Paris - I won't be going back

[infinity]

Oh and yes. Had the ring thing done to me yesterday near Eiffel tower. The old gypsy ran a mile after I kept the ring and said would give it to gendarmes

 

[infinity]

Excuse my typos. It's the vin rouge again

 

[infinity]

Excuse my typos. It's the vin rouge again

 

[Skyring]

Oh and yes. Had the ring thing done to me yesterday near Eiffel tower. The old gypsy ran a mile after I kept the ring and said would give it to gendarmes

You should front up to the cop shop and ask, all innocent like, if anyone has handed in a gold ring.

 

[samiam]

First trip to Paris in a few months, I'm looking forward to it.

If you have time, consider a day trip to Giverny - Monet's garden is just awesome and you can DIY water lilies, etc. You can literally spend hours just wandering around the gardens and soaking up the ambience (this was September). IIRC the day trip also included lunch at an old mill on the way back, and possibly Versailles in the afternoon.

 

[legroom]

The thing I am worried about on checking in a Paris hotel is the cigarette smell.

Even when you asked for and given a supposedly smoke-free room, the last two hotels I was in this year - 4*/5* in central Paris - I had to walk out after just opening the door.

Even with the replacement room, I had to open the window to let fresh air in as it was only less contaminated rather than smoke-free as claimed.

I could only guess they do not enforce (fine) the smokers when it happens and slowly most rooms stink with cigarette smoke.

But apart from that, I enjoy every moment in Paris.

My schoolboy Francais helped a little.

Love:

* Musee D'Orsay / Louvre

* All the super-pretty (and yummy) boulangerie in every corner with a spotless counter & colourful selection of pastries

* All the 1950s decor of the local bistros which charmingly refuse to be modernised with steel / plastic

* Cobblestoned streets where locals whizz past on their bicycles

* A cup of hot chocolate @ Carette Cafe near Place des Voges when it is lightly snowing outside (best cup ever!)

* Shops are mostly local and not concentrated in Westfield-style centers (once I took Metro to an umbrella shop near the Louvre only to find it closed for lunch, returned to buy a Made-in-France umbrella for my 80-yr-old mother who - to this day - has not used it yet as it is "so beautiful").

Oh yes, I had been to La Fayette etc... but even then, the stylish presentations make it a pleasant experience compared to an Australian / LA shopping center.

However, another downer would be that only in Paris would I be pick-pocketed twice by gangs of gypsy girls - fortunately I was aware on both occasions.

Would I return ?

In a heartbeat !

 

[turtlemichael]

I love the cafes and the almost total absence of chain restaurants. Almost everything is individual. Compare that with London.

 

[legroom]

Oh one more observation

As this thread was created following the DXB now-closed thread, it is worth noting that unlike DXB, almost all people you come across as tourists (in shops, restaurants, museums...) are locals whereas the opposite applies in DXB.

One French restaurant I went to in DXB, staff was conversing freely to each other in Tagalog (I asked what it was).

Somehow that detracts from the attraction of the destination IMHO.

Yet to see the same thing in Paris. I am sure it may be there somewhere but have not seen it yet.

 

[blackcat20]

If you have time, consider a day trip to Giverny - Monet's garden is just awesome and you can DIY water lilies, etc. You can literally spend hours just wandering around the gardens and soaking up the ambience (this was September). IIRC the day trip also included lunch at an old mill on the way back, and possibly Versailles in the afternoon.

I'm doing a trip out to Versailles so its a possibility. Time is a bit tight, so I'll see how I go. I'll be there in September also.

 

[amaroo]

Enjoyed heaps of trips to Paris over the years - great place!

 

[browski]

Are there places that yo may have added to your no longer going to visit list?

Alby

Asia: Guam - prepare to be underwhelmed; Brunei - most boring place on the planet; Calcutta - say goodbye to hard bowel movements
US: Houston - land of the moron; home of the nutter; pits of the Earth.
Pacific: Brisbane - the city that always sleeps. Papeete - slum city
Africa: Lagos - excrement; Cairo - excrement with pyramids
Middle East: Riyadh - the opposite of fun.
Europe: Amsterdam - gives Sydney's Kings Cross a run for its money as the world's worst sex destination.

 

[tsjbaker]

To add my 2c, my family and I have just arrived back from spending some time in France. Our experience wasn't as poor as the OP's, but we agreed that Paris had changed a bit more since our last trip in 2007 and was generally less hospitable.

Dad and I have fine French and that seems to win a few Parisians over at least for the effort. Mum has none, though, and upon getting lost / distressed could not get any help or sympathy which was an understandable turn-off for her.

I can understand the Parisian ambivalence towards tourists - plenty of the bumbling kind constantly getting underfoot - but that said, I do agree that the city banks too much on its historical charm and has an alarming lack of interest in accommodating you and your dollars.

After Paris we headed southeast to Bourgogne and things could not have been more different. Life moves more slowly in wine country and its denizens are very charming indeed.

I will go back, but with a more realistic mindset that you go absolutely not for service, but for the one-of-a-kind experiences Paris offers.