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Justine goes sightseeing in Paris
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Justine Shapiro spends a week in Paris, the
capital of France and one of the most cultural and romantic
cities in Europe.
Justine’s first night in Paris is spent with an old
American friend, who now lives in Paris. He takes her to a
traditional café, where they enjoy copious amounts
of traditional French fare and a few glasses of vin rouge
before they join the other customers in their songs that go
on till the early hours of the morning.
The following day Justine attends a cookery class at the
Ecole Cordon Bleu. Cooks from all over the
world come here to learn a little about French haute cuisine.
In the evening she takes part in an event that reflects a
different side of Paris: she joins over 3,000 roller-bladers
and their police escorts in their weekly night-time skate
through and around the city centre.
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The architecture of Paris provides some fabulous
views, and after her trip to the Arc de Triomphe
in the morning, Justine spends the afternoon visiting and
climbing some of the more contemporary buildings that Paris
is renowned for, such as La Grande Arch de la Defence,
L’Opera Bastille, and the Bibliotheque
Nationale de France. She also rides the the number
73 bus, which offers some of the best views of Paris for a
fraction of the prices charged by official sight seeing buses.
Later, Justine attends one of Paris’ most famous shows,
the cabaret at the Lido.
Justine goes shopping in the markets which cater for Paris’
ethnically diverse population. Here she is shown around by
a Ghanaian gentleman, who explains the uses and properties
of various African foods. Later, she shops for the goods that
Paris is more famous for: with a professional designer she
is taken to some of the designer boutiques, although in the
end she save her francs and picks up some bargains in the
popular store, ‘Tati’.
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Justine catches up with an old friend over dinner
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Paris is famous for its galleries and museums that represent
both the traditional artistic movements of France, as well
as some of its more avant-garde elements. On her way to the
Picasso Museum in Paris’ fashionable
Marais district she comes across a drama group who have squatted
a building, and an actor engaged in quite a hair raising performance.
Later in the day she visits the Louvre –
home of the Mona Lisa. Although many are
put off by the scale of this museum Justine certainly recommends
a tailored visit.
After a day of such traditional French culture, Justine visits
Disneyland Paris. The Park is only 15 miles
east of Paris, and, although seen by many French people as
illustrating the decline of French culture in the face of
American, it is still the most popular tourist attraction
in Europe.
On her last evening in Paris Justine employs some of the
skills she developed attending the cookery course by preparing
a good-bye dinner for the friends she made on her stay in
Paris. Before leaving the following day, Justine visits the
Eiffel tower – a monument which has
come to be closely associated with Paris and an experience
which will stay with Justine for a long time.
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