Paris

Consequently, every visitor sees something different in the city of light. For some Paris represents the symbol of glamour, fashion and high life. For others it is the centre of cultural traditions and contemporary arts. For many it is the capital of human rights, and there are some who regard it as the capital of gastronomy. Its two thousand year history grips some with nostalgia for the past by the bank of the Seine or on the bridges spanning the river. Others feel the two hundred year old revolutionary tradition in the classical metropolitan atmosphere when finding a modern building at an unexpected place or in the noise of frequent demonstrations and marches. Harmonic variety characterises this elegant city without skyscrapers, where the 320 metre tall iron construction, the Eiffel Tower, commands the height but also fits its location organically, as a symbol.

It is not easy to meet true-born Parisians. All without exception, even the French, arrive in the "sacred city of seductive wonderments" with their own ideas from somewhere else. Literary or cinema experiences of Paris, as well as the romantic tales of friends and acquaintances evoke the desire and provide the inspiration. Paris is vitalized with the love of people who have become local residents from being travellers attracted by wonderments through the constantly renewed respect for those who have lived here a long time, and by their dynamic and balanced relationship with them. They feel for their city. Like lovers, everyone tries to show their best face to the city and, if possible, also make a mark. The multitude of surface attractions of Paris represents the first impression, but the essence can only be grasped by recognising the reality beyond the attraction - the serious minded, deep content beyond the "French ease".

Since World War II a specific French tradition has been for the retiring heads of state to present a gigantic size construction or the remake of a district to their country's capital, thus adding to the continuity of Parisian modernity. General Charles De Gaulle had the Marais, the Jewish quarter of narrow Baroque streets full of kosher restaurants renewed. The city's contemporary cultural centre, full of colourful pipes and escalators, echoing a factory building and nicknamed Beaubourg by Parisians, and the nearby Forum des Halles, the several storey shopping centre built underground in the place of the former market hall and fish market are linked to the late president Georges Pompidou. Valérie Giscard d'Estaing changed the Orsay railway station into one of the main museums of 19th century art. Francois Mitterrand symbolically extended the Champs Elysées, the avenue considered to be the most beautiful in the world. A new triumphal arch incorporating offices was built in Défense, a district of tower blocks, as an enlarged and modernised reflection of the Arc de Triomphe, while a modern glass pyramid emerged from the ground in the courtyard of the largest museum in the world, the Louvre, at the other end of the axis defined by the two triumphal symbols.

Jacques Chirac, retiring in May after a political career of four decades, has recently inaugurated the city's latest attraction, the megamuseum Musée du Quai Branly, which houses displays about ancient, non-European civilisations. The several hundred metre long building on steel posts is located in an enormous tropical garden at the foot of the Eiffel Tower on the bank of the Seine. The visitor immediately becomes enchanted by another Parisian illusion - the spectacle of metropolitan traffic is made distant by the scent of plants and the silence of the exotic garden, planned by star architect Jean Nouvel and other noted garden designers. The exhibition space comprises a single location where visitors can admire extraordinary art objects from all over the world, which thus promote equality among different cultures. 

The structure of the city somewhat recalls Budapest due to its central avenues planned by Baron Haussmann, its river which crosses the metropolis, and its inner-city buildings. The metro, with its 14 lines, is not only the fastest and most practical means of transport, it also offers different types of music both in the carriages and in the long corridors while changing lines. The transport authority grants the underground musicians licences following an audition before a professional jury, and thus they can perform under the ground without disturbing one another. Accordionists, violinists or saxophone players jump in a carriage at a station, chamber orchestras give concerts at busy intersections for passengers who crowd round them for a few moments.

A speciality of Paris is that it does not have only one artists' quarter. Every decade a new district is adopted by artists and thinkers arriving in the city, who slowly move on once tourists have discovered their haunts. Thus the hillside of Montmarte between the two world wars, then the cafés of Boulevard Saint-Germain, which by now is inhabited primarily by American millionaires, later the theatres and restaurants of the Grands Boulevards and in the eighties the neighbourhood of Bastille Square were considered bohemian centres and the main areas of entertainment.

In recent years new bookshops, cafés and restaurants have opened along both banks of the idyllic St. Martin's Canal, familiar from the film Amelie of Montmarte. On summer evenings students armed with fresh salads, baguettes, cheese and the inevitable bottle of red wine have picnics and play music along the canal.

The joy of gastronomy is as much a 'refined' French tradition as the devotion to fashion or art. Furthermore, the French were the first to understand that dieting was not the best solution against overweight but, in addition to a healthy way of life, eating more varied food in small portions slowly, as if tasting it in an enjoyable manner. With that in mind, Parisians can easily take from the delicacies of other nations, besides constantly renewing French cuisine. Going to restaurants and cafés is a basis of social existence here. Japanese restaurants have recently multiplied all over the city. Parisians like to drop in from their offices for a short while. The Belleville district offers Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic menus at reasonable prices and this is also the neighbourhood where we can find exotic African and Cambodian restaurants virtually side by side.

On even just a few days' visit to Paris it would be unforgivable to miss out on the light and simple French breakfast, obtainable on the terrace of any café for a few euros, or at the corner baker's - warm buttery croissant, pain au chocolat or pain aux raisins (puff pastry made with chocolate or raisins) dipped in a large cup of milky coffee. During the day, for a couple of euros sightseers can take their pick of sandwiches freshly made up to request with crisp and warm baguettes, also from a baker's. In France dinner is the most substantial and longest meal consisting of a minimum three courses, which is worth experiencing in an authentic French restaurant. The Chartier Restaurant, operating in the centre of Paris since 1896, provides an excellent example of French restaurant atmosphere, recalling a railway station bustle, where everything from seafood delicacies and beefsteaks eaten raw to the heavier Alsatian dishes made with cabbage, indeed all the tastes of French cuisine, can be tried at prices which won't empty a Hungarian purse - not to mention ewe, cow and goat's cheeses, which are eaten for desert.

Despite the fact that Paris is the capital of France, many foreigners move around its streets more at ease than the locally-born Parisians, demonstrating that the creation of colourful and international French traditions is also partly their doing.

Géza Gombos