— Welcome to Rainbow Butterfly Alley, the magical city of Paris! — The woman smiled brightly, then took me under her elbow and led me from the portal platforms up the street. From the outside, it might look a bit comical, as the woman is not very tall at all, but her energy and strength more than made up for any small shortcomings. — I think we should finish the first things first and then we can relax.
— I agree with you, madam.
Apparently satisfied with the answer, the woman smiled and went back to greeting the people she met, even exchanging a few sentences with some of them. I turned my attention to the life around me.
First of all, I think it is worth mentioning that this magical city is designed for humans, i.e. I could not see a single non-human anywhere in sight. There is not that horrible hodgepodge — a mixture of magic and steampunk, with the addition of Dr. Moreau's laboratory — that I saw in New York or Las Vegas. The wizards, magicians, witches and the like looked more... more... appropriate?
All of the gifted people we met observed some standards of propriety. This is not to say that women necessarily wear skirts or men only wear suits, not at all. I've seen both girls/women in pantsuits and even tracksuits.
I've seen men in civilian clothes, business clothes, even hunting clothes. But there is a big "BUT". None of the wizards and witches looked like scarecrows or madmen, their clothes were chosen with taste and understanding, so they can walk safely among the ungifted in such outfits, and no one will suspect them of anything.
The general first impression I had of the French was good, about the same as of the Russians, who dressed in the usual way, like everyone else in the country.
No, the French wouldn't be themselves if they didn't distinguish themselves, but it was expressed in shimmering scarves of different colors, animated jewelry, various charms of beauty, illusion and so on. And again, it all looks very beautiful and harmonizes with the overall picture of elegance and magical fairy tale. Speaking of fairy tales. You know, at first glance,
Alley just looks like a beautiful, well-kept city. All the buildings, houses, are very neat, plastered and painted in light shades, some walls are covered with magical patterns, animated. In the streets and alleys are many lampposts, beautifully decorated with forging, and inside the glass lantern is a blue, lettuce or pink ball of light.
At all the crossroads, on buildings or poles, there are beautiful wrought-iron flowers, with faintly pulsating golden balls in the center, from which illusory pollen, various lights and butterflies, and sometimes illusions of fairies fly, and all this beauty is constantly flying over the heads of the people.
There are many flowerbeds with decorative, glowing plants, pots of flowers everywhere on the windowsills. And the walls covered with plants can only boast various cafes and restaurants, above each shop — lovingly decorated signs.
This is exactly how I had imagined a fantasy city before..... However, Japanese magical cities are not bad either — their inherent spirit of mysticism and mysterious atmosphere is something special.