PARIGI

I visited it twice, back in 1969 on a school trip in my senior year of high school and ten years later during a European tour with my girlfriend at the time. I liked the city a lot like everyone else since it is perhaps the most visited city in the world, but a former banking colleague of mine, who passed away from Covid two years ago, had lived for years in the French capital and then returned to Italy to Trieste when he I met him and asked him the reasons for his return, he replied that Paris was only beautiful for tourists but not for those who lived there, without specifying the reasons. I suppose on the one hand the cold climate and on the other the discomfort of the banlieues inhabited mainly by poorly integrated Maghreb immigrants who often vented their anger, finally due to the disturbance caused by millions of tourists who visit the city all year round. But let's move on to tourist, historical, artistic and romantic Paris. In fact, like Rome and Venice, Paris makes use of this particular gift. Navigate by boat along the Seine observing the view, climb the Eiffel Tower and see the city from above, go to a bistro to eat the French specialties that I will mention at the end or simply drink a coffee, stroll through the streets of the Latin Quarter, enter the church of Notre Dame but also the Saint Chapelle of the ile de la citè, go to the little square of Montmartre to eat crepes and sit at sunset on the stairs behind the church of Montmartre to see the ville lumiere which lights up with lights, go to see a can-can show in Pigalle, perhaps at the Moulin Rouges or the Lido or the Crazy Horse, see the Mona Lisa and the victory of Samothrace at the Louvre and a thousand other works of art, take a walk on the Champs Elysee up to The Arc de Triomphe and looking at the windows of the beautiful shops that display the best you can find and desire, taking an excursion to Versailles and getting lost in its gardens or admiring the room of mirrors, are some of the ideas that would come to me for spending beautiful hours in the French capital and which I actually experienced firsthand. I have already mentioned a good part of the attractions of Paris above, there are other things you can do in Paris, such as seeing the beautiful place de la Concorde where you can admire its two beautiful fountains and the obelisk from Luxor, Egypt , take a trip to the Pompidou Centre, that strange building which created such a stir when it appeared due to its overly daring forms and which instead after a while was accepted and even loved to see if there is any interesting temporary exhibition going on, go to the museum d'Orsay and enjoy the paintings of the Impressionists, go to Place des Vosges and observe the beautiful surrounding buildings, remembering that at the end of the nineteenth century, at the time of Napoleon III, Paris was almost completely rebuilt following the project of the architect Haussmann who gave life to the boulevards, to the avenues and buildings still present and which were integrated with the many existing passages and galleries to facilitate walking and avoid the rain. Inside these protected environments a whole series of shops, cafes and restaurants. A stone's throw from the Louvre museum you can walk in the Palais-Royal complex where monarchs once lived before moving to Versailles and also composed of a beautiful garden, galleries and theatres. Place Vendome is also worth seeing for its elegance, you can reach the mighty Invalides building to photograph the tomb of the great Napoleon (but was he really great? he was a warmonger obsessed by his smallness who wanted to fight by becoming a great conqueror, he suffered from 'ulcer, he stole half of the Italian artistic heritage and took it to France, etc...) if you feel like shopping you can go to the Lafayette department store, perhaps to buy one of the many French perfumes. For tennis fans you can visit the Roland Garros court where famous tennis players pass by to win one of the grand slam trophies. Football fans, however, have two options: visit the Stade de France Saint Denis or the Parc des Princes. I think that's enough, but try eating French specialties such as onion soup, foie gras i.e. goose liver, escargot i.e. snails and oysters, quiche Lorraine a shortcrust pastry filled with sour cream and bacon, the beef fillet tartare, don't forget the many delicious cheeses and the crudités, vegetables that are served at the beginning of the meal, for dessert the galette des rois, a round pastry filled with cream and almonds and don't miss the excellent wine French such as Beaujolais, Piquepol or Chateau Latour and taste the champagne, a la santè!

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