To have found certain parts of Paris edgy

I agree but the OP is specifically asking about Paris

Look at the who robbed the Louvre in 2025.

It wasn't anyone of "Français de souche" background now was it?

@Fnssc there aren't "no go" areas in Peckham and Brixton you dolt.

Perhaps the 3 million visitors annually to the Tower of London don’t realise that they’re in Tower Hamlets?

Yep, nothing to see here, nothing to visit, just move along….

🙄

I've been to Place d'Italie which had nice Italian food.

@crackofdoom that fish and chips sounds worth travelling for!

They aren't exactly going to list "no go areas" are they?

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.

Yeah i agree with you re the "bustles" comment. I also get this sense that if something bad were to happen, Londoners would be quicker to intervene than parisians, not too sure why. I grew up in both countries so this isnt coming from any kind of cultural barrier, just a vibe i get abiut paris.

I mean visit London would beg to differ

https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/london-areas/peckham/things-to-do-in-peckham

https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/london-areas/brixton

I don’t think they are necessarily the places for tourists to prioritise but Peckham and Brixton are both good places to live in London. Parts of Peckham are pretty fancy, especially leading up to Camberwell. London ‘bustles’ a lot more than Paris which makes it feel safer to me.

Some great opinions here on normal areas of London where many people live and work. Keep up the prejudice and racism people.

Paris is way sketchier than London.

The metro is also really trashy and totally disability unfriendly.

You get off the eurostar and step out at St Pancras vs Gare du Nord. No contest there, I know where I feel safer hanging around outside with a cigarette. I travel between the two every month.

@crackofdoom you went to Paris for a curry and a pint? What was the point? 😹

Dull? Dull?! I absolutely love walking through South Kensington and Belgravia areas when the sun is out. Brightens my day and fills me with so much joy.

I've been to the cafes. I actually enjoyed them. I had a lovely hot chocolate whilst enjoying the view and the blossoms. Went to some nice pubs after and had a scrumptious lunch.

Then I went to Hyde park.

When I’ve visited Paris I mostly stay central so don’t know the dodgy parts. My aunt lives there though, not sure of arrondissement but we are planning to meet up soon so I’ll find out. She has a studio apartment.

When I used to travel to parents holiday home in SW, we would go to Bordeaux as you had to get the train to the house and we flew to Bordeaux airport. Several dodgy characters asking for money hung around the station and we heard of pickpockets being around too. They’d try to help you use the Metro ticket machine. Once me and my mum went to get groceries nearby and it felt safe but a bit edgy. Luckily I was rarely there by myself and if so was on high alert.

Every big and small town/city has its bad/unsafe and good/safe parts though.

We didn’t find that and I have been several times.

This. DH is French, doesn't love Paris.

Sketchy as fuck in places.

The urine smell: yes, it's gross, and I find it more pervasive in Paris than a lot of other equivalent cities. I truly don't know why, as Paris does this automatic gutter washing thing on its pavements most days, which you'd think would help.

In terms of dodgy men etc - they can be intimidating but most people will never actually experience any issues with them.

One thing I'll say is that living in Paris teaches you to be a bitch. You cannot give an inch of friendliness to random people out in public, you assume the worst and treat people coldly because otherwise you're opening your arms to scammers and men who will take that inch of cordiality and immediately try to turn it into a mile. To some extent this applies in other cities too, but even more so in Paris, in my experience.

I think those who haven't lived in a large European city tend to romanticise places like Paris and Rome. I blame shows like Emily in Paris personally!

Seriously though, common sense. Staying in the 19 arrondissement won't be for anyone imagining Paris is dinner overlooking the twinkling lights of The Eiffel or strolling down Avenue Montaigne in a dreamy daze.

I personally love Paris and have spent a lot of time there for work and pleasure, but am realistic and always exercise caution, as I do pretty much everywhere else I go - including the city in Europe I live in.

Absolutely agree. I wouldn’t be hanging around Peckham, Mile End, Brixton or any other grim parts.

Mad how we all have different experiences! Me and DP visited Paris for my birthday last Sept we never felt unsafe, never smelled urine, visited many different places, didnt stay somewhere really upmarket either we travelled in.
On the other hand I hate London with a passion I always feel really vulnerable there

I mean...yes and no. Yes, Paris does have its edgy side, no it doesn't stop it being a fantastic many faceted city.

I arrived at Gare du Nord at 9.00pm a couple of weeks ago and walked to my hostel just north of La Chapelle metro. Yes, it's a dodgy area, yes lots of young poor brown men around, yes a couple of them commented on my presence 🙄 But I also had a brilliant masala dosa at a Sri Lankan cafe on the way, had a pint and watched all the cool young things at the bar next door, and went back to the hostel to discover everyone salsa dancing to a live Cuban band in the foyer.

All I can say is that it felt even dodgier as a 16 year old in the 90s! I did used to get followed and harassed by men a lot. And then I became a tour guide, shepherding teenagers through the city, and yes sometimes the group would pick up a nasty abusive nutter, trailing us and shouting at us 😬

I don't know where I'm going with this...yes I love the place, yes there is a bit of an edge, but not as bad as it was. It does seem to me that, although the French state looks after those it considers to be legitimate citizens pretty well, recently arrived immigrants without connections and street homeless people with mental health/ substance abuse issues don't get much support. I've seen people in a pretty bad way on the streets, visibly unwell in a way that would have them picked up and taken into hospital in the UK, with nary even a street outreach team in sight.

Yep same - about 10 years ago I was living in London but spending a lot of time in Paris. Paris felt sketchier than London, and I was thinking exactly the same word as you reading the thread! And I was living in Peckham lol. Even central Paris could feel a bit sinister after dark. I very rarely felt unsafe in London.

Tower Hamlets has corruption problems and the crime rate is 'high' compared to the rest of the country according to the web