A tourism fair under the motto “Bulgaria - culture and traditions” will be launched in Paris to promote not only tourism regions in Bulgaria but also Bulgarian foods, customs and cultural heritage. The event will be held at Palais Royal in the heart of the French capital from 3 to 5 July. But shortly before Bulgaria will visit France and Paris in particular to present its tourism, Paris comes to Sofia to help Sofia Municipality revive its former urban spirit.

In the course of three days Parisians and visitors to the French capital will taste Bulgarian wines and traditional foods. The Palais Royal square will host performances of Bulgarian folk music, there will be Bulgarian chain dances, rachenitzas as well as art studios of old Bulgarian crafts, literary premieres and so on. And the "icing on the cake" is expected to become a 2-meter copper cauldron to be installed amidst the square, as its lid will be lifted by a special crane. The hand-forged cooking vessel with a capacity of 1 tonne is an absolute copy of the cauldron in the cookhouse of the Bulgarian monastery St. George on Mount Athos and will be full of ...Bulgarian tarator (cold soup made of youghurt, cucumbers and dill). Famous showman and Chef Uti Bachvarov will invite the audience to taste the famous Bulgarian yoghurt specialty. And here's a curious detail. Within the fair the special French-language issue of ZOOM Bulgaria, the magazine issued by Radio Bulgaria (the foreign service of the Bulgarian National Radio) will be distributed. The focus of its latest edition is on "Destination Sofia". Everyone interested in Bulgaria's heritage and the cultural events calendar of the ancient capital will be able to get hold of a copy during the tourist fair in Paris, free of charge.

And literally days before the start of the colorful Bulgarian festival in the heart of the French capital, Paris visited Sofia. The reason is again connected with culture and especially architecture. In order to help Sofia Municipality to renew and preserve the spirit of former Sofia, a team of French experts arrived in the Bulgarian capital led by Pierre Aidenbaum, mayor of the third arrondissement of Paris, Le Marais, well-known for its buildings from the 16th and 17thcentury. The idea is to create a project based on the French model for renewal of Vazrazhdane district in Sofia close to the recently renovated Zhenski Pazar (female open-air marketplace). In recent years, 44 old buildings were restored, of which 27 are cultural monuments, but there is more work to be done. The two municipalities signed a memorandum of cooperation

"I looked at the Zhenski Pazar (Women's market) and the surrounding neighborhood; we walked there for a long time there, peering everywhere", Pierre Aidenbaum who has been for more than 4 decades mayor of Le Marais told Radio Bulgaria. "These are places that remind me of our old quarters of 50-60 years ago. So I think they have potential for development, but at the same time you have to be vigilant on their renovation. Because this process can quickly get out of hand. For this purpose it is good to have legislation which compels the building owners and businesses to comply with the general architectural plan. We did the same thing in Paris years ago. And frankly, initially the introduction of these rules was criticized. But today, in Le Marais the results are visible, and people are certainly happy! Before proceeding with renovations and changes, however, the municipality is required to coordinate its actions with the locals and see what they expect from the neighborhood in which they live. Because one neighborhood should not be a museum. Of course it must be pleasant and attractive, but at the same time it is a living organism. I think the main thing is not only to modernize it and make it comfortable for people, but also to preserve its old spirit and atmosphere."

Cooperation between Paris and Sofia will continue with more meetings, exhibitions, festivals, seminars and so on. Obviously, both capital cities have something to share with one another.

English Rossitsa Petcova