To have found certain parts of Paris edgy

AI slop 🤮

They’re not in the north! The 15th is as southern as you can get.

Honestly OP I lived just outside Paris for 9 years and commuted in daily for 9 years. I had many nights out in many different areas, alone and with friends, and have never once felt unsafe. I left in 2017 for my husband’s work and was devastated to leave the place and my friends. I still go back 3-4 times a year and it feels like going home every time.

I mean talk to people who actually know the place beyond the tourist traps.

Cool your jets. There are definitely some ropey bits in the northern districts (13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th arrondissements) and if you end up there you must have got seriously lost but the areas around vieux port and Le Panier and coastal areas are great.

“Edgy” is such a fascinating choice of word here, because it implies you think you accidentally wandered into a cool, dangerous little art scene instead of… a busy urban area with visible poverty and people having a rough time.

I think the word you were reaching for here is dodgy. And even that isn’t some shocking Paris-only revelation—it’s just what happens in literally every major city on earth once you step outside the part that’s been gently curated for visitors. You went near major train stations (which, globally, tend to attract exactly the mix of transit, chaos, vulnerability, and noise you described), saw some people behaving unpredictably, noticed it didn’t smell like a scented candle, and concluded something unusual was happening.

It isn’t.

I’m from Chicago. We have entire stretches around certain stations where you’ll see people arguing, asking for money, clearly unwell, police presence that feels inconsistent, and yes—smells that could peel paint. New York? Same. London? Same. Paris? Also same. This isn’t a personality flaw of one city—it’s what happens when millions of people, transit hubs, economic inequality, and public space all collide in one place.

What’s actually happening here is you briefly stepped out of the cinematic version of Paris—the one with soft lighting and violins and nobody raising their voice—and into the version where people live real, messy lives. That doesn’t make it “edgy.” It makes it real.

Not now. But I lived near King's Cross in the 90s. Which probably contributes to my current fearlessness 😆.

The most unlikely places still have stations that are dens of iniquity (based on rail travel over the last couple of years). Cologne. Innsbruck. Heidelberg.

As I said upthread, I don’t think this is the case round major railway stations in London, e.g. Kings X/StP, Waterloo, Liverpool Street, Euston etc

As I said upthread, I don’t think this is the case round major railway stations in London, e.g. Kings X/StP, Waterloo, Liverpool Street, Euston etc

As I said upthread, I don’t think this is the case round major railway stations in London, e.g. Kings X/StP, Waterloo, Liverpool Street, Euston etc

Absolutely, always have been, like many capital cities, especially around train stations.

He wasn’t mugged. His feelings are not reality. I used to go to Peckham frequently, for the gym, the library, to see friends, to socialise and never once thought I was going to be mugged.

Especially not going to “brunch” 🤣

It’s terrifying! Give me the peace of SW London!

I am here right now. I live in Central London, so I know city life. I did find it noticeable last night walking along Rue du Magenta that there were hundreds of African men just hanging out in large groups chatting. I didn't feel threatened, but it was striking to see so many who I assume have nowhere else to go, can't afford or are unwelcome in bars, live in small rooms, just want contact with others who experience same. It was noisy, lively, the occasional drama. It was a bit of a shock and I could imagine, if I wasn't an old battle-axe, feeling intimidated. Not a single woman among them.

I was having dinner with a friend (he trades securities at a major investment bank) and said he once went to Peckham for brunch and thought he was going to get mugged.

Rue de Lappe? I would have down the road from you in Cafe 66.

I know, it does sound funny 😆

But Paris has changed- it's no longer 3 course formule with boeuf bourgignonne and creme caramel or off you fuck. It's much more of a world city nowadays, with food from dozens of different cultures. And the area round the Gare du Nord is full of people and restaurants from South Asia. Which is very useful for me as a vegetarian.

I can assure you that I made up for it with the viennoiserie 😆

Eta: I did briefly work in a fish and chip shop near Bastille in the 90s, which was quite the experience! The customers were half British expats on a nostalgia trip and half adventurous Parisians in search of exotic foreign cuisine. It was quite an upmarket fish and chip shop, mind you.

Guildford = skanky as hell. And you should definitely avoid Esher and Godalming!!!

It sounds like you live in a bubble! Parts of any city are rough and troubled.

Cool your jets. There are definitely some ropey bits in the northern districts (13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th arrondissements) and if you end up there you must have got seriously lost but the areas around vieux port and Le Panier and coastal areas are great.