greenlina

Paris, a wonderful city with a history full of important and sometimes tragic moments. A city of great artists and great historical events. During my visit to Paris I was amazed by its splendid architecture, monuments, famous French crepes, museums and of course by what I had always dreamt to see, the Eiffel Tower.

A city of big tourism, wherever you go you always find flocks of tourists who follow their maps and guidebooks. They are so focused on their searching that sometimes they forget to look at what they have in front of them. They only want to see what their books tell them to see. Paris is not only a “love city” or a “light city”, it is also a city of huge contrasts. It has its other face which you won't find in a tourist guidebook. Going by metro just pass the Anvers station and you get to the sector where immigrants who try to survive in this expensive city by selling sourvenirs to the tourists live. Those immigrants with sadness in their eyes very often spend hours in the rain only to sell a piece of the Eiffel Tower immitation and earn a few eurocents. There are more and more immigrants arriving to this beautiful city along with thousands of tourists. It's difficult to make contact with the true parisians or French who live in Paris. I had always heard that they were arrogant but that is not true. Always when I needed to ask something they were ready to help me and with the little French I had learnt I got all the information I needed, and a nice smile at the end of the conversation too.

But going back to the immigrants' life of jumping through the metro gate at the stations without paying for the ticket. I don't know if they do it just to save some money or because they haven't got any money at all. At some stations this is as normal as buying a French baguette in Paris. Going to the flea market situated far away from the center, I could see a big area without the typical glamour, without beautiful architecture. I could see a place that a regular tourist doesn't want to know. But this was the Paris which I really enjoyed. I felt like travelling through the popular markets in Latin America where local people search for a bargain. You don't need maps there and as I said before they don't really exist. Walking around the market can take you to some dark places from where you wish to scape as soon as possible.

Every first Sunday of the month it's possible to see the great works of art at the museums for free, something which you really appreciate in such an expensive city. It's also quite easy and pleasant to walk around the center and reach any place you want. All you need are comfortable walking shoes. Another good solution is the metro with stations almost everywhere which is an easy and simple way to go around Paris.

So if one day you decide to visit Paris don't rely only on the guidebooks, just walk a little bit further and try to know the real Paris.