Most interesting...

A month ago today.

I spent a week in London and a week in Paris the first part of September. I must say I enjoyed London a lot more. I had the same experience as rippo in a restaurant in the Marais. I ordered my meat "medium" and basically got a raw steak. It wasn't even bloody, just raw like fresh from the meat case. On two other occasions my credit cards were declined using those remote control card readers. I saw the people next to me paying with their cards and it worked fine. I was told that my cards did not go through because they were not "French" cards. I went down the street to another place and they worked. I was also served beer that I did not order, insisting that it was the incorrect brand, and they would have none of it, even after pointing to the menu at what I wanted, they insisted it was that brand and it was not. I am not in a hurry to go back there either.

On a positive note, I much enjoyed the cathedrals and the museums, and I loved the coffee and chocolate croissants!

I just browsed some of the most recent replies to this post. Living on the East Coast of the US and growing up in NY, I have been subjected to garbage and urine and feces on the streets of NYC and rude people and rude servers and rude salespeople and so on and so forth. Point being that you can find it literally on your own doorstep. If you don't like Paris that is fine. But to say you don't like it because of all of the above and to think that perhaps that it is a uniquely French Parisian thing is silly. Of course it goes without saying that I love Paris. I went there first 40 years ago. Loved it then and still love it. I try to get my "Paris fix" annually.

I feel the same way that Cole does. I prefer London to Paris and it is probably due in part to the bad experiences I did have in Paris the one time I was there. However, there are many wonderful memories I have of beautiful Paris. But, unlike Paris, I've been to London six times and have not had a single really bad experience while there. Amazing? Maybe, but I have also visited many other European cities: Vienna, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Edinburgh, Helsinki and others. In other words, I do have some points for comparison. I can gladly say that with each city I've visited, I would love to return.

No, I am not a demanding traveler who tends to complain, and as a European myself I have a great appreciation of European customs and history. In other words, I don't expect everything to be just the way it is in the US where I live. I could write about the nice experiences I had in Paris too, but since we're focusing on the negative-

Here is my little laundry list of Paris incidents that soured me a bit and gave me an unexpected case of "can't wait to get home-itis":

As soon as I arrived via Eurostar a scam artist tried to fleece me of the little (too little!) money I had.

Upon my arrival at the hotel a woman who would have made a splendid Madame Defarge acidly commented that only a queen would carry a suitcase as big as mine. (And what business is that of yours, Madame?)

The stupid hotelier double-booked me my last night and although he managed to find me alternate accommodations nearby, he failed to let me know that the room not been paid for. And I had asked him more than once if everything was taken care of. Naturally, this caused me considerable aggravation. No apology was forthcoming. Oh, and the hotelier also made a big point about me NOT being allowed to eat in my room. Suddenly I felt like I was in kindergarten again. Le Fawlty Towers? It's a thought!

A French wino yelled curses at me as I was riding the Metro one day. Not a pleasant experience.

Although I am sure that my cold adversely affected my enjoyment of the city, I will never forget having to shell out the equivalent of $4 for a box of tissues. Fleecing redux. And this was in 1996!

Finally, is Paris for lovers? Oui! Paris is the only city where I, a single woman traveling alone, often felt rather lonely.

Yes, this is harping on the negative but it does amaze me how many unpleasant incidents I had on that one trip to Paris. Hopefully, it was mostly bad luck rather than bad karma.

But would you believe, I still would like to return to Paris one day, sincerely hoping that it will be nicer to me next time. Hopefully this is optimism, not masochism!

I just found this thread by accident, and would never consider replying to any of this posts, but got just too upset with all this ridiculous posts from people hating Paris.
Listen, what are you talking about? Bad steaks, green beens, peeing on the streets, bad service? Are you out of your mind? Do you know how many artists, writers, musicians, arhcitects, etc gave Paris to the world? There are every street, every corner remind you about something magnificent. Duma, Sand, Balsac, Druon, Mopassan, etc..... Have you read anyhting? Are those names means nothing to you? Monet, Mane, Van Gog, Sesann, and hudreds of others? Have you seen the paintings? Where else in the world you would see the collections like that. Have you gone to the Magnificent Opera house? Have you had coffee where Picasso or Sartra had it? I am sure you were all too busy paying attention at you bad service in restaurant or your bad green beans. Why do you need to travel???? Stay at home and enjoy you clean streets, good green beans, and great service. Please don't travel and don't post those messages, that just discourange people from discovering one of the most terrific, magnificent, unforgetable city in the world.

helen, you make some good points in the form of listing some of the celebrated names who contributed to the cultural history of Paris, and I don't mean any disrepect, but for those who might want to explore some of these famous people further, I want to spell them again:
Dumas
Balzac
Maupassant ( I might have misspelled this too!)
Monet (Claude)
Manet (Edouard)
Van Gogh
Sartres

Sognatrice2, thank you for your correction. English is not my native language, Russian is. So, I do make spelling mistakes, when I don't use a spell check or any refernce material. I spelled these name as they sound in Russian, and I felt I should check, but it was too late, and I was too outraged. Anyway, I know these names since I was a kid, I enjoyed their creations, and that's why Paris (or any other Europeant city) is so special to me.

I've been going to Paris almost annually...for mini vacations...since the mid 70's. Before arriving Paris, I just have the mindset of just being prepared for anything...think the worst and it usually ends up better. I don't expect to get great service in Paris. I'm happy if I get any service there.If I want great service,hotels,and food...then I go to Southeast Asia...Bangkok and other parts of Thailand...along with Singapore and stay in Bangkok's totally amazing hotels. As for Paris,I don't expect a whole lot, but take it for how it is. As for food, years ago,I started eating at mostly foreign restaurants in Paris...Japanese,Chinese,Thai, Italian...etc.I'm just not into French food.I go to Paris mostly to check out the fashions and to shop. Sorry you had such a bad experience.I personally would NOT have picked Paris for a honeymoon. I would have gone to Thailand instead.Check out the Asia forum. Happy Travels!

Is anyone else stunned to read (somewhere in this ridiculously long thread) that a travel agent attained the title of "French Specialist" BEFORE her first and only trip to France?

All the more reason to do one's own research.

Stunned? No.

Surprised? No.

Laughing my head off? YES!!

sognatrice2...

i also thank you for correcting these spellings. i wanted to explore these people further so i wrote down the names as helen spelled them and brought the list to the library. the librarian threw me out. i will return with your perfect spellings so i can learn about these people. thank you.

by the way, disrespect is spelled
"disrespect", not "disrepect". just sing along with the song and put "dis" in front of it and you'll get it right next time and not look so bad as you correct the spelling of others.

ha ha, thanks walking a rounde, for helping me with that word. Don't think it confused anyone though. I don't have any idea if my spellings were perfect, I expect not, but I don't know of any librarian who would throw anyone out just for not spelling things right, so you must be kidding. If I "looked bad" to you, so be it!
Just didn't want someone to start looking up Sesann and miss one of my favorite painters, so I thought I'd try to give the right name, since I strongly agreed with Helen's point of view, as I said in my post. Although if you ever manage to get back into the library, maybe you can research Sesann and Sartra, and educate me about who they might be! Your information is welcome!

> English is not my native language,...

Neither is mine helen, but those are FRENCH names. îãîð?åí&iacute ;î, I couldn't help it :)

Zut, "îãîð?åí& iacute;î", I wrote "sorry" in russian.

Shellio: I have in front of me the French Government Tourist Office France Specialist test materials - I was thinking of taking their "test" to get certified as such in order to boost my tour operations.

It is the most ludicrous thing you've ever seen. Anyone who's been to France a few times could pass this thing in a heartbeat. You don't have to know squat about France to become a "France Specialist" and you certainly don't have to know French.

More disconcertingly, the regions they divide France into don't comport with either provinces or départements or anything recognizable.

It really makes one think twice about what travel agents and, among them "country specialists," really count for.

Gee, some of you sound like you may have gone to Paris, Texas instead of France :) Only joking Texas. I sympathize would your bad experiences but I have never encountered anything worse than a snooty salesgirl.

hi helen63,
I knew English was not your first language, but I thought you expressed yourself wonderfully, and I also agree with what you said about Paris. I responded to the need to spell the names on your list almost out of habit, and congratulate you on your command of English, which I've heard is one of the most difficult languages to learn!

I love languages, and If I am ever lucky enough to visit Russia, I hope someone will help me with my spelling of famous people and place names too, I would be grateful!

A travel agent specialist course usually includes book/class training work, and THEN a trip to the country- so you are prepared and get more out of the travel part of the program. Each country or region designs their own courses and sets what knowledge is important- I can't see that foreign languance profiency would need to be a requirement really.

Kappa, I am not sure what your native language is, but FRENCH names sound and spell differently in English and Russian. In fact, they spell differently in french also. This is just FYI...otherwise I have no problems with you making fun of my spelling errors.

Sognatrice2, I really appreciate your response. I love this site, and very glad to meet people who appreciates the foreign culture, and who is traveling for the right reasons.

helen, I did not make fun of your spelling errors. I would not especailly because I do that all the time. What I found amusing was, after sognatrice showed you (and many of us for that matter) the correct spelling of those FRENCH names, you replied ENGLISH is not your native language. You missed my point but oh well that's not important.

What is important is,like sognatrice, I agree with what you said about Paris.