Worst place on Earth.
 

My wife and I are thinking about where we want to go one vacation next year (this year we go to St.Petersburg and Moscow) and we want to avoid traveling to places that are ?not friendly? to foreign tourists. We want to know where you think the WORST PLACE ON EARTH is and WHY? Thanks.

I find Paris interesting. But I have never felt welcome there as a tourist. I just re-read Bill Bryson's "Neither Here nor There" and again chuckled understandingly at his experience asking for a loaf of bread in a Parisian bakery using his best high school French.

The attendant slaps a dead beaver on the counter. Bryson protests that he asked for a loaf of bread. The attendant turns to her bakery colleague, chortles that this silly man has come in, asked for, and received a dead beaver, and now doesn't want it anymore.

That pretty much sums up my contact with Parisians.

Lev-

Why so negative?

In case you missed this other thread titled "I'll never come back here!", I pasted it for you, with 197 responses.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34470778

That would probably be where the natives think that they are always right, and don't care that nearly 1/7 of their population have no health care. Must be somewhere in Africa.

MALTA. No trees, very few flowers and surly people.

Penge.

No more needs to be said.

Orange, Texas

Daytona Beach, Florida

and I'm pretty sure I don't want to go on a Stalag tour in Siberia

My daughter's boyfriend returns from Fallujah today. I am guessing that there were times in the past nine months that a dead beaver would have been better than ...

well, I'm not even going to finish that one.

Might anyone be wiling to join me in a salute to the returning heroes of the 82nd Airborne?

And to their comrades who have already to the tearful arms and hearts of their families? - - wounded, mortally or otherwise...

To Russ, and to the esteemed Mr. Bryson... I'll take Paris, thank you.

And the freedom to go there when I want.

Best wishes,

Rex

Russ, I am about to go back to Paris for the 8th time. Believe me, if I hadn't felt welcome each time, I would never have returned. I have traveled fairly widely, to 24 countries on 4 continents but have never found a place I loved so much as Paris. Now, Switzerland, on the other hand, beautiful scenery but cold, arrogant people.

I have always felt welcome in Paris. Why would there be a dead beaver in a bakery? Something sounds suspicious. Besides, if that happened to me I would have laughed realizing that my French needs a little work. The people behind the counter would have joined in. I truely believe it's how you approach situations that makes a big difference with traveling experiences. Some of our biggest laughs and fun were with big dumb mistakes.

Toledo Ohio

mamc--our experience in Switzerland was just the opposite. Just about everyone we met was warm and friendly and welcoming.

Parisians were kind of a turnoff with those nasty smelling cheese crumbs in their moustaches and all over their vests.

Weird, I have always felt welcome wherever I have traveled.

The Worst Place on Earth these days is in the news all the time..I would suggest getting a copy of the New York Times and do a little studying.

I nominate Scranton PA

Posts like mamc's make me wonder (and even sad), about Swiss people in his/her case. Why such generalizaion? Thinking of my own experience of travelling more than last 20 years mainly in Europe, there is no place I would not return because the people there were horrible. No, I have felt fairly well treated anywhere as far as I can remember.

I am surprised that a couple of people mentioned Paris. I was there and never experienced any problems. People always offered their help when they saw us opening the city map... I remember crossing from Israel into Jordan (One-day trip. We visited Petra) and it was a scare experience ? Jordanian security guards with machine guns traveling with us on the bus. Tense environment. But Petra was one of the most fascinating places I have ever visited. But I wouldn't go there again. At least now...

Rex, of course I'll join in the salute. I can only imagine how happy your daughter must be.

I've been to Paris over half a dozen times, and almost without exception I get a "bonjour monsieur" upon entering any establishment, assistance when I need it, and a friendly "au revoir" when I leave. Do you get that in the States? I would put a Paris metro worker up against their counterpart in New York any day for helpfulness. And have you been in a department store in any big U.S. city lately? Please. Paris is heaven in comparison.

Kappa, I guess I should have been less harsh about the people in Switzerland. I should have said that in the 30 years we have been travelling, we have been warmly welcomed in over 20 countries on many trips. We did not have the same feeling of warmth on our visits (2) to Switzerland. Maybe it was our fault but I have simply not had the same good feeling about those trips as I have about the others. And, for that reason, have not had a desire to return. But I know it is not, as the thread requests, the Worst Place on Earth. Perhaps it is better to not respond to such threads in the future.