Sights of Paris (Part I)
After London, Paris. Don’t hate me for saying it, but at first sight, it felt like going from Peru to Bolivia.
I have never liked Paris. Go ahead, call me a little spoiled French girl, I’m used to it. Saying you don’t like Paris usually makes you get hate look from people who are dreaming to visit the city of lights, and it brings contempt from other French people. They shrug at me, saying: «oui mais bon… c’est Paris quand même !».
I’ve been to Paris a thousand of times, as a tourist, a concert-goer, and a student. The only way I can stand the city for more than a few days is by going full tourist mode. In fact, most of the time, I just pretend I don’t speak French. Parisians see me as an idiot but a foreign idiot, so it’s not as bad in their eyes.
My main issue with Paris is that life is very difficult there. Accommodation is crazy expensive and so are the subway (€1.70 per ride!), food in general and tickets to various attraction. The city is dirty — very dirty. You remember me praising the London tube? Well, in Paris we rode packed subway with no air-con and people puking around us. Seriously.
I think that Paris is resting on its laurels. Because “it’s Paris”, because there are so many sights and because the city was once beautiful and famous, people visit it anyway. Yet locals don’t try to make it welcoming and everything is overpriced. Only in Paris one star hotels at the 7th floor of an old building with toilets outside the room cost €50.00 per night. Only in Paris a sandwich is €10 and a bottle of water as much as €4. And people suck it up — because it’s Paris.
Never mind. I’ll stop bitching and I’ll leave you with the best sights!
You can follow our French trip here on Flickr: France (2010).
 Place Charles de Gaulle |
 I Love Paris |
Arche de Triomphe
Les Champs-Élysées
 Shopping at Dior (not me!) |
 Avenue Montaigne |
 Detail of Pavement |
 Champs-Élysées |
 Notre-Dame |
 Notre-Dame |
 In a Café |
 Banks of the Seine River |
In a Small Coffee Shop
Notre-Dame
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Tagged with: Snapshots of France
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You’re shopping at all the wrong places! I never paid water more than 2e and sandwiches 4e.
Enjoy your stay in the city that smells like pee and e-mail me if you have time to go for a coffee
As usual beautiful pictures. I loved Paris but people had an attitude sometimes. Actually the only time I have been denied restaurant service was in Paris. A backpacking friend and I decided to share a pizza and the waiter looked at us with disdain and said “you cannot share anything, you have to buy a whole dish each one”, we were like wow, only in Paris!
Other than that, it is a magical city and one of the best kept secrets is the Salvador Dali museum in Montmartre (I hope I spelled that right), it was a small but very interesting collection of his art.
Malaysians also complain about our national capital — air pollution, traffic gridlock. But we still like to go there for sightseeing and shopping, LOL…
Hey Zhu, as a visitor to Paris many times yes I love it, I love the grandeur the sight and every thing touristy and I totally agreed with you on the other aspect of Paris too…dirty, pricey and it is a very expensive city to live in.
I do feel ‘intimidated’ when we approach people along the streets for help though, that’s why during our last trip, hubby bought a french language tape and all four of us, yes including my daughters learned some very basic greetings, so cute. I bet you’ll laugh when I speak French
Still, despite the beauty versus the flirt, people still flock to Paris as you rightly pointed out ‘It’s Paris’ heheheh…
I had the same observations when I was in Paris. I chose a hostel in the 20th because it was in my budget and ate mostly crepes because they were inexpensive and I didn’t have to take 2 hours out of my day to get one. Paris is beautiful, but I got the sense when I was there that Parisians don’t really appreciate its beauty, but instead take it for granted. “But of course it’s beautiful, it’s Paris!”
Paris was also the first place I noticed how bad pollution can be. I was in Paris for only a few days, but it didn’t take long for my nose goblins to turn black. That can’t be healthy. And as many pedestrian deaths as we have here in Las Vegas, I still feel safer walking around Vegas than I did Paris.
None of that would stop me from visiting again if I got the opportunity. I just know what to expect now.