Anyone else here think Paris is overrated?

[JustAsking]

My wife and I went in the 80s on our 10th anniversary. We stayed in an old hotel in the 1st. Once we mastered public transportation (and walking, lots of walking), we ruled the city. We ate in lots of diffferent bistros and cafes that were mentioned in a little book my wife had called "Cheap Eats in Paris."

In one bistro we ran into an American who had a French restaraunt in NYC. He was in Paris looking for new menu ideas. He took our little book and went through the arrondisements marking the places he liked and penciled in a few more. He told us to go to these places and order the Prix Fixe, and the house wine and we would think we died and went to heaven. He was right.

We discovered some secrets to not being treated rudely, such as making eye contact, saying bonjour and then asking if we can use English when we ran out of French words. Also, the young waiters in the bistros wanted to practice their English anyway.

It was an absolutely delightful experience.

 

[BIGBULL29]

Paris depresses me (lived there), and I speak French fluently.

I don't like London, either (or any British cities), though the clubs are so much better there (Paris has poor nightlife...and so drab, so blasé)

If I'm going to a city, I'm going where it is cheaper and there is little attitude. That may mean Chengdu, Sapporo, Chang Mai....or Sydney ( lived there but a little more attitude there, I would imagine)....

I'm not a big fan of European cities, though I would like to try out Berlin and perhaps a city in Russia.


French gay men are very thin and very rude in the Marais.

 

[deleted15807]

Hell no. I've been to many cities around the world and Paris remains the only city that just blows me away with it's grandeur and culture.Though as mentioned above nightlife there sucks. London knows how to party.

 

[D_Blue_Barry_Eel]

Never been to Paris oddly, despite being quite easy to get to from England.

 

[rbkwp]

early 80s Paris
fondest memory was of a lil fench kid,kicking somethng on the ground, while wandering off to School, an early am, was so cute, typical french garb, with his satchel/bag or whatever, took a pic, black and white, and its amongst my most treasured,along with what could be termed a 'street urchin', snotty nosed and all, toddler in the east end of London, one very quiet Sunday am,i was the ONLY person around, on Oxford St... incredible.
What, a City of 12 million , at the time, and NZ had an entire Pop of under 3 mil...........

 

[sdbg]

I was in Paris this past August. I loved it! I speak French fairly well, and my friend and I had a ball. The people that we met were totally cool. The block that our hotel was located was party central at night. The locals know how to have a good time! I'll be the first one to say that it wouldn't have been as much fun if I didn't speak the language very well. We did that in Italy. I speak only a little bit of Italian, and it proved to be an obstacle when needing directions, etc. I'd like to bring my bicycle and riding gear next time I go back to Paris. There is a bike path on the side of the Seine River, and I could ride for miles.

 

[Hoss]

I always thought Paris Hilton was overrated.

Oh you mean the city. Yeah it's a little overrated.

 

[pinspotter10]

Took a trip there 20-some years ago, ended up marrying the woman I went with.

It's true about falling in love in Paris....it works.

 

[slider123]

Paris is my favorite city in the world. I have had a wonderful time each time I have traveled there. I even thought about retiring there, but much too expensive.

 

[prince_will]

I LOOOOOOVE Paris. Just a nice place. I'd love to live there if i can. I never met any rude French people when i was there but that is probably because i know (a VERY tiny bit) of the language and could make it by. In my experience, the French are nicer when you try to speak their language first and then switch to English.

But the enviroment! all the little cafes, the cuisine (DESSERTS ARE AMAZING), the culture, the history, the architecture. Just an overall nice place. Plus, their metro system is pretty great.

 

[dmc_11]

as others have said, your experience can be a lot to do with the company you have. That being said, I found Paris unfriendly, dirty, and way less fashionable than it's hyped up to be. And for me the overall attitude of a city's people far outweighs any beautiful landmarks, buildings, attractions etc.

In short, yes I think Paris is wildly overrated. Wow really got my negative on there!

 

[MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK]

I dunno, I've never been there, so I have no basis for comparison. Don't mean, however, that my future plans would exclude a visit sometime.

 

[tgirlsrgreat]

paris who??

 

[Hoss]

paris who??

That had been ,my first thought too. As far as the city of Paris, it's not my favorite and not even in the top 5 in France. In comparison to other European cities it's even less of a pick for me.

 

[K.Dst]

Overrated? Probably.

I'm sorry to go all american vs european again, but when I see how Paris is despicted in american movies I can totally understand people who traveled halfway around the globe to see it finding it disappointing. :biggrin1:

Paris is not a scenery with some artists painting like impressionists in front of famous buildings.
It's a very busy city with millions of people taking their cars through hours of traffic jam to work all day on a boring job in a boring office...

So when you come across places where Parisian people are, you can get disappointed. And Paris being an old city it's hard to stay in tourists-only areas to be away from them, both place often mix.
The Champs Elysées are the main artery to get in the center of Paris, an neverending flow of frustrated Parisian use this tourist-covered street to go to their work.

I think that's why some people get disappointed by Paris, they think they'll see a magical city, the "capital of love" and most romantic place in the world bla bla bla...
They have very high expectations of Paris, probably higher than most other cities in the world, and they discover that it's just another city...

(BTW I've been in London last year, with the price you've got a double effect : first when you read the prices and find everything utterly expensive, second when you remember the prices are not in € but in pounds, and that it's even more expensive!
Cleary Paris can be expensive but not nearly as expensive as London is)

 

[earllogjam]

Seems like a mixed bag so far. Any Parisians want to chime in? Any out there?.

 

[Hoss]

Seems like a mixed bag so far. Any Parisians want to chime in? Any out there?.

Just us Albanian/Greek/German mixes.:biggrin1: (Paris pales in comparison to anything in Albania as far as I am concerned)

 

[B_letshavesomefun]

Paris Hilton? Yes, she's overrated

city? Never been so IDK

 

[LaFemme]

I feel so sorry for you world-weary travellers, visiting those overrated cities. Must be a real burden. Next time, how about you come stay in Buttcrack Alberta and I'll go to Paris? There is absolutely nothing overrated here! :biggrin1: :tongue:

 

[vince]

I dunno. I've have had some pretty good times in Buttcrack.