Paris has passed the Olympics flag to Los Angeles.
The two cities share significant presences in the world's imagination, from countless books, movies, songs and TV shows.
Their contrasts are striking. Paris, as the recent Olympics broadcast emphasized, is compact. LA is spread out.
Paris has the Seine. Los Angeles, its river encased in concrete, revels in the Pacific Ocean.
Both cities produce movies, movie stars and music.
Paris boasts of Proust, Emile Zola, Victor Hugo, Arthur Rimbaud. Los Angeles offers Raymond Chandler, Eve Babitz, Nathaniel West, Joan Didion.
The Paris Olympics glowed with the Eiffel Tower. The Los Angeles Olympics will make do with the Hollywood sign.
"Casablanca," a Hollywood production, defined Paris. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
LA counters with "Chinatown." Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway.
With the 2028 Olympics, Los Angeles will join Paris as a three-time host of the event.
LA's not Paris. But the City of Angels' Olympics will be marvelous.
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