ImagesBrighton pictures of the week 18-10-2004

IMAGESBRIGHTON photography by david gray
	P A R I S I N A P R I L 1 9 8 1
	P I C T U R E S O F T H E W E E K 1 8 - 1 0 - 2 0 0 4

Several recent picture sets have been about Paris as it looked in the summer of 2004. This week, by way of comparison, the subject is Paris in April 1981. Francois Mitterand was about to be elected President of France and Jacques Chirac was the mayor of Paris. The Pompidou Centre was not long built and across the city there were major construction projects aimed at catapulting the French capital into the late 20th century. The streets were still full of traditional cafes, boulangeries and news kiosks, all of whose numbers have reduced considerably in recent years. Memories of the events of 1968 were also still very much alive in the spring of 1981 and the pedestrian areas of the new Les Halles development were not yet the home of muggers and addicts. Paris may retain almost all of its beautiful fabric, but it no longer has quite the same unique charm of two decades ago. But then, if you're of an older vintage, where does ?...

Two ladies chatting in the Pigalle metro station (image a229-5)

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