kjenn

After doing some research for my next trip, I've noticed that people either absolutely love or absolutely dislike Paris, if anyone would like to share their input on why they loved/hated it, I'd love to hear it! We have considered going there, but are worried about being disappointed. Thanks!

Christina

I'm sure others may want to do that (I don't feel like writing those things, and my feelings are personal to some of my own interests and other things, like languages I know, things I study, etc., so wouldn't be relevant to you) -- but I really don't agree everyone either loves or hates Paris. I think I've read posts from people who are just sort of in the middle -- it was fine, but not my favorite. I know people like that, also.

Instead of asking others to do a lot of work writing all this stuff for you, why don't you start off by saying what you are worried about and what places you love/hate.

loves2sing

Well I don’t mind your question at all. In fact I hate it when people try to tell you what your question “should” or “shouldn’t” be on here. I like to just let people ask their questions without too much reading into their motives. Any question is okay with me. Seriously, this has got to discourage many from even starting on here. “Oh no Dear, you asked your question wrong…” Who needs that?

So Paris…I loved it. Coming from southern California, it had such a different "feel". We stayed in the Latin district and really enjoyed just walking around the town stopping in stores and seeing all the people. It really was like a postcard to us….people painting, playing music, students studying, etc. When we first arrived, were amazed by how light out it stayed, clear into the nighttime. But the most fun was just spent sitting in outdoor cafes enjoying the great food and wine. I can't say we managed to hit all the sights but we did enjoy picking up some sandwiches and a bottle of wine and having a picnic on the lawn by the Eiffel Tower, or just walking along the river. Also enjoyable were the mornings sitting outside with coffee, croissant and some Orangina, watching all the people walk by on their way to work while we were on “vacation”. I’m not a “go and see” kind of person, I’m more of a “go and do”, where I just want to immerse myself in the area and “feel” it. But many people love to go see art and churches and monuments so if you like that, you’ll love Paris too because it has it all. Now my girlfriend stayed more in the high end shopping area and she wasn’t impressed. I can’t recall the area (others on here could tell you) but we visited it too and I wasn’t impressed either because we have streets like that in LA. So I guess you just need to decide what you are going for and find out how to have the best time doing that.

janisj

I agree w/ Christina. Why re-invent the wheel? Most of the threads that mention loving/loathing Paris spell out exactly why the posters feel the way they do.

There are hundreds of reasons someone might like Paris -- or not.

Why do you think you might not?

Michel_Paris

Agree with above comments...what are your expectations?

There seems to be a perception that the Parisians are rude, hate americans, don't want to speak english, that the food is "froo=froo", Paris is expsensive, there is dog poo everywhere,etc... So why go?

Well, Paris is different than home. People work to live not live to work. There is a higher appreciation for the better things in life..a sense of pride in the gift of the land_be it the chicken that comes from Douai and is advertised on the menu as such, the seller at the farmer's market who picks out the perfect vegetables for you depending on when you are going to cook them..and will share recipes for them with you, be it buying a small item from a store and having it wrapped as if it were going to be a wedding gift. many such moments.

Eating..wine...art..history..architecture..all have achieved a higher level of existence in Paris. Is it perfect, no. Are there annoyances, yes. Is there crime, racism...sure. Can it be expensive,yes.

But there is a reason people say they love the city, and why so many people go, and go back (I've been 9/10 times, will be there in a couple of weeks).

Find out why...

loves2sing

Why re-invent the wheel? Because not everyone has the time to pour over tons and tons of often outdated very long threads. Sometimes people just want to ask their questions and follow their own threads and get the answers they're looking for quickly. There's no rules against that is there? Perhaps if someone DID know of a particular good thread, they could just reference it to be helpful and be done with it rather than imply that someone wants them to do all the work. Comments like that aren't supportive. AND, there are people like me who don't mind answering them. In fact, it helps me remember fondly my previous trips. For those that don't want to answer the same questions once again, they can ignore the thread rather than discourage others from ever posting.