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times, Paris can feel inhumanly magnificent, the arrogance of its monuments encompassing
the chilly pomp of the Panthéon, the industrial chic of the Eiffel Tower
and the almost spiritual glasswork of the Louvre pyramid. Yet it also operates
on a very human scale, with exquisite, secretive little nooks tucked away from
the Grands Boulevards and very definite little communities revolving around games
of boules and the local boulangerie and café. And even as Paris's culture
is transformed by its large immigrant and gay populations, even as extravagant
new buildings are commissioned and erected, many of the city's streets, cafés
and restaurants remain remarkably, defiantly unchanged. In the great local tradition
of the flâneur, or thoughtful boulevard-stroller, Paris is a wonderful city
for aimless wandering. Relaxed quarters such as the vibrant Marais, elegant St-Germain
and romantic Montmartre are ideal for street-browsing, shopping and café-sitting,
and the city's lack of open space is redeemed by beautiful formal gardens, by
the pathways and pavements that run beside the River Seine, and by endless hidden
or unexpected havens. |  |