le car

I moved from Paris to London in March, and after a hard start, I'm slowly starting to like it. Most foreign people living here tell me that the first year is the hardest one, so I'll see in a few months if I'll LOVE it.

Good things :
- FREEDOM : the English (or at least London) society is much more open-minded than the French one. No one is offended by outrageous looks, weird behaviour, and in the creative business, people are not afraid of taking risks, instead of doing safe stuff. In France advertisers assume that the general public dislikes innovation.
- ENERGY : Paris is resting on its laurels, London is constantly rebuilding itself
- CULTURAL MIX : never have I met so many people from around the world than here. I just love having a drink with friends, when people speak english, but come from Brazil, Spain, France, Portugal, Algeria, Belgium, Germany, Colombia, etc...
- FOOD : yes! food! I know it sounds weird, but london has lots of good places to eat, and I found my secret places to find real cheese and other imported goods. Plus Indian retaurants are really good here.
- WEATHER : yes! weather! beleive it or not, it's hotter and sunnier here than in Paris. I still have to spend a full winter here, but being in permanent contact with friends in Paris, I can compare weather between the two cities, and quite often they tell me it's raining there, while here it's sunny!
- SAFETY : London is 10 times mellower than Paris. I've never felt threatened, never saw any scary looking guys, even in Hackney or Brixton. I can park my car almost everywhere, drive with the top down through rough areas, whereas in Paris some areas are not suitable at all for lone women or sport convertibles
- PARKS : they're lovely! Regent's Park, Victoria Park, Primrose Hill...
- GAS STATIONS : try to find an opened petrol station in Paris after midnight...
- PRESS : I'm amazed at the quality of the newspapers, in Paris on sunday you get only ONE broadsheet, 20 pages thick and uninteresting. Also BBC RADIO 4 is very good, its a bit of a dream-like image of england for a foreigner like me : well educated people talking seriously about important matters, in perfect english. The contrast is quite violent when I step out of my flat into East London, though, and try to communicate with electricians and white van drivers

le car

And now the bad things :
- FOOD : of course it's an issue : ever saw an "english restaurant" in another country? Here the fruits are terrible, meat is a no-no, cheese? what cheese?
In restaurants, however good the food is, service is still crap. In paris you can go in any "brasserie", order a steack & fries for

N-a-$-t-Y

London

GOOD:
- art galleries
- parks
- variety of cuisines/restaurants
- 24 hours
- salary/pay increases

BAD:
- housing/rent prices
- rubbish for driving, its always total gridlock.
- overpriced cabs
- dirty air
- sweaty/stinky underground system
- overcrowded city
- expensive (

Turtle

I've lived aboard for a few years... New Zealand and Scotland. Scotland, obviously being the greater culture shock

I'd agree with a lot of what you said, except easy on the Girls!

We have lots of incredible, beautiful women, even if there is a bit too much blonde dye about...

All I can say is the most beautiful Women always come from home, whereever that is for you.

-Brian.

Tonky

They say London is the loneliest place in the world. I doubt that's true, although like many big cities where you're a small pebble on a large beach, it can be a real struggle till you have built up a circle of friends and acquaintances. It sounds like you are in that second phase and starting to enjoy it. I'm not a lover of the place personally unless it's for the shops!! Where else would you see a McLaren F1 in a shop window! (Was that in Park Lane?).

You need to get out of the place occassionally. The Cotswolds is very nice at this time of the year , and you could have a nice long chat with my missus about your thoughts on English women!

SimonJackson

I would say about the girls - I don't know who you are around but I would change company.
My other half and all our friends are a little more sophisticated than your description. She is beautiful and I don't think she has ever crawled around (Although I am still hopeful on a Saturday night...).

Sam.

awinskill

[QUOTE]Originally posted by N-a-$-t-Y
[B]London

GOOD:
- 24 hours

steve_the_greek

I second Sam. It's got to be down to where you go for your night's out. In the UK, it seems like only the slappers parade their 'wares' in a visible way on a Friday night. The classy women are more discrete, hence don't appear so prevalent, but look in the right places and they're about.

Steve

Kobe

London - it would scare me to have to live there, not from a violence point of view - just it's size - overwhelming and in your face. Whenever I come in via Heathrow - I just look around in total shock at the general atmosphere and scene there. Provincial boy talking

Tonky

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kobe
[B]London - it would scare me to have to live there, not from a violence point of view - just it's size - overwhelming and in your face. Whenever I come in via Heathrow - I just look around in total shock at the general atmosphere and scene there.