Paris Not What You Are Expecting

Everyone thinks Paris is an amazing place. It is supposed to be the most romantic place in the world. I believed this lie until I went to Paris. Now I know better.

While I was in Paris I was offered your typical vices like prostitution and some drugs. As an young American male you get offered these kind of thing s from time to time. The thing that surprised me was how regular it was and the variety. I was offered hash which was a first but I was even offered crack. I am not an expert but I would think if offering drugs you might start out small with things like marijuana and work your way up to the hard drugs. It doesn't seem like a good idea to let people know you have or can get such serious drugs. I even was offered either fake or stolen cell phones and high end watches. The guy who offered me these items had them in his coat. It was almost comical being the real life version of the classic character with a trench coat selling goods of dubious nature.

There are also tons of con artist. From what I hear the cons change over time. When I visited they were trying to get you to sign a paper asking to stop landmines to protect children. I signed their petition once but after they ask you to donate. I saw the names on the list were all in the same handwriting and the amounts all the same. I knew it was fake. I said no and walked away. They said I signed and as I walked I said yes you said it was a petition not that I needed to donate now good bye. I saw the same scale over and over. I even saw one woman in the airport with a luxury handbag pulling the same con. I suppose she is one of the best. She gets the tourist before they have already seen the con and know not to fall for it.

Paris is very dirty. There are cigarette butts everywhere. They also have graffiti all over. One of the second tier tourist locations right along the Seine had a large phallus in graffiti that no one bothered to clean up. I saw a man urinate on the side of the road on the Champs Elysées. I was starting to think I was in Asia.

The Parisians have a negative reputation around the world. I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt. As an American who has lived around the world I know we don't have the best reputation either. Sadly the Parisian reputation is earned. They even know it. I was talking to a local who said I probably had heard how the French are rude. I have not brought anything like that up out of respect he brought it up. He goes on to tell me it is true. He told me the French in Paris are different than the city. All the French live in Paris at some point and when they are there they become jerks. When they are back in the countryside they become nice. That is what he told me anyway.



I was just a block away from the Arche de Triomphe and asked a policeman where it was. It was just behind a large building in front of me blocking my view. The policeman veins he has no idea. I even pronounced it pretty close to the French way. He then goes of you mean the Arche de Triomphe with the only difference from what I said was there was a pronounced V sound. It was so close anyone would know for sure what was meant especially when you are right by it. It was clear he was just messing with me because he could.

Another incident was trying to get on a bus I was asked if I spoke French and I said No doing my best to pronounce it like the French. I say Anglais trying to pronounce it like the French. I did not mean speak English or nothing I was just saying that was what I knew. I then received a 5 minute lecture on how I needed to know the language of a country if I visited. How when he goes to Germany he learns German, or English in England. I am not the type of person that expects people to accommodate my ignorance of the local language. If I can't get by because I don't know that is my problem. But I continued to be berated because the bus was early and he had the time.

I was also unimpressed with the Eiffel Tower. It was not as big as I expected. The park in the area was also terrible. They had these poorly maintained dirt paths. Lots of paces in Paris have poorly maintained dirt paths and you get all kinds of sand in your shoes. If it is aesthetic or to keep it like it was that would be ok but at least maintain it properly.


Notre Dame is another example of a poorly maintained Parisian spot. The problem there is the government owns it but allows the church to use it. No one wants to pay for the up keep. They want the other group to pay. Now they decided to make the US pay. They are trying to get Americans to fund fixing Notre Dame.

This all sounds terrible. Am I saying I would never go back? Was there nothing good about Paris. No to both of those questions. Although I would only go back for some things I missed and regret missing like Versailles. I would prefer going other places first. If I was already visiting and it was on the way I would visit.

I would recommend Paris for certain people. That is another story for another day though. For most travelers I would suggest they visit somewhere else over Paris.

What do you think? Have you been to Paris? Did you have similar experiences? Do you want to go to Paris? Let us know by commenting below.