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I'm a Parisian myself, and I fully concur with the OP, and yet he didn't see everything : right now Romanians (thousands of them) have erected a slum on a disused railway line...awful! homeless are everywhere, camping in the street, leaving their garbage. besides my pet peeve is the carelessness of my fellow Parisians toward their own environment : littering is common, some having even the perversity (there is no other word for that kind of behaviour) of "decorating" bushes, trees and shrubs with thier empty coffee plastic cups, bottles and cans...it says a lot about the indifference of the people here to the concept of tidyness (I won't even mention the idea of pristiness)
All you posts are about how you hate Paris/french and France if you are no happy leave, *******
All you posts are about how you hate Paris/french and France if you are no happy leave, *******
You must be a fellow Parisian, wounded in his pride!
By the way, from the hundreds of posts I published on CD, I posted very few on this topic, so I'm sorry to say so, you are mistaken. And sometimes even if you read my former posts, I underlined the positive in Paris, as the diminution of dog crap.
Ok, so I have been to Paris loads of times (>15) but the latest trip has left me with no desire to ever go again! We spent a great week in the UK, including London, Bath, Cambridge and some other random places to visit extended family. Overall a great week. Then we (a family of 4) took the Eurostar from London to Paris. The train ride was great but OMG, then we got to the Gare Du Nord. What an incredible dump! Firstly not a single elevator or escalator was working, not one. We humped 4 roller bags up and down the labyrinth that is called Gare Du Nord, all the while avoiding random shady characters who sidled up to us, and holding your nose due to the incredible smell. It is very hard to describe the essence, but a combination of BO, garlic, stale cigarettes, alcohol, smelly feet, urine, dust, grime and excrement. Coupled with every surface being covered in graffiti, it was like arriving in a 3rd world country.
Our journey throughout Paris demonstrated an amazing lack of upkeep and pride by the local populace, and it seemed like the whole city is used as an open-air latrine. Sacre Couer was really disgusting, the smell of urine was overwhelming, coming from the mounds of homeless laying around the place. Of course it was August so everywhere was packed, but changes since I visited 8 years ago included a massive increase in Chinese tourists, who honestly and with no hint of racism, are truly the worst tourists in the world. There was no concept of queuing, awaiting their turn, not smoking in someones face and not standing around randomly in the middle of a busy street. Some of these issues are not completely related to Paris, but it seemed to be acutely concentrated in Paris. Oh well, perhaps Rome will be our next European trip.
My daughter did a similar trip last summer, she didnt think her short stay in Paris was a high lite of the trip and she commented on the dirty conditions in many areas, she says the parks and green spaces are full of dog crap as no one picks up after their dog..
[quote=timfountain;41073532]
Our journey throughout Paris demonstrated an amazing lack of upkeep and pride by the local populace, and it seemed like the whole city is used as an open-air latrine. Sacre Couer was really disgusting, the smell of urine was overwhelming, coming from the mounds of homeless laying around the place.
Chinese tourists, who honestly and with no hint of racism, are truly the worst tourists in the world. There was no concept of queuing, awaiting their turn, not smoking in someones face and not standing around randomly in the middle of a busy street. quote]
Sounds like Bourbon Street in New Orleans at night! We call it that "dead a$$ smell". Interesting enough, it's all cleaned up next morning for a totally different daytime on the famous street. I've never been to Paris, but for some reason none of what you wrote surprises me.
Interesting about the tourists, though. Oddly enough, here in the states I've noticed the most rudeness with French and English tourists.
SF is the most overrated city in the US in terms of tourism. I don't understand why people rave about it, I mean, have they ever travelled at all? Put aside the ocean, the city itself is not attractive at all. How can one even put SF and Paris in the same sentence? There are probably 20 European cities that are way prettier and more interesting than SF. Plus, only 15% of SF really looks like a city. The rest is so suburban like just like the rest of suburban America.
Richmond, Sunset, Twin Peaks, Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, Fort Funston, Seacliff, St. Francis Wood look like suburban America? Those are the remote parts of SF, far from downtown. Have you even been outside of downtown San Francisco?
Richmond, Sunset, Twin Peaks, Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, Fort Funston, Seacliff, St. Francis Wood look like suburban America? Those are the remote parts of SF, far from downtown. Have you even been outside of downtown San Francisco?
I'm not sure they've been outside of SFO and consider visiting San Francisco to be a flyover and/or secure "in transit" area of the airport.
BTW, I think the closer Bay area is one of the most culturally diverse cities on the planet. While it is a young city without the long standing history of many Euro cities, the people and neighborhoods are extremely diverse and there is plenty of modern history in the area--not to mention incredible art, architecture, food scene, fashion, the list goes on.
It's a city that has been over-romanticized in literature and poetry for hundreds of years, and later in film. Centuries of hype. I will take Vienna, Florence and Barcelona over Paris any time.
It's a city that has been over-romanticized in literature and poetry for hundreds of years, and later in film. Centuries of hype. I will take Vienna, Florence and Barcelona over Paris any time.
I find Vienna beautiful but a little stultifying, as though its best days were when Mozart was there. Lots of old guys in gray jackets. Still, it has the greatest concentration of art and craft businesses on the planet.
In the Germanosphere, Berlin and Munich are more appealing although not quite as pretty.
Florence, Barcelona, Paris - yes. I don't really mind stepping around dog poo. I like a city that is lively, artistic, friendly.
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I'm sorry if I pushed your buttons
And sometimes even if you read my former posts, I underlined the positive in Paris, as the diminution of dog crap.
