"London's more bogus claims"

Geography Julian Barnes reviews Paris as some people might review a restaurant or piece of literature. The result is fascinating:

"The wisdom and efficiency with which Paris has kept its centre low-rise has also kept it more human. One of London's more bogus claims is that it consists of a linked series of "villages". Paris seems to me to have a greater sense of villagey difference, both from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, and also within them. I love to turn a corner and suddenly find myself in, say, the sub-quartier of stamp dealers, or eccelesiastical dressware shops. These are, I realise, rather conventional, even sentimental preferences; and I've never explored Paris beyond the Périphérique, where you might find Graham Robb pedalling past on his bicycle. But chacun à son Paris."

If only I'd had the courage to move there when I had the chance.