Paris Texas

Texan French namesake

Paris, Texas is a small city in northeastern Texas, but the name evokes Wim Wenders's 1984 film about loss, memory, and the American Southwest.

The pairing of the glamorous European capital with a dusty Texas town creates an incongruity that suggests displacement or longing for somewhere else: He felt like Paris, Texas—a place with a borrowed name and its own quiet story.

Related

neon sign · peep show · estrangement · lost love · wanderer · dusty · red cap · trailer · loneliness · slide guitar · road movie · long road · open road · reunion · silence · one-way mirror · Gulf · desolate

Opposites
geographic contrast (same name, different place)

Paris TexasParis

France's chief city

urban scale/prominence

Paris TexasNew York City

America's largest city

Los Angeles · London · Tokyo · global city

Family

Paris, Texas, Parisian, Parisians, Texan, Texans

Familiarity
Top 1,000,000
Profile
Mostly American · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G