# A tale of two cities: London and Paris (plus Lille!)



## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

London, England (Part 6)


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Paris, France (Part 6)


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Lille, France (Part 6)


You know you are in the very northeast of France near Belgium and England when the buildings look like this and when so much brick is used.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

London, England (Part 7)


Some French-inspired architecture in these pics of London. Can you find the buildings? The first pic might be hard.


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## pixel2008 (Sep 18, 2008)

Wow. It's so cool to have pictures of London and pictures of Paris in one thread. 

I won't tell which city I like better...


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Paris, France (Part 7)


A visit of through Belleville and Canal Saint-Martin neighborhoods. Words that may describe these neighborhoods are multi-ethnic, bohemian, leftist, semi-gentrified, artsy, young. It's a bit like Kreuzberg in Berlin but more subtle, of course.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Lille, France (Part 7)


The neo-Flemish and Art Deco city hall of Lille with its belfry (bell tower).


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## Bristol Mike (Aug 5, 2007)

Lovely shots, I can certainly spot the French style architecture in the London piccies - an interesting mix of building styles there. Great photos from all cities!


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## Snowy (Nov 6, 2006)

What an interesting and original thread!

People always pigeon-hole these cities (well mainly London and Paris), that London is fairly ugly and Paris is beautiful, but these two great cities have more in common than people think. London can look more like Paris than Paris does at times(!) and can be an incredibly beautiful city at times, while Paris is not the perfect, beautiful city that many people seem to think it is and has it's grittier side, a bit like London!

Also, I agree that in many ways, Lille is more similar to London, with it's brick buildings, than it is to Paris. It's a city that I would definitely like to experience in the flesh. In particular, I love the art-deco city hall!

All in all, a very interesting thread!


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## muckie (Mar 14, 2006)

One of the best threads... congrats


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Thank yous to all


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

London, England - Part 8


Victoria Park in East London










Terraced houses (rowhouses) typical of the more residential parts of London


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Paris, France - Part 8


Pere Lachaise cemetery (many a famous from around the world buried here)


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Lille, France - Part 8


more Old Lille


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

London, England - Part 9


One of the canals adjacent to Victoria Park


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Paris, France - Part 9


While visiting the Canal Saint-Martin neighborhood


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Lille, France - Part 9

On one of the boulevards of Lille


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

London, England - Part 10


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Paris, France - Part 10


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Lille, France - Part 10


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Those updated photos from those cities are also great, very nice kay:


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## Pule (May 18, 2004)

You have made me run out of words, excellent photos.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Especially those of Paris and Lille are great :yes:


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

London, England - Part 11


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Paris, France - Part 11


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Lille, France - Part 11

More of Old Lille


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## Bristol Mike (Aug 5, 2007)

Lovely shots of all three cities as usual, there are certainly similarities between London and Paris in style of building in the pictures shown on this page.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Bristol Mike said:


> Lovely shots of all three cities as usual, there are certainly similarities between London and Paris in style of building in the pictures shown on this page.


I agree and that hasn't been intentional for the most part. I'm more or less going in order as I took the photos however I did intentionally coincide a few posts, like the canal pics for both London and Paris. I meant to do the same above with Galleries Lafayette by showing Harrods London but that would have required me moving some files. I may just post Harrods on the next post so it can at least appear on the same page nearby.

But it's true that the stone buildings of London (the neoclassic ones in the city center) can make London look a lot like Paris. But the brick buildings and the brick rowhouses are very different from what you see in Paris. But Lille-France compensates for that with its many brick buildings and houses that sometimes makes it feel British to me or at least Belgian.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

London, England - Part 12


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Paris, France - Part 12


Around _Place Vendôme_


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Lille, France - Part 12


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

That building (on the right) is Harrods store?


>


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## city_thing (May 25, 2006)

^^ Yep.



>


:drool:

My dream car.


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## Mr Bricks (May 6, 2005)

Pure class! Fatastic pics!


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

London, England - Part 13


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Paris, France - Part 13

A calm day in the upscale Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré since shops are closed on Sundays.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Lille, France - Part 13


A very old building in Old Lille. The majority of the structure dates back to the 1600's but it contains older portions. It was originally built in 1236 as a hospice to care for the sick back when Lille was part of the County of Flanders. A county in Medieval Europe was a type of sub kingdom that was under the rule of a count. Therefore Lille was once part of a ruled land that included the Dutch-speaking (Flemish) Belgian cities of Gent and Brugges. 

Lille appears with the name _Rijsel_ on the map below, its Dutch name and that county stretched as far east as the southern part of The Netherlands.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons


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## Comfortably Numb (Dec 19, 2007)

Interesting thread and a great collection. Interesting how although all 3 cities are quite different, there are many similarities too, in terms of styles of architecture and the overall "street vibe".


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

LONDON, England - Part 14


In colorful Soho


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

PARIS, France - Part 14

Taking a small break from the city and visiting Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris for a sample of the Meulière stone. Buildings and houses made of this stone are often complimented with ceramic or a ceramic-type of material (e.g. above the windows). You may have seen this iconic type of house of the Paris region in the movie Amélie when she goes to visit her father who is obsessed with his gnome.

The Meulière stone does not dominate Greater Paris even if it was used for a rather large period of time (roughly 1880-1930, which may explain the Art Nouveau influence to them). Nonetheless, they are rather unique in France and easily associated with the Paris region, and you can easily spot them throughout the suburbs. The more ornate ones, "les belles meuilières", are often the "villas" or nicer houses. Some apartment buildings were also lucky enough to get them! Not all the eastern suburbs of Paris are low-income and gritty, especially those on the nicer south-eastern portion where Saint-Maur is located.

The view from the elevated RER station servicing Saint-Maur




















The apartment buildling across from the one shown above




















I like to call them ginger-cookie houses


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## heywindup (Dec 12, 2009)

Beautiful pictures! Lille looks so much like London in some pictures.


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## Comfortably Numb (Dec 19, 2007)

edubejar said:


> ^^
> 
> Here is the "border crossing" near the Lille metro station I was talking about above. Beyond France onto Belgium there is currently no Google Street View.
> 
> ...


Those shots of Lille from Google Street View remind me more of an English town.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

^^ Well the first one is Mouscron in Belgium and the 2nd pic is a municipality in Greater Lille but ya, Greater Lille can look particularly English even if it's fair to say I have seen English towns that are very different and where I didn't see much brick.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

LONDON - Part 23


Somewhere in posh Knightsbridge/Kensington


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## Comfortably Numb (Dec 19, 2007)

edubejar said:


> ^^ Well the first one is Mouscron in Belgium and the 2nd pic is a municipality in Greater Lille but ya, Greater Lille can look particularly English even if it's fair to say I have seen English towns that are very different and where I didn't see much brick.


Lille looks fascinating. I'm actually going to Paris in a few months, so I'm contemplating visiting Lille for the day (that's if Paris itself isn't too overwhelming, in terms of having a billion and one things to do). I will definitely brush up on my French though first.

Great thread BTW...very interesting.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

PARIS - Part 23


Back to the single-family houses of chic Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, at the meander of the Marne River




















































More of the Meulière stone houses featured earlier in this thread


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Comfortably Numb said:


> Lille looks fascinating. I'm actually going to Paris in a few months, so I'm contemplating visiting Lille for the day (that's if Paris itself isn't too overwhelming, in terms of having a billion and one things to do). I will definitely brush up on my French though first.
> 
> Great thread BTW...very interesting.


Lille is a perfect day-trip destination because there are TGV departures every hour or so and the journey is only 1 hour. It can take longer to commute to some suburbs of Paris by RER or Transilien trains than going to Lille plus the TGV is so much more comfortable than suburban trains! Visit http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ where you can purchase your ticket in advance and pick it up just prior to departure with the same credit card you used. That's the website to the French Railways and they often have amazing specials, especially for 1st class.


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## Comfortably Numb (Dec 19, 2007)

edubejar said:


> Lille is a perfect day-trip destination because there are TGV departures every hour or so and the journey is only 1 hour. It can take longer to commute to some suburbs of Paris by RER or Transilien trains than going to Lille plus the TGV is so much more comfortable than suburban trains! Visit http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ where you can purchase your ticket in advance and pick it up just prior to departure with the same credit card you used. That's the website to the French Railways and they often have amazing specials, especially for 1st class.


Thank you for the information! An hour away is excellent -- and we should have time to leave Paris just for one day, but it's also up to the wife  I will definitely make sure I have plenty of memory for my camera, so I can take plenty of photos. We were actually considering going to London for the day (to cure my homesickness, but bit too expensive), Brussels or the Loire Valley. Lille would actually be a lot more feasible though and I've always been curious to visit.


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## Comfortably Numb (Dec 19, 2007)

Comfortably Numb said:


> Thank you for the information! An hour away is excellent -- and we should have time to leave Paris just for one day, but it's also up to the wife  I will definitely make sure I have plenty of memory for my camera, so I can take plenty of photos. We were actually considering going to London for the day (to cure my homesickness, but bit too expensive), Brussels or the Loire Valley. Lille would actually be a lot more feasible though and I've always been curious to visit.


According to the website, the date / times I chose came in at just over 100 Euros for 2 return tickets....excellent!


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

LILLE France - Part 23

The last pics of Lille. At a restaurant or brasserie just prior to our 7pm departure back to Paris, having typical Moules et Frites (mussels and fries like in Belgium) with a local beer. Some local dishes had names you don't see elsewhere in France. Some of them sounded almost Dutch (or maybe it was a Picard dialect but it sounded more Germanic than Latin).


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

LONDON - Part 24

A little tour of The City. A visit to the Museum of London in The City is a must for anyone who appreciates urban history. The museum is appropriately located in The City where London was born. From pre-Roman London through the Industrial Revolution and WWII, the museum tries to show it all. Many of the streets of The City still bear the layout and names of Medieval London and sometimes pre-Medieval. Too bad there is very little left that is proof to that besides street layout. It's not like Paris did a much better job with Ile-de-la-Cité and the Latin Quarter.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

PARIS - Part 24

Some shots of the Marne River while visiting Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in the south-eastern suburbs. The houses lining this segment of the river are some of the nicest in the east part of Greater Paris.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*LONDON* - Part 25


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*PARIS* - Part 25


More along the Marne River in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

edubejar said:


> Too bad there is very little left that is proof to that besides street layout. It's not like Paris did a much better job with Ile-de-la-Cité and the Latin Quarter.


I desagree, much of Ile de la Cité was destroyed by Haussmann in the 19th century, transforming the vibrant heart of the city into in a boring administrative district.
In the future I don't know what we will do of Ile de la Cite as many of the administration located in the island left it for bigger and more modern buildings.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

Minato ku said:


> I desagree, much of Ile de la Cité was destroyed by Haussmann in the 19th century, transforming the vibrant heart of the city into in a boring administrative district.
> In the future I don't know what we will do of Ile de la Cite as many of the administration located in the island left it for bigger and more modern buildings.


Oui voilà c'est bien ce que j'ai dit.


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## Bristol Mike (Aug 5, 2007)

Great photos of all the cities here edubejar - a brilliant idea for the thread! Keep the piccies coming.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*LONDON* - Part 26


While visiting the Tower of London. Let's do some medieval London!


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*PARIS* - Part 26


The last of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés








































































Walking back to the RER station on the way to Vincennes


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*LONDON* - Part 27

More of Tower of London


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*PARIS* - Part 39

The intersection area of the grand Hotel Lutetia, an Art Nouveau beauty in the Left Bank of Paris (south of the Seine river). The main road there is Boulevard Raspail. The Bon Marché department store is in that area, far away from Printemps and Galeries Lafayette department stores in the Right Bank.












Lutetia Hotel, which was going through a cleanup or facelift of some sort. It had a net or mesh around parts of the façade.




















The buildings around the hotel are particularly nice too.








































Other nice buildings in that immediate area


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## Bristol Mike (Aug 5, 2007)

Absolutely beautiful buildings in that last update, Paris just never ceases to amaze me with its attractiveness!


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## heywindup (Dec 12, 2009)

Amazing pictures! Paris was really lucky that it was spared during WWII. Hitler actually ordered his generals to burn down Paris before they retreated from the city, but luckily, they thought it was sacrilege to destroy such a beautiful city. London, on the other hand...


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*LONDON* - Part 40

Finishing my visit to Borough Market in Southwark borough, south of the Thames river. The big market is inside the building on the left with iron arches. I imagine Les Halles market in Paris looked somewhat like that before its extinction.











The area around this part of Southwark (near Southwark Cathedral) is very "charming" if you can handle that word.










Nice little shops compliment the neighborhood.










Southwark Cathedral. The Thames river is just steps from the cathedral. This general area of Southwark is the first part of London south of the river to become settled and urbanized.










Southwark Cathedral: medieval history south of the river


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*PARIS* - Part 40


An alternative energy or zero emission transportation show/exhibition at city-hall's public square




















Notre-Dame cathedral on the background






































































Cité Island on the background across the river Seine


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*LONDON* - Part 41


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*PARIS* - Part 41


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

The grand Hotel Lutetia is indeed a great building in Paris


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## JoseRodolfo (Jul 9, 2003)

Great!! What´s that building with colums? In the last picture showed.


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

^^ That building is the Bourse de Paris or Paris Stock Exchange located on Rue Reaumur near Opera Garnier.
Location in Google Maps


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*LONDON* - Part 42


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## edubejar (Mar 16, 2003)

*PARIS* - Part 42


Finally, *Les Champs Elysees*
































































































At Louis Vuitton































Now the upscale *Avenue George V* and *Avenue Montaigne* that both intersect the Champs Elysees Avenue










































Avenue Montaigne seen from the Champs Elysees Avenue
1)









2)










Thank you for visiting! *For more* on Avenue Montaigne and other parts of the posh west side of Paris, visit my previous threads:
1. PARIS - high fashion Avenue Montaigne & more

2. A walk through Paris' affluent west side

3. Part II: Paris' affluent west side


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