We French love San Fransisco. There is something about the city that appeals to us. I remember when Hitchock´s "Vertigo" was screened in a big movietheatre in Paris the early eighties - all his golden films came out - and in Paris, major American movies have always been considered as treasures. "Vertigo" is shot in San Fransisco and I remembered everyone in the audience applauding and whistling when they saw the scenes. (We get emotional)
Paris has endless story and I think the charm lies in the old squares, the pawed streets, the fountains, sculptures and gardens. You have the old world and very modern 21 century charm mingling and lots and lots of mixed race. It has a very bloody history as well - I pass the place where the Guillotine used to be at Place de la Concorde on my way to my AA meeting. Around the square there are sculptures of women who represent the major cities of France and the Guillotine was where the statue of the city Nancy is - not far from the American Embassy.
There is also my favourite nightclub, The Bouddha Bar, where you can eat fabulous Oriental/Mediterranian food and listen to dreamy music. It´s The In place in Europe right now and people come from London and Berlin etc just to visit it.
I used to live in one of the oldest quarters of Paris when I was younger, Le Marais. The foundations are from the 14th century and the buildings are so old, you can almost feel the weight of the centuries. The crusaders came there from Jerusalem and settled in this area and you can still see the old buildings looking like castles.
I used to love to play under the bridges of Paris when I was a kid, visit the beggars, fish in La Seine and let the gipsies teach me how to read Tarot cards.
The periode I really love is the bohème aera when Paris was full of poets and original people. My oldest aunt was a good friend of Anais Nin, the writer, and they corresponded by letters for years and years. I´ve read them all and it contains wonderful stories of her life with Henry Miller. She lived in a boat on the Seine and danced Spanish dances in a cabaret to make money.
I also love the sixties and seventies, the New Wave periode.