The Lady and Emperor of Paris
Paris
has been illustrated as being one of the most beautiful cities in the world,
varnished with romance, history and culture. The picturesque streets are
decorated with artists, musicians and performers which fill the atmosphere with
delight. Charming patisseries and gift shops line the cobbled pavements,
accompanied by lampposts and the occasional flower pot. Couples walk hand in
hand, absorbing the beauty that surrounds them, the sun dancing off the Seine
River and birds sharing their harmonious songs all contribute to the ideals of
Paris. 
The
Notre-Dame Cathedral is unquestionably one of the most magnificent buildings
you will ever see. The size is overwhelming as well as the detailed artistry
that covers its walls. This famous cathedral is French for ‘Our Lady of Paris’,
and the name could not be better suited. The superstructure watches over Paris,
and witnesses the everyday activity of the city. Until you see it, you will not
appreciate the beauty of it.
As I was walking by the
cathedral, I noticed that it was much calmer than other parts of the city I had
previously visited, and people seemed to be more laid back and relaxed. It has
been stereotyped that Parisians are rude and abrupt, and do not acknowledge you
when you are eating in their restaurants or buying souvenirs from their shops,
but when I visited, I could not have been more pleasantly treated. I found the
people of Paris to be friendly and welcoming, I was intrigued by their accent
and at one point, an old man gave me a flower he had picked from the window
display of his shop.
Heading away from the
cathedral, the next monument that I visited was the Arc De Triomphe. The noise
of traffic, the beeping of the horns and the extensive revs from car engines
could be heard a mile away. It was like being in a completely different place!
Everybody driving seemed to be in a rush, no driver was thinking of anyone or
anything but themselves, rushing to get to their destination. It ruined the
historical beauty of the Arc, as it was impossible to focus on it; I was
constantly looking around to see if I was unlucky enough to get hit by a car.
The noise and business of
the traffic reminded me of war. It was dangerous and selfless behaviour that was occurring.
Squinting my eyes and
holding my breath, I really tried to focus on the Arc, but could not erase this
thought of war from my memory. The Arc was stamped with names of generals and
soldiers who dedicated themselves to Napoleon, the Emperor of Paris and the Napoleonic
Wars that happened during the years of 1799 – 1815. Not being an experienced
historian, I never knew what the Arc stood for. Normally, I would have to read
or research a topic to understand it. It was a peculiar moment when I realised
that I knew about the Arc, I understood it, the surroundings could not have
been more suited and the meaning of it could not have been more embedded. And
when I say peculiar, I mean it in a wonderful way.
It
is intriguing that the same city can be full of different atmospheres, types of
people and emotion. The people engaging in conversation near the area of the
cathedral were in love, content and relaxed; whereas the drivers around the Arc
were the opposite. Putting all of the negativity aside, Paris really is one of
the most beautiful places in the world, and I am already planning my next trip.
Commentary
Within this piece of
coursework, we were asked to produce a piece of travel writing, based on a
place of our choice. The options were varied, and this assignment enabled me to
be as creative and experimental as possible. I felt that there were no boundaries
with this piece of work, it was not as though we had to pick from a list of
destinations, and we could chose anywhere.
The aims of my travel piece
were very simple. I wanted to successfully share my representation of Paris,
and everything I experienced when I visited in February 2014. Originally, I was
going to produce a piece of writing based on Disneyland Paris, as that is where
I stayed during my visit. Even though Disneyland is where I stayed, I visited
the city of Paris on one of the days, and instantly fell in love with the
place. I considered writing about Disneyland and Paris together, before coming
to the conclusion that there was much more to say and experiment with if I just
wrote about Paris alone. I did this because I thought that the article would
not follow a constant and coherent theme if I decided to write about two
different destinations.
Choosing what to write about
Paris in particular was a difficult part in the planning process. I wanted to
keep it focused on only a few things that I was fascinated with when I visited.
There was no doubt that the Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the most beautiful
buildings, and I felt that I would be able to write about it. I also found out
that the cathedral was known as the ‘Lady of Paris’. I did however want to
contrast this with another element, whether or not it be a building or another
place. Baring the ‘Lady of Paris’ in mind, I then visited the ‘Emperor of
Paris’, Napoleon. This was a great contrast, and I thought it made an engaging
and attractive title for my article. This had somewhat an impact on the basis
of what I was going to write in my travel article, and how I could portray and
explore more than one side of Paris. My original aim did change throughout, and
this happened because I kept remembering little things that happened to me when
I was there. An example would be the old man giving me a flower. That
originally was not in my plan to include that detail, but whilst I was writing,
I felt it would fit well with the imagery I was trying to create.
Before even planning my
travel article, I researched well known travel writers such as Jan Morris and
Paul Theroux. Whilst reading the article ‘The Cotswold Ways’ (Morris), I
noticed that she had a very distinctive style. It was easy to relate to and
understand, I think this was because of her use of description and imagery.
Sometimes a writer can be too overbearing, and include too many detailed words,
making the publication difficult to read and off putting. Morris keeps a
coherent balance within her writing, and it always engages the reader. This is
what I wanted my travel article to be like. Another writer I had researched was
Stephen Merchant. His article ‘An Englishman Abroad’, was humorous and
satirical. The opening line;
‘When I travel, I’m so
bloody English its embarrassing’, it is very straight to the point, and the
reader already has an idea of what the article is going to be about. Using
‘bloody’ in the first sentence, kind of acts as an ice breaker. It lets the
reader know that I the article will not be too serious, and that it will have a
natural, almost colloquial feel to it. However, I do not think I am humorous
whilst writing, that is not my natural style. I think that the author has to be
naturally humorous and sarcastic, in order to produce a piece of writing to
make the reader laugh, and I do not think that this in particular is my
strength.
Part of my research included
reading a few chapters in ‘The Travel Writers Handbook’ (Butler and Zobel
2012). It covers a lot of different aspects or writing a travel article that
did not even occur to me. One chapter in particular, was based on bringing
photos alive, and writing a piece on photographs. This is something so simple,
yet not the obvious thing to think of when it comes to write a travel article.
This tip did help me, because it reminded me of the imprints of the soldiers’
names and the stone carvings of Napoleon covering the Arc. It also helped me to
remember what it was really like when I was there. Other parts of my research
included ‘The Global Polititcs of Contemporary Travel Writing (Lisle 2009). This
book is very engaging, and lets the reader see the world in a new light. It focuses
on international relations, and how they can relate and impact culture and
politics. I found it very interesting, and felt that I learnt a lot from
reading it.
Once I had finished my
article, I asked a friend to read over it for me, to see if I had made any
mistakes, and to suggest what I could do to improve. At first, the article was
very factual, so my friend suggested to make it more personal so that the readers
may be able to relate to the text more. Taking this into consideration, I made
the narrative first person. I thought that this was an effective improvement to
make, as surprisingly, writing like this made it easier for me to present what
I wanted to.
Overall, I have enjoyed
working on this assignment, as I feel I have been challenged and pushed out of
my comfort zone and my typical writing style. Travel writing has now became an
interest of mine, and I will always be noting down places I visit.
