Paris Beyond the Myths

It goes without saying that Paris is a city of myths, especially for Americans. We believe in the Paris we want to see, but that doesn't always match the way Paris really is.

Last night, I went to a part of the city that I've never visited before, Chateau Rouge, to meet the journalist Michael Deibert. We had some great conversation about Paris, travel, writing, and other things. Michael lives in this neighborhood which he described as the "most African" in the city. When I came out of the Metro, I stepped into the middle of a lively market scene with food (like manioc) that you might not find elsewhere in the city. These were working people who have made a very different kind life in Paris than the kind you see in the movies.

Michael also told me that the illegal street vendors selling jewelry regularly get roughed up by the police, but never really put out of business. The police sometimes seem to treat the Africans poorly just because they can. These vendors may make 30 or 40 euros a day if they're lucky -- not much in one of the world's most expensive cities.

One of the things we talked about is how hard Paris is to explain to lots of people who only come as tourists or who know Paris purely through its myths. Paris is a gritty, harsh place for lots of people, from the immigrants of Chateau Rouge and the suburbs, to the homeless sleeping in the Metros or in an encampment I saw one night alongside the river. Like any city, Paris has its beauty. But I like to remind people of the complexities too, if only to deflate those myths a little.

I want to see Paris for what it really is, not for what I want it to be. That's a little easier as a historian because I've studied the highs and lows of French history -- the parts that everyone celebrates (like the way the city has encouraged the life of the mind) and the parts that many people would rather forget (like the collaboration with the Nazis). With that kind of knowledge, it's been a long time since I "loved" Paris only for its myths.