Actually it’s more about Paris from the «downside» because today we are going to speak about a totally different city from the one we all got used to – we will speak about the underground life of Paris .

First goes Paris Métro (or Métropolitain) which was first open back in 1900. A first train had only three wooden cars and 3 years after opening the great catastrophe happened – the fire which had suddenly begun in the metro carried 84 people lives away. Instead of stopping the driver kept the train moving until it was back in the tunnel, and only then he stopped for help at the first station. That only strengthened the fire and became a reason of sad consequences.
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Suicide has always been a great problem, not only in Europe but all over the world. What makes people kill themselves? Nobody can really answer this question conclusively because even the age, social status, or gender does not define a reason for committing suicide. Every year about 1,000,000 suicides occur worldwide. Europe, both east and west, has about 163,000 instances annually. Most people decide to end their lives at home or work, but some of them choose a special place to visit before death.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe has the world’s highest suicide rate and if it used to be the over-75 age group, today the cases are rising among young people. Women attempt suicide 3 times more than men, though men 3 times more actually succeed. It is known that women are more likely to chose “romantic” ways of killing themselves like poisoning or jumping off high buildings and bridges while men use much more violent methods such as gunshot to the head or mouth or a intentional crash injury. All the scientists and researchers firmly insist that Europe needs to reduce its shameful record of 17.5 suicides per 100,000 people. Among the top ten suicidal countries worldwide are the UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Hungary, and Belgium.

Today not only the number but also the types of suicides have changed. A current trend has people coming from different countries to big cities and famous places of interest to end their lives by jumping off a cliff, a bridge, or a tower. This kind of suicide is referred to as “tourists-suicides”, and the popular places where the act takes place – “suicide sites”. These destinations have a certain reputation and some magic aura that attracts people who have decided to take their own life. Psychologists say those who attempt suicide in a well-known place are trying to draw other people’s attention that they sought while alive.

Among such suicide sites – Clifton Bridge and Humber Bridge located in the UK, Göltzschtalbrücke – the railway bridge in Germany, Cliffs of Moher – the spectacular seaside cliffs located in Ireland, Nusle Bridge (or Nuselsky Most) in Prague, and of course Eiffel Tower in Paris are the most well-known.

A lot of people kill themselves in Paris, and jumping off the “Iron Lady” (which is 1,063 feet high) is the third most popular method of suicide after poisoning and hanging in France. Actually only about 68% of the suicides are known by the Official Statistic in the Paris region and 26% of them in the city of Paris proper. After AIDS, suicide is the second most frequent cause of death in Paris.

The first suicide at the Eiffel Tower was committed by a 23-year-old man, who hanged himself from one of the beams on July, 15th 1898. The most recent case of suicide, according the media, happened on June, 26th this year. A young woman threw herself from half way up the Eiffel Tower, crashing onto a restaurant patio on the first floor of the Paris monument. For 120 years since the monument’s construction about 400 people killed themselves there, of which two survived the 171 feet drop from the first floor, one was blown onto a rafter by the wind and one young woman landed on the roof of a car. A bit of good news from that potentially tragic attempt – after recovering from her injuries this woman married the owner of the car.

Several years ago 6 feet high barriers were constructed on the tower perimeter in order to reduce the number of incidents. Apparently the barriers have had a positive effect. The Police Préfecture claims that suicide attempts from the tower have become very rare. Even so, there are still a lot of people who desire to jump off a famous Paris site. At least 4-5 cases of suicide a year happen in the capital city. That is the reason why the Eiffel Tower is named one of the most popular suicide sites in Europe. Parisians would prefer it just be known as a nice place to visit…

If you can’t imagine your life without candies, sweet pies, marshmallows, ice-cream and great chocolate – you are definitely an incorrigible sweet-tooth. That is fact #1. If you feel fondness or craving for best sweets ever you just HAVE TO go to Paris – that’s fact #2.

Are you ready to dip into the incredible world of sweets? Follow us.

Start. Let’s start with the special French dessert which you can hardly find anywhere in other countries.

Step 1. Search for best macarons

What is macarons? Sounds like macaroni, doesn’t it? Though it has nothing in common with noodles or pasta it is not any less popular or any less delicious. Macarons are sandwich-like pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. It has different flavours and you can pick up the one which is your favourite.

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Paris is a circle of boulevards, spiral of districts, rays of avenues and elegant squiggles of bunders on the map. There are many borders: administrative, topographic, symbolic. Topographic borders align with a ring of so-called “boulevards of marshals” (boulevards des marechaux) that have names of Napoleon’s military commanders – Ney, Davout, McDonald, Masséna. Around this ring that passes through the line of municipal frontiers of XIX century; almost joining to it, boulevards peripheriques by-passing highway is situated. The Seine is flowing from east to west smoothly bending that is thruway, symbolic border and the symbol by itself: the ship is represented on the emblem of Paris. The Cité island (Ile de la Cité) divides cradle of Paris into two branches. There is smaller island near it that is called the Île Saint-Louis, one of the most romantic old places in the city. Tourists that come to the main and the most Parisian cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris, prevail on the Cité. They walk and taste famous local ice-cream Bertillon on Saint-Louis. Two banks of the river are different: the Left bank (Rive gauche) is quite differs from the Right bank (Rive droite). The spirit of the Left bank is defined by Notre Dame School. School became Sorbonne; Latin district appeared around Sorbonne – students, youth, artists, musicians, professors, poets. Traditionally Latin bank considered being artistic and bohemian, and Right bank is administrative and business.

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Every sixth habitant of Paris is a foreigner. Only more than 300 thousands of them settled on legal bases within peripherique (ring road). It is almost impossible to count illegal immigrants and those, who were able to get rid of foreign status. Africans, Chinese, Russians, Japanese, Greeks, Armenians, Portuguese, British, Indians and Brazilians were living and are living here.

Arab mosque, Russian Orthodox Church, Japanese pagoda, Irish pub and Chinese supermarket are neighboring with frontispieces of Paris designed by Haussmann. Charles Aznavour’s family is from Armenia. The best caviar in the city is in Petrossian shops. Beginning with 1920 th Polish bookshop opened on the Boulevard Saint-Germain. Parisian Greeks feed tourists and students with shawarma in the Saint-Séverin Quarter. Parisian Portuguese guard porches as concierges. But for the first time they appeared long ago: the best friend of Rabelais and Montaigne was Antonio Gouveia vice-chancellor of Saint-Barb College. Latin American cabaret and clubs are always full of people. At different times from Romania to Paris have moved countess Anna de Noailles, writer Mircea Eliade, sculptor Brîncusi who is now called Brâncusi after the mode of France . Russian writer Andreï Makine has got prestigious Goncourt Reward (Prix Goncourt). Czech Milan Kundera writes novels in French. Everything has mixed and became Parisian.

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Ask 100 different people what reminds them of Paris and you will most likely hear – Eiffel Tower. We all know that this “Iron Lady” has always been the symbol of Paris. We also know why – this huge 1,063 ft high tower (which is equal to an 81-story building) can be seen from almost any point in the city. And from the top of the Eiffel Tower, the entire city of Paris and beyond can be seen. More than 200,000,000 people have visited the tower since its construction in 1889, making it the most visited paid monument in the world. On March 31st this year this incredible structure has turned 122 years old.

But ask yourself what interesting facts you know about Eiffel Tower and you may draw a blank.

To begin with this tower should not have even been there back in 1889. When French engineer Gustave Eiffel first decided to raise this structure in 1887 he met with much criticism from the public. Most famous cultural workers of that time even signed the document which said: “And during next years we shall see, stretching over the entire city, still thrilling with the genius of so many centuries, we shall see stretching out like a black blot the odious shadow of the odious column built up of riveted iron plates.”

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