Paris disillusionment... we've seen it here on this forum.. from Margie. to Ziana's rant, and more recently mdtravel - - now with "Mitsuko" it's a syndrome!
May 1st, 2009, 08:14 AM
#81
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For the OP, why do you go back?
For grommett, smacknmo and opaldog, and anyone else still in love with Paris, I agree!
SO and I return next week for our 3rd trip, we just returned in October. I don't know that I could ever get tired of it. I have yet to experience the French rudeness I hear about, and I have yet to step in poop, though I have seen it, but I see it in Los Angeles, too. We eat very well, but do not feel the need to go to the uper expensive restaurants, so it doesn't seem that much more expensive than if we were at home.
Both times we have gone, we have met French couples that we so enjoyed, we have stayed in contact. I don't know that they are aloof, just more formal. But if you make the effort, they can be so open and charming. Last time, I had French sales girls adjusting my jeans when I bought boots so they would look just so, and the bartender at Harry's asking me for my Obama button (this was just before the election). And both times, we have had random people thank us ( we are in our mid- to late forties) for our country's involvement in WWII. One couple was in their twenties and the other our age, but it was still so important to each of them.
I hope my love affair with Paris never ends.
For grommett, smacknmo and opaldog, and anyone else still in love with Paris, I agree!
SO and I return next week for our 3rd trip, we just returned in October. I don't know that I could ever get tired of it. I have yet to experience the French rudeness I hear about, and I have yet to step in poop, though I have seen it, but I see it in Los Angeles, too. We eat very well, but do not feel the need to go to the uper expensive restaurants, so it doesn't seem that much more expensive than if we were at home.
Both times we have gone, we have met French couples that we so enjoyed, we have stayed in contact. I don't know that they are aloof, just more formal. But if you make the effort, they can be so open and charming. Last time, I had French sales girls adjusting my jeans when I bought boots so they would look just so, and the bartender at Harry's asking me for my Obama button (this was just before the election). And both times, we have had random people thank us ( we are in our mid- to late forties) for our country's involvement in WWII. One couple was in their twenties and the other our age, but it was still so important to each of them.
I hope my love affair with Paris never ends.
May 2nd, 2009, 10:57 AM
#82
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Opaldog's post struck a chord with me. We visted Istanbul a few years ago, and I think what sticks most in my mind is how welcoming the people were everywhere we went, which is just not the case in Paris.
Like Opaldog, I can usually deal with it since I'm such a natural miscreant. But my husband and I arrived tired and stressed from work, and were in no mood for some of the aloofness and rudeness that we might have brushed off in the past. On top of that, our visit occurred during a week when the city was hosting at least three conventions ( that we knew of).
None of this is to deny that we've had many blissful trips in Paris, and hopefully will again. But this wasn't one of them.
Like Opaldog, I can usually deal with it since I'm such a natural miscreant. But my husband and I arrived tired and stressed from work, and were in no mood for some of the aloofness and rudeness that we might have brushed off in the past. On top of that, our visit occurred during a week when the city was hosting at least three conventions ( that we knew of).
None of this is to deny that we've had many blissful trips in Paris, and hopefully will again. But this wasn't one of them.
May 2nd, 2009, 11:13 AM
#83
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You know what I like about these threads.... maybe they will keep the tourist volumne down.
In any "adventure" the ONLY thing you can really control is YOUR response. Statements like "my husband and I arrived tired and stressed from work, and were in no mood" and expecations that people will suddenly be "nicer" in Europe then then are in your home town lead me to think that perhaps the "attitude" was just not there for this trip. (I mean I am convinced that ALL American families IF they bother to walk think that the ENTIRE sidewalk must be blocked. I actually got "told off" by one woman for seeming to expect that she would let me by when I was going north and she and her "band" were going south. She told me I should have stepped into the street LOL! And it was a VERY WIDE sidewalk in Anaheim, CA!)
I KNOW that my trip to Rome was not great because I arrived sick and tired and just "didn't want to deal with it" Not really fair to blame the Romans for that is it? I don't have great memories, but I only have to look in the mirror for the reason.
In any "adventure" the ONLY thing you can really control is YOUR response. Statements like "my husband and I arrived tired and stressed from work, and were in no mood" and expecations that people will suddenly be "nicer" in Europe then then are in your home town lead me to think that perhaps the "attitude" was just not there for this trip. (I mean I am convinced that ALL American families IF they bother to walk think that the ENTIRE sidewalk must be blocked. I actually got "told off" by one woman for seeming to expect that she would let me by when I was going north and she and her "band" were going south. She told me I should have stepped into the street LOL! And it was a VERY WIDE sidewalk in Anaheim, CA!)
I KNOW that my trip to Rome was not great because I arrived sick and tired and just "didn't want to deal with it" Not really fair to blame the Romans for that is it? I don't have great memories, but I only have to look in the mirror for the reason.
May 2nd, 2009, 12:05 PM
#86
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I'd be the first to admit that "the attitude wasn't there for this trip." But it didn't help that we were greeted with plenty of extra attitude during our visit. I'm not exactly blaming Parisians. Just saying that being stressed and tired made me view a city that I have visted plenty of times before in a totally different light.
May 2nd, 2009, 12:25 PM
#88
Smacknmo, here it is: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nch-people.cfm
To find any thread you have started, click on your name and you will see a list of all those threads, as well as all the threads on which you have commented.
To find any thread you have started, click on your name and you will see a list of all those threads, as well as all the threads on which you have commented.
May 3rd, 2009, 05:38 AM
#89
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I never said in any of my posts that I didn't enjoy Paris or find it charming or really anything remotely close to that...just making observations. Actually, I guess my comments are meant to make the point that Paris is, as others have said here from Anaheim to VA, just like any other city in a lot of respects. It is not Eden or Utopia, though beautiful in ways more than other cites. It has warts and it has beauty. It has charm and it has aspects that make you cringe. I'm not a foodie at all so the snobbery and pomp of the food does nothing for me. I'll await someone to make a condescending comment about my tastes because of that last statement, but there's much more appeal in a grilled hamburger for me than a bowl of raw stuff, or a plate of pasta in garlic sauce over a bowl of snails in same sauce. We had a great time and will go back...someday. Just a dose of reality for those who are planning their first trip and have built an image of their vacation around somoe of the 'paris hung the moon' posts (a lot of them actually) that appear here. As one of my friends said, the French have taken a lot of ideas from other cultures and improved upon them. He said that as he was walking to the Louxembourg (sp?) gardens...built by an Italian b/c she missed her home in Florence...though they aren't anywhere as nice as the originals in that fine Italian town.
I'm off to finish my French roast coffee...from Starbucks.
I'm off to finish my French roast coffee...from Starbucks.
May 3rd, 2009, 06:01 AM
#91
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The good thing is, each of us can find OUR kind of beauty.
There is no right or wrong.
Let's all enjoy what pleases US.
Now can someone give me directions to Paris Disney and a McDonalds in the 4th or 5th arrondisment?
There is no right or wrong.
Let's all enjoy what pleases US.
Now can someone give me directions to Paris Disney and a McDonalds in the 4th or 5th arrondisment?
May 3rd, 2009, 08:30 AM
#93
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Jetsetj, why bother with McDonald's in Paris? You're in a city that prides itself on its food so take it in and enjoy some local flare:
http://www.breakfast-in-america.com/main/
http://www.breakfast-in-america.com/main/
May 3rd, 2009, 03:01 PM
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I got a good laugh out of these last few posts. Our daughter tried to take us to Breakfast in America ( the one near the Sorbonne. I think there is at least one other), but it's very small, and the line was out the door. We heard lots of French being spoken in line, and in fact my daughter insists that many of her French friends at school love to go there.
On another note, one of our best dinners in Paris was at a small, lovely Moroccan restaurant called Atlas in the southern half of the Latin Quarter. Great couscous, tagines, and wines, but what? no hamburgers...!!
On another note, one of our best dinners in Paris was at a small, lovely Moroccan restaurant called Atlas in the southern half of the Latin Quarter. Great couscous, tagines, and wines, but what? no hamburgers...!!
May 4th, 2009, 10:59 AM
#96
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jetset, how about a Subway in the 5th, right near Shakespeare and Co.? I gag everytime I walk by it, as the smell of Subway is the same, whether it is in Paris or Los Angeles.
Weadles, we at at an Atlas, too, but it seemed it was more seafood, near St. Andre des Artes. Maybe we were just focused on the seafood as it has been displayed so nicely in the front.
Weadles, we at at an Atlas, too, but it seemed it was more seafood, near St. Andre des Artes. Maybe we were just focused on the seafood as it has been displayed so nicely in the front.
May 4th, 2009, 11:11 AM
#97
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cat111719.
I wonder if there is another restaurant that goes by that name? Or did I just completely miss the seafood display?! My husband and I loved our lamb tagines. Daughter had the chicken couscous, which was amazing. I've already started planning ( in my head!) a winter trip to Morocco...
I wonder if there is another restaurant that goes by that name? Or did I just completely miss the seafood display?! My husband and I loved our lamb tagines. Daughter had the chicken couscous, which was amazing. I've already started planning ( in my head!) a winter trip to Morocco...
May 4th, 2009, 11:16 AM
#98
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Cat, that Subway smell got me too! I work right above a Subway and that yeasty smell welcomes me to the office each morning. It was so odd to smell the same thing in Paris. I couldn't believe how many Subways (and Starbucks!) we saw there.
May 4th, 2009, 12:07 PM
#99
Subway is the fastest growing chain in Paris -- they already have something like 35 locations. Strangely enough, I never see any customers in them, but I must pass by at the wrong time. (And I will also confess that I bought a sandwich at a Subway in Lyon last summer -- my first ever in Europe.)
"Atlas" is a very common Moroccan restaurant name -- same name as their mountain chain. And Atlas Blue is a low cost Moroccan airline.
"Atlas" is a very common Moroccan restaurant name -- same name as their mountain chain. And Atlas Blue is a low cost Moroccan airline.
