We arrived in Paris in early spring and we stayed in a hotel near Gare East and Gare North, that are the two central train stations in the 9th district, which are very close to eachother. From here we could easy walk to the Notre Dame in about 40 minutes. I was surprised that there were so many people from Africa in that area and at the train stations. I am not a racist and I normally don't care about skin colour, but I barely saw a European face, and I felt being watched by the Africans constantly.I found that very uncomfortable. I have heard that there are lots of cheatings going on and read about some tricks, which are used to con innocent tourists.
On the way to Notre Dame , I walked over a bridge and saw this medieval building which was part of a Royal Palace once, it is called Conciergery and was used as a prison for over 500 years.
The Palace of Justice is opposite to Notre Dame.
This is the famous Notre Dame, where Quasimodo, the hunchback, supposed to have saved the gipsy girl Esmiralda's life from being burnt at the stake, as the story says. There were more Notre Dame churches built all over the world, but the original one is in Paris.
The City Hall
The Eiffel Tower. We wondered that there were so many police cars in front of it on the street and about the military soldiers who walked around the tower. We found out later, that there was a bomb threat that day.
You are approached everywhere near the Eiffel Tower to buy a Miniature Eiffel Tower, which are offered by Africans in every colour you can imagine. Some of them want to force a flower on you"for free" and if you take it, you can't get rid of these people. They make you believe that you are obliged to buy something or to give a money present.
The Louvre. I would have liked to see the museum from inside, but it was closed. You could only get a glance inside through a window.
I went through the arch to see the park nearby and as it was a nice day, I kept on walking.
In ended up on the Place de la Concorde, which is a big roundabout.
I continued walking and found myself suddenly on the Champs Elysees.
Ahead of me, the beautiful Arc de Triumphe.
I was told that the Champs Elysees is a noble street with expensive shops. Well, I saw Chanel and Dior between Mark & Spencers, H&M and McDonalds, not exactly what I had expected. I was shocked to see some very poor people, but they did not bother anyone. An elderly man was wearing worn shorts, he did not have as shirt, though it was still cool at this time of the year. His dirty body was partly covered with an old ripped blanket. Then I noticed 4 Romanian gypsy women who were begging and wanted everyone to feel sorry for them. Apart from their shabby clothes, they did not look as they were starving. I had a small meal in a restaurant and after I was finished and had left, I saw two of the Romanians coming out from a shop, carrying 4 big filled baguettes and coffee. I thought: "They are on a lunch break." I remembered the poor old French man with his blanket and was convinced that he was one of the real poor people without a home and without food. I was looking out for him, because I wanted to give him a few Euros, though he did not ask anybody for money.
Near this lovely church a Romanian man wanted to try his trick on me, but I was clever, because I read about it on the internet at home. When they see a potential victim, they drop a golden ring, so that you can't see it. They bend down and pick it up, saying with a surprised face: "Oh, whats that? A wedding ring!" They pretend to be honest, so that you trust them and say: "Sorry, is that your ring I found?" Though you probably say "no", as it is not your ring, they insist, that you keep it and start a conversation immediatly. At that stage you are already in a trap and they don't let you get out easy, unless you give them some money to get rid of them.
But I knew about that and as soon as the man picked up the ring and wanted to start his trick, I just waved aside and said, that I am not interested and moved on as fast as I could.
On the way back, I noticed how far I had walked that day and noticed that my feet got tired.
The Parisians seem to like their arches, but I find them nice as well.
I saw an old French woman, covered in an old coat, , sitting on the cold floor in the train station, obviously freezing. She was not begging, but I felt sorry for her, so I bought her a cup of coffee and something to eat. She looked at me with a greatful happy face and enjoyed her hot drink. Two men prepared their matress for the night on the pavement and looked out for cigarette butts. I gave them some cigarettes. I want to state that I have no problem with Africans and Romanians in general, but I have a problem with cheats. The Africans and Romanians I saw in Paris were well fed, had warm clothes and a home. Here I have to mention that we saw a big area with gipsy dwellings in the outskirts of Paris . We heard that the citizens are not very happy about that, because the criminal rates for shop lifting and pickpocketing increased since the Romanians started to come to Paris in big numbers and settled down in the outskirts. Of course there are lots of starving people in Africa and probably also in Romania, but you can clearly see that the ones who come into our countries, are not starving. The real unfortunate people in Paris are their own citizens and as nice as Paris, the romantic city of love is, the fact of real poverty of their own people, in this big European city, put me off and left a bad impression about their government behind.
Fotos by Margit Anna Binder (Doyle)
