early in the evening and shops used to close at sundown.
This was my first night in the area, and the isolation of this part of the city could be seen not only in the behavior of the youths but also from the dirty water flowing over the street, and the young jobless young running around, demonstrating a true state of ignored humans. I was wondering how long they might accept the status of second-class citizens.