The City of Light is always the same – but not this time. This writer returned after a decade to behold his former home through fresh eyes.
It came towards me as an apparition on the Boulevard Saint-Germain as dusk fell over a midwinter Paris and the sprinkling rain began to flutter as snow. Two men running – were they tourists? Their white shorts and white socks pulled taunt towards their knees suggested they were European, in that way that Europeans seem to be perennially dressed up. As they ran past, I heard them speaking French. I turned.
I watch my niece’s expression as she takes in the Parisian streetscape for the first time. ‘It’s actually real,’ she says with wonder. My first full day in Paris is marked by a general strike against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms – OK, so the propensity for going on strike hasn’t changed. Most metro, train and bus services were cancelled, although somehow the city seemed to function.The French can retire with a government pension as early as age 62. Macron is lifting that to 64, citing the fact that since it was set at 62, the average Frenchman or woman lives an extra eight years.
We take the Metro to our hotel and I watch her expression as she takes in the Parisian streetscape for the first time. “It’s actually real,” she says with wonder. “Sure is,” I reply. “And the entire city looks pretty much just like this.”
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Woman killed on nightly walk after P-plater allegedly runs red light in SydneyA pedestrian has been killed and another is fighting for her life after an accident at Beecroft, where a driver allegedly ran a red light and veered on the footpath. A P-plater has been charged over the crash. SophieUpcroft 9News MORE:
Read more »
Woman killed on nightly walk after P-plater allegedly runs red light in SydneyA woman has been killed and another is fighting for life in hospital after a crash that involved a P-plater allegedly running a red light in Sydney's north west. 9News
Read more »
How this charming small city avoided ‘death by tourism’A remarkable two decades-long project to restore the medieval Dutch city has made it the envy of the Netherlands.
Read more »
Number of city dwellers lacking safe water to double by 2050UN report predicts water demand will increase by 80% as crisis threatens to get out of control
Read more »
CCTV captures Russia 'shelling the city with bestial savagery'Ukraine's president has posted video showing what he said was a Russian missile slamming into an apartment building in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least one person. 9News
Read more »
CCTV captures Russia 'shelling the city with bestial savagery'Ukraine's president has posted video showing what he said was a Russian missile slamming into an apartment building in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least one person. 9News
Read more »