Vientiane: Paris Lite

Had Paris been the capital of a communist Asian country, she might have looked something like Vientiane, with its old art deco buildings, remnants of long departed French colonialists

Police officers milling about, sporting Maoist style military uniforms and Soviet made rifles

And odd little bits of cold war kitsch tucked away in crumbling old shops

Lane Xang Avenue, the heart of the city, is the Lao equivalent of the Champs-Élysées, its boulevards stretching as far as the eye can see.

Patuxai victory monument, her version of the Arc de Triomphe

And just as in Paris, scores of cafés and boulangeries scatter the city, bearing signs en français.

The manicured lawns and well tended streets, though, are reserved for this area alone as upkeep of the whole city is far too costly, both for the government and civilians