swingingbellevillerendezvous

I'm pretty new here, but I have a few requests... 1) The Houses of Parliament, London. Big Ben is too Lonely on it's own. 2) The Campanile and Basilica of San Marco, Venice. 3) The Ecole Militaire, Paris. It'd be a really nice ensemble, The Ecole Militaire, then the Champ Des Mars, then the Eiffel Tower. 4) An Arc de Triomphe on a roundabout item (Like in real life.) My apologies if I have requested in the wrong topic for this kind of item. 5) le Mont Saint Michel. It's a gorgeous building. It might be a bit complicated, but it'd be worth it. And that's it for now.

A hard question indeed. I have been to both cities, and they each have their own charm. London has it's vibrant night-life, Historic buildings and cultural diversity. Paris has it's stunning architecture, romantic vistas and, like London, Cultural diversity. Each city has it's own unique history, for example, London's history consists of it being invaded by the vikings (Hence, London Bridge is falling down.), The Romans (Londinium and what remains of the London Wall) and William the Conquerer (Who built part of Westminster Abbey, if I recall.). Then the industrial revolution came along, catapulting it into a new age, with the World's first underground train system (correct me if I am wrong.) and the seat of the British Empire. Paris' history consists of it being a Roman city (Lutetia, the city of lights). Before the age of Haussman and his radical redevelopment, Paris was filled with slums. However, the French Revolution came along, catapulting the French into a new age, with the writing of the rights of man, the redevelopment of Paris by Baron Haussman, The construction of the Sacre-Coeur after the Franco-Prussian war, then the World Exhibition of 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was created. And of course, the occupation. That is a heated subject that I will not go into, but I must say that if it were not for the surrender, then the Beautiful city we know today would not exist. (In my opinion, of course.) Now then, the underground train situation. The Tube: Pros: Fast, Efficient and easy to navigate. Cons: Gets very, VERY hot and crowded and people are prone to throwing themselves in front of oncoming trains, causing delays. It also seems to be prone to terrorist attacks (7/7) and fire (King's Cross Fire, but that was an accident that has since been rectified and can never occur again.) Surprisingly, I've never smelt any urine on the tube. The Metropolitain: Pros: Fast, Efficient, Very Easy to navigate and lovely stations (Try stopping at Louvre-Rivoli to see artifacts from the museum, or at Varennes to see some of Rodin's Statues, such as the thinker, on the train platforms.) Cons: Gets very crowded and sometimes the train has to stop in the tunnel because there's already a train in the station ahead. It's a close call, but for me Paris comes out on top. Why? because it has retained it's colourful historic past, and it's sense of rebellion (People go on strike for just about anything to protect their rights) which I admire, but is still moving on with the future (Line 14 and METEOR on the Metropolitain, La Defense and Beaubourg, a.k.a the Centre Pompidou.) London is moving on with the times, but at what cost? The last time I went to London, I found it disheartening to see the once beautiful city of London becoming skyscraper city. The once dominating dome of Saint. Paul's cathederal has now been overshadowed by the Gherkin, Suppository or whatever you'd like to call it. The London Eye is far too close to the Houses of Parliament to me. London is still a great city, but I just prefer Paris. And yes, I am new to the board. Hello to you all.