Perceptions of Paris

Before going on trips to dream destinations, many people create a perception of how their trip will go. This may include what they will see, eat, and who they will interact with. Images of iconic places throughout the destination influence this image in the visitor’s mind. Seeing the monuments in real life may significantly alter the visitor’s view of the city that they created in their mind.

Before my trip to Paris, I had created an idea of what I thought Paris would be like. Images of the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, and iconic sandstone structures lining the streets filled my mind whenever Paris was mentioned. These images stood alone in a Paris category in my head, where they existed separate from each other. On the first day of the trip, we took a river cruise to get a good idea of the layout of the city. As we cruised on the river, the perception that I had created of them began to change as I saw the reality of the city in front of me.

The Eiffel Tower is perhaps one of the most iconic images of Paris. Since it was completed in 1889 after two years of construction, it has been photographed by visitors as they have made their way around Paris. I had used these photographs and other depictions of the Eiffel Tower to create an ideal image of the monument. As we cruised down the river, I saw the top of it, but I was not sure if it was actually the Eiffel Tower. It only began to match the images in my head when I was able to see the rest of the structure. Several days after the cruise, I sat in the park below the tower. The perceptions of the tower that I had created in my head did not match the reality of it: lots of other tourists and people selling things. Obviously, at one of the most iconic places in Paris, there would be a large crowd of people, but my brain failed to include this in my ideal image of the space. The volume of the crowd may also depend on the time of day when visiting, so this first view of the Eiffel Tower may change over the course of my time here in Paris.

Seeing Notre Dame after the fire that happened in April was something I had been preparing myself for since it occurred. I was familiar with how the Cathedral looked before the fire and in the days after, I followed the news closely. The front of the structure looks exactly as it did before, except there is now a large fence and tent for the restoration and reconstruction work. The front of the structure appearing closely to how it did before can be problematic in influencing people’s perception of how severe the fire was, especially since the damaged roof which is not visible from the front is what holds the sides and front of the building together. Getting a 360-degree view of the building changes the illusion that things are okay, as all of the stain glass windows have some form of protection over them and there is scaffolding where the spire once stood. Because I had known before my trip exactly what had happened to the cathedral, I could create an accurate image of what the structure would look like when I saw it in person.

The existence of these perceptions separate from each other in my mind did not account for their placement within the city, and I had no idea that the Eiffel Tower was on the other side of the center of the city from Notre Dame. By visiting Paris, the separated images in my head began to form a quilted map of the city. I cannot wait until I have seen more of this city to add more images to my mind map of the city.