When I got to Paris last time, I heard a sight of relief from my Russian-French friend - that's good, it is not your first time in Paris. He showed me that map and I understood immediately what was in his mind...
The map above puts into perspective the open source data (mostly from various phones' apps). It presents the places of the highest popularity by two groups of people. Locals and tourists.
Do you see those blue and red spots separated from each other? This explains why there are actually two cities in the very same Paris. In red are marked placed that are highly popular within tourists; in blue are favourite areas of locals; in yellow are those spots that are frequently visited by both - tourists & locals. As you see, they rarely mix and there is not too many places that are in yellow. No wonder that finding a common language with a tourist, might be quite a challenge for a local Pierre!
[If you are interested in the other cities, go to the flickr link or check out many other statistical variability in www.openstreetmap.org ]
Local tourist?
What a pity that I found that map so late! My first days in Paris were a little disappointing - I saw everywhere tourists and asked myself - where real people live? Then, I tried to find my private way of checking, whether the area is rather local or already conquered by tourists.
This picture is a giant bird feeder (+ a piece of song of Oasis Songbird). Although I completely mixed up the perspective here (I blame for this the freezing temperature >_<), my humble presence next to the subway station Pont-Cardinet, not far away from Monceau, made people interested. They stopped and asked what do I do or commented how tres jolie this sketch is.
Although I was surprised of that interest (Paris is full of artists!), I merci-beaucouped politely and kept with jeneparlepafrancaising modestly. If there was a moment I regretted not speaking French, that was exactly when an elderly lady asked me whether I am from Espagne and started to talk, talk and talk, looking at me while sketching. She was so lovely.
When I gave a longer thought to this (and asked friends certainly too), it turned out that the Square de Batignolles (where I sketched) is not really a place which many artists choose, not to mention tourists. My pleasure! There is a beautiful park over there and the biggest bird feeder I have ever seen in my life. Sketching was irresistible and I wished it was spring!
Cok güzel, madame!
 |
| Paris. Montmartre from far away. In foreground - Le Figaro guarded by the police. |
Completely different impression I have from Montmartre. The place that I love to come back when in Paris and that could hardly be considered purely local! It is a bit of shame to admit, that the view on and from the hill with Basilica of the Sacré Cœur I find really exciting. I promised to myself I will go and sketch there! So this time, I finally did.
 |
| Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, Montmartre, Paris. |
My love to that district started last year with a bottle of my favourite Cabarnet-Savignon, just on the top of the hill. With my friend I was delighted to see the artists' Mecca where they sketch and paint for money or fun. No wonder that this is THE place for sketchers and painters. Many artists used to choose Montmarte for their place to live and work - Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Salvador Dali, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Francis List or more recently Woody Allen, who directed there Tout le monde dit I love you ( Everyone Says I love you). Also the Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin used to live there - of course I couldn't miss a chance to go there!
 |
| One of many portrait painters on the top of Montmartre hill |
Whereas the top of the hill may be crowdy sometimes, the bottom has also its charm that makes this area one of my favourite so far. Whenever I pass the subway stations of Anvers, Blanche or Abbesses I cannot resist warm feelings towards their beautiful art nouveau style that I love to look for whenever I travel; the quite big number of African people living nearby makes it also less posh and more alive than the typical French-style districts. This is how I come back to this touristic place over and over again.
I decided to finally sketched the basilic, instead of only drinking wine from the top and cherishing the beautiful view on the city of Paris. While sketching, I managed to come to one fundamental conclusion:
How to realise you are in touristic place
[if you happen to be a sketcher]
 |
| WinTer! No comparison... my phone camera prefers daylight. |
****
- Un espresso, s'il vous plait.
- Madame.
(You get your tiny cup of coffee and almost fall down from a chair while checking the price on the bill).
****
A family with dad mum and teeny children passes by:
- Cok cok güzel! (chok-konosh-karm-misimi-miyour-sen-pam-ta-dam-in Turkish)
- Tesekkür ederim, but I don't speak Turkish. English?
- English.... aaa..... sooo beautifjiul... Can I take a photo?
****
- Madame, tres jolie (mohn-pom-pam-ba-pa-bam in French)
- Merci beaucoup (my desperate look)....Parlez-vous pa anglais?
- Oh, oui, oui... It is very beautiful. Really beautiful.... I am also artist myself, but I do portrays, not buildings. - then he added
- ... but madame, take phone from the table. You know... take your phone ...
[yeah.. He gave me a very nice advice actually. Don't talk to people there who want to sell you something, show altruistically or give you petition to sign up. You know - just do not do it there]
****
The worse touristic place you can recognise without speaking French.
You sit. You sketch. You look carefully at your objects. A couple comes to you.
Look at your sketch. They smile. They take out the camera and ask:
- Could you please take a picture of us?
(after my angry look I heard at Moulin Rouge dubious...)
- ... nno?... ok.. sorry...
 |
| For the first time I mixed my usual rotring rapidograph with a fountain pen. (LAMY) Reason was - it was sooooo cold and I needed there black background quickly! Nonetheless, watery effect is something what I didn't like. If you look a bit longer, you may guess where I have started. One of my friends, who is architect),wondered that I sketch from the top to the bottom without doing shapes or something. Well, I find it easier. That evening it was really freezing, so no wonder. The more down you go on the sketch, the less details you get >__<. Hopefully I can repeat it one (sunny summer) day and focus more on the bottom. |
***
My friend asked me recently:
- I go to Paris next week. You have just come back - so... what should I see?
- Is that your first time in Paris? - I answered without thinking. (Really)
People say Louvre, Champs-Élysées, Triumph Arc, Eiffel Tower. Of course, go there if you haven't seen it yet. However, don't forget to come back there for longer than a weekend and check out everything else that locals tell you- that is just as much interesting as la belle époque memorials filled with tourists. Promise!
Nonetheless, I answered:
- Go to Montmartre. It's impressive, also in winter. Climb up the hill, cherish the view and watch out your phone!
 |
| October in Montmartre. |
Ps. Great thanks go to Evgueni for introducing me to the fascinating world of open sourced data :)!
