"What can/should I do to change this? Or should I just accept that that's the way I've been wired?"

I think you should accept it and move on. Paris is a nice city, but it's not the center of the universe. I've been going there since the mid-70s and enjoy it when I'm there. Plus, it's an easy one-week vacation destination and I can get there on a non-stop flight, from L.A. I also have some friends that I like to see there. But, there are other places that I like a lot better, but will still continue to go to Paris.

Happy Travels!

Ah DebitNM, I fear you may have to. Another love lost...

Thanks all for responses everyone. It's clear that it's something I'll just have to live with. I've been going to Paris for over 20 years and I suppose that if I don't love it now, I never will.

It has everything one could possibly want in a city and (to state the bleeding obvious) has things you just can't see anywhere else. I'll take my family there, as some day I'll take them to San Francisco, because their importance as world cities far outweighs whether I like them or not.

I'll keep going to the places I love (Tokyo again soon) and will continue to make the most of my trips to Paris, but will stop asking why I don't love it and just get on with enjoying myself as much as possible.

This is the way my wife feels about me. Her parents pushed her into the marriage. She's never loved me. She'd rather be somewhere else.

If she left the house one day and never came back she would be more than happy. I just accept it.

You seem to go all you want. So you don't love it. I don't like Rome.

Alas Jay, we will always have New York City! The ring is in the mail. :o)

someone mentioned weather....
.
A few years ago I hit one of those hot July weeks in Paris.
The temp. was around 90 every day, the apt. was airless - no AC.
I phoned the airlines to see if I could return home early.
Never had done that before ( or since). Luckily, it was not my first visit to the city .

In a big cities the location of the hotel or the apt. can also be a factor.
On the first visit to Madrid we stayed near Plaza Mayor/Sol...
Ho-hum ..
The second time we stayed in the elegant, leafy
Serrano/Salamnca ... enjoyed our stay so much more
that we returned to the city three more times.

So Debit, we're in New York and need another ring? I think I know the perfect place for breakfast...

Jay_G, I feel the same way about Akron. I don't hate it, but I don't love it, and I will go back again, and again, and again.
Perhaps only because it is there.
Si triste, non?

Dave - I must say that I never would have thought I'd see Akron equated to Paris in this thread, but having said that, I know nothing about it other than (as your name indicates) it's in Ohio.

I feel some research coming on...

:-D

I wish I DIDN'T love Paris! I live in the gorgeous Bay Area with a wonderful life and I still yearn, much of the time, to be in Paris. So consider yourself lucky.

This thread is going nowwhere..cities are like people..We love some and dislike others..

Dave, I would think that Cincinatti (I didn't spell that right, did I?) would be more atmospheric, sophisticated,etc. I too am kidding.

What an interesting thread. I have not read all the responses, but I guess you either fall in love or not. I don't think there is a rational explanation for it.

This is an odd thread.. seriously. I have never met anyone so obsessed with feeling like they have to or should, love a city. It's odd. I don't like Rome, but I'm not going to waste time obsessing over why I don't, and going over it time and time (and time) again, trying to explain all my fond memories there, and saying I STILL don't love it.

The sad part about this thread is now I'm a bit turned off of Paris and I'm going for a week next year.

Boo.

You could go to Akron instead, Jinky.

<<You could go to Akron instead, Jinky.>>

I never said I didn't want to go, just said the thread turned me off a bit.

Hello, I too travel twice a year to Paris and in fact just returned last week (nove 1) .I feel I. The last 14 yrs of going there it's become more crowded and less enchanting. I spe t time in the small towns of the Loire
Valley this trip and fell on love with France all over again.
Possibly when you are in France spend more time in parc monceau and watch the families be happy!

I don't love Paris. It's pretty. It's grand. But it's not warm or cozy, I've never felt wrapped in its "charm". I feel much the same way about Madrid or Rome. They are each a good place to visit but I have no desire to live there. I would live in Amsterdam, Bruges, Budapest, Turin...if I could live on y terms, which are not necessarily terms of reality.

After years of visiting Paris and London I've decided I really love London more. We found a hotel that we always enjoy in an area we prefer. And there seem to be more good, affordable restauants. Our last hotel in Paris was in a convenient area but it had 101 small things wrong with it and had one of those annoying airline type rates, 249 euros for the first two days, then lower after that, but with a changing rate every few days. The brasseries in the 7e were bad. I tried just the onion soup for dinner at four different places and each was bad. In London, there is Wagamama, El Tasca, even the Woseley, where you can get a bite to eat-not a full lunch or dinner. Also, the British give a senior discount. In France, you only get one if you are a French senior. Very annoying.

<<I have never met anyone so obsessed with feeling like they have to or should, love a city. It's odd.>>

Jinky - I'll start off by saying that 'obsessed' is a very strong word, and actually doesn't apply to me (well not regarding this issue anyway).

My issue comes from the fact that Paris has all the elements (and many more) I typically adore about other cities that I love, however (and I know I've now battered this point to death) I just don't.

It's not about wanting to fit in or form part of the 'Paris is the best place on earth' hivemind, it's a purely personal issue that I thought may raise some interesting points (which it has) and allow people to give their opinions on which cities they do or don't like (which it does).

I don't want to take this down to playground level, but I just thought I'd raise the fact that you've allowed your feelings about your trip to Paris next year to be influenced by someone you characterise as 'obsessed' and 'odd'.

I know which behaviour I find the oddest...

It's kind of hilarious, this whole thread. Sounds more like a blog post. Do you have a blog? You should!

I just said I was a bit turned off. Now, if I made post after post, after post in the same thread saying the same thing, yes, it *would* be odd!

That is all! :D

<<Dave, I would think that Cincinatti (I didn't spell that right, did I?) would be more atmospheric, sophisticated,etc. I too am kidding.>>

marlib1951: It is, but Akron is very much closer. So are Cleveland and Pittsburgh. (btw: yeah, there's only one t in Cincinnati)

Just chatted with a native Parisian now in the U. S. who is glad to be here. What he enjoys about Cambridge, Mass., is the sunshine. He remembers that lots of days in Paris when it isn't rainy it is is overcast and dreary.

<i>What he enjoys about Cambridge, Mass., is the sunshine.</i>

Obviously he has not been on the West Coast Bay Area and south.

"What he enjoys about Cambridge, Mass., is the sunshine."

Wow, the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence.

I feel the same way about Rome. I do love Paris, though!

I also feel the same about Rome. I really don't like that city. I've been 2 or 3 times and it never grew on me. The first time I went, I didn't like it much, then I had to go back to meet some European friends as they weren't home in their own country, but were vacationing in Rome and suggested I meet them there.

Happy Travels!

"Michael on Nov 17, 12 at 2:09pm
What he enjoys about Cambridge, Mass., is the sunshine.

Obviously he has not been on the West Coast Bay Area and south."

True. I'm in sunny Southern Cal.

I've been to Cambridge, but unfortunately didn't get sunny weather on a couple of fall trips.

Happy Travels!

I have been traveling to France and Paris for 20 years. I find it is one of the most visually stunning cities in the world. Paris is a crossroads of culture, style, food, architecture and government. It doesn't hold the historic command and sway that perhaps Rome does; even though Paris is a 2000 year old city, but it is nonetheless to me anyway, a wonderful city.

You may not love Paris and that is your prerogative; to each his/her own. No need to feel a need to justify how you feel about a certain place. Just go with what permeates your soul and aesthetics.

I'm slowly warming to Paris the more often I go there and the more friends I make there (I live a bit over an hour away by TGV). But I started out quite cold on the place partly due to a bit of a lonely, miserable first trip in 2005, and I must say it still does make me roll my eyes every time I see someone on these and other forums say something like "I'm going to be in Paris for 1 day, then moving on to Dijon" and have everyone pile on to say "Nooooo, you MUST stay in Paris for an eternity!" even if that's not at all what they're asking about. It's still not my favourite place in the world, but there's a lot to see and do there, and with friends, it's also great just to be able to hang out and do nothing.

Paris. Love at first sight'.
A love I never got over after I broke up with Provence.

DW does not care much for Paris which is difficult for me because I love the city. It is not the museums or the sights/sites but just being there, I can't explain it other than it speaks to me. We will be going to France in a few months, but sadly, not Paris.

One thing I can say about this thread is that it's made me feel pretty good about disliking Rome. Not that I've ever needed support in my dislike of the city but I can't stand Rome.

Had I dropped a centesimi in Trevi fountain I would have dove in to get it back just so I didn't have a chance of returning to Rome.

This is good news for folks who love Rome. I won't be crowding the streets. :)

I don't like the French they speak in Paris. It's too formal. I wish they would all switch over to Quebec French. More relaxed.