Discovering the City of Light and making it your own has always been the most compelling reason to visit Paris. If you're a first-timer, everything, of course, will be new to you. If you've been away for a while, expect changes: Taxi drivers may no longer correct your fractured French but address you in English -- tantamount to a revolution. More Parisians have a rudimentary knowledge of the language, and France, at least at first glance, seems less xenophobic than in past years. Paris, aware of its role within a united Europe, is an international city. Parisians are attracted to foreign music, videos, and films, especially those from America, even though many French people might not always agree with the political dictates emerging from George Bush's Washington. Security is tighter than ever in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001. Paris has fully activated its antiterrorist campaign first launched in the mid-1990s when France was the target of a spate of Algerian terrorist attacks.
Expect to see far more police in bulletproof vests at all transport hubs and government buildings, as well as at high-profile sites such as the Eiffel Tower.
Metal detectors at Paris's airports are turned up so high that the zipper on a pair of trousers can trigger an alarm. Often, you have to do a virtual striptease before security will give you the green light.
As Paris and the country itself moves deeper into the millennium, there is a fear among the French of a loss of identity. France continues to attract record numbers of immigrants from its former colonies. Many native-born French have expressed concern that the country will lose the battle to keep its language distinct and unadulterated by foreign (particularly American) slang or catchwords (le weekend or le software). In fact, the rancor of France's collective xenophobia has been increasingly redirected toward the many immigrants seeking better lives in Paris, where the infrastructure has nearly been stretched to its limits.
Though Paris is in flux culturally and socially, it lures travelers for the same reasons it always has. You'll still find classic sights like the Tour Eiffel, Notre-Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, Sacré-Coeur, and all those atmospheric cafes, as well as trendy new projects like the Grande Arche de La Défense, the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, the Cité de la Musique, and the Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand. And don't forget the parks, gardens, and squares; the Champs-Elysées and other grand boulevards; the river Seine and its quays. Paris's beauty is still overwhelming, especially at night, when it truly is the City of Light.
