London—Paris

LONDON—A morning's train is riding away, across the Channel, English kids talking about Liverpool's soccer team in a Paris pub.

Some Parisians have even started to go to work in London.

In the 19th century, Charles Dickens compared the two great rival cities, London and Paris, in A Tale of Two Cities. These days, it might be A Tale of One City.

Parisians are these days likely to smile in sympathy at a visitor's broken French and respond in polite English.

As jobs grew lack at home over recent years, perhaps 250 000 Frenchmen moved across the Channel. With an undersea tunnel, they could travel between cities in three hours. The European Union freed them from immigration and customs.

Paris, rich in beauty, is more attractive. But London feels more full of life, and more fun until the pubs shut down.

"For me, the difference is that London is real, alive," said Trevor Wheeler, a banker.

Chantal Jaouen, a professional designer, agrees. "I am French, but I'll stay in London," she said.

There is, of course, the other view. Julie Lenoux is a student who moved to London two years ago. "I think people laugh more in Paris," she said.

In fact, London and Paris, with their obvious new similarities, are beyond the old descriptions. As the European Union gradually loosened controls, Londoners flocked into Paris to shop, eat and buy property.

"Both cities have changed beyond recognition," said Larry Collins, a writer and sometimes a Londoner.

Like most people who know both well, he finds the two now fit together comfortably.

"I first fell in love with Paris in the 1950's, and it is still a wonderful place," Collins said.

"But if I had to choose, it would be London. Things are so much more ordered and life is better."

But certainly not cheaper.

In fancy parts of London, rents can be twice those on Avenue Foch in Paris.

Deciding between London and Paris requires a lifestyle choice.

Like Daphne Benoit, a French journalism student with perfect English, many young people are happy to be close enough so they don't have to choose.

"I love Paris, my little neighborhood, the way I can walk around a centre, but life is so structured," she said. "In London, you can be who you want. No one cares."