Or rather Europe, as its my first experience is as developed, actually more so than I had imagined. There seems to be so much order in the city. Such an old city at that. I know Delhi is an old city, but that's not eve in the same league. Much older though it is, the medival ruins and ravaged old cities of Delhi are far from the development miracles of Paris. Streets shake beneath my feet disconcertingly as i drink cider in a roadside bar at 4 inches above the cycle track at Denfert Rocherau. Thousads of skeletons lie buried beneath me, not to mention 3 metro lines including a direct high speed RER to the airport De Gaule. It really is amazing to see the order that prevails in the public space. there are lights every where and people actually follow rules. Not tat it is stayed, there is every it of individuality and acts against the system, yet these come grounded in a basic order and a highly evolved sense of space usage in order to maximise throughput. There are a lot of cars, the buses huge as tey are run on te tiniest of streets. But everyone has a place, and every one has a light. No one horns at each other and they literally wait at empty crossings. but the time it takes them travel is drastically reduced. at any rate the tension involved definitely is.
The metro system is amazing too, evidently displaying the sheer wealth amassed by the colonial empire . . . it is so convenient, and it cuts across the reasonably large city with ease and fluency. Merged with the velos on hire and pavemets ad curb cuts every where, it makes for an amazingly convenient and efficient system. I saw a senior governmnet official with a fancy hands free on the most unassuming of cycles, busily talking into his hands free. Can we ever raise the standard of our cities, our people to this level. Its desirable i will have to admit, there's so much in it for all of us, but the fact that there are way too many of us looms large. Left skint broke by British, with a currency worth nothing, I don't know why the world revolves as it does, but I sure don't like it! Perhaps we need to evolve a drastically different strategy . . .
When I see musicians in the metro or poor people begging, I again wonder how these people are poor. Dressed properly, drinking some fancy looking wine often playing some freaky instrument. I saw a duo with a double bass and a accordion! And there was a folk singer belting out David Bowie in Chatlet, full with amp and mic. In the blistering chilly air that thunders down the subterranean tunnels the music takes on an ethereal charachter, very timeless. Rushing to and fro some kissing, a few lingering on to hear the song, magical.
Parc de la villete and the suburbs today! And hopefully the Gare du Orse :)
