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| A Lady at the Paris World Fair, Luis Jimenez y Aranda, 1889. Web Gallery of Art: https://www.wga.hu/index1.html |
"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast." Ernest Hemingway. 1964. A Moveable Feast. Reprint edition 2009. Scribner: New York.
Where is Paris?
Obvious answer: 48°51′24″N 2°21′03″E (or you could babble about France, Europe, Earth, etc.)
You'd be right, of course. But you'd be answering the wrong question. The right question is "Which one?"
Here in the US there are at least twenty cities, towns and recognized places named Paris:
- Paris, Arkansas
- Paris, Idaho
- Paris, Illinois
- Paris, Indiana
- Paris, Iowa
- Paris, Kentucky
- Paris, Maine
- Paris, Michigan
- Paris, Mississippi
- Paris, Missouri
- Paris, New Hampshire
- Paris, New York
- Paris, Ohio
- Paris, Ohio (another one)
- Paris, Oregon
- Paris, Pennsylvania
- Paris, Tennessee
- Paris, Texas
- Paris, Virginia
- Paris, Wisconsin
But let's not focus on them. Lets look at the places people have called Paris more metaphorically. You see, there's an urge, an irresistible urge some people have to call things "The Paris of _____." And they are absolutely determined to use this phraseology no matter how ... questionable the metaphor is:
- Asheville, North Carolina: "The Paris of the South"
- Carboro, North Carolina: "The Paris of the Piedmont"
- Charleston, South Carolina: "The Paris of the South"
- Cincinnati, Ohio: "The Paris of America"
- Detroit, Michigan: "The Paris of the Midwest"
- Kansas City, Missouri: "The Paris of the Plains"
- New Orleans, Louisiana: "The Paris of the South"
- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: "The Paris of the Prairies"
Come, let's widen our horizons a bit and look around the world at all the various "Parises" that have been proclaimed over the last century or so.
PARIS OF THE NORTH
- Aalborg, Denmark
- Tromsø, Norway
- Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
- Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada
PARIS OF THE EAST
- Baku, Azerbaijan
- Bandung, Indonesia
- Beirut, Lebanon
- Bucharest, Romania
- Budapest, Hungary
- Esfahan, Iran
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Irkutsk, Russia
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Jaipur, India
- Kabul, Afghanistan
- Lahore, Pakistan
- Leipzig, Germany
- Malatya, Turkey
- Manila, Philippines
- Pondicherry, India
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Riga, Latvia
- Ross Island (Andaman Islands), India
- Sài Gòn,"La Perle de l'Extrême-Orient", Vietnam
- Saint Petersburg, Russia
- Shanghai, China
- Warsaw, Poland
PARIS OF THE WEST
- Abidjan, Ivory Coast
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Cincinnati, USA
- Denver, USA
- Detroit, USA
- Merida, Mexico
- Montreal, Canada
- San Francisco, USA
PARIS OF THE SOUTH
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Charleston, South Carolina
- New Orleans, Louisiana
REGIONAL "PARISES"
- Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire: "Paris of Africa"
- Algiers, Algeria: "Paris of North Africa"
- Antananarivo, Madagascar: "Paris of Africa"
- Beirut, Lebanon: "Paris of the Middle East"
- Brazzaville, Congo Republic: "Paris of Africa"
- Buenos Aires, Argentina: "Paris of South America"
- Cairo, Egypt: "Paris of the Nile"
- Cape Town, South Africa: "Paris of Africa"
- Dakar, Senegal: "Paris of Africa"
- Dodoma, Tanzania: "Paris of East Africa"
- Hanoi, Vietnam: "Paris of the Orient"
- Ho Chi Minh City: "Paris of the Orient"
- Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo: "Paris of Africa"
- Lome, Togo: "Paris of Africa"
- Luanda, Angola: "Paris of Africa"
- Mogadishu, Somalia: "Paris of East Africa"
- Nairobi, Kenya: "Paris of East Africa"
- Shanghai: "Paris of the Orient"
- Zanzibar, Tanzania: "Paris of the Indian Ocean"
Personally, I've never quite understood the overwhelming fascination with Paris (the one in France). I'm sure it's nice. But I've never felt all that drawn toward it. I'd rather go to Sydney, or Dublin, or Brussels, or Copenhagen (which I've actually visited, and I'd like to go again).
Why don't we ever hear about "The Boise of the South," or "The Portland of the West" (actually we have one of those -- it's Portland, Oregon as opposed to Portland, Maine), or "The Bakersfield of the North"? For that matter, why not call Toronto "The Buenos Aires of the North"? Or Vladivostok "The Dakar of the East"? Or San Diego "The Orlando of the West"?
I guess it's because analogies are not always fair. My innocence is not lost, but is getting a little wobbly these days.
References
Fair, Laura. 2004. Remaking Fashion in the Paris of the Indian Ocean: Dress, Performance, and the Cultural Construction of a Cosmopolitan Zanzibari Identity. In Fashioning Africa: Power and the Politics of Dress, Jean Marie Allman, ed. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, pp.13-30.Sharrock, Sarah. Paris of the East, Venice of the North: Cities That Don't Know Their Place. https://www.tourdust.com/blog/posts/paris-of-the-east-venice-of-the-north-where-will-it-end
www.nytimes.com/1984/04/01/travel/the-paris-of-africa.html?pagewanted=all
https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/opinion/abidjan-the-paris-of-africa-and-its-young-leader-soro/201088.html
https://www.modernghana.com/news/777677/abidjan-the-paris-of-africa-and-its-young-leader-soro.html
http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2016/abidjan-regains-its-glamour
https://www.gonomad.com/3484-lome-togo-the-paris-of-africa-gonomad
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g312659-d1540874-r486886309-More_Quarters_Hotel-Cape_Town_Central_Western_Cape.html
https://www.gadventures.com/blog/the-paris-of-africa-how-cape-town-suprised-me/
http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/magazine/Antananarivo--The-Paris-of-Africa--/434746-2733980-pxp78y/index.html
http://www.futurecities.nl/en/cities/kinshasa-en/
https://prezi.com/yvu_c7rq8v8z/luanda-paris-of-africa/
http://www.thedigitalglobetrotter.com/algers-is-my-new-winner-for-most-beautiful-city-in-africa/
https://www.expertafrica.com/congo/brazzaville
https://harambeeintanzania.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-paris-of-east-africa.html
https://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/60-million-barrels-of-nice-try/1623
https://www.somalinet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=95099
