Christina

I really enjoyed Ziana's trip reports, I think they are very well written and some of the best I've read on here. You really get a feel for what she experienced and how she feels. I think it's very interesting to read different viewpoints and experiences.

I know she used to post under tat(I knew that right away because of the specifics of her hotel, etc), but I assumed she just changed her name because she didn't like that one so much, not for any devious reasons. That really wasn't a very attractive screenname, perhaps chosen quickly. I think anyone should be entitled to change their name if they want to choose something they like better.

I agree that I don't think it makes a lot of sense to dis Paris because you buy some of the worst nonFrench food in the worst tourist section, which I (for one) repeatedly warn people against (the area around bd St Michel and the gyros thing), but there have actually been a few people on here who liked that area and food, so there you go, you never can tell. I have read several posts on here in that last couple of months recommending people go to eat in that area. I also don't agree with some posts that make major destinations out of minor and inconsequential things and I do think people can get the wrong impression about how great these things are (eg, Monoprix).

Now, there was a post on here fairly recently with someone going on about how they couldn't wait to get to Monoprix in Paris like this was some big thing, and I did respond that it was just a cheap discount store, don't expect so much. I would have compared this to what you would think of some European that planned a visit to Kmart or Target as a major vacation event to the US -- which would be peculiar to me. However, it was very ironic that last week I was sipping a takeout coffee from Starbucks (yackk.....) in a Madrid outdoor cafe area and overheard some French girls at the next table going on about Target in the US and how "genial" it was -- I couldn't help but laugh because that is French slang sort of the equivalent of the English "brilliant". So, they had Monoprix and were praising Target (which I think is not as good), ha ha ha. I think it's just that many people tend to see foreign things as more exotic than their own.

StCirq

CarolA: You've got it. What with all the bellyaching Ziana did before the trip, with the emphasis on bringing TP and worrying about toilet facilities, not to mention the fanatical worries about details like where to put luggage and what to eat in what kind of establishments, it was bound to be a bust of a trip. I mean, you can't plan for the types of things that Ziana was worried about. As it was, she ended up eating fast food with the husband trailing her with the camcorder (I think I may have spotted them outside Notre Dame last week and beat a hasty retreat!), found out that bringing TP was a waste of time (what did we tell her?), thought that saying "bonjour" was going to bring her a symphony of smiles, and was not astounded when she visited the "Bastilia" - whatever that is.
She found no running water in Paris and hated the Monoprix. Well, I guess it's important to register the impressions of a first-time visitor to anywhere, but let's face it, her impressions are bordering on the insane.
Stopped for dinner at a Chinese restaurant at 11 pm (with kids?!!!!) and was surprised that they wanted them out of there quickly? Hmmm...do Philly restaurants look kindly on patrons stopping in at 11 pm with kids?
Those restaurant owners definitely wanted you out of there quickly - no surprise.
Your daughter bought a beret. You bought Banyuls wine (I think I told you it was disgusting). You thought crèpes were like blintzes - not! You bought key chains. <<Any city from this height will look the same in lights, wouldn?t it >> UM, no, actually.
I don't know where to begin to analyze this fiasco, but it doesn't matter. Ziana is her own personality and had her own trip to Paris. Thankfully, it wasn't anything like my trips to Paris or those of people I know and respect.It certainly was unique.

cigalechanta

And I agree with you, Christina.
Americans are pronouncing target as Tar-jay.

auntgrapes

Ziana's(aka Tat)posts have been a great stress reliever after a long, hard day!!

MelissaHI

I'll toast to that, CarolA and StCirq!! I have a ton of dialogue going on in my head about why it was frustrating to read Z's posts, but I think you summed it up very well. I can handle people who view a city differently from me, but it depends on the mentality behind it.

I will say this: Actually, being Chinese I can say this: Part of the whole Chinese Restaurant Experience <b>is</b> the sassy pushy waitresses.

Scarlett

Where does it say that there are rules and regulations on how one posts a trip report? Does it have to conform to popular opinions? Can a person not go on a Travel Board and post a report without fear of being ridiculed for saying something against a popular destination, for having an &quot;accent&quot;, for taking their children, for liking another place better?
This puts a whole new light on Travel and trip reports.
I used to worry that someone would be bored or not read mine, thinking it was lame in some way. Now I would really worry!!
Perhaps threads like this are why some of the real &quot;old timers&quot; are gone, like Elvira and others who wrote great reports and trolls were imaginative.
oh well, maybe too much of a good thing is bad.

Scarlett

SalB

The tat came back.

Marilyn

SalB, I just had to tell you that I got your reference and found it very funny indeed. In fact, quite perfect for this particular situation if I remember correctly!

nocinonut

Trip reports are my favorite reading here on Fodors, it is so interesting to read different people's takes on places.
You don't have to agree with them and you can get good ideas from alot of them.

mitchdesj

Ziana's posts beat Chevy Chase movies any day; what an imagination ! I really think ziana has never set foot in Paris.....

Ziana

I love you, guys, all of you and will answer to your conserns just about ... now, ok ?
Yeas, I was Tat once and changed my name. I got a dog and took part of her name. She is the most gorgeous think I ever saw - an Afghan Hound show piece!!!
Few ! Got this one off my chest, (I didn't know though it will be investigated like a homocide though... Actually it was a murder OF ALIAS, but who cares now. I did tell this story once before to the gentlemen here, name slipped.)

Thanks my dear Christina for clarifying this for EVERYONE !
&quot;Monoprix in Paris ... cheap discount store, don't expect so much&quot;.
You always right and if you witnessed my suffering when I read about Monoprix being a...good store you know what I felt.

I am sometimes just wondering if some Fodorites can read.
There was accusation like:
&quot;You thought cr&egrave;pes were like blintzes - not!&quot;
I did NOT think they were, I wouldn't dare think bunch of experienced travelers would rave about stuff like blintzes just because they bought it in France. I saw the way he was making those and BURST laughing and thought &quot;I can have my Paris every week at my own home...LALALALA !&quot;

Scarlett ([email protected])
Date: 04/15/2004, 12:08 am
Message: Where does it say that there are rules and regulations on how one posts a trip report? Does it have to conform to popular opinions? Can a person not go on a Travel Board and post a report without fear of being ridiculed for saying something against a popular destination, for having an &quot;accent&quot;, for taking their children, for liking another place better?
Scarlett, the answer is &quot;NO&quot; as I said it somewhere Fodorites don't take things well. Wich makes this forum alive as Hamburg Fishmarkt.

mitchdesj,
I wouldn't dare to try to change you. You will have to live without proof of my Paris being. Sorry for you, literally.

Wanna story about Banilius ?
When I tasted it in my little Paris room I remembered long time ago when I use to work in food store and when drunks were coming for bottle and if they were drunk enought to not to be able to pronounce name of the wine - we would just give them Banilius type of wine.
Consious people would pass out from this taste. Dead drunks were trained well to digest it. So, we laugh hard about spending 10 times more for Russian Poison in France.

Good working day everyone
Tat'Ziana(if you wish)

gabriele

Ziana -- I very much appreciated both your posts and also found them to contain information helpful for planning our next trip to Paris. Our first trip to Paris was very disappointing, for many of the same reasons you cited, and we left a day or two early. I have to go back next year, and it is most helpful to find out the negatives so that they can be avoided or ways can be found around them. By doing so, we hope to have a different experience next time around.

Ziana

now, gabriele, please, tell me all as it is, how come you paying for something you already saw and wasn't crazy about?
If money weren't involved I would go also, but it is kind of pricey to repeat.

elle

While I find Ziana's posts to be a little too attention-seeking (and we're certainly giving her what she wants), I also get a kick out them.

In reality, fellow travelers, if Ziana lived in the Auvergne or Umbria or County Monaghan or Cardiff or even Odessa, and we met her when we visited there, we'd all come back with stories about the quaint local eccentric that we met.

(That is, if Ziana really is who she is, and not some 17-year-old boy troll working out of his mother's garden apartment in Bensalem. . .)

Zi, bebe, Banyuls is not a quaffing wine. You need some food to go with it--preferably something chocolate.

And once and for all--crepes are not the same as blintzes and if you think they come close then you're using the wrong recipe (not to mention the wrong fillings). Sounds like I will need to summon the ghost of my great-grandmother Ludwicka to teach you some proper Eastern European cooking.

And by the way, even the best crepes you'll have in France are not to be considered &quot;French&quot; food--they're Breton.

Ziana

they're Breton ?
I knew that...still to rave about it?

elle,
I think all of posts here should be attention seeker, don't you post and refresh??? LOL

NYCFoodSnob

It's one thing to acquire attention with little to no effort. It's a whole other thing to seek attention in a manner that borders on obsessive compulsive. It's quite clear to me that Tat'Ziana-Degas-dumas knows how to answer every reply to keep the thread from falling into the abyss.

Truthfully, I can't get beyond what appears to me as artificially contrived cadence in any of Tat'Ziana's posts and therefore, haven't read one in their entirety. But, the responses have been fun.

Giovanna

&lt;Author: uhoh_busted
Date: 04/14/2004, 04:19 pm
Message: Giovana?&gt;

Thanks a bunch. I've avoided these posts like the plague and my name (I guess it's my name, although spelled slightly differently) shows up anyway, because uhoh_busted thinks my posts sound like Ziana?

The only thing we seem to have in common is Afghan Hounds. Apparently she owns one. We showed and bred them for years. Other than that, our opinions about Paris and hopefully manner of posting are poles apart.

Ziana

Giovanna,
do you take your Afs to Paris ?
It would be fun, wouldn't it ?

NYFS,
do you like me or not. Please, answer by the end of the day. Let's be friends. If yes circle Y, if no circle N.
Your friend Ziana.

Ziana

Bow

elle

Wow.

(said the Afghan Hound in Paris)