Chapter 623 Where is your camera?
There is a reason why Xiao Peng chooses a bicycle instead of a car when traveling here.
La Défense is one of the few commercial districts in the world that completely separates pedestrian and public transportation areas. Above ground, there are skyscrapers, and pedestrians can't see any cars. All roads, subways, and parking lots are underground. Despite the large number of wealthy people here, 90% of them rely on public transportation to get to work. The rest either live here or ride bicycles. Bicycles are more convenient here than cars.
When Xiao Peng first arrived here, he drove a car, but later he just rode a bicycle. Now his bicycle is gathering dust in the parking lot...
After he entered the elevator, a woman wearing sunglasses and dressed fashionably was already inside. She frowned slightly when she saw Xiao Peng pushing a bicycle in.
Xiao Peng gave an apologetic smile, put his bicycle upright and moved it to the side, then stood in another corner, using his body to block the bicycle from hitting the woman. It wasn't a problem to use a bicycle elevator here, but it would be bad if it hit someone else.
He looked at the floor number on the elevator and saw that it said '51', which was exactly the floor he wanted to go to, so he didn't press it again and stood there silently waiting for the stairs to go up.
This building's title of "France's First Tourist Tower" is well-deserved; it's actually the tallest building in France. Paris also has one and only skyscraper, the Montparnasse Tower, which stands at 210 meters tall, but has 59 floors. Meanwhile, the "France's First Tourist Tower" boasts only 51 floors, yet stands at 231 meters, making it the undisputed "number one."
The French are actually quite funny, they are the typical "it's really delicious" people.
If you ask people what the most iconic building in Paris is, 99% of them will answer: the Eiffel Tower.
However, when the Eiffel Tower was first built, it caused a huge uproar in Paris. Famous French writers and artists stood up to protest. For example, the famous writer Maupassant was the most ardent opponent of the Eiffel Tower. He published articles in newspapers satirizing Eiffel and his design, saying that the Eiffel Tower was "grotesquely ugly and disgusting, and did not conform to the beauty of Paris."
At that time, the streets of Paris were filled with protests against the Eiffel Tower. The Parisian government had signed an agreement with the Eiffel Company: the Eiffel Company would operate the Eiffel Tower commercially for 20 years, after which the government would demolish the tower. However, 20 years later, Parisians took to the streets again, protesting in large numbers to preserve the Eiffel Tower and prevent the demolition of the building.
The same thing happened with 'Skyscraper'.
There has been a period of "old town renovation" and high-rise building in French cities. Small high-rise apartments were built one after another in the 13th arrondissement until the construction of the "Montparnasse Tower".
In 1972, the Montparnasse Tower was built. At that time, it was the tallest building in France, second only to the Eiffel Tower. However, the people of Paris were unhappy.
After all, at the time, most buildings in Paris were older and relatively low, while the Montparnasse Tower, once built, stood out from the crowd. The surrounding buildings were only seven or eight stories tall, with the highest reaching a dozen. Suddenly, this massive building, over fifty stories high, became the only modern commercial building in downtown Paris. This angered the Parisians: "Why so tall?" They protested vigorously, and two years later, a decree was passed prohibiting the construction of high-rise buildings in the city center. As a result, there are no high-rise buildings in downtown Paris today.
But society is progressing! It's a joke these days for a major international city to not have a business district. So Paris began developing the La Défense business district. However, due to a law prohibiting high-rise buildings within the city, the district had to be built in Hauts-de-Seine, its neighbor to the west. This cost the Hauts-de-Seine a significant amount of money each year.
And more importantly, because of this decree, the Montparnasse Tower became the only skyscraper in the Parisian city, and no one would ever compete with it. This made the Parisians even more unhappy. Every time someone voted for the "world's ugliest building," Parisians would desperately vote for the Montparnasse Tower...
Is it good to preserve traditions? Of course it is! But we must preserve them selectively!
There are people like this in China who criticize "old city renovation" every day, saying it's "forgetting our roots and abandoning traditions." But look at Paris? It has maintained its consistent urban style for hundreds of years and hasn't changed much even now. It's the greatest city in the world!
Xiao Peng disagrees with this statement. The four most important things for a person are "food, clothing, housing and transportation." How can you live in an uncomfortable place? Those old houses in Paris... only those who have lived there know!
Xiao Peng was still in the elevator thinking about what to eat for dinner when the woman next to him suddenly spoke: "Where is your pinhole camera?"
"Huh?" Xiao Peng was stunned and asked in confusion, "What pinhole camera?"
But the woman in sunglasses shouted, "Come on, I've seen people like you before! If you're not a paparazzi, why don't you press the floor?"
Xiao Peng was confused and was about to speak to explain when the woman said, "Stop it! Stop it! No truth comes out of a man's mouth! I've seen too many people like you! Are you going to say you live on the 51st floor too?"
Xiao Peng nodded and said, "Yes! I do live on the 51st floor!"
The woman in sunglasses sneered: "Are you going to say you don't know me next?"
Xiao Peng nodded and continued, "I really don't know you!"
The woman in sunglasses took them off. "Don't you recognize me after this? Are you paparazzi ever going to stop? You're so unprofessional! How could the owners here come here dressed so casually and pushing a bicycle?"
There was a delicate face under the sunglasses, but Xiao Peng couldn't figure out who this woman was. He had watched a lot of French movies and knew many entertainment stars, but he had never seen this person before!
Xiao Peng looked helpless: "Sister, I really don't know you. I'm not a paparazzi."
"Who are you calling 'big sister'? Am I that old?" the woman in sunglasses asked excitedly.
Xiao Peng shook his head: "It's unreasonable."
He turned his head and ignored the woman, but she kept pestering him: "Hey! Who are you calling unreasonable? Why don't you answer me? Where's your hidden camera? I'm just an ordinary person, please don't interfere with my life, okay?"
Xiao Peng almost vomited blood. Living in a luxury house on the top floor of the "First Tourist Building", it seems that he has been bothered by paparazzi a lot. And you still call yourself an "ordinary person"?
Do you have any misunderstanding about this term?
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