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LONDON--Amorning'strainrideaway,acrosstheChannel.EnglishkidstalkaboutLiverpool'ssoccerteaminaParispub.
SomeParisianshaveevenstartedtogotoworkinLondon.
Inthe19century,CharlesDickenscomparedthetwogreatrival(竞争的)cities,LondonandParis,in“ATaleofTwoCities.”Thesedays,itmightbeATaleofOneCity.
Parisiansarethesedayslikelytosmileinsympathyatavisitor'sbrokenFrenchandrespondinpoliteEnglish.
AsJobsgrewlackathomeoverrecentyears,perhaps250,000FrenchmenmovedacrosstheChannel.Withanunderseatunnel,theycouldtravelbetweencitiesinthreehours.TheEuropeanUnionfreesthemfromimmigrationandcustoms.
Paris,richinbeauty,ismoreattractive.ButLondonfeelsmorefulloflife,andmorefununtilthepubsshutdown.
“Forme,thedifferenceisthatLondonisreal,alive,”saidTrevorWheeler,abanker.
ChantalJaouen,aprofessionaldesigner,agrees.“IamFrench,butI'llstayinLondon,”shesaid.
Thereis,ofcourse,theotherview.JulieLenouxisastudentwhomovedtoLondontwoyearsago.“IthinkpeoplelaughmoreinParis,”shesaid.
Infact,LondonandParis,withtheirobviousnewsimilarities,arebeyondtheolddescriptions.AstheEuropeanUniongraduallyloosenedcontrols,LondonersflockedintoParistoshop,eatandbuyproperty.
“Bothcitieshavechangedbeyondrecognition.”saidLarryCollins,awriterandsometimesaLondoner.
Likemostpeoplewhoknowbothwell,hefindsthetwonowfittogethercomfortably.
“IfirstfellinlovewithParisinthe1950s,andisstillawonderfulplace.”Collinssaid.
“ButifIhadtochoose,itwouldbeLondon.Thingsaresomuchmoreordered,andlifeisbetter.”
Butcertainlynotcheaper.
InfancypartsofLondon,rentscanbetwicethanthoseonAvenueFochinParis.
DecidingbetweenLondonandParisrequiresalifestylechoice.
LikeDaphneBenoit,aFrenchjournalismstudentwithperfectEnglish,manyyoungpeoplearehappytobecloseenoughtotheydon'thavetochoose.
“IloveParis,mylittleneighborhood,thewayIcanwalkaroundacentre,butlifeissostructured,”shesaid.“InLondon,youcanbewhoyouwant.Noonecares.”
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