In which I am uncivilized

Those who know me well will probably at some point have been exposed to my unpleasant habit of complaining about London as a hubristic parasite that hoovers up resources and talent from the rest of the country, then preens itself on being a 'world city'. Well, in fairness, today I'm going to leave London alone and take my metropolis-bashing abroad.

Whilst googling for other information entirely, I happened upon the fact that Rome and Paris are 'sister cities'. Nothing surprising there - but apparently they've coined a slogan to encapsulate their mutual besotment. In French, it goes like this: "Seule Paris est digne de Rome; seule Rome est digne de Paris." Or, in Italian: "Solo Parigi è degna di Roma; solo Roma è degna di Parigi".

Am alone in finding this a little vomit-inducing? If someone said of their partner, "The great thing about our relationship is that I'm really the only person worthy of her, and she's the only person worthy of me," wouldn't one's natural reaction be to flip them in the face with a haddock? Why is it okay when it's cities? Am I missing something? Answers on a postcard of the Eiffel Tower, please.

In which I am uncivilized

Those who know me well will probably at some point have been exposed to my unpleasant habit of complaining about London as a hubristic parasite that hoovers up resources and talent from the rest of the country, then preens itself on being a 'world city'. Well, in fairness, today I'm going to leave London alone and take my metropolis-bashing abroad.

Whilst googling for other information entirely, I happened upon the fact that Rome and Paris are 'sister cities'. Nothing surprising there - but apparently they've coined a slogan to encapsulate their mutual besotment. In French, it goes like this: "Seule Paris est digne de Rome; seule Rome est digne de Paris." Or, in Italian: "Solo Parigi è degna di Roma; solo Roma è degna di Parigi".

Am alone in finding this a little vomit-inducing? If someone said of their partner, "The great thing about our relationship is that I'm really the only person worthy of her, and she's the only person worthy of me," wouldn't one's natural reaction be to flip them in the face with a haddock? Why is it okay when it's cities? Am I missing something? Answers on a postcard of the Eiffel Tower, please.